9 September 2011 Its windy...

We have not been able to fly for two days now. Either the winds have been too strong or it has been raining. Yesterday it was gusting to 37 knots with occasional showers – def not flying weather. Of course, this morning dawned nice and blue with fluffy white cumulous adorning the sky which gets everyone’s spirit up. On the way to the airport Dirk and I perused the weather signs – swaying trees, the swirling leaves, ripples on little water bodies, birds, laundry, you name it; the trained eye does not miss a thing. It was still very windy. Stopping at the met office on the way the anomemeter confirmed our suspicions. Already 3 gusts of 30knots…

The last check was the windsock at the hanger. Surprisingly it indicated that it was doable but only just. With Dirk and his fresh strong arms to help hold the wing I thought we can manage! Once in the air it proved even stronger – it was blowing 30mph so we did not go anywhere in a hurry! The main problem was the churned up sea – one could not see a thing in the wild ocean and water visibility was around 1-3meteres for most places. We searched the southern seas of the island and after we had given up, on our way back to the airport we suddenly spotted one. A lone whale shark probably keeping its mouth closed from all the sediment in the water! Of course this makes for a tough call for a whale shark encounter trip. We have the clients but without the plane to spot the sharks or any sharks around, it is just not worth it.

Given the conditions we could fly but only on the wind ward side of the island. The boats could only do the leeward and protected sides which do not make for a workable combination. Word just in is that David has just cancelled the boats but we both feel very disappointed. All we need is a bit of luck weather wise and it will make all the difference. At least it is still early in the season.

Dirk and I are having a quick lunch at the airport cafeteria. We will do a normal survey flight around the island for the afternoon. We need to know if the sharks are here and where. That would help in making decisions. Of course our landing earlier on was as exciting as these things get. Dirk had to hang onto the wing and to be honest if I did not lend a hand at one stage we would have been upside down! ;)

Wish you were here!
:)