Leg 021

"Are you sure there's an airport there?"

It's the West Indies in September, so there's going to be rain each day.

I was successful in my search for stimulating food, feasting on interesting dishes such as callaloo soup, roti, oil down and pelau over a three day period.  This bright and airy food was a nice contrast to the constant presence of dark gray rain clouds that seem to hang over the hills of Grenada each day.

Today's plan is to end up on the island of St. Vincent, my tenth country of this tour.  On the way I'll stop at Canouan Airport to pickup some locals headed to Arnos Vale, my next destination.

I woke a few hours ago, hoping to see clear blue skies, but there are grumpy low level clouds still hanging around.  I decide to file a flightplan at the low cruise altitude of 1,500 feet.  The disadvantage, of course, is that it will be an overwater leg.  The advantages, though, are better: (1) I'll always be in close distance of an island and plenty of ships, (2) we can avoid the turbulence that begins at 2,000 feet and (3) sightseeing will be possible.

Wanda and I get airborne against a very hazy horizon, gear going up.

The intermediate stop of today's journey is two-thirds of the way to St. Vincent.  It will take me 35 minutes to reach Canouan Airport, then only 15 more to reach E. T. Joshua Airport on St. Vincent.  The first leg will take me north along the west shore of Grenada, passing the towns of Grand Roy, Gouyave, Victoria and Duquesne.  I'll then fly past Caille, Ronde and Carriacou islands.  After I'll split Union Island and Mayreau, which should put me on a nice base leg for Canouan's runway 13.

The weather is mostly rainy along this first stretch, but should clear a few miles before reaching Canouan.  If I do get clear skies, I'll climb to 3,500 feet, but that seems unlikely.  I complete a nice thorough pre-flight check of Wanda, then start her engines to begin our next leg.

Making a close pass of Caille Island.

As expected, the clouds over Grenada are dark and thick.  Wanda and I experience quite a bit of surface turbulence coming off the hillside landscape of the west coast, but aside from the discomfort of trying to focus on my instruments while they jump around, everything is as good as gold.

I press shuffle on my playlist and listen to James Arthur's "Impossible" as Grenada passes by my right wing over the next few minutes.

The rain lightens just after leaving Grenada's shoreline and I can clearly see Carriacou in the distance.  I decide to pass Caille and Ronde islands to the east, flying a nice close pass over the little bump of Caille.  This island is privately owned, but I cannot find any specific information about its current owner.  Interestingly, though, it is considered to be the youngest island of the Lesser Antilles.  I supposed based on its size that shouldn't be surprising, but it is neat to note.

On a tight right base leg for Canuoan Airport's runway 13.

The rain intensifies once again as Wanda and I get near to Carriacou island.  As we fly over the western isthmus, I read about its history.  Carriacou was purchased in 1650 by Jacques du Parquet for the equivalent of £1160 today.  'Wow, heck of a land deal' I think.

Presently only 6,000 people call Carriacou home, with most of them residing in Hillsborough, which is passing just under my right wing.  There is very little industry, of course, but you might be surprised to learn that there are 100 rum shops on this island.  By my calculation, that's 1 for every 60 residents!

After passing Carriacou, Wanda and I overfly Union Island, another of the Grenadines chain.  Union is half the size of Carriacou, and appropriately, only 3,000 people live there.  I can't find the resident to rum shop ratio, but I do learn that they have a terrible Possum problem.  Apparently the "manicou" can be quite aggressive during certain parts of the year.  'I don't know' I think.  'Maybe more rum would help?'

Boy I wish I could stop at Shenanigans Beach Club, seen there on the beach to the right of runway 13.  There's work to be done!

I make a smooth touchdown at Canuoan and taxi to the terminal to pickup the three passengers.  They are standing at the FBO, waiting for their ride (me), so Wanda's engines are only off for 5 minutes while I load the bags in the back.

I put the man and woman in the back seat and grandma in the front seat with me.  It's not her first time flying, but it's 'been a few years laddy' she tells me.

"No worries, Grammama, I'll give you a great ride" I say with a smile on my face.  "Now get ready to hear my lovely airplane's little roar of the engines."

With that we back taxi to runway 13 and get airborne in 1,000 feet (Grammama has heavy bags).  I keep the power in, flaps down and make a gentle left turn over the bay before we reach the small mountain located at the departure end of the runway.  We're up to 1,500 feet pretty quickly, so I bring in the flaps, close the cowl flaps, dial back the props, tune the throttles and lean the mixture to '10 ROP.'  As we leave the shores of Canuoan behind, the sky darkens again and rain begins to fall.
 

Can you spot E. T. Joshua Airport's runway 7?  It's just under the compass on the windscreen.  Yes, I'm sure there is an airport there.

Thankfully, for Grammama's sake, the ride is smooth, even in the rain, but it is difficult to see out the windshield.  We're aimed for E. T. Joshua Airport's runway 7, still technically under VFR conditions (which is good, as this airport has no navigation aids).  My plan is to point Wanda's nose at the little 'thumb' that juts out off the southern coast of St. Vincent, then follow the curving coast to the east to locate the threshold of runway 7.  My google earth image printout shows me that there should be a large school complex with a bright red roof just to the east of the runway, so I keep my eyes peeled for lights, runway markings or this roof.

At about 3 miles from the airport, I spot the bright red roof, avert my eyes a few yards to the west, and there it is: runway 7 and the PAPI lights.

"Are you sure there's an airport there?" Grammama asks.

"You betcha" I say in my most confident tone.  I hear her click her tongue and hum "mmmmhmmmm".  'OK, Grammama' I think.  'Watch this.'

Two minutes later we're on the ramp at St. Vincent.  I give Grammama a big wink and am rewarded with a big kiss on the cheek.

"Oh Maxwell" she coos.  "I didn't think you knew what you were doing but you did it well."

Ha!  Isn't that the story of my life sometimes?