Heading southeast, out from Rhode Island after a great day with
Old AF Sarge last week.
Why is there always clouds?
That's New Bedford, Massachusetts off in the distance.
Naushon Island.
Naushon Island ahead on left, Pasque Island lower right. No airport there, so no stop. How you gonna live on an island with no airport? That's just crazy.
Long final for Runway 15, Martha's Vinyard. Clear to land.
Got this one greased. Bit of a wind, but it's almost right down the centerline.
Gotta say, those folks at
MVY sure treat you right. Every courtesy you could want, including an offer of a ride into town from one of the tower controllers who was on his way home. He, like many workers here, lives on the mainland and pays $90 to $140 a day (depending on season) for the round trip ferry passage, plus the 45 minutes each way just on the ferry. Yikes!
Now this was dining. (Yep, I'm doing the
Brigid thing again.)
Had me this while watching the lunar eclipse on the patio of a restaurant in Edgartown that overlooks the ferry to Chappaquiddick. The ferry replaces the bridge that used to be here--the one that Ted Kennedy drunkenly drove off of.
Island transportation, brought in by removing the back seat of a Cessna 172. Fully self-contained for camping and travel, and I get a fitness regiment to boot.
This is island life. Gilligan & company never had it this good.
Sunrise over the Atlantic.
Breakwater at Oak Bluffs.
No sailor would ever accuse the islanders of being crazy for not having an airport. Even the airdale types like Old NFO recognize surface ships as the core of Navy transportation. The planes & heliochoppers are a bonus. :)
ReplyDeleteNice pics and travel commentary as usual. Good to see that pack getting some good use.
ReplyDeletePlease excuse my lack of knowledge, but is there anything real common about haze in that area? Maybe it's like that around many maritime locales, although it was very clear flying into Tampa the other day. I'm thinking of the Kennedy lad who crashed around there due to a real hazy horizon or something- anything to that? Thanks for the great pics, btw.
ReplyDeleteHaze is haze. Get lots of it here too. But as that was my first flight up there, I can't speak to how common it is. As to the Kennedy, John Kennedy Junior was flying at night over water in marginal visibility conditions. They think that he got disoriented. He was not licensed to fly on instruments and he took two other people with him.
DeleteLooks like much many fun.
ReplyDeleteQuestions: "....pays $90 to $140 a day..." is that a typo? Assuming a standard 250 day work year that's $22,500 - $35,000 in commuting costs. Or, is that the cost of an annual pass? Maybe salaries there are high enough to afford that, but if they were I'd buy a cheap boat and dock it somewhere.
RE: bicycle - makes sense, would one that folds up be a better bet?
No typo. Google the ferry schedule for vehicles to/from Woods Hole. And the people I spoke to said that the island jobs pay well and the lack of jobs on the mainland makes it a no-brainer to pay those fees. Every contractor who does work there and brings a work truck pays it too and adds it in to the cost of doing business. You shoulda seen the contractor vehicles rolling off the morning ferry.
DeleteBike-wise, I looked into folders, but between the cost and the lessened performance vs. my Iron Horse, I elected to just take the tires off mine and stow it where the back seat used to be.
Eons ago, I flew in often to Katama, on the southeast side of the island. Park the plane by the beach and go swimming. Afterwards, taxi to the other end, take a shower, eat and fly home. A great day could be had.
ReplyDeleteI was planning to fly into that little grass strip too, but by the time I flew out that morning, the weather was already marginal VFR and I decided not to waste the time. But I'll be back there soon enough.
DeleteGreat pictures. The lobster looks great
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful day for a flight and what great pictures. I've just been there once, in a Cessna Citation single pilot I was doing some pilot service for and the owner took his wife there for an anniversary. I got four days on the island, all expenses paid. That made up for all the days sitting in some tiny town in Kansas that didn't even have an FBO crew car.
ReplyDeleteHave fun!
One last try... The little ferry from Edgartown to Chappaquiddick is called "Chappie" and has been there forever. The Kopechne Memorial Bridge is a little further down the road on Chappaquiddick. I stop and say a little prayer for her and her family each time I go out to the beach there to do a little surf fishing. My family and I spend a couple of weeks on the Vineyard each summer courtesy of friends of ours who own a home in Edgartown, near the airport.
ReplyDeleteThanks Russ. I was either misinformed or mis-heard. Had I known that there was a memorial I'd surely have gone for a picture. Something for next time I guess.
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