Day 21 - A real Buddy

So it was time to leave the wretched Destin. The rampant commercialism and the busyness of the place was something we were not used to from coming down the Midwest of the USA. Amongst the corporate jets at about 6:45 p.m., we taxied out onto the runway and took off in about 8 knot wind on the ground. As soon as we got airborne life got bumpy with 18 knot + northerly headwind through military controlled airspace. ”Bugger that” we thought, we took the option to head east down the coast towards Panama City. Along the beach we had the southerly sea breeze bumping into the northerly prevailing wind. It made for an interesting ride. We spotted a few fixed wing aircraft at about our 700 agl level. You always seem to spot these aircraft too late for comfort. No chance of a collision here but still !!!!

With a light fading and a change of plan, Anna-Klara was busy in the backseat looking at airports and air strips to land. Things got quite stressful as we where getting knocked around yet we kept it together as a team. I always find in these situations you just need to do your best and that is all we can do. Yes you would love to be on the ground but you are not, and your life depends on your performance, or our performance in this case.

Anna –Klara came up with a couple of options. The first was a very small airstrip 10 mins away with about 30 minute of light left. The second was an airport about 25 minutes away, which meant going right around controlled airspace. We looked at the first airstrip, after doing a low pass, I decided it was do-able, just, and it was time to get out of this ugly weather.

With a high tree line on the approach things were going to be tricky. The weather was rough and bumpy, and with the air strip being surrounded by trees I imagined it may be pretty bumpy on the ground as well. The adrenalin was pumping, the mind was focused, we came in the final approach. (SEE VIDEO)





That night we met the manager of a nearby RV park. Buddy was his name and that is just what he was. To keep us away from the alligators, snakes, wild pigs and mosquitoes that like to frequent this part of Florida, he let us stay in a large cruiser boat that was being stored in their storage sheds there at the airstrip. That was fun.


The next day he arranged to pick us up and take us to the gas station for fuel. What a day.