September, 2016

Hello everyone!

Last month, I wrote a long winded saga about getting my plane wet. I had written about how wild stories were being bantered about the imagined causes of the incident and the non existent injuries. When our local news magazine mentioned information that they had gleaned from the local papers, I wrote the editor (who is a friendly acquaintance) taking exception to the 'facts' being reported and pointing out that the only truth in the story was that the plane had been recovered. Every other 'fact' was indeed, wrong. The Thousand Island Life magazine is published monthly and has a wide range of fascinating stories about the islands, the people and the various 'happenings' in our local area.

There is a widespread feeling that the media in general plays fast and loose with the facts, are lazy in fact checking, and jump to their own conclusions. Then they wonder why they are as welcomed as a mosquito in Rio. Even if completely untrue, there is also a widespread feeling that private pilots and small airplanes are inherently 'dangerous', and my experience fit their narrative perfectly. Great stuff for the local papers on a slow news day. Still, I was dumbfounded by the editor's reaction. 

She immediately asked if I could write a story not only explaining what had actually happened, but printing the entire blog entry - photos and all- including my email to her sharing my feeling that I had been somewhat torpedoed by the reporting. We send our monthly newsletter to our family and a handful of friends, but the magazine has a reach of well over 5,000 readers in the immediate local area and have the ability to get a lot of tongues wagging or put the kibosh on people telling tales out of school. 

I have heard of the occasional rare retraction but this was a genuine expression of regret over how they had relied on information from the local press, and wanting to not only make things right but getting a new story out of it too. If you are curious about the TIL magazine retraction and the subsequent article, it can be found HERE.

Just because a boy doesn't currently have an airplane to play with, doesn't mean there are no fun and games to be had. We had our club's annual fly-in at our private airstrip and I got certified as an experienced (but uninsured) toilet paper bomber. A friend and I climbed to 1000 feet in his plane and I 'carpet bombed' the BBQ in progress below. Watching toilet paper rolls unravel into 75 foot long streamers silently landing all over the participants who were shaking their fists at us is what boys currently without an airplane do for fun.

A friend is gone

On a sadder note, we lost a dear friend to cancer this month. Barb, of Wayne and Barb fame, are island friends who we have known pretty much since our arrival here. We docked at the same marina for some time, traveled with us in Europe and have been a big part of our summer lives. They have helped with untold projects that needed another hand or more importantly, a knowledgeable hand. She was a real treasure, and our lives were all the richer for having known her. We miss her already.

These kinds of events have a way of coming in two's and it was the case here. We were notified that Janice's uncle passed this month also, so we we flew to Nebraska for a few days to attend the services and be with the family.

Next month: California or bust!



 

August, 2016

Once again

Just when Janice thought she had all her little surgeries behind her and would have a whole summer outside of any hospital, she had to go in this AM for a simple 'intervention' (read surgery) once again. It was a quickie of sorts for feminine plumbing issues (no relationship between the two) and its beginning to look like she is making this a yearly event. She was back home today, none the worse for wear.

My poor bride will have the rest of the summer to recuperate. 

How we spend a lazy summer day....

http://www.1000islandsphotoart.com/

The book

About a year ago, we were contacted by a Australian writer who had seen the Cottage Life Television Network segment featuring our Island. She wrote that she was writing a book on "Island Homes of the World" and was interested in including the Bee. We traded emails and phone calls over the last year, answered her questionnaire and sent her all the pictures she requested.

Last month, she sent us a copy of the finished work, a 125 page hardcover book featuring 15 island homes from all over the world, but Honey Bee being the only private island of the lot. Ours is also the only one featured in North America and one of two in both North and South America. Obviously, it is not a book about the Richard Branson type mega islands of the rich and famous but islands owned by little people like us.

There are 8 pages of text and pictures on each island, telling its story and of their resident owners. The book is available in both hard and softcover through Barnes and Noble, Amazon and other booksellers. What a kick!

Projects update

Hey, would you like to hear about our latest construction projects? 
Me neither. 
We don't have any so, so much for that.

 The fantasy

If you are not in the mood for stupid airplane stories, you can probably stop right here as this was a BIG aviation month in these parts.  
In 2000 when we bought the island, I had a secret fantasy to be able to have a float plane here. Needing to renovate the place first meant putting that crazy idea way back on the back burner. 

Sometime in 2008, friends Wayne and Barb were over for a BBQ when Wayne asked why we had a broom stick handle sticking out of the mud by the shore of the island. Janice nonchalantly replied "Oh, that's where Michael wants to put a dock for a float plane he is going to build and learn to fly". They didn't know if they should laugh or cry but they nearly choked. I am far more prone to let the cat out of the bag after he is in it, but Janice prefers to spill the beans before we get a cat or the bag.

This is going to take a while...

In the summer of 2009, the 3000 parts that comprised the aircraft were delivered, with my goal to have it all assembled that summer. Life got in the way but in 2012, I finally took to the air. Then, in 2010 I bought an aircraft carrier (also know as a pontoon boat lift) and had a half dozen friends help me position it in the river, in anticipation of building the dock around it for the plane.

In 2015, it was a done deal... 
but still no floats on the plane .

Finally this year, after getting my float rating I got to bring it home,
 making a dream come true.

The TIAF (Thousand Island Air Force) sea base located at Honey Bee Island was now open for business and was ready to begin patrolling the area, on the hunt for terrorists, democrats, criminals and Canadians trying to sneak into the land of the free and the home of the brave :)

Landing at the island

The first time I landed at the island, I was so excited I thought I would pee my pants.  There was testosterone flying all over the place and I was as pumped up as Henry the VIII double fisting cans of Red Bull, eating a turkey leg and demanding another wife to behead!

 Up, up and awayyyyyy

The rest of the story...

24 hours after I brought the plane home, I took it out for a flight to practice my new landing skills since I was now on water. The flight over the islands was absolutely magnificent. It was all I had ever hoped for and then some. Returning home I came in for a superb landing and had, well, an 'incident'. 

I won't belabor the situation, but when I touched down on the water the floats delaminated (split in two)  and the plane instantly went up on its nose. I didn't fall out of the sky and 'crash', I was one foot off the water and landing. Nevertheless, the cockpit filled with muddy water and I went through my emergency egress mental checklist (non dramatic way of describing crawling out of a cockpit full of muddy water while under water). I didn't have a scratch on me. 

Looks worse than it is.
 OK, I'll admit it. Its an unconventional way to wash an airplane.

Funny how while still under water and realizing that I was not hurt and would be fine if I just got out of there, my first though was... "I wonder how much damage to the plane there is and how long before I will be able to fly my baby again?". I got myself out and didn't even bother to inflate my life jacket. Within seconds I was surrounded by boats but I elected to stay in the water for some time inspecting the plane as it looked perfect, except for the floats and the nose first in 7 feet of water part. A salvage company pulled it out and it went into the shop for repairs. 

Naturally, I called Janice the moment it happened and told her I was fine. She was waiting at our dock when the coast guard brought me home later and I sheepishly stepped off their boat. The first words out of her mouth were "fix the plane and get back in the air".

For all those who are yelling "I knew it!" or "I told you so", well, you have the satisfaction of knowing you were right. Since the incident, I have received both encouragement to "get back on that horse" and admonitions to "learn from this and quit while you are ahead, stupid". That said, I will never stop flying. I guess this means that other than wanting to prevent this from happening again, I have learned nothing:) I had a car accident once too and I didn't give up driving. How about you?

Yes, the floats are trashed. You can see the de-lamination of the top and bottom half of both floats from front to back.

From the first moment, I took total, complete and absolute responsibility for this event. I am not good at blaming other people or things for my mistakes or shortcomings. I may have had over 500 flawless landings on wheels but I only had 6 landings on water so my lack of experience on this medium loomed large. There was this incident, I was the pilot so I am at fault, period. Right? I certainly thought so.

Not so fast.

Over the following weeks, a chorus of dissenting voices began to make themselves heard. Two flight instructors, the transport Canada investigator, the manufacturer of the floats, my mechanic as well as a slew of other pilots all concluded what became obvious when the floats were inspected post incident: that the floats suffered a rare, catastrophic  de-lamination, like a banana being peeled, probably due to issues with age or previous ownership. There were no breaks, cracks, tears or shredding in the fiberglass anywhere, only a clean smooth separation between the top and bottom half of the floats.

My instructor told me that there did not appear to be anything I had done - or that he would have done- that would have prevented the accident. The irony did not escape me that the only part on the airplane built by 'professionals' (the floats) failed but that the plane itself that was meticulously hand crafted by a so called 'amateur' (me) operated flawlessly.

I am perfectly aware that if I had a car accident, no one would give a second thought to getting in my car with me afterward and driving off. But in a plane... few will likely want to line up for a ride now. The shame is that I so wanted to share the spectacular beauty of this area from this unique perspective with those interested. It is what it is.

Speaking of which, you can total your car and no one will give a rip. Me, I get my plane wet and I immediately made the 6 o'clock news and the newspaper. I was never contacted by anyone, but people boating by asked "Is it true you ran out of gas?" or "Did the wings really fall off?" Our local magazine reported that I had been injured and the cause was "wind gusts". No point letting the truth get in the way of a good story, I guess.

Then again, there was You Tube. Some guy sent a drone up to film it all, put it on the two You Tube videos seen below and to date have had over 6,500 views combined. 

Meanwhile, the repair work is progressing a breakneck speed. God willing, the sucker will be back in the air by the 1st of the month, albeit without floats. My new floats will not be manufactured until after we have left and are in California in October. June 1 will see my next attempt to re-activate this wing of the Thousand Island Air force. Its inevitable that after this your flying buddies would come up with a playful nickname for you. Mine is 'aqua man'. Cute, but I will put a stop to this shortly. 

Sooooo....anyone want to go flying? We could be on Ellen! :))) This concludes another quiet, laid back month at the island.

July 2016

This is Boldt Castle, a mere 10 minutes by boat or 90 seconds by plane from the Bee. It is located on 'Heart' Island (for obvious reasons) as seen from the air.

OK, one last time....

Last month, I attached a bunch of pictures to show you how the exterior of our little hole in the wall in France got finished before we left. Then, I was asked "where are the interior shots?" Well, 4 days before we flew out, we got an email from a web site we use to advertise our place for holiday rentals while we are away, offering to send a professional photographer at their expense to take some pictures to promote the property on their site.

Free? Did someone say free? Somehow we managed to get him to come by the day before we left when everything was clean, tidy, in the best shape it had been in 4 months and...on a gloriously sunny day. While not exactly National Geographic quality, it was still light years better than my old pocket Instamatic. Below are a bakers dozen of interior and exterior shots.

Speaking of shots, when ever there is a big fire in California, friends in other parts of the world wonder if our house there is OK. Now we have friends on this side of the pond wondering if the attack in NICE  was near our home. NICE is an hour away from our villa and no one we know was affected.

Village chapel (left), Michelin guide restaurant, our villa.

Incoming!

We got the summer off to a great start  with daughter Kami flying in from New Orleans for a week while boyfriend Jeremy (AKA "Mr. Wonderful!") flew in from Vancouver for a week end visit.  We wined and dined them while they toured the islands on the jet skis, boating, and spent quality time together. 

News from the flight deck

Is 60 the new 40? YEA, BABY!

I had my 3rd passenger ever this month and it just so happened to be our daughter Kami. Being the first member of the family to tempt fate and climb into the cockpit with dad, she indulged me with not one but two flights, totaling 3 1/2 hrs of air time. She shared another milestone as this became my 500th landing in 200 hours of flying.

Our summer treat

We had the good fortune of being treated to a private concert this month, when we were invited to attend the filming of a segment for a German TV series on the Thousand Islands. The band was called the Great Lake Swimmers and we have seen them perform a number of times at river events including a concert aboard a 3 masted schooner called the "Fair Jeanne". They even recorded an award winning album in the islands called "Lost Channels."

The event was held at our friend Fred's spectacular island as seen here from a picture taken from Ian's new drone

Going AWOL

We wrapped up the month by disappearing  for 3 days. We made our way south to the Finger Lakes district of Northern New York State where we picked blueberries, swam, ate and drank  our way around Watkins Glen, Montour falls and Seneca lake.

                                      Eagle Cliff Falls. What a great place to swim!

After days of wine tasting, we got thirsty so we visited a local brewery to do some beer tasting. 

 And you thought that all we did was work, work, work. Ha!