Great Flight Today

A friend of mine needed to get to Tofino, B.C. today. It's a hundred miles or so up the coast of Vancouver Island. He had meetings for a school board he sits on, and usually gets a float plane to fly him there out of Vancouver. This time of year no one does the flight, however, so he very subtly asked if I knew anyone who might possibly be able to get him out there... etc. I am indebted to this person as a real mentor in non-profit affairs, so I was very glad to repay part of the total by doing this for him.

It turned out to be one of the most spectacular flights I've ever done.

We left Seattle for Victoria at 11. When we landed, I called customs without even shutting down the engine; I knew it was likely we'd be cleared through without a visit from an agent. Sure enough, it all happened in about 45 seconds, and we took off again and headed down around the south end of the island, over Victoria, and away to the remote west.

We stayed at 1,500 feet the whole way - just under the cloud deck, and we could smell the ocean. We got to Tofino about 1:15, and got out and met the local dog Clay, talked to a mechanic working on an old Beaver. He told us they had water problems, and we should go pee in the bushes. We did, I left my friend standing on the tarmac, and I got under way. Home by 3:15.

Pics below. What a spectacular flight.