yeah he is cool as hell, and i want to do that- charter a sea plane during a big, well forecasted swell, and scour the north eastern Bahamas looking for perfect waves peeling off unamed islets and cays. How does a guy find a pilot to do that? my mom's freind in Vero is a pilot and we discussed this, but he doesn't own a seaplane
Why do you want to charter a sea plane and not use a normal plane? If the round trip range is close you could stop in Lantana or out West of Juno and refuel. West End is 120 from Fort Pierce and 60 from Lake Worth. Otherwise, refuel and clear in Abaco, and bam, you're where you need to be.
If it's about not clearing customs, I'd steer clear. Heading over to Matinilla to fish the corner with the radar on, and making a run for it if the Bahamians come because you didn't clear customs is one thing - your boat will be fast enough unless it only has a sail, but landing a sea plane out there without clearing customs...they're not going to think you're there to scout for surf spots, I promise you that.
My next follow-up question...what are you going to do once you find a spot? Even a place like Walker's or Grand which I'm not even sure if it's open, having both plane and boat fuel feels like hitting two 11s back to back.
You fly out there, you'll still need a boat, and someone willing to take it out and risk it in a swell.
You take a boat from Florida....
The crossing in any kind of Winter swell in any boat under a half million, unless you are shooting your wad on East groundswells from Cape Verde hurricanes maybe 2x/year, is going to have you beat to f-----g hell and back. Toe up from da flo' up. Any Northeast groundswell, and the Gulf Stream is going to be a rodeo and a half. sh!t stacks up and steepens up. Great for sailfishing, not great for anything not lashed down and stomachs not made of titanium that can contain industrial nuclear reactors. Plus the beating/fatigue.
Then you're there. What now? One serious wrong move, and you're bleeding out. If you just get a nick, enjoy paddling back to where your ride is anchored. You might even make it halfway before every Bull, Tiger, Lemon, etc. in the West Atlantic is ripping pieces off your ass.
I didn't torch all the gems because you weren't here for a groundswell with some North in it as I recall. They're enough for you old man!
What do you want?
The better version of Sandino that holds more people, with a wider tide window, has bigger faces and more consistent sets on a given swell, and is somehow less of a donkey fest in spite of having a surfline cam swiveling towards it every 15 seconds and being one of two spots that can hold anything above 12 seconds within the entire Orlando/Space Coast surfing population? The one out front of your prospective retirement pad? The most fickle urchin-bottomed spot on planet Earth? Glow-in the dark pseudo-Trestles with complimentary window/valuables removal? A grunty left where derelicts throw rocks at your car because it has more paint than rust and starts without hitting the starter with a stick and waving a dead chicken over the cylinder heads? A paddling treadmill with almost as many sharks as the Bahamas? A rifling left way out the back of the SUP rental joint?
