Today, Saturday, May 4, 2024, join us for a day filled with preparations for our exciting adventure. Before the grand departure, we decided to get into the spirit by heading to the Magdalen Islands for a full-scale simulation!

The day starts early on a rainy Saturday in Montreal. We head to St-Hubert Airport, loaded to the brim with all the necessary equipment for our upcoming Atlantic crossing. Our first mission: fitting everything into the plane. Without the need for Tetris skills, everything fits into the plane effortlessly. Jerry cans (three 5-gallon ones), travel bags, flight bags, a canoe, and life jackets are all in place!

We take off, start the satellite tracking to check the website’s functionalities, and set course for Sherbrooke (CYSC) for refueling and a well-deserved brunch. In flight, we notice that 100LL fuel is cheaper in St-Georges (CYSG), so we divert to this new destination after a quick contact with Quebec Radio. After successful refueling, we are disappointed to find the restaurant closed.

Ready for the next part of our journey, we don our dry suits and life jackets and take off towards the islands. We are in real conditions! Once in the air, with music in our ears, we enjoy the flight. However, after a few hours, nature calls, and we have to find a solution, putting our privacy aside and making do. It’s not first-class comfort, but the Mooney is certainly more fun!

After flying over northern Maine in the United States, we are now in contact with the Moncton sector controller and approaching the islands, hidden under a cloud cover. We begin the approach through the clouds. Then the sky clears, revealing a splendid view of the islands! The landing goes smoothly, and we are welcomed by a young aviation enthusiast, Felix Richard, who captures our arrival with his camera. He informs us that we are only the second private plane to reach the islands in 2024, following a C182 from Rimouski by a few days.

Hungry (note to all: never get in the way of a hungry pilot), we make our first stop at Cindyhook Café and enjoy its delicious homemade pistachio cream coffee! Then, heading south, we are lucky to find a table at Café de la Grave – the high season has not yet started. We take advantage of the clear sky to detour to the beach and dip our feet in the water, despite it being icy cold. Then comes the time to plan the return: this time, we opt for a direct flight to Montreal, without any stops!

Four hours of flying above the clouds, with an exceptional view of the sunset, and we are back at St-Hubert Airport by 9 PM. This intense day allowed us to test our equipment and convinced us that our adventure will be memorable. And this is just the beginning of the story!