My cousin, Cory Patten, was graduating from the Composites Technology trade school at the International Yacht Restoration School branch in Bristol, RI on Friday, August 29, 2014. Since he doesn’t have a father, I elected to attend. The graduation ceremony was at ten in the morning, so I flew down after lunch on Thursday, the day before, just to be sure I’d be there in time. It looked like the best place to meet up with my cousins Gail and Susan was the Cranland Airport in Hanson, as I would be staying overnight with Susan and her husband in Pembroke.

I was concerned about the wind bouncing me around, since it was 16 mph, gusting to 22 on the ground, but once I got airborne it smoothed right out. The most direct route was down the coast after skirting Portland, and cutting across Boston Harbor. The circulation from hurricane Cristobal out in the Gulf Stream gave me a tail wind, and I got down there in two hours flat.

Friday morning my three cousins and I drove down to Bristol for the 10am ceremony, then wandered around down town Newport for two hours before driving back. I was tired of riding by then, so I stayed over for another night, knowing that the wind would shift around from the south on Saturday. I got off the ground at 7am Saturday morning, and flew back up the coast to Rockland for a second breakfast at the Knox County Flying Club. Life is good!

Before departing Rockland I added a quart of oil to my engine. In my pancake induced stupor, I neglected to fasten the oil filler cap. I was back in Norridgewock by noon, but I had a mess to clean up. Just the same, it was a delightful flight.