January 6, 2015 - Left the house for San Jose at 9:00. A beautiful day. Too bad I need to head home. Drive is fine. No real traffic. At the airport by
12:45. 15 minutes for departure
tax. Change to winter clothes in the
bathroom and check in. Off to the
business lounge. Nice to have a beer and
some food to relax.
Down to the boarding gate about 3:30. Sebastian (Liz Duncan's partner) is
there. He was supposed to leave on
Avianca in the morning but they were over booked. Good chance to visit.
On the plane and waiting to leave. So, the winds are too
strong for the normal takeoff. They need
to use a different runway and a steep climb over the mountains. Therefore they can't fly as heavy. So they either bump 25 passengers or carry
less fuel. As you an imaging, they opt
for ore passengers and less fuel. That
means we can't get to Toronto. Therefore
we are flying to Nassau in the Bahamas instead.
Apparently it is just a stop for fuel but will add an hour to the
flight. Plan is landing after
midnight. Guess we will see how it al
works out.
Should have known something was up when I checked flight
status online and it said AC1807 was destined for Nassau and a search of
flights SJO to YYZ said the were none scheduled.
A good start - they closed the door 10 minutes
early. But I think we just sat for 15
minutes going no where. Hmmm
5:08 takeoff into a 50 mph headwind. Usual runway. But just keep going straight and climbing
fast. Then a 270 right turn to give us a
chance to clear the mountains. Now really
rough. Flying towards a wall of cloud on
the east of the valley. Cleared the mountains and the clouds. Pretty smooth but just a sea of fluffy white
below. That was a new experience!
Oh, I did mention Sebastian is on the flight. He doesn't like flying. Would be great if we we're seated together
but I am on business and he couldn't upgrade as it is full. Hope he is
surviving.
Watched "In Bruges" an interesting film. Lisle would like it. Think it is on the media drive.
7:30 Costa Rica time.
8:30 Nassau/Toronto. Coming in
for landing in Nassau. Full moon is
beautiful over the island.
They have just spent 5 minutes trying to close he door.
Now just sitting. Windows are all dogged
up so can't see anything outside.
Captain just advise there is a malfunction with systems
in Toronto and they can't leave until fuel and weight is confirmed - hopefully
soon!
9:30 in Nassau.
Doors closed and pushing away.
Off the ground at 9:45. Maybe
land Toronto at 12:30.
Seems my iPad is messed up - the button doesn't work so
getting out of an app means rebooting the whole thing and staring over.
More wine please!!
Too much wine.
Need water!
There is this family - mom dad and two kids under 8.
Asked if we could switch rows so they could be back to back. Sure.
Part way through the flight the dad and son in row one switched with the
nice older couple in row two opposite.
Much commotion. The kid was
sleeping and not feeling well so everyone needed to move to make them all feel
better. Dunno!
Landed 12:37 - it is -10c
