So much stuff

Erin and I headed to KORL around 830 AM; Logan had left around 530 for work. We tried to eat $40 worth of cookies and coffee (the approximate price difference in fuel versus self serve) before we headed out to get Dan in West Palm. Three hours later we landed at KLNA, where we were met by a whole group of Dan's family. Once again we grabbed some fuel, Dan's gear, and loaded up. The Mooney is not a big plane; and I have to say, Dan was a great sport about getting thrown in the back amongst all the gear. He was practically buried back there. Quite amazing, considering he had never been in such a small plane before. Most people would have felt a bit claustrophobic, I think. In fact I wasn't sure we were going to be able to fit everything in, but once we did, Dan says, 'You know, I think we could fit even more in here...' Of course all you pilots know about something called Weight and Balance, right? Well, we had both. A ton of weight, and proper balance.

Off to KEYW, Key West. We ran in to moderate IMC (clouds and precip) on our way, which just cleared prior to landing. Well, at least enough to make a visual landing. It was still raining a bit when we pulled in to grab some more fuel (because of our weight I elected to fly with less than full tanks, necessitating more frequent stops). From KEYW to Cozumel is only 3 hours usually, but today I had a headwind, making our flight almost 3.5, so I wanted to stop at the closest airport to fuel up. And, with the weight I was carrying, I was expecting to burn 10 gallons per hour versus the usual 8.8 with just me.
We took off from KEYW two minutes before they shut down the airport because of weather. A local thunderstorm made its way right on top of us. within minutes we were in moderate instrument conditions, and it started to get bumpy. That's when the cockpit got pretty quiet. For the next hour plus, we were bouncing around pretty good in total whiteout conditions with moderate to heavy precip. Before the rain I warned Erin, who was in the right sit, that the Red Sled isn't exactly watertight. Sure enough, within 15 minutes, water was bubbling in through the front windshield. I swear you'd think they could seal a windshield better than that.
After about 50 minutes we were still in the soup. I was getting a little tired of the lousy ride, and it was frustrating because I could see the sun trying to peek through the clouds; we were at 8000 feet but I just couldn't get to 10,000 with our weight, and anyway with the headwind I didn't want to climb any further. since XM Weather doesn't work outside the US, I had no weather so I called flight services and asked them what they saw, and by that time they said I was almost out of the soup. Sure enough, 10 minutes later and we were clear.
Hats off to Dan and Erin. What kind of person gets in a small plane packed to the gills with spearing and fishing equipment, to go to a foreign country with a pilot whom he has never met (Erin) or flown with (Dan)? When they've never flown in a small plane before (both)? I think you see what we're dealing with here. They're not above throwing caution to the wind. Nevertheless I think they secretly were hoping/preying during the turbulence in IMC that this was not fated to be the last trip ever on this earth...
Course it wasn't. And the red sled did fine. We arrived at Cozumel three hours later without a hitch.

Over the Keys

Enroute, Cozumel

Cozumel Tower

Arrival, Cozumel