[exleardriver]

Originally Posted by sdfcvoh

Not a controller, but I'm guessing that the ATC dude was having a bad shift - and his chastising was him being concerned about your safety, too. Of course he wants to be an integral part of your journey, just as we pilots always want to be PIC landing and taking off.

There are always those three things we've been taught to keep in my mind when it comes to a situation like yours: 1.Aviate, 2.Navigate, 3.Communicate. Sounds like you did those, and maintained a safe environment because of it. If ATC had a further problem with it, I would have said, "Sorry about the delay, but I felt it was safer to stay on CTAF because of pattern traffic."

agreed. it may be your first 'chastising' from a controller,but won't be your last. we all get them from time to time, even when not at fault. you took prudent action in my opinion as well. i wouldn't worry more about it. the controller's situational awareness simply didn't match yours in this case.