Friday, April 29, 2011

Carnival 2011 Schedule

Friday beach pic


Friday beach pic, originally uploaded by captainjay.

TGIF! Been a long week of working and recovery from the last two weekends! Lol Jay has to work this weekend so no more trips planned for now. We have friends from WV arriving next Friday so we'll be out and about with them. We also have forum friends arriving Monday so we'll be heading over to STJ to hang out with them a couple of days so it should be a fun week.

Carnival is about ready to start. It's later than usual. It usually is the last week of April, but because that was easter weekend, they didn't want the craziness of Carnival going on during their Easter celebrations. So, carnival village opens tonight, they've already had events for carnival queen, junior calypso, cultural night, etc. But tonight starts the big events and they'll be something every night from tonight until the end, May 7th.

They've had the road between the police station/federal building and the parking lot where the village is closed all week while they've been setting up the village which causes some traffic madness. Since the cops can't park their vehicles in the lot, then they park them in the road. Makes perfect sense, right? Lol

Have a great weekend and if you're on island, have a great time at Carnival!

The pic above is at Cooper Island. One of our stops last weekend :-)

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter


Happy Easter, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Deb and I are still out and about on the boat. We went over to Trellis Bay this morning for breakfast, after staying at Marina Cay last night. We have been over at Cooper Island Beach Club for several hours. We swam some, I actually cleaned barnacles off of the boat, and just generally hung out. Just finished up a great lunch and getting ready to start back towards St Thomas.
Jay

Saturday, April 23, 2011

That Kind of Day


That Kind of Day, originally uploaded by captainjay.

So I got a rare weekend off in season, the boats running well, and the weather is just plain magical. Even by our standards. You can see 40 miles above water and close to a hundred feet under water. So we loaded up the boat today, and took off. We cleared BVI customs at the West End of Tortola, had lunch at Pusser's, love their wings. Then we headed up the Sir Francis Drake Channel. Seas haven't been over a foot anywhere towed the tender and still made 20 plus mph. We are at Marina Cay having a great dinner. Deb had a poached lobster salad, I had a Bacon Blu Cheese salad wedge and a ridiculously large rack of lamb, and as you can see the ice cream Sunday was a hit for dessert. For those of you worried about our addiction to the internet we did eat it prior to our posting.
As I ramble I have to share a story. Several years ago, more than I care to admit. Deb and I were on a Sea Plane flying from Miami to Bimini, in the Bahamas to meet a friend of ours, as we were approaching Bimini Deb looked out the window at the water and the islands and said "we do the coolest shit" sorry for the language. Well over the years this has becomes catch phrase for us. We set that bar pretty high early on, today was a "we do the coolest shit" kinda day.

Time on the Water


Time on the Water, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Jay got another weekend off! Yea! So we're headed out on the boat and we brought stuff to stay the night. So the plan is to head to Sopers Hole, check in to customs, then just see what feels right from there. It's another beautiful, clear day with calm water. So it should be a good time. Stay tuned! :-)

Friday, April 22, 2011

Friday Beach Pic


Friday Beach Pic, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Happy Easter weekend! This is a big holiday weekend here in the VI. Most gov offices are closed Thursday thru Monday. UVI is just closed Friday thru Sunday, but still lovin' the three day weekend. A lot of families go camping this weekend so if you're on island you'll probably see tents set up on several beaches. Also, today until 4pm there is no alcohol sales in bars. I think it's the only day of the year they can't sell. There is lots of confusion over this law. It's supposed to be just distilled spirits so beer and wine should be able to be sold. But bar owners don't want to take a chance so they just don't sell anything. Plus I read that the law had actually been repealed so it isn't even a valid law but it's still enforced. Craziness.

Jay is working so I got some shopping done and just hanging at the house today. It's absolutely beautiful out. I probably should be sitting on a beach somewhere but I love the view from our house so I like hanging here with my music and comforts of home. ;-)

Have a happy Easter weekend!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

WAPA to be In Charge of Broadband in De Islands.

No this is not an April Fools joke. It looks more like a bad headline from a Charlie Sheen press release. It is the equivalent of Charlie Sheen to be the new director of Child Welfare and Planned Parenthood for the state of California.
 WAPA, the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, arguably the worst run public utility company on the planet is being given 70 million in federal funds and another 42.5 million in bond funds to build a new broadband system in de Islands. Anyone that thinks this will be an efficient and effective use of public funds is crazy. These guys can't keep the lights on, let alone build a fiber optic system and maintain it. I can hardly wait for the LEAC adjustment because of the new Diesel Fuel Powered switching stations for telecommunications. Not I don't think they really exist but give WAPA a few months and they can have some made. Keep in mind in this day and age we still burn Diesel at WAPA to make power and have no clear plans on how to transition away from this besides a few good will solar panels at the airport. Second with that much money floating around the odds of corruption, bribes, company cars, lunch meetings, wasted trips to god knows were for "training", and "research" etc. is just insane. As much as I think that we need this infrastructure, picking WAPA for this task just boggles the mind. The only way I would think this was a good idea would be if they were going to set the money aside and sell the whole damn waste of time and money to private utility company. That just won't happen because of all the good old boys on the payroll.
Jay

Here is a link to the Newspaper Article.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Willie T



Willie T

We adventured to the BVI for a second day but this time went to Wille T at Norman Island. It was a friends birthday "weekend" so we thought it would be fun to celebrate Willie T style. The ride to Soper's hole in Tortola was a little bumpy but not too bad. I was filling out paperwork for most of the ride so Jay took it a little easy on me :-)

After visiting customs we headed out to the Sir Francis Drake Channel for the short ride over to Norman Island. It was also a little rough but as we got closer to shore it smoothed out and zoomed in for a fun ride.

It was pretty quiet at the T so we were able to tie up, get lunch and first round of birthday drinks pretty quickly. Then the party people showed up and it was a whole different atmosphere. Music, ski shots, jumpers, lots of entertainment. Lol so it made for a fun day :-)

Willie T

Willie T

Willie T

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Jost for a day

Jost for a day

Jay has the weekend off so we ran over to Jost Van Dyke in the BVI for the day. We really love going over there. It just seems that the sky is bluer, the water is clearer and the sand is whiter. And it's always sunny. :-)

It was pretty busy which Saturday's usually are. Once some of the day boats left then it got nice and quiet. We always go to Gertrude's for lunch for her chicken roti. Best I've ever tasted and they're huge. Jay and I split one. Then down to Soggy Dollar for a Painkiller or Sunshine from Mic.

The only downside is all the paperwork you have to fill out for customs just to go over for the day. It's crazy. I wish they had some kind of annual pass. I would pay money for it if that's what the BVI gov wants. I just want to get around all the forms. The US customs makes it easy for us to check back in using our local boater option card. Why can't the BVI have something similar? Oh well, we're still going to go regardless so you just fill the forms out before you go and then forget about it :-)

Jost

Jost

Friday, April 15, 2011

Friday Beach Pic


Friday Beach Pic, originally uploaded by captainjay.

TGIF! Sorry for the late post. Crazy work day. Soooo glad it's Friday. Jay is actually off this weekend so we're taking off for Jost in the morning. Haven't been there in awhile so I'm excited. We're hoping to meet up with some forum people that are out sailing. It's been raining like crazy which the island needed but hopefully it's done so that we have a dry weekend. The sea forecast looks good so at least we'll have smooth "sailing" :-)

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

5.1 Earthquake


Well last night there were several earthquakes in the VI region. The first one was a 5.1 around 12:30 am. It woke me up and it lasted quite a bit of time. But no damage, just some rumbling and shaking. I went back to sleep but apparently there were several more throughout the night. Didn't feel those. Just wanted to let you know all is well. :-)

You can read more about it here.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Morning commute


Morning commute, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Good morning! I was stuck in traffic this morning coming down the hill but with a view like this how could you care :-)

Jay is off today so I was able to leave the house a little later since I didn't have to drop him off at 7:30. But apparently when you leave later the traffic backs up all the way up the hill. There is a lady that sells newspapers along side the road for $1 a piece and that's what causes most of the backup. Not sure why shes allowed to do that or who you would even complain to to make her stop. So I guess you just need to leave a little earlier and enjoy the view :-)

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Happy Saturday


Happy Saturday, originally uploaded by captainjay.

It's a beautiful day in the VI. Jay should be getting off work any moment so we'll be heading out on the boat for a little while. It feels like it's been forever since I was out on the water so I can't wait. He's off all day tomorrow so if the weather agrees, we'll hopefully be out all day tomorrow. Between my work trip, his work trip, and his crazy work schedule we haven't had much time off together so I'm really looking forward to this. We thought about running over to BVI and staying the night somewhere. We have some friends that have been out sailing all week and they're over on Jost Van Dyke today. But since we're getting such a late start we figured we'd just stay local and chill instead of trying to run like crazy to get over there. Maybe if we get a whole weekend off together we'll give it a try.

So it looks like water island here we come :-)

Friday, April 8, 2011

Friday beach pic


Friday beach pic, originally uploaded by captainjay.

TGIF! Not really a beach pic but it was a beautiful day yesterday so I thought I'd share. This is the view outside of the library where I work. Looking down on Brewers Bay. Unfortunately I was in meetings all day and couldn't enjoy the weather but I get to enjoy the view as I'm coming and going.

Jay is supposed to get some time off this weekend so we're hoping to get out on the boat. We haven't had a day off together in over a month between my trip and then his trip and crazy schedule so I'm really looking forward to it. :-)

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Busy Ship day


Busy Ship day, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Yesterday was a very busy ship day. There were four ships in the harbor (three on the dock and one anchored) plus two in Crown Bay. Traffic was a little crazy on the way home but I'm sure it was a lot crazy earlier in the day. Mondays don't usually have that many ships in. Normally Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the busy days but today there is only one ship in. So I guess they're moving things around a little. But either way it looks like the St. Thomas cruise ship industry is still going strong.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Zumba Saturdays


Zumba Saturdays, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Every Saturday at 10 am at Yacht Haven Grande, you can catch a free Zumba class! It's open to everyone, sponsored by Yacht Haven, free water, shade, and lots and lots of fun. All the local Zumba instructors all take turns leading songs so you get a little taste of all the different styles and music. Today I walked from Frenchtown to YHG, did Zumba for an hour, then walked back. Talk about a work out! It was great! :-)

Friday, April 1, 2011

Friday Beach Pic


Friday Beach Pic, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Happy Friday! Headed over to Puerto Rico today to see a Periodontist that my dentist on St. Thomas recommended. He doesn't care for the one on St. Thomas so he sent me over to PR. I'm still having issues with my crown so hopefully this guy can do something to fix it once and for all. So wish me luck :-)

Have a great weekend!

Btw - the pic is north side of Puerto Rico taken from the flight over.

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