How Things Get Fixed in De Islands

 

One of the things I learned early on here was if you want something fixed figure out how to do it yourself. There simply aren't a lot of skilled repair people of any kind on the rock.

So we have a very expensive convection combination microwave at the condo. It had stopped working a while back. So I did a little Googling, got out a screwdriver and a multi meter and dug in. Originally thought it was the magnetron tube, an expensive part. It turned out to be a safety switch on the door.

So where do you get parts in De Islands? I checked a few web sights and I was having trouble finding anyone to ship here. Believe it or not Sears parts express ships here. It's a little tricky as the VI isn't in their drop down list but their chat feature or a good old phone call will get it done. So thirty dollars for parts, another thirty for shipping. The one glitch in their system is they consider the VI international shipping, UPS only. That makes it quick just not inexpensive. So the microwave works now for a lot less than the $1100.00 that Home Depot wants for a new one.
Jay

Friday beach pic

Friday beach pic, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Well, thankfully, TS Isaac ended up being a nothing storm. We had some 20-30 mph winds with some 40 mph gusts and some rain, but that was it. WAPA was out from Wed night around 8pm until noon the next day because a pole went down in Mandahl and took out just our area of Mahogany, it figures. But the Honda did a great job. Just wish I could have ran it overnight so that I had a fan. It was hot as heck with the doors closed due to the impending wind and rain, so we had no air flow at all. But overall, everything is fine, some lingering rains and light wind and grey skies. Hopefully FL and AL fair as well as we did. But it's not looking very good at the moment.

The pic was taken by our friend Ann. Great shot, had to borrow it :-)

Red Skies This >orning

 

 

So last night was hot and sticky with some heavy rain and winds gusting into the thirty plus mile per hour range. It doesn't look like much damage from here. I will check the boat when I get back to French Town for work but I had it lashed down pretty goood. We haven't had power since the first heavy rain came through last night around 8:00 pm but the Honda is keeping the fridge cool so everything will be alright. Hopefully WAPA will dry out what ever got wet last night and get the power back on. This one has left us alone. I think god has other plans for Isaac, thinking he might drop a message on the Republican National Convention in Tampa Bay next week. Just saying.

 

Jay



Batten down the hatches

Batten down the hatches, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Boats are secured, Frenchie boats are pulled out of the water, everything pulled off the deck at the condo, gas for the generator, food, water, cash, batteries, Jenny food in the freezer, whew. Hopefully this thing just passes by without incident. But in the meantime, having a pre-storm party at Betsy's ;-)

Here we go

Well, it's that time of the year and we have our first storm coming our way. Right now it's just a tropical depression, but soon it will be TS Isaac. Everyone is keeping a close eye on things, but hopefully it will go south of here and just pass on by. We went shopping last weekend and got all of our supplies (water, batteries, food, gas for the grill, etc.). The only thing left is fresh gas for the generator, which we plan to get tonight. We'll keep you posted on how things are going, but all is well for now.

Here are a few weather sites that we check often this time of year:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
http://www.stormcarib.com/
http://www.crownweather.com/?page_id=4557

Here are the links for our weather station at the condo:
http://www.weatherlink.com/user/mahoganyrun/
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=00801&sp=MD8627

Chili cookoff on Sunday

Chili cookoff on Sunday, originally uploaded by captainjay.

TGIF! It's the weekend! And it's time for the annual Texas Society Chili Cookoff! It's always a fun event, even with the crazy weather we usually have that particular weekend lol. But this year is looking pretty good, so keep your fingers crossed. I've heard thru the coconut telegraph that this year has more entries than ever before so it's going to be a tough competition, which means great eatin' for us! All the proceeds go to charity so come with your dollars to buy tickets for lots of chili and beer :-). This year since the forecast is decent, we are going to bring the boat and anchor right off the beach. Makes for a cooler afternoon after eating hot chili in the sun on a beach with no breeze :-)

If you're on island come by Brewers Bay beach (UVI) on Sunday from noon to 6 pm. Fun times!!

Btw- pic is from last year chili cookoff when we had TS Irene come thru. Say goodnight Irene!

SeaTow Vessel Removal

SeaTow Virgin Islands has been working hard to remove all the damaged, sunk, abandoned boats left in the wake of Hurricane Earl. It took awhile to get the funding between FEMA and the local government, but it's finally happening. They are pulling up all the boats in the area and bringing them to Water Island, where they are cutting up and then removing the debris. They have been posting all the pics to their Facebook page, but the page is open to the public (you don't have to be a Facebook user to access the pics) so check them out. It's pretty wild.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.488178241211497.126628.133207160041942&type=1