Off the Rock

Well, we're taking off today to make our trip back home to visit friends and family. The weather forecast doesn't look as bad as it could have been. It's been in the 30's with wind and flurries, so 50's and 60's for the next 10 days is not that bad. It will still feel cold after being in 70's, 80's and 90's for the past year!

Our laptop is on the fritz again; the video card is going out again! And our external harddrive that contains our backup, pictures and music is also on the fritz. So it looks like we are going to be making a pc purchase while we're back in the states. We are also going to buy a voltage regulator because the voltage is low in the house (not sure if its just the house or island wide) and between that and temperature/moister, it could be one of many reasons why our electronics are freaking out. And god knows we can't be without a computer! Yikes!

So the posts for the next week will most likely be about our crazy boating friends in WV, cold weather and family pre-christmas pics, so watch out!

Decorating for Christmas

Decorating for Christmas, originally uploaded by captainjay.

I helped a friend decorate her boat yesterday for the annual lighted boat parade. Friends in WV were also decorating their boat at the sane time. They were supposed to send me some pics so we could compare!! I think we had a little bit better weather. :-)

The parade is December 19th in dowtown Charlotte Amalie harbor. Its in conjunction with Miracle on Main Street which is a festive Christmas Celebration. There will be music, street performers, late hours for shops and even a Santa Claus!!

Jim's Hiking Adventure

Well, before Jim left Friday he made me a dvd of all his pics he took while hiking on St. John. Since I will probably never talk Jay into going hiking, I have to experience it through Jim's pics. :-) I don't know where all of the pics where taken. Since Jim is gone, he can't tell me. I recognize some of the places...petroglyphs, Maho, etc. If you want to share where the others were taken, please be my guests.

Enjoy!

Deb

Fun at Virgin Gordon

Fun at Virgin Gordon, originally uploaded by captainjay.

We went to Virgin Gorda today to the Baths with Limnos. We had a great time. (Even though Jay went kicking and screaming at first! :-) Cali was a great bartender and first mate. After the Baths, we went snorkling at the caves at Norman Island. They take really good care of you, food, open bar, good music........Lots of fun had by all!!

Iggies Bar & Grill

Iggies Bar & Grill, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Stopped at Iggies Beach Bar & Grill for lunch while we were out looking at condos. I love it. We will definitely be back. Jay had a great burger and I had an excellent pulled pork made with their homemade sauce (made with Cruzan rum!) Yum!

Forum Friends

Well, we went over to St. John yesterday after work to meet some forum friends at the Beach Bar. We had a great time, I love meeting new people. Good food, good drinks, good atmosphere and good friends, doesn't get any better than that.

BTW - I posted this last night while we were there but somehow it disappeared. I'm sure what I said was much funier......I guess the blog gremlins ate it.

Deb

Well It Was A Good Day

We had a great time on the boat today. Deb, myself and Bill and Carol rented a boat and went to Jost, Sandy Spit, and White Bay. On the way over we cut between Lovango and Congo to show the guests a little different scenery. Then we ran by Christmas Cove at Great St James on the way back, after clearing in at Cruz Bay, St John.

Jay

Christmas Cove

Christmas Cove, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Well we checked back into customs on St. John and still had some time so we are just trolling around Christmas cove at Great St. James until time to take the boat back. The weather turned out to be a beautiful day. I hate for it to end.

Soggy Dollar

Soggy Dollar, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Soggy Dollar here we come.....

Foxys

Foxys, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Stopped at Foxys after checking into customs. We were the first customers of the day. Foxy was there telling jokes, pretty funny. Then it was off to Sandy Spit for a little swim. It rained a little but its clearing up now. Next, Soggy Dollar!!!!!

A Day on the water

A Day on the water, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Getting ready to pick up our boat with Nauti Nymph. Its just us and Bill and Carole. Robbie and Lawanna decided to hang at the house :-( The weather looks much better today. There is still a chance of rain but that's pretty much the forecast everyday. We plan on hitting Sandy Spit and Sandy Cay. Then over to Jost Van Dyke. Stay tuned for more .......

Hangin' at Magen Bay

Hangin' at Magen Bay, originally uploaded by captainjay.

We are hangin' out at Magen's Bay with Bill and Carole with a batch of Painkillers. Yummy!! Robbie and Lawanna don't get in until 9:00pm tonight. Robbie emailed this morning and told us not to get too far ahead of them. Because they don't want to be the only sober ones at the party. Sorry about your luck!! :-)

Lazy Sunday

Well, today ended up being a lazy Sunday. We were going to try and hit Magen's Bay, but Jay got out of work a little later than he originally thought. So, we just hung at the house since we're still recuperating from last week. :-) Besides, it kinda rained on and off so it probably wouldn't have been a good beach day.

I was reading all these great trip reports on the forum that we visit, so I got a wild hair and decided to do a trip report for Angie and Patti's vacation. The forum has mostly St. John reports, so when I read a St. Thomas report on there, I decided to add one.

I did the first five days so far, here are the links to the forum posts:
Day 1 - arrival
Day 2 - Charlotte Amalie
Day 3 - Doubloon
Day 4 - St. John
Day 5 - Paradise Point

Angie and Patti's Big Adventure

The internet connection is back (yea!), so here is a video of Angie and Patti on their Parasail adventure. It was pretty awesome. Jay and I went along for the ride so that we could take pictures and video. The screaming you hear in the background is Patti, who is (or was) afraid of heights and it was her idea to go Parasailing! The talking you here is mainly Jay and I, plus there was another couple on the boat with us. They went through the Adventure Center at the Mariott, so we were picked up at the dock at the Mariott. The video is about 4 min long but they were up in the air a good 15 min or so.

St. John Video

Here is a link to an awesome video that a forum member put together. It shows all the aspects of the island beauty (plants, wild life, scenic overviews, etc.) Thanks for sharing Dave!

Here's the forum post:
It's a 10 minute long complilation of short video's I just took on STJ. *For best results, MAKE SURE YOU CLICK TO WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY, to do that, it's found under "VIEWS" in the lower right corner of the video. Also let whole whole thing load so you can play it uninterupted. I hope you can sit through it, I got some cool shots! Enjoy! Dave

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohNanD1wVdI

Let's go Sailing

Today we are going out with Larry and Betty of Forever Young. Jay and I both have the day off, so we thought we would take Angie and Patti sailing. Larry and Betty are awesome so we should have an awesome day!

Here is a video we did the last time we sailed with Forever Young.

Dusky Sunday

We made it to the Beach Bar after a very full day on St. John. We went to Skinny Legs for lunch then to Trunk Bay for a snooze and a shower. We're waiting to meet up with some forum people, so that will be fun.

First stop Maho

We are on St. John for the day. We rented a jeep from Varlack Ventures. They were super nice to deal with.. Definitely recommend them. We stopped at JJs for a little breakfast and then drove the north shore road and stopped at all the obligatory scenic overlooks and then decided to stop at Maho. More to come!!

Captain Dave

Well we had an awesome day with Doubloon and Captain Dave got us back safely without incident... Well we promised we wouldn't tell. :-) Great day, awesome staff, definitely recommend it!

Doubloon

Doubloon, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Well we're getting ready to go out on a little cruise with Doubloon. Looks like a really cool boat. Angie and Patti met a couple of the guys that work on the boat and they told them to come on down. :-)