Rolex Regatta

Here's a little video of the International Rolex Regatta that we checked out this past weekend. We forgot our camera so Shaunda took all the pics. The boats were beautiful, it was definitely a sight to see. The first part was taken from our balcony overlooking the Marriott Frenchman's Reef, the second part was from Secret Harbour.

Enjoy.

Mafolie Drivin - Part 1

We are going to do a series of driving videos from up on Mafolie Hill to downtown Charlotte Amalie. There are several ways to get down the hill and wanted to share them with everyone. We picked Sibs to be the starting point because it just seemed like the thing to do. The views are awesome, they have crazy switch backs, narrow one way sections and steep inclines.

The first video was too long to upload so I had to upload it to YouTube in order to get it to play.
Enjoy! Deb

Jay's Buddy

Jays Buddy, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Jay had a friend hanging out under his chair. I had to pull my feet up just to be on the safe side.

Secret Harbour

Secret Harbor, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Secret Harbour really is secret. We had a tough time finding it but we finally did. It's a really pretty beach. We came here to check out the sail boats participating in the International Rolex Regatta. You can barely see the boats in this picture but it really is a beautiful sight.

Cistern Photos

Due to popular demand here are a few shots of the cistern. This is one of the two access points to the main cistern. There are two basically equal sized tanks. There is a crossover pipe about four feet above the floor that keeps the tanks equalized at or above that level. Once the level drops below that level one tank is held in reserve to give you time to decide what to do if you run low.

Jay

Dancing Toby

Well Deb shot this yesterday evening and it was just to funny not to post. It really doesn't have anything to do with the islands but fun none the less.

Rainy Couple of Day's

Well more on the cistern. I had checked the level a couple of days ago to make sure we weren't using too much water. We have had scattered rain showers for the last few days and I checked it again this morning and we have gained about a foot of water over the area of the main cistern in a couple of days which means we can top off the pool again and still have enough water to get by. The cistern is basically 12 foot by 30 foot, split into two 12 foot by 15 foot tanks, so an extra foot of water works out to about 2700 gallons of water added to the already three feet deep or 8100 gallons that was already in the cistern. So if we gained a foot in the cistern, which is bigger than the pool, and we need to add about four inches to the pool we should still be in good shape. See all that math in school turns out to be use full after all. By the way I did have to Google it to get the formula its (lengthXwidthXheight)X7.5=Gallons, if measured in feet. I like the nice round numbers. I was going to take a picture of the inside of our cistern but I thought this one was much more impressive.

Jay

The Internet Connection is Working

We actually had it working on Saturday. We really don't know why it went out originally but I prolonged the outage by hooking it back up wrong after a hard reset that I did on the modem. We had shut it all down, unplugged it and reset it all. Then when I hooked it back up I reversed a few wires and that cost us a good 24 hours of outage before I was smart enough to check all of the connections.

Deb is working on a new driving video coming down the mountain from Sib's to the water front. She had hoped to have it today but it is two long and will have to be broken into two segments to fit on the server. The video soon come.
Jay

Easter Dinner

We had Easter dinner with some friends last night on the charter boat that they live on and manage. It is good to have a chef cook for you. Thanks Nita. Not to mention the spectacular sunset, see the previous iPhone post. We had a salad with a Ginger and Wasabi dressing, heart of palms, tangerines, crunchy chinese noodles and lettuce. The main course as you can see was grilled Tuna, with mixed veggies and rice and of course some Soy and Wasabi. The company and the food were great and the setting just doesn't get much better.

Jay

Sunset over Culebra

Sunset over Culebra, originally uploaded by captainjay.

We're hanging out with Captain Gary on charter Freedom just outside Crown Bay marina and the suset is just awesome!
Deb

Skin so Soft

Skin so Soft, originally uploaded by captainjay.

I got a shipment of Skin so Soft the other day from Shaunda's mom. She sent some for both me and Shaunda. (thank you!) Between the shower gel, lotion and spray oil I was hoping it would slow down the feeding frenzie that the mosquitoes seem to be having at my expense. I sat outside yesterday in between the rain showers and got eaten up. So today I'm going to try a bug patch I got at St. John Spice and the skin so soft to see if that keeps them away. I also ordered two electric fly swatters online yesterday. I'll get those little bastards one way or another!

BTW - our Internet connection is still down so I'm posting from the iPhone again. Hopefully it gets resolved soon.

Deb

Island Internet

Island Internet, originally uploaded by captainjay.

This is an iPhone post as the Innovative DSL has been out since yesterday afternoon. There should be four lights on this modem working. That is life on the rock.
Jay

More Big Surf

Deb and I went over to Peterborg Thursday evening and took some pictures and video of the high surf on the north shore.

Hull Bay waves

I've had some requests to show some waves from the north swells that are coming in. We haven't been out looking yet (hope to today after work), but Shaunda took some yesterday evening at Hull Bay. You can see in the second picture the "boatless" mooring balls. They took the boats out the day before yesterday in anticipation of the waves. Looks like they made a good call.

Deb

Well the car is much better now. I had the bearings installed yesterday by a local mechanic. The logistics of trying to do it myself just weren't viable. The whole wheel assembly had to be taken apart and then the new bearings had to be pressed in. Which would have ment renting a car and spending the better part of a day of running around the island and working on the car. The shop did a good job and charged a reasonable rate. I was actually referred to them by two different people.

Jay

Big Surf

Well the winds kicked up yesterday and the surf is going to be up today. So if you are a surfer this is good news. To just about everyone else it's bad news. We hope to get some pictures later of the surf. The one above is not of an actual wavehere. When we got up this morning there was already a cruise ship on port. My guess would be they came in early or overnighted to avoid the swells. Here is the weather advisory.

SAN JUAN AND VICINITY-NORTHEAST-NORTH CENTRAL-NORTHWEST- MAYAGUEZ AND VICINITY-CULEBRA-VIEQUES- ST. THOMAS/ST. JOHN/ADJACENT ISLANDS- 338 AM AST WED MAR 19 2008...HIGH SURF ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 PM AST FRIDAY... ...COASTAL FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON...A HIGH SURF ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 PM AST FRIDAY. A COASTAL FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON. A SECONDARY SURGE OF SWELLS OF 10 TO 12 FEET OR GREATER HAVE PASSED OUR NEAREST ATLANTIC BUOY AND ARE EXPECTED TO ARRIVE ALONG THE LOCAL COASTLINES IN THE PRE-DAWN HOURS. SWELL WILL INCREASE FURTHER OVERNIGHT WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...WHEN THE PEAK WAVE HEIGHTS ARE ANTICIPATED. LONG PERIOD SWELLS MOVING THROUGH THE LOCAL WATERS TYPICALLY PRODUCE BREAKING WAVES 2 TIMES THAT OF THE SWELL HEIGHT...DUE TO THE STEEP SLOPE OF THE OCEAN FLOOR. BREAKING WAVE HEIGHTS ALONG THE OUTER REEFS AND SHOALS OF THE LOCAL ATLANTIC COASTLINES ARE THEREFORE EXPECTED TO BUILD FROM 12 TO 20 FEET THIS MORNING...AND PEAK AT 20 TO 24 FEET LATE WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. THIS WILL CREATE A HIGH POTENTIAL FOR COASTAL FLOODING ALONG THE LOCAL BEACHES WITH NORTHWEST THROUGH NORTHEAST EXPOSURE...TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON. THIS MAY BECOME THE LARGEST WINTER SWELL EVENT IN THE PAST FEW YEARS. WAVE RUN-UP ALONG THE LOCAL BEACHES MAY REACH ELEVATIONS 2 TO 4 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL.HIGH SURF WARNINGS FOR BREAKING WAVES OF 20 FEET AND GREATER WILL LIKELY BE ISSUED LATER TODAY OR AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR COASTAL FLOODING AND BEACH EROSION WILL BE DURING TIMES OF HIGH TIDE.THE TIMES AND HEIGHTS OF THE HIGH TIDE TODAY FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS ARE:SAN JUAN HARBOR: 7:38 AM AT 1.4 FEET AND 7:34 PM AT 1.2 FEET.MAGENS BAY ST THOMAS: 7:50 AM AT 0.9 FEET AN 6:56 PM AT 0.5 FEET.A COASTAL FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE FOR COASTAL FLOODING...CAUSING INUNDATION OF COASTAL ROADS...LOW LYING AREAS... AND BEACH EROSION. RESIDENTS AND LOCAL OFFICIALS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE PROTECTIVE ACTIONS IN CASE COASTAL FLOODING OCCURS OR WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. THIS SITUATION WILL BE CLOSELY MONITORED.

Wheel Bearings and Fast Priority Mail

Well Brad & Kim mailed us the parts for the car last Wednesday, they showed up on Monday. So that's five days via priority mail. That has to be some kind of record. So we will try to get that buttoned up and taken care of. It will be nice to have a car that doesn't sound like the wheels are falling off when you apply the brakes or make a sharp turn. As for the cost and savings, the wheel bearings would have been $87 each at NAPA here. My cost for them in the states were $57 each. The hubs that we needed weren't even available here without going to the Toyota dealer and we still would have had to order them. My guess would be that we got them faster and about 30% cheaper via the mail. Total shipping cost of two hubs, two bearings, two oil seals and some odds and ends was $30. Not too bad.

Jay

Happy St. Patty Day

Here's our crazy friends back home in WV attending the Summersville St. Patrick's day parade. Looks like everyone was having a good time.

Forum Group Photo

We had a good turnout at this Sunday's Bearch Bar Forum gathering. A good time was had by all. The forum is a great group of people and it's fun when you can finally put a face to name and meet who you've been communicating with. (http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=1)

Deb

Beach Bar Again

Beach Bar Again, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Here we go again. It's a large crowd.
Jay

Coral Bay

Coral Bay, originally uploaded by captainjay.

We have been at Maho Beach with the RickG gang all day. Now we are in Coral Bay having a pre-beach bar cocktail.
Jay

St. John Soon Come

St. John Soon Come, originally uploaded by captainjay.

We're headed to St. John today for some beach time and forum gathering. Jay has to work a half day. So Shaunda and I are going over early to meet up with RickG, Christine and the girls at Maho Bay. Jay will catch up, or at least try to, when he gets off work. Stay tuned for more St. John updates......

Bowline

Bowline, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Jay had homework when he got home last night. He had to master the
bowline knot. I think he's got it!

Visitor

We had a visitor yesterday when we got home from work hanging out on our stairs. I think he was fine with us, but sure did not care for Toby. We got a picture while he was under the stairs but when Toby got a little too close he took off flying down the stairs and across the pool deck and into the bushes. He was only about 6" away from Shaunda's feet when he went flying by and the both of us were screaming like school girls. It was too funny! He was at least 2 1/2 feet long, if not longer. I've seen them in the trees sunning on the property, but never this close.

Deb

RickG and the family

RickG and the family, originally uploaded by captainjay.

We met RickG and his family from the Virgin Islands Online forum (http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=1) for dinner tonight at Wikked in Yaught Haven. They are headed to St. John for a week of fun in the sun. Left to right: Lizzy, Ana, Rick and Christine.

Care Packages from the Mainland

Yesterday we received two care packages. It was like a mini Christmas. The first one came from a friend at home who sent me lots of hair care products. She gave me a new "do" a few weeks ago when she was here vacationing on St. John. And of course I can't fix it the way she did, so she sent some products that may help me get a little closer to the way it should look. It probably won't but it was still fun getting all the stuff. I get to try them out today, so I'll let you know how that works out.

The second package came from another friend, the homeowner of the house we're living in. She sent some household goods (sheets, candle, decorative cups, etc) and some goodies for our new furry friend downstairs, Toby.

So, long story short, care packages are really fun to receive. (hint, hint) :-)

Deb

Car Parts

Well thanks to Brad and Kim the new bearings and hubs for the Celica are in a Priority Mail Package some place between here and there. It just turnded out to be quicker and cheaper to buy them in the states and have them shipped than it was to order them locally. It's just one of those little things that you get used to here in the islands.

Jay

Busy Busy

Well I went to Home Depot yesterday on my day off to get some stuff and look around. I was impressed with the availability of materials. It is pretty much the same inventory as a stateside Home Depot. I am numb to prices so I am sure there are some variations as to stateside prices but it wasn't a huge difference on most things. The cash registers were of course a disaster. They had one girl trying to run one of those four register check yourself out stations. Not a good idea any place on the planet. Half of the items wouldn't scan which of course required her to come an d enter them manually then there was the bulk wire has to be entered manually. Then there were the items that didn't weigh the correct amount when placed in the bag they had to be overridden manually and the alarm at the door that goes off constantly as the little RF tags on expensive items weren't being properly deactivated by the customers playing cashiers.

On a brighter note I did procure enough stuff to fix the timer for the pool pump.

Jay

Wal-Mart Update

Well here is the skinny on the Wal-Mart Order. The order was shipped on 2/18, it was received by our mail service on 3/6. It only took 6 days to get to Puerto Rico, but it took 11 days to get from Puerto Rico to STT. Seventeen days for a package that would have only taken 7-8 days via priority mail. So the long and the short is if you have time to wait, it is a reasonable way, by island standards to order something. But true to large corporate mentality their chosen method of using FedEx to get it to the local post office, or in our case the regional center in Puerto Rico isn't necessarily the most efficient means of shipping but there is no flexibility in their plans. The shorts fit well and I wish I had ordered two pair of each.

Jay

Blue

Blue, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Isn't it neat how the Carib label matches the pool tile? Deb has
recovered from her shopping trama and I only had to work 1/2 day today
so it's a lazy pool day.
Jay

Shopping at Tutu

Shopping at Tutu, originally uploaded by captainjay.

I decided to try a shopping trip to Tutu mall by myself. Up to this point I've either been with Jay or Jay has done it himself. So I dropped Jay off at work and headed out. I get to Tutu uneventful but find out its not open until 10am and its only 8am. So I venture into the Kmart that is next door. After an hour and a half of shopping and a very full buggy the power goes off. Every one is standing around in the dark wondering what to do. After a little while the staff come around with flash lights and ask everyone to come to the front of the store. Then they inform us that they are having problems with the generator so we need to leave our buggy where it is and vacate the store. Great!! By this time the mall is open so I decided to walk around and check it out, all the time hoping that Kmart would get power restored so that I could go back and get the stuff that I worked for an hour and a half gathering. But no luck. So now I have to go to the other Kmart which is smaller and hope that I can at least get part of the stuff that I need. Fun, fun!

PART II

So I decided to drive by Kmart one more time before taking off to find the other Kmart and they were back open. Yea. Maybe this will work out after all. Well I was hoping the find the buggy where they told us to leave them, but of course they had returned all the items so I had to start over. I decided to only get about half the stuff I had originally had, just the necessities so that I could get out of there and salvage part of the day. I get to the checkout and it is CRAZY! Long, slow moving lines. It took 30 minutes to check out then another 15 to get out of the parking lot and another 30 to drive home. It only took 10 minutes to get there at 8:00 in the morning, so taking 30 to get home tells you what the traffic was like. But, that also includes being behind a water truck all the way up the hill going so slow that my speedometer wasn't even registering a speed. Then it starts raining, so there goes sitting by the pool to relax. What a crazy day. Welcome to the islands!

PART III

Much better now. It only rained a few minutes and the sun came back out, which is typical. Had time to chill out on the deck and sit by the pool. Time to pick up Jay from work and have a nice dinner outside on the deck. Should be a nice evening. All's well, that ends well.

Deb

Toby's Hard Day Continues

Toby's Hard Day Continues, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Hangin' With Toby

Since I have a much needed day off today I am hanging around the house with Toby who lives downstairs. Toby is usually in the house all day while the tenant downstairs is at work so he is having a large day with me. We are cleaning the pool and doing laundry waiting on noon to pop a beer. I promised not to do any thing major on this day off as it's been a crazy couple of weeks. I did go to the bank this morning and stop by to check about the wheel bearing repair on the car, this led to an honest mechanic that I had been referred to by two people. He told me to call my friends in the states and have the bearings and hubs shipped down to save some money. If I can find the energy I might make a quick repair on the timer for the pool pump. It needs to be set up to run from about 11 to 1 everyday so the solar heater can keep it up around 80 degrees so I can stand to swim in it. I have had the pump running for about an hour now with full sun and it is in the high seventies now. I might even go for swim in a little while if it warms up a little more.

Jay

Mosquito Net

The mosquito net we bought at Silk Greenery has worked out very nicely the past two nights. (I love that store by the way!) We couldn't hang it properly because there are two ceiling fans and so there isn't enough room. But, he "rigged" it for now and in his "spare" time is going to build a frame to hang it from. In the meantime, I love it!

Deb

Another Day at the Office

Another Day at the Office, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Just thought I would post Jays office since I've posted mine several times. We're sitting at Hook Line & Sinker (which is right next to Jays job) having a cocktail after a hard day of work and thought I should share.

More Rednecks In The Caribbean

For those of you that have seen my Rednecks In The Caribbean Video on you tube these are some of the players during last weeks sequel. This is what happens when you allow grown men to go grocery shopping in a place that has no open container law. No shopping carts were injured in the making of this picture.

Yesterday Was My Day Off

I am sorry I missed posting yesterday as it was my day off and the to do list had gotten out of control. Took Deb to work, went to Western Auto and got new brake pads, windshield wiper blades, Rain-X etc. Then it was off to Cost U Less to spend the GNP of a small Caribbean Country stocking up the new house. Then back to the house to put it all away. I got some bug spray for the yard and plants at Cost U Less and sprayed the perimeter of the house and decks with it. Then I cleaned the pool and did some laundry. This was followed by several hours of tearing apart the front end of the car only to find out that there is a bad wheel bearing on the right front. I greased it and put it back together so I could go get Deb at work. It is drivable but still will need some attention. Then Deb and I went on a quest for a Mosquito Net. We managed to find one and after a little work we have it temporarily installed it is functional but I will have to do some tweaking on the installation to make it pretty. So I guess no rest for the wicked. Maybe next week.

Jay

Local or Tourist

It is funny how the perspective can change. This morning around 4:00 am it started raining pretty hard. It actually rained pretty solid for a couple of hours which waters the plants, especially the Banana trees that Shelba had planted right before she left, and just about fills the cistern. Well I got up went outside to check out the gutters to make sure the maximum amount of water was going in the cistern. This definitely isn't a vacation ting. I felt more like Norman Paperman from "Don't Stop The Carnival". There is one gutter on the back porch that needs some maintenance so I will add that to the list. The extra water from this mornings rain will also stir up the chlorine in the cistern and hopefully kill the rest of the mosquitoes that were living there.

Deb is happy because with the cistern nearly full she will be able to do some more laundry, not to mention take showers and flush the commodes occasionally.

Wo Hoo

Don't feel to sorry for the three Cruise Ships full of people, that we can see from the porch, hangin out in the harbor this morning as by the time they get off the boats the cabbies will be ready for them rain or shine. Plus it's the Carribean and as Jimmy says "Were the sun shines through the pouring rain". In all likely hood it will blow out of here as quickly as it arrived and leave the sunshine when it goes.

Jay

360 Degree Tour

Check out the view from our new home with this 360 degree tour.
Deb

Sunrise Over Little Manhattan

Some of our friends on St. John call St. Thomas "Little Manhattan". It almost seems comical all things considered. That is until you go to the store on St. John because by their standards St. Thomas does have all the luxuries of home. Either way the sunrise was beautiful this morning and I needed a tag line to go with it so I could post this picture.
Jay

BTW - mosquito situation much better last night after dumping bleach in the cistern!

Pool Boy

Pool Boy, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Jay has a new occupation possibility!!

First Morning

First Morning, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Woke up this morning to a beautiful sunrise. The view is just awesome.There was a gentle breeze blowing. It was actually a little on the "chilly" side which I thought would be impossible. I wish I could say our first night in the house was just as great but I didn't sleep a wink. We were eaten alive by Mosquitoes! They kept buzzing our head and biting the crap out of us. I definitely see a mosquito net in our future. My face was bitten so bad my one eye is puffy and my forehead has huge knots on it!

Today I get to unpack the boxes and suitcases and find the right place to put everything. Our friends that have been on St. John leave today so they will be coming over to St. Thomas to hang out for the afternoon until time for their plane to leave. Then the new tenant that is moving in the apartment in our house arrives today so I'm going to meet her at the airport to show her how to get to the house.
Busy day. Jay has to work today so I'll be doing all this myself. I know you feel sorry for me :-) Well I better get busy.
Deb