Transfer Day

Transfer Day, originally uploaded by captainjay.

The 31st of March is recognized every year as "Transfer Day" in the United States Virgin Islands. This day commemorates an event that occurred over eight decades ago, when the Danish West Indies were formally ceded to the United States by Denmark; thus, becoming the U.S. Virgin Islands, in exchange for twenty-five million dollars. The United States' interest in the Virgin Islands was primarily for their strategic location, while any economic benefits were secondary. The islands represented a much needed foothold in the Caribbean for the American navy, and later were looked toward as a base to guard the Panama Canal. American negotiations with the Danish government can be characterized as ones of strategic diplomacy. All offers of proposed purchase came on the heels of American military conflicts.

Picture and information taken from www.dkconsulateusvi.com/TRANSFER/transfer.html

And NO, before you ask, this is not a UVI holiday. But I think it is a holiday for schools and government offices because there was no traffic coming into work this morning lol. UVI doesn't take all the holidays that the gov offices take since we get the two weeks off between Christmas and New Years, which is a much better option :-)

So anyways, Happy Transfer Day USVI !!!

Here is a Flickr slide show of a bunch of Beach Pictures from the last few years enjoy.

Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home, originally uploaded by captainjay.

After a crazy travel ordeal, I finally made it home yesterday evening. Thanks to the fuel fire at the Miami airport Thursday, our flight was cancelled, rebooked for Saturday, then cancelled again. Jay got on the phone with American Airlines, and after lots of back and forth, got our flight rebooked thru Houston and Puerto Rico and got us home. It took more work at the airport to actually get the tickets, but we got it done. Thankgoodness. It was a long travel day and I was so thankful to be back in STT. We had a great training and conference, had lots of great food, experienced lots of what New Orleans had to offer, and really took advantage of our extra two days. But it sure feels good to be back home and enjoying my beautiful view again :-)

Still in NOLA

Still in NOLA, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Just wanted to check in and give you a little update. I'm still in New Orleans and having a great time. Today is our last day so I should be back in STT tomorrow evening. We were suppose to leave Thursday but when we got to the airport we heard about the fuel fire in Miami airport and they cancelled all flights to MIA. The wonderful customer service at American Airlines handed us a piece of paper with a 800 number, told us to exit the line and call the number to make the flight change. No one at the counter would help. The earliest they could get us out was Sat. So we scrambled and the office approved a two night stay at a hotel if my coworker and I would share a room, no problem. We were actually kind of excited about it because we really hadn't had a chance to see the area and play tourist since we were in training the whole time. So we're taking full advantage of this time to see and do as much as possible. It really helps that I have friends and family in the city so they've been feeding me info and coming to take us out on several occasions. I have lots of pics that I've been posting on FB. Havens posted much here since this is a blog about STT and Jay was suppose to keep the posts coming while I was away, which by the looks of things really hasn't happened lol. So maybe when I get back I'll do a little NOLA review post with a few more pics. Hopefully everything is back to normal at MIA tomorrow so that we can make it hope without any issues. :-)

Friday Beach Picture

Friday Beach Picture, originally uploaded by captainjay.

One that no one ever gets tired of Trunk Bay Overlook on St John. We took this one a few weeks ago.
Jay

Pie Whole Second Anniversary

Pie Whole Second Anniversary, originally uploaded by captainjay.

So the Pie Whole celebrated their second anniversary yesterday. We didn't make it but it looks like it was fun.
Jay

Friday Pic

Friday Pic, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Not a STT beach pic, but thought I'd share the view from my room in New Orleans. It was a very pretty sunset yesterday for our first day in the big easy. Today starts our two day pre-conference training. And then the conference starts on Sunday. I got to meet up with Jays brother and girlfriend last night and tonight meeting a friend from WV for dinner in the quarter. Our travel day was long but uneventful, thankfully. So just wanted to check in and let everyone know I made it safely and having a great time. :-)

Escaping the rock

Escaping the rock, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Happy St. Patricks Day! I'll be spending mine in New Orleans! Going on a work trip for the annual Sungard Summit and a preconference training. I have friends and family in the city so I have plans out just about every night. Should be a fun trip. Oh and yea lots of learning new skills too :-)

Friday Beach Picture

Friday Beach Picture, originally uploaded by captainjay.

This is one of Deb's shots from Buck Island in St Croix last week.

Clear skies

Clear skies, originally uploaded by captainjay.

The horizon has been extremely clear the last few days. The views have been awesome. You can see St. Croix to the south and Culebra and Puerto Rico to the west. Beautiful ;-)

Fishing and Catching

Jay got to go fishing yesterday, two days in a row! That's got to be a record for him lol This time they went east to Rams Head on St. John, then due south to the drop. Then just trolled west weaving back and forth along the drop. Finally at the end of the day, they got a couple bites. Nothing worth keeping but I'm sure it was more fun than catching nothing :-)

iPhone app Navionics

iPhone app Navionics, originally uploaded by captainjay.

We have a great app on the iPhone that we use when we're on the boat called Navionics. We don't have a gps or chart plotter on the boat but this app replaces the need for all that. Dont get me wrong, Jay would love to get an all in one gps, fish finder, chart plotter for the boat. But in the meantime, this app works great. It gives us our speed, heading, and gps location on the chart so we can see the depth. Only $20, not too bad. So if you have an iPhone 3GS or 4 and have a need for nav chart info, check out this app.

Fishin the drop

Fishin the drop, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Finally got out on the boat today. It's been awhile. We grabbed a friend and some fishing gear and headed due south to French Cap. STT started to get overcast and raining but out at French Cap it was full on sun. We went all the way out to the drop where the depth goes from 100 plus feet to over a thousand feet deep. We're hoping to catch something to take to Joes Beach Bar potluck tonight. Wish us luck
:-)

Friday Beach Pic

Friday Beach Pic, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Happy Friday! It's a great Friday for the ITS department at UVI. We are having our annual retreat on St. Croix. We are out boating on the Betty Ann hanging on Buck Island. What a beautiful day and a beautiful island :-)

Only in De Islands "White Toyota With Bullet Holes $3700 STX"

So while I was checking Craig's List here in he island this week I found this listing for  a Toyota for sale on St Croix. The add would be unbelievable if it weren't for the pictures. Good thing they are small bullet holes. Here is the actual description from the ad.

"The bullet holes are no big deal since they are only .22 caliber. There are 11 bullet holes. Inspection is good till Nov 2011, at which time it will need a new windshield. The two passenger windows are shot out. No AC. Automatic transmission, 184K miles. Located mid-island on St. Croix. Clear VI title. Runs good."