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New book set on St. John

It's still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or die.

Lyrics from As Time Goes By in Casablanca

Cover On St. John, the age old story is about a fight between between development and Caribbean simplicity.  Until the recession hit, development was winning and moving ahead.

The tussle between these forces is at the heart of a new book written by Chuck Ball.  He lived on the island from 2004 to 2007 and saw the boom and bust of the real estate and construction market.  He worked construction, helping to build eco-cabins at Maho and Concordia.

His book is Mingo's Cave. "The central theme of the story is the battle between over development and saving a pristine island environment," Ball explained.

One person has reviewed it on Amazon, giving it a five star rating. "Action, adventure and hidden treasure on a tropical island. Kind of 'Indiana Jones' meets 'Treasure Island'. Enjoyed learning more about the US Virgin Islands and another way of life. A Hollywood ending but that was ok..nice, entertaining read. "

Available on Amazon, it's both an e-book and an audio book.  You can download and listen to it on your iPod, iPad, Zune, PC, Mac and or/ read it on whichever device you prefer.  The price is $3.99.

To do Sunday: run, swim, bike

Race The 12th annual Love City Triathalon will step off Sunday, delayed a few weeks by the Hurricane Earl which brushed the island earlier this month.

The swim, bike, and run competition begins at 7 a.m. and is open to both individuals and two- or three-person relay teams.  The morning races start with a half-mile swim at Maho Bay, followed by a 14-mile bike route and then a four-mile run beginning with a trek up the stairs at the Anneberg ruins.

The race is sponsored by the Love City Landsharks.  Last year's competition drew 63 athletes.

Government to spread Net access to St. John

Sensor1

Soon come, maybe.

The Virgin Islands have scored a quartet of federal grants, totaling $67.1 million, which offer the promise of low-cost Internet access throughout St. John and the other islands.

The money will be used to establish and upgrade 40 public computer centers, offer Net access to at least 700 new computer workstations, and several hundred workstations as part of a telework program for people to develop work-at-home businesses and jobs.

The bulk of the federal grants will go to designing and building a fiber optic network to provide what the Governor characterized as 'affordable broadband service' on the three islands.  Rep. Donna Christensen, who announced the grants, said, "The project will construct a 244-mile fiber network and utilize over 3,000 miles of existing fiber to offer speeds between 10 Mbps and 10 Gbps to anchor institutions and local Internet service providers."

Let's hope this happens.

  • Christensen news releases: here and here.

The Shark means free shots

The newest night spot in Cruz Bay is in an old place that's hosted at least three other bars in years past.


Castaways Castaways Tavern
and sports bar features lots of live music and dancing.  A frequent performer is Kenny Floyd, a recently-relocated entertainer whose own Web site says he is "armed with six strings of courage."  Fans of Floyd and Castaways have posted a number of videos of his performances there on You Tube.

Frequent appearances are also made by the Free Shot Shark.  A papier mache fish glides out of the wall during the evening and when he does – everybody gets a free shot.  Party time!     

The loud and dark watering hole is located across from Joe's Pizza in Cruz Bay.  For years it was a favorite of locals when it was the Back Yard, a favorite hangout for tourists as well as construction workers.  Then the space hosted the a short-lived branch of St. Thomas' Duffy's Love Shack.  And that was followed by Crazy Crackers, a restaurant and bar. which lasted about 18 months.  A couple of Cracker's former owners have partnered up for their own shot.

Future of Customs House in doubt?

There will be less boat traffic in the Creek in a few years. That's the small harbor in Cruz Bay where the U.S. Customs Office is. 

St. John Customs

(That's the Customs building in a photo that Dony31 posted at Flickr.)

The
VI government has decided to spend $1 million rum tax revenue to build a
new Customs facility at Red Hook, where the ferry dock is, too.

A new office would mean that folks on St. Thomas, taking day trips for snorkeling, sailing, or visiting the BVIs won't have to make a detour to St. John to clear Customs before returning to St. Thomas.

Gov. de Jongh signed a bill appropriating the money.

Now the question may be, Will the federal government close the Customs office on St. John? 

Several proposals for developing the Creek and the Cruz Bay
waterfront are being considered, at least two of which propose a marina
in the Creek.  Perhaps, the feds will decide it makes sense to close the
St. John clearance facility and use the new one on St. Thomas for
everybody – meaning day trippers and so forth from St. John would have
to stop at St. Thomas before returning to the smaller island.  That
would be a bummer.

Stay in a villa for a week … Free!

Bluetang A free week at a Catered To … Vacation Homes villa will be awarded in December to a lucky entrant in a contest sponsored by The St. John Treasure Map and Guide.

To enter, people use the guide to complete a treasure hunt by visiting various advertisers business, naturally.  When they do that, and solve a riddle, they become eligible to win.  Catered To is one of five villa companies which advertise on the Map. There was a drawing and they 'won.'  They also get a free ad on the guide next year.

Hey, play your cards right – and that free week for four might be at Blue Tang (a Catered To-managed villa).

Lameshur, Francis get new grills, tables

Picnicing at some Park beaches just got easier.


The Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park added new barbecue grills and picnic tables at Francis and Lameshur bays.  Francis got five grills and three tables; two grills and three tables were installed at Lameshur, according to the St. John Source

The tables were built by a St. Johnian Aubrey Walters.  Among other previous projects, he  also installed a gazebo project at Hillcrest Guest House in Cruz Bay.

Ferry turnstile move on hold

It worked. 

The St. John Chamber of Commerce's call for people to express opposition to the VI Port Authority's plan to install a turnstile at Red Hook (see below) has met with some success.

"Ken Hobson, Executive Director of VIPA, just called to let (us) know that the VIPA Board has decided to reassess the turnstile situation," said the Chamber's Kate Norfleet and Don Porter in an e-mail.

Hobson explained that  the ferry's ticket salespeople were reluctant to collect a (25 cent) fee for the Port Authority which would be earmarked for maintenance of the Red Hook terminal.  

The PA is going to go back to the ticket sellers to renegotiate with them, to eliminate the confusion of paying a ticket at one desk and then putting a coin in a turnstile for the Port Authority.

"The ticket sellers will most likely have to go before Public Service Commission for this to happen as the ticket price is controlled by PSC review and the perception that the ferry fee has increased illegally is of concern to the sellers," Porter and Norfleet explained.  (And you can bet that some ferry riders would take out their frustration on ticket sellers, occasionally." 

A pair of storms worth watching

Called "potentially dangerous" by WeatherUnderground's Dr. Jeff Masters, says Tropical Disturbance 92L "is in a dangerous location for development, and gives me the greatest concern of any Atlantic disturbance so far this year."  However the storm is well south of the islands and computer projections show it well south of the Leeward Islands and Cuba. But forecasting models say it'll bring heavy rains to the islands and Puerto Rico this weekend.

Igor Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Igor is moving west and is north of the islands.  "The models are pretty unanimous about developing Igor into a hurricane 3 – 5 days from now. Igor will track west to west-northwest over the next week, Masters said.  Odds favor the storm turning northwest without affecting land.

  • Jeff Masters' tropical storm update is here. (The map p;rojection is also from WeatherUnderground.)

Red Hook ferry turnstile plan advancing

The St. John chapter of the Chamber of Commerce  is trying to rouse opposition to the Port Authority's plans to install a turnstile at Red Hook. (Photo courtesy of the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority Museum."

Photo_turnstile1922The Authority intends to install turnstiles "along with coin machines requiring that anyone coming to St. John go through an even more arduous procedure by putting quarters into (them) … to pass through, in addition to purchasing ferry and luggage tickets."

Can they make it any more cumbersome and aggravating to get to St. John?, The Inquiring Iguana asks.

The Chamber unit is asking folks opposed to send a letter to the Governor urging him to stop the revolving gates.  The suggested message:

  1. They are a huge inconvenience and obstacle to boarding a ferry, particularly with luggage and packages. Locals and visitors deserve a better, more considerate treatment.
                                
  2. They will be hard to maintain, especially in a high salt environment

  3. They are an extremely inefficient and costly means of collecting funds.

In April, 2009, the Port Authority estimated the turnstiles and a fare increase would generate $500,000. The money would be used to maintain the Red Hook ferry dock.