An Online Blog About the Daily Happenings of St. John, USVI
This announcement from Steve Simon:
"Frank, the 9th Annual Johnnie Walker St. John Blues Festival will be held from Wednesday, March 16th through Sunday, March 20th."
Planning to attend? Stay at our Blue Tang villa. BlueTang.vi.
FRIDAY, MARCH 18th, 2011
Time: 8:00PM
Starring: Albert Cummings, Candye Kane,
and Grady ChampionSATURDAY, MARCH 19th, 2011
Time: 8:00PM
Starring: Curtis Salgado, Reba Russell,
and Moreland & ArbuckleMore info at http://stevesimonpresents.com/stj_blues_festival.html
Earl slowed its forward motion overnight, delaying the arrival of its fury about 12 hours. Now the National Hurricane Center says the center of the storm will pass northeast of St. John at about 6 p.m.
CaribStorm.com's "How Close" tool says the outer edge will be 70 miles away. The storm's force is diminished from what it could have been. Earl is expected to be a Category 2 (96-110 mph) when it blows by.
Power's off in Cruz Bay. The St. John Spicecam quit transmitting at about 7 a.m. This is the last picture. Notice it's blurry. The camera was getting blown around. A surprising number of sailboats are still moored in the harbor. How many will be damaged and end up in the Beach Bar, literally? (http://www.stjohnspice.com/stjohnspicecam.htm)
Fish Bay's Karen Radtke Facebooks: "What is it that dog's sense? Cagney is super hyper this morning." Karen's in training for the Susan G Komen 3Day for the Cure walk in Tampa Oct 29-31st.
Walter Hinds apparently hosted an all night hurricane preparedness party at his restaurant in Cruz Bay. Martinis and more. He posted, "It's 6:10 am and I am sitting on the deck of Hinds with some friends and I am holding a beverage (a martini). OK, now it is 7am & there is an hurricane in effect and the school bell across the street just rang…..PRICELESS."
CaribStorm's Dave posted this at dawn. "I have to go to work as one of our clients (a business owner) decided he wanted his hurricane shutters this morning. Nothing like waiting till the last minute and putting others at risk."
From the National Weather Service, via WeatherUnderground.com.
StormCarib.com's "How Close Will it Come" tool now shows Earl's winds within 175 miles of St. John.
An e-mail from Jim Biron accompanied this picture.
"Arlene is one of the 'old timers' on the island and is a masseuse. Orie was her dog.
"He was always with her and became her close shadow when Arlene's husband Doug passed away with cancer. Orie was everywhere with Arlene. I know she rescued him as a dumpster dog and I also know that he was one of the nicest dogs on the island. His tail always wagged and just loved to be petted. Orie died a while back and I know Arlene misses him a lot."
"From weeks of relative and unusual quiet to uh oh!!!!" So writes Dave at StormCarbib.com.
He is keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm, soon to be Hurricane, Earl.
The site has an interesting tool to let you see how close a storm will come to wherever you are. As of Friday morning, the prediction was that Earl will pass 260 miles northeast of the island early Tuesday morning.
"At this point, all bets are off until it organizes better," cautions Dave. "The quicker it organizes, the quicker it should curve. 500 miles isn't much room for error so don't take that for granted." Dave continues, "Behind … Earl is several more waves on the African continent and it looks like the train is ready to run at full speed for a while."
The tracking map on the right is via WeatherUnderground.com. It updates the map for Earl daily at 5am, 11am, and 5 pm.
The National Weather Service says we'll have a hurricane northeast of the territory by Monday morning.
Let's hope Tropical Storm Earl stays on that projected track.
The NWS says 'stuff can happen.'
"If the circulation center does reform farther south…the forecast track will have to be adjusted south…or to the left of this advisory package."
No matter what, could be some rough weather and sea conditions early next week.
One of our readers, Mark Kichler, spent some time on the island at the end of July.
He took lots of pictures and built a nice slide show using the Animoto service.
It lets you produce professional-looking presentations/.slideshows/animations easily on both your desktop or iPhone.
He sent along a link to his video. Click to relax.
Thanks, Mark.
Thanks to generous readers of NewsofStJohn.com, and others, the Animal Care Center will not close next week.
Alarms were sounded late last week by ACC board members that the "no kill" shelter would have to close at the end of August because it was broke. The volunteer organization was in dire shape, financially overwhelmed by the expenses of operating, caring for, and housing about 60 dogs, puppies, kittens and cats.
Despite what seem to be fund raisers held quarterly, all of which were described as "successful" a day later, the $13,000 monthly operating budget was not being met. "Fund raising is not enough. Know any grant writers who could help us," said the ACC's Jennifer Dale.
You can help now by making a donation through PayPal here.
Many readers of this Web site responded to our story published Friday. John Fuller, the ACC's Treasurer, said nearly 100 people contributed $5 to $1,000, totaling nearly $7.400. "We're not out of the woods yet," he said. One source said the ACC now has enough money to operate to the middle of October, when another fund raiser is planned.
Several times a month, I get e-mails from people asking advice about moving to the island. Do you know of any jobs? How about renting an apartment? Is the cost of living high? Often, the writers have vacationed on the island more than once and have decided they'd like to make St. John their permanent address.
One couple who have made the switch, successfully, is Bob and Karin Schlesinger. He's a photographer, specializing in portraits and weddings; she's his right hand gal.
At first their's was a 10-year-plan to make the move from New England. Then it became five years, then three, then … they were gone.
"All that planning wasn't necessary," they said. "You can just do it."
The Schlesingers' story has just been featured by Islands magazine as part of a Best Islands to Live On section. It ranks the Virgin islands 5th best. Each island is highlighted in a story about some new residents who made a move.
Calling itself Grande Bay Resort, the condominium project bordering Cruz Bay harbor announced it's formally open-for-business on Sept. 1.
In a news release, the resort said it is "Nestled in the Cruz bay Quarter … near everything to see and do on the island."
In a bit of a competitive shot, Grande Bay said it will provide "a distinct departure from the Caneel Bay Resort or Westin Resort St. John and we are sure once you stay with us, we'll be your new St. John Virgin island retreat."
The rate schedule shows a winter season rate of $475/night for a one bedroom, or $3,325/week. The two bedroom rate is $650/night, $4,550/week. Cleaning charges are also added on, beginning at $100 for a one bedroom unit.
