Computer Repair

Several weeks ago, while bushwhacking over a ridge on Norman Island in order to get to a wifi signal, I tripped and broke my laptop computer screen. I used my "backup" to order a new screen from Canada and had it sent to me at General Delivery in Cruz Bay. It took quite a while, but it finally came in. Here I am, after installing it and seeing that it works. Note the necessary tools - headlamp, reading glasses, jewelers screwdriver (in mouth), and beer!

South Side of St. John

Here are a few pics from the south side, where we spent most of last week.

No place for sleep walkers...

Thank you, Laurence Rockefeller! (It looks like the Adirondacks under water, doesn't it?)


The petroglyphs.


This tree is called "Monkey No Climb"


Ram's Head

You Can Take the Ranger Out of the Woods, but...

We are in Little Lamesher Bay with only two other boats, and I am sitting here on deck enjoying the sound of the tree frogs, with no music or generators to compete with them. Mega-yachts are not allowed here on the south side, which is another plus. So, that reminds me a story about our last night at Maho Bay. Just after dark, we saw a catamaran full of college age kids pulling in with no running lights. Here comes trouble, we thought. Sure enough, as soon as they caught the mooring, they were cranking up some weird techno music at a volume level which could be heard for miles. So, I beamed them with my two million candle power spotlight, and they quickly lowered the volume. But, of course, that didn't last. Half an hour later I had to do it again, and this time it was ineffective, until I pulled out my compressed air horn and used it in conjunction with the light. That did the trick. We heard loud voices and drunken hollering until past 3AM, and I assumed it was from the kids, but when I happened to go on deck, I realized that it was coming from a 140 foot maga-yacht anchored further out in the bay. In the morning, when I told Judy where all the shouting had come from, she pointed out that I shouldn't play enforcer with just the "poor" folks. She was right, so I looked up the Lady Bee online with my Kindle 3G. It turns out that it is a charter boat out of St Marteen which rents for $110,000 a week!

www.yachtsbhc.com/showyachts/2999/1

(Check out the interior pics.)

So, I radioed them:

"Lady Bee, Lady Bee, ths is the saling vessel Alannastar."

"Lady Bee"

"Can you please go to 6-9, sir?"

"6-9"

"Lady Bee, Alannastar, on 6-9."

"Lady Bee"

" For future reference sir, the quiet hours in this national park are from 10PM to 6AM. Also.pleae pass on this message to your clients: The fact that they can afford to pay $110,000 a week for a boat does not give them the right to act like rude idiots and keep the entire harbor up until three in the morning."

"Sorry about that."

Of course, I doubt that the crew actually passed along the message - that would probably tend to diminish the size of their tips ;-)

Hiking on St John

I've been doing a lot of hiking on the trails here on St John. The highlight was a hike over the ridge and down into the Reef Bay drainage to the pre-Columbian petroglyphs, which are carved into rock at the edge of a pool fed by a year round spring at the base of a (trickling) waterfall. Spike loved the fresh water. I didn't get any pictures of that, but I took this one overlooking Maho Bay from an old, overgrown estate atop America Hill.


Judy has been doing a lot of snorkeling. This morning she saw an Eagle Ray, two large turtles, and a shark. We're thinking of moving over to the south side, because there are too many boats here this week. We might not have good communications over there, but we'll see.

Another Beautiful Rainbow This Morning

What a way to wake up!

I took an NPS Volunteer-lead bird walk this morning around the salt pond behind Francis Bay. I was able to see and indentify several species which were new to me.

Yesterday I took a long hike with Spike over to Coral Bay, on the other side of the island, where I had a delicious hamburger, in order to fortify myself for the walk back over the mountain (sorry, I didn't bring my camera.)

Maho Bay

We're currently in Maho Bay (well, technically we're in Francis Bay). We had to move over to tuck in behind Mary Point due to the north swell which has been running for the last two days and nights. It happens about once a week in the winter, due to storms a thousand miles away in the North Atlantic. It makes going ashore with the dinghy/dog quite interesting here. But, this place has enough going for it that it's worth putting up with it - they have a lot of interperative programs, to say nothing of a beautiful bay (and wifi from a local rental property that I can pirate, which is becoming extremely difficult to find). We have two different groups of frineds/family who are going to be coming and staying at Maho Camps, so I've been walking the boardwalks and wooden stairs, detouring on my way to the store, in order to check out the best tent cabins. It's an Eco-Resort, and you can see some of the tent cabins in one of the pictures.


We've had a lot of requests for "More Adventures of Spike", so here he is getting ready to head to the beach:

The Key Hole

We spent last week at a small anchorage on the south side of Peter Island called the Key Hole. After the above picture was taken, we moved the boat closer to shore, attached with a stern line, in order to keep us out of the wind. It was a very private anchorage, and I enjoyed a bushwhack hike up onto the hills and around the rather large brackish pond, which had a couple of bird speies which were new for me. We only had to share it with one or two other boats until the last night, when for some reason a half dozen charter cats decided to be our best friends.

An interesting thing which happened at this bay was that Judy found a Lionfish, which after looking up we realized was an aggressive invasive species which threatens the native fish populations. After a couple of phone calls to the appropriate authorities, we were determined to kill it with a large fork duct taped to a boat hook. I was practicing my "spearing" as we were snorkeling out to the marker which we had left the day before (this species tends to hang out in the same place for long periods, and this individual had been there for at least two days, after Judy first spotted it). So, you can imagine our disappointment when we arrived at the site and found that the fish was no longer there, and we were not going to be Eco-Heros. Oh, well, we'll stay vigilant ;-) Here's a picture of a Lionfish (from online), so you have an idea what I'm talking about. They are a stikingly beautiful fish, but they belong in the Pacific (or someone's aquarium), not here.



It tends to shower briefly here most early mornings, so we get some fantastic rainbows. Here are a couple of pics from one rainbow we enjoyed at the Key Hole.