Enjoy the View

 "A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world."         John Le Carre

"Only on St. John"

When people think of St. John they think of the picture above. However for anyone who has lived here for any length of time knows, it's definitely not always paradise. . . . sometimes, but not always.  :)

"Only on St. John"

A saying that soon will be your frequent refrain once you live here.  "Only on St. John" refers to the quirky, often amusing, sometimes frustrating circumstances, situations, and scenarios we find ourselves in on our little rock.  At times it'll make you laugh hysterically with the absurdity of it, other times it makes you want to cry out in frustration or just shake your head in wonderment.  And like the waves that touch our little rock, your emotions will wash in and out from one extreme to another.

So in honor of our rock, and the people who call this place home, here are some of my favorite St. Johnisms that I have collected from friends and personal experience over the years. 

"Only on St. John" does the grocery store have a beer opener on a string instead of a pen.

"Only on St. John" does almost  every traffic sign have bumper stickers or random made up sayings stuck to them to the amusement of every driver on island; and stays that way for years. Here are a few of my favorites: 

1. Don't STOP Believing; 2. STOP drop and roll; 3. STOP in the name of love; 4. Can't STOP won't stop

"Only on St. John" is getting a library card like applying for a concealed weapons permit.  (You have to provide two references.  I literally had the library clerk shake her head in disgust when reading my references.  "This person is not in good standing with the library." Turns out, my friend's 2 year old chewed a corner of a library book and she had offered to pay for it.  You get the idea. I did end up getting a library card but just barely, seriously.  I had to guarantee I was a responsible member of society and pledge a solemn oath that I would always treat my books with dignity and never deface or ruin any of them. :)

"Only on St. John" is it impossible to pay your Water and Power bill or on time because the office is closed for four days in a row for St. Thomas Carnival.

"Only on St. John" do people drive around with a bag of garbage on their roof because there are only a few public dumpsters around the island where you can drop your garbage.  (You don't want it to stink up your car or get a leak. I don't know how many times I've been stopped by tourists who tell me, "You have a bag on your roof." Yep, got it.:)

"Only on St. John" does the grocery store sell ice scrapers for your windshield.  (Whaaaattttt? I know, crazy.  And they've been hanging there for years.)

"Only on St. John" do you know by name the local homeless people and they know you by name. "Hey, Irwin"s, (fist bump) How's it going?"
 
"Only on St. John" could you get pulled over by the police because your dog is not buckled up in the front seat.  (You can legally drink a beer in your car, but make sure your pooch is buckled up.)

"Only on St. John" do you know that the island is full of tourists due to the lack of essentials at the grocery store.  (hamburger, ketchup, milk, eggs, mayo, butter, ice)

"Only on St. John" do you have the security guard from your local bank transferring money with an armored truck detail, with money bag in hand, come over and give you a hug and have a several minute conversation in the middle of the street.  And when the other security guard shouts for them, it's just to remind them that they need to go to lunch.  Gotta love it!

There are so many of these St. Johnisms.  There are always more to add.

There is even a bumper sticker that says, "We're all here, cause we ain't all there" and boy is that the truth.  There's something pretty crazy-special about this place.  I guess that's why we've come back three times.  I think we fit in here.

C

A Smooth Sea Never Made a Skilled Sailor

Not sure if I precisely agree with this quote, but it does epitomize the type of sailing we've been doing lately.

Unfortunately, we are always sailing on a set time schedule.  We always seem to have to be here or there by a certain time and then back in time for work on a particular day.  If we were full time cruisers this wouldn't be an issue as we would wait for those nice weather windows in which to sail, but alas, we are not full time cruisers or retired so we always seem to be on a time crunch.  This thus puts us in line for crummy sailing weather at times.  

Every year we look forward to our Regional Convention in St. Croix which is 40 miles south of St. John.  And every year we hold our breath hoping for no tropical storms or boat breakdowns that would necessitate flying over and staying in a hotel.  Thankfully, once again we were able to sail and stay at Green Caye Marina. Our friends, Mike and Tina sailed over and back with us.  It was nice having the company as well as the extra set of hands since coming back we encountered a nasty little squall which blew out (read: ripped) our main sail even with a double reef in it.  There were reports of gusts of upwards of 35 mph, plus lightening.

Nice.

 Real nice.

I was feeling pretty nervous until a pod of about 40 dolphin escorted us for a bit.

Somehow dolphins always make everything better.

I couldn't find my phone, but thankfully Tina and Mike got some great photos and video!  

You kind of forget the near peril you felt yourself in just a few minutes previously.  Instead, mesmerized at each dolphin you see.

The convention itself was amazing (of course :). We thoroughly enjoyed the program and seeing and meeting friends old and new from all over the islands.  (No worries, I won't spoil it for you if you haven't gone yet. :) We had a smaller convention this year since they sent some congregations the weekend before for reasons of transportation, hotels and comfort level at the facility.

So below are a few happy photos of our weekend.  We truly didn't want to leave.

Green Caye Marina, the calm BEFORE the storm. :)

Green Caye Marina located on the north side of St. Croix was just as we remembered it, clean, friendly, reasonable slip prices and very quiet.  We arrived a couple of days early so it was nice this time to enjoy some snorkeling off of the adjacent Tamarind Beach Resort.  (better than average shore snorkeling I would say. )

How do you like our new underwater lights?  They are Terry's favorite thing.  He's always wanted them. 

It was so great to reconnect with so many friends from all over the islands.  We had St. Thomas, Tortola, and some from Puerto Rico along with our congregation from St. John.  

Lots of smiling happy faces!

A person has to eat of course, especially after all this heavy duty paying attention and learning.  And St. Croix has some lovely restaurants.

Savant, located in Christiansted is one of my favorites.  They have an eclectic menu and the most beautiful outside courtyard. 

Don't worry about a rain shower as they have a clever covering for the courtyard.  The first sign of a sprinkle and they have a pulley system that unfurls an upcycled sail across the courtyard.  I did not get any photos of the food as I was too busy enjoying it.  Needless to say, Terry's lamb chops with horseradish mashed potatoes was amazing.  And my chicken enchilada's were wonderful.  Interesting choices, right?  

If you go to Savant you must try their coffee.  It's Costa Rican and they bring it out with this nifty contraption.  I'm now hooked on single drip brew coffee.  Had to buy myself something similar when I got home.  It's now my favorite way to brew coffee on the boat,

Now, back to fixing that sail . . . . and the rigging and the dinghy and the . . .

The Ocean Is Where I Belong

There is something so surreal and tranquil about diving. 

 

Jacque Cousteau put it well when he said, "The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever."

 

The feel of the salty water on the skin, the muffled underwater sounds, the rhythmic sound of your own breathing, the minutae that you can observe if you just take the time to take it slow.  We don't dive as often as we would like, but every time we go, we see something fascinating and if nothing else, get a new perspective.  Laying on our backs looking up at the ripples on the surface there is nothing like it for serenity.  

 

One of the things we love when hiking is not knowing what we may see around the bend or the top of the mountain.  We try to dive that way too, sometimes exploring unknown bumps on navigational charts, just to see what's there.  And even if it proves to be nothing much, sometimes I will just float and pick through the sand for shells, or look at a coral encrusted rock and poise upside down to look under ledges, look at the feather dusters, wrasse and coral banded shrimp or arrow crabs. 

 

My friend, Tina Cranford took these photos during a dive we did a month or two back at Dog Rocks off of St. John.  She took these underwater photos with her amazing Olympus Tuff Cameras which is good to 50 feet.  (Same Camera that my friend Michele from the Octopus photo a couple weeks back uses) I am always so impressed with the clarify and quality of the pictures.  They are really great cameras above and below water. 



So I hope you enjoy this little bit of underwater scenery today. 

 

Thanks Tina for letting me share these.  :)

What is funny about this picture is she took it of these Coral Banded Shrimps and then realized there was a Spotted Eel directly behind it. 

A Lionfish, an invasive species for the Caribbean. 

Lots of baby lobsters. 

Terry on a lobster mission.

 

Hope you enjoyed the show.  

Some days just end up complicated

           After a busy week and busy Saturday, this is how our Saturday night should have been.                        Cue the music.  

But this is how it actually went.

Terry is smiling here, but only because I told him to. 

Once in a while what should be the simplest of fixes suddenly becomes the most complicated due to one simple mishap.  It all started with the pull cord on our dinghy engine breaking yesterday as I was getting ready to go home after a morning in the ministry.  So I had to row out to our boat.  Not a big deal, I've done it a few times due to user error in starting the engine (yes, I flooded it a few times, my own fault), but today, as I was rowing out, I noticed a 14' Center Console dinghy adrift.  So of course you can't let a nice dinghy float into the rocks and get ruined can you? (Okay, yes I was hoping that somehow we could keep it.  Kind of like a lost puppy) So I did the neighborly thing and started towing it to our boat.  (FYI, I scanned the beach and neighboring boats and I did yell out to see if someone was around. :) Towing a 14' center console dinghy by rowing is no easy task.  I was definitely getting my work out.  As I am just about to reach my boat I hear a voice call out,

"Hey, where you goin with my dinghy."

It was our friend Scott (or as we like to call him affectionately, the Chocolate Hole Harbor Master. He watches everyone's boats and is such a sweetie.). Terry would have known it was his dinghy in a second, but I don't really notice these kind of things.  I mean it's a dinghy.  Scott had been on Serena a sailboat on the other side of the bay working on it and somehow the dinghy came loose.  He was laughing when I explained it was just floating to shore before I expedited a rescue mission.  So back across the bay I started rowing.

Scott was happy he didn't have to swim to shore.  He also happened to have an extra pull cord so I was able to Magyver our engine for when I went in to get Terry later that afternoon. I mean, I don't mind rowing, but if you don't have to . . .

So today's agenda involved fixing the pull cord.  Terry got the cord he needed and started what should have been an easy fix.  It literally was a matter of wrapping the cord around the spool.

Viola!

Ummm,  not.

No, of course not.  That would have been to easy.  Part way through I hear an exasperated groan. Then a metallic ting and another frustrated groan.  It appears that part way through the fix a flat metal coil spring broke.  (For lack of the correct term) We have an older Johnson engine which we absolutely love.  It hasn't given us a lick of trouble over the hundreds of hours we've used it.  It's been the best.  Sadly though, the 10 minute fix soon turned into an hour and a half session in patience and perseverance along with that nagging worry in the back of our minds as to whether a part could be purchased for this ancient beloved dinosaur if necessary. (We literally had to order parts from Scotland last week for our windlass.) Thankfully after several failed attempts and using one of the best tools ever invented, the Leatherman, he was able to get it working again.  For how long we don't know but at least it's running.

I need the Sea because it teaches me.
- from THE SEA by Pablo Neruda

Alright, lesson finished for today.

C

Field of Greens

One of the wonderful little surprises on semi-arid St. John is Coral Bay Organic Gardens.  

Josephine (of Josephine's Greens local fame :)  grows lovely mixed greens, local spinach, kale, bok choy, arugula, local pumpkin, tomatos, herbs and vegetables that you would not find in your everyday super market.  Her prices are reasonable by island standards and it's exciting to find out what she's growing.  Her greens are featured at all the local restaurants as well as our grocery stores. 

Whenever we are out in Coral Bay on Thursday's for service we do a stop by Josephine's and see what's available that week.   A recent visit reaped some fanciful angled beans along with some local pumpkin.  There is nothing like fresh produce!!!

Ask any long-term resident and they'll tell you many sad stories of tomatoes that never made it and other sad horticultural frustrations ( I have many!).  Josephine's secret appears to be some serious composting which supplements St. John's nutrient poor soil.  During the sugar cane boom which began in the 18th century farmers switched their cotton and tobacco crops to sugar cane the best money making crop of the time.  With no crop rotation St. John plantation owners stripped the land of vegetation resulting in a severe loss of good topsoil.  So besides a shortage of water our island is plagued with poor soil, which makes Josephine's garden's such a beautiful thing to enjoy and have here on St. John.

Not only does Josephine grow beautiful produce but she has a lovely nursery with beautiful plants and flowers. 

 

There will come to be plenty of grain on the earth; On the top of the mountains there will be an overflow.  Psalm 72:16

Francis Bay + Family and Friends = A Perfect Day!

Sydney and Victoria loving Francis Bay!

Francis Bay is one of the last beaches on the North Shore road in the National Park on St. John. Everyone has their favorites, for any number of reasons but this beach has always been one of our favorites.

The perfect day

The reasons are many:

• Lots of mooring balls to choose from if we want to bring the boat over. Also, more parking than most beaches.
• The bay is always calm since it faces West and Mary's point protects it from the North.
• The beach is long and expansive allowing for lots of quiet places to get away from the crowd. 
• There are some picnic tables if you want to grill out. 
• Good habitat for turtles, sting rays and even an occasional spotted eagle ray. 

When my cousin Krystal and her family came to visit we made Francis Bay our last beach of their trip.  I hadn't seen my cousin and her family for about 13 years so we thoroughly enjoyed catching up and showing them St. John at the same time.  They loved it!  They actually ditched their St. Thomas hotel and stayed at Concordia Eco tents in the south east end of St. John for a couple of nights so they could spend more time over here.  So great to have family visit and reconnect.

Enjoy a few pictures of Francis.  Be careful, it just might end up being your favorite too!

You're never too old to play in the sand. :)

A quick stop at Annaberg ruins with the fam- Jared, Mickey, Krystal and Victoria. 

Brain coral cut to create a corner piece on the old boiler factory.

Leinster Bay

"The best things in life are free, hugs, smiles, friends, kisses, family, sleep, love, laughter and good memories."    -   Anonymous