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St. John, USVI & BVI Report (with photos hopefully)


VABuckeye

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Please delete original thread.

I returned last night from St. John and thought I'd give a report on the current state of the island and the recovery efforts. 

You don't have to look hard to see the devastation from Irma. It's still pretty much everywhere. From the sea there are still many boats washed up on shore and the islands look more like the California hillsides (brown) than that lush green tropical vegetation we're used to down there. Palm trees are few and far between. 

The recovery efforts are understandably still focused on rebuilding the infrastructure. There are some problems with that. For instance, Wharfside which is the main bar and shopping area when you enter Cruz Bay is only partly operational. Because of a legal dispute which not only are they not party to but that they also have no influence over Beach Bar and Joe's Rum Hut currently have no expected time to reopen. There is no work going on in either location. The Westin is rebuilding but it's a slow process and they won't reopen for at least another year. 

Caneel Bay is currently a topic in Congress. They're nearing the end of their lease and the cost to rebuild currently outweighs any gain to be made by rebuilding and reopening for the remaining term of the lease. 

On a brighter note, the people of St. John are very positive and welcome any of you that want to return. Many iconic spots are open and Trunk Bay is as beautiful as it ever was. At least the beach and water are and right now it's free to all visitors. 

The Willie T opened for business on Saturday in its' new location at Great Harbor on Peter Island. It's still one of the rowdiest and raunchiest bars you can visit. 

I'll be sailing the BVI for 10 days at the end of June then staying on Jost van Dyke for a couple of days so I'll add more BVI detail when I return from that trip. 

Now some pictures. 

Trunk Bay 
Trunk_Bay.jpg

Trunk Bay from above.  Damage to foliage is apparent.

Trunk_Bay_from_above.jpg

It's always a good day when Captain Steve from Rockhoppin' is your captain for the day. 

Captain_Steve.jpg

More damage

Beached_Boat.jpg

Irma_Damage_1.jpg

The B Line Bar on Little Jost van Dyke is open for business.

B_Line.jpg

As is Corsairs in Great Harbor on Jost van Dyke 

Corsairs.jpg

Last, but not least the new and larger Willie T which reopened on my birthday.

Willie_T_1.jpg

Willie_T_2.jpg

Oh, I ran into this guy on the Willie T and couldn't pass up the photo opportunity.

Sir_RB.jpg

Again, if you love St. John and the BVI come back soon. The people welcome you and can once again use your tourism to help recover.

St_John_Sunset.jpg

 

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On 6/6/2018 at 7:26 AM, VABuckeye said:

Yeah, he was a nice guy.  He's known down there to just show up at a beach bar in the BVI and sit at the bar and shoot the shit for a while.

Great pics. 

He seems like the type of celeb that would be cool to have a beer with. A regular guy's guy that just happens to be a billionaire. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Heading back down next Thursday for 10 days of sailing the BVI followed by two days or recuperation on Jost van Dyke.  If you've ever been to Jost you know there's no recuperation on that island.  It's an all day party every day.  I'll post more pics during the trip or when I return along with a state of affairs regarding the Irma recovery efforts.  A   lot of the places I love in the BVI are either still closed or don't exist right now so it will be an interesting trip.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I’m currently in Brewster Bay, Tortola. Heading to Virgin Gorda tomorrow.  Will post pics when I return. 

Bubbly pool on Jost Van Dyke is bubbly no more. Irma changed the formation of the rocks and it’s now brackish water.  The attitude of the people down here is wonderful and they’re rebuilding but it’s going to take a long time. 

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We did 2 weeks in the US/BVI for our honeymoon 20+ yrs ago.  3 days at The Buccaneer in St Croix, 7 day bareboat charter in the BVI's, then 4 nights at Caneel Bay.  The devastation of the charter fleet was stunning, as well as the Bitter End YC.  Will eagerly await the charter pics.  I think if I did it again I'd go cat just to enjoy the space.  But nothing beats reaching between islands with all line-of-sight navigation.

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4 hours ago, Horns99 said:

VA, who do you normally charter from down there? Cat or Mono? Is the WillyT in its old spot or did they move it?


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The Willie T is now in Great Harbor, Peter Island.  It’s a new boat  the old Willie T is still beached on Norman Island  

We are in a monohull.  This is my first time sailing so there have been some adjustments to lifestyle.  If I sail again it will be on a catamaran.  There are a ton of people from Texas down here. Good people having a good time. 

We’re currently on Anegada.  Had a nice Anegada lobster today at Neptune’s Treasure after downing many beers during the day at Cow Wreck beach. 

I’ll post a bunch of pics when I return next week.  Some happy and some sad but the people here are resilient and are rebuilding.  They’re doing this mostly on their own without government assistance though a certain well known singer has done a lot for them in their time of need. 

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  • 2 months later...

St. Croix.

 

Eat at Chicken Shack. 

There's a beautiful beach north of Fredericksted that's only open on the weekends and when cruise ships are in port.  It's closed the rest of the time because it's a major turtle breeding ground.  There's another beach south of the pier called Rainbow Beach that's a nice beach.

Drive up to the bar in the rainforest.  They have beer drinking pigs.

There are a lot of good restaurants on the east side of the island.  In town (Christiansted) the one we liked the most was called Savant.  It was a very good meal.

The easternmost point in the United States is on St. Croix.  There's a small park and a landmark near the spot.

(Sorry for the turtle reference after the game against the Terps.)

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  • 4 weeks later...

St Croix was pretty awesome.  I'll post some pics is another post but wanted to give some other reviews first.  We had a house on the beach In Buccaneer Estates.  It was amazing.  

Dinners that we had outside the house:

  • Balter, had high hopes but was very disappointed.  The main dishes just didn't mesh well together. Brisket and rice?  No, just no.
  • Savant was excellent.  Little slow but all the dishes were on point.
  • Duggan's Reef.  The whiskey lobster was okay but not as good as it was touted to be.  Not a fan of cheese on lobster.

The tide pools after a hike to Annalay Bay were pretty cool.  Good half day trip.

Big Beard's catamaran to Buck Island was a good time.  The snorkeling was a blast and wasn't too far from a 3 foot nurse shark. I may have peed a little.  

We played golf at Carambola.  Meh.  Needed some help but I know things are slow since the most recent Hurricane.

Leatherback Brewing has some good beers.  We got a "tour" from Dave but it's a small place so he really just showed us the back.  Played a few rounds of cornhole.  

Common Sents was a good dive bar where we celebrated my birthday.  

We had read that taxi fares were insane so we have a van with driver that was much less than hailing cabs/vans for each trip.

This was all part of Insiprato and they really took care of us.  I can't say enough about how well they took care of every request we had.  

 

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