Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas from the Virgin Islands!

Just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas from our tropical paradise in St. Thomas!

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

We will be spending Christmas Day in Christmas Cove on the boat. Did you know Christmas Cove was the cove that Christopher Columbus stayed on Christmas on one of his trips to the Virgin Islands.




Here is a Christmas poem that was taken from News of St. John and adapted to St. Thomas: 


‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through St. Thomas,
Not a creature was stirring, even at Caribbean Saloon;
The stockings were hung by the Island Time Pub with care,
In hopes that a Bushwacker soon would be there;
The locals were chillin’ at XO on St. Thomas;
While Tara dished out shots of Fireball;
The tourists out to dinner, some at The Cellar,
Next head to Latitude 18 for a little night cap,
When out on the dock there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my barstool to see what’s the matter.
Away to the beach, I flew like a flash,
Ran past Fish Tails and heard a big splash.
The moon on the bay and the St. John lights,
Gave a lustre of midday to something in flight,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than mongoose his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blixen!
To the top of Crown Mountain! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”
As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up past Moutain Top the coursers they flew
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too—
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I put down my drink, and was turning around,
Down the palm tree St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his hand,
And his clothes were all tarnished all salty with sand;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
Now back at the sleigh were three HSST dogs;
While back in the house, the man sampled some treats,
And made sure to leave some for the Iguanas to eat;
He had a tanned face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the palm tree he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew, like Homer, a missile.
But I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight—
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”



Friday, December 20, 2013

St. Thomas Santarchy or Santa Pub Crawl

HOHOHO! 
Time for the annual Santa Pub Crawl!!
Dress as your favorite holiday character... Santa, elf, reindeer! We'll have some extra Santa hats to lend too!
Bring your crazy friends or meet new ones as we strut our holiday stuff and party through Red Hook & possibly Cruz Bay 

This Saturday night December 21st, starting at Duffy's in Red Hook at 8PM!

What is Santarchy?

Santarchy takes place in major cities all over the world involving tens of thousands of Santas. It is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious & non-sensical celebration of holiday cheer, goodwill, and fun. There is no good reason to dress up in cheap Santa suits, run around town, give gifts, sing songs, have strangers sit on our laps, and decide who is naughty or nice -- but it's a lot of fun -- so Santa does it anyway. Everyone loves Santa and Santa loves everyone! Santarchy is your chance to be Santa, so step up and be jolly.

Santa's Rules:

Be Jolly.

Holiday apparel is mandatory. Be creative. A Santa hat is okay, but more is better like theme Santas: Elvis Santas, Sailor Santa, Rasta Santa, Santa's naughty little helper, misfit toy, elf, grinch, angel, Jesus, snowman, nutcracker, reindeer.



Wednesday, December 18, 2013

New Boat Charter Company! Wahoo Boat Charters!

As many of you know, since we have been down here, we pretty much go boating every weekend. What started out as a 19 ft boat in Nevada, grew into a 26 foot boat in the Virgin Islands and now has grown to 32 foot boat.

I have received many requests to take friends of friends out on our boat, but due to Coast Guard regulations, I can only charge for gas. Meanwhile I have all the other associated costs, maintenance, dock fees, repairs, etc. What better way to take folks out and charge an amount to where our costs of owning the boat are paid for by doing some charters?

I recently took the Coast Guard class for a six pack license, meaning I can take out 6 charter guests. I passed the exam of Rules of the Road with a 97%. I am now working on getting all the mounds of paperwork into the Coast Guard so I can receive my Captain's License. Once I have that, I will have to deal with the USVI Dept of Licensing to get my business license.

In the meantime, I received approval of my LLC, Wahoo Boat Charters!

Does this mean I am no longer going be the broker of America's Caribbean Realty? No, I still love doing Real Estate and plan on continuing to practice real estate sales and leasing on a full time basis.

As far as the charter business, I will not be going to the British Virgin Islands, why?


  • Customs - going to the BVI = long wait times for both checking into the BVI and then checking back into the US. You have an 8 hour day on the boat, count on 2 hours dedicated to customs, not to mention the mounds of paperwork I have to fill out. 
  • Cost - They raised the fee to $15 per person. 
  • Fuel  - at an average of $5 a gallon for gas here, your gas bill can get upwards of $200 onward to $500 depending on where you go. 
Don't get me wrong, I love boating to the BVI, but the aggravation of customs starts taking its toll on fun! I plan on keeping our tourist dollars in the USA and doing charters around St John and St Thomas. There is more than enough great snorkeling, beaches and beach bars to be had locally. Honeymoon Beach on Water Island and there is a new beach bar that you can only get by boat opening soon on the south side of St Thomas. If you don't think there is enough to do here locally, I can change your opinion! I will also be doing fishing charters with advanced notice! 

I hope to be ready to go with paid charters by mid January, but we shall see what road blocks I will encounter with our business licensing division here. Feel free to contact me with any inquiries you may have in the meantime as to booking your charters from mid January on. I am working on the new website too and will have a facebook page up soon! 

Meanwhile here is the new logo and our facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/wahooboatcharters





Thursday, December 12, 2013

Point Pleasant Condo For Sale - Rare Penthouse Suite - $169,000


I have listed this for sale with my brokerage, America's Caribbean Realty. One bedroom, One Bathroom, approx. 650 sq ft!


Rare Penthouse Suite with the resort's best breathtaking down island views! This top floor suite comes with vaulted ceilings and new furniture. Large outdoor balcony with views of the BVI's, St. John and the sparkling Caribbean waters. Nice living area with an all glass window and slider. This unit has no stairs for access! Resort features 3 pools and two restaurants and easy access to STT beaches


















Update

I am still alive!

After a busy month of November and fist week of December with 4 sets of stateside visitors, buying a rental condo in Sapphire Village, studying for and passing the Coast Guard Captain's Exam and listing a new condo for sale, I am starting back to being normal again and will have time to start writing on the blog again.

I will have an announcement to make hopefully next week, so stay tuned! Meanwhile here are a few highlights of the last month:
























Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving From the Virgin Islands!

What is it like to have Thanksgiving in the Virgin Islands?

It is always fun to watch the news with all the Winter storms that effect the travel for this big holiday. More fun to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with everyone all bundled up as I am sweating getting the turkey stuffed!

Thanksgiving here is all the same, except for the warm weather. I got a 21 pound Butterball turkey for $1.79 a pound and all the fixings!




This year I am thankful to have my father down to the islands! I think it may be 35 years since the last time we have been together for Thanksgiving!

To start the week off, I took him fishing for Wahoo, but all we caught was this from the cooler.


Followed by dinner at the Yacht Club


A trip to Jost Van Dyke and Soggy Dollar Bar with a friend who had some of his friends here.











Thanksgiving breakfast of a omelette. 


Turkey is now in the oven and we have our dear friend Adam coming over from St Johns. 

The rest of the weekend consists of for Black Friday, the dogs first day on the new boat as Chukar has succesfully completed his heartworm treatment! Saturday will be our first trip to the Baths on Virgin Gorda and Sunday we will have to go to a sports bar since my father is a dumb Patriots fan and that dumb team is on at the same time as our terrible Jets. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! We are thankful that we get to live in Paradise!