Happy Friday!

Only real thing to be happy about today is that this storm, formally known as Gabrielle is starting to leave? And it figures soon after I post why September is a great time to visit and how everything here is empty?

From my last post we had this storm coming and that was Wednesday, and here it is Friday and this thing is still hanging around, like a nasty head cold that won't go away?

Wed night all signs were pointing toward this storm leaving the area. I put up some of our hurricane shutters before I went to bed as our house is an older masonry home with arched windows. Only problem with these windows is no glass, just screens, but we have these wood doors to close up.

Sure enough about 4AM Thursday, I hear it pouring and the wind coming from the west (normally we get easterly trade winds). I got up and found rain pouring into house. So here I am in my boxers hanging the shutters and Shannon following me with towels. I thought the Weather Service said that this storm was moving to the north and out of here?

4 AM

5AM

I finally got back to sleep around 6:30 AM but poor Shannon had to go to work. It rained on and off again but just light rain through the day. 

At 8:30 PM it was time for the first NFL game of the year! It started to rain again here pretty heavy with lightening. I guess Denver had the same issue? The game never got really going to about 9:30 PM. By that time our Dish TV was coming in and out. By 10PM I gave up and went to sleep instead. At least I had the house boarded up! 

Friday morning, I slept fine through the night, Shannon didn't I guess. While having a cup of coffee I read my emails and this alert came through:

Description:

VITEMA's 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Center received no reports of significant flooding on St. Croix, St. John or Water Island.

Heavy showers and thunderstorms associated with Tropical Storm Gabrielle flooded and washed out roads on the island of St. Thomas.  Roads in the following areas have flooded:

St. Thomas Eastern side of the island
- Bolongo Bay - Flooding
- Nadir (Bridge To Nowhere)  - Flooding, utility pole sparking, cars stuck in the water
- Mandahl - mudslide
- Brookman Road  *ROAD CLOSED DUE TO FLOODING, ROADWAY COLLAPSE, CARS STUCK IN THE WATER
- Bovoni - Flooding
- Frenchmans Bay - debris in the roadway, road undermined and hillside came down in citizen's yard
Western Side of St. Thomas
- Kronprindsens Gade, manhole Cover came off
- Estate Pearl, flooding
- Contant - flooding
- Northside - trees Down in the Roadway
- North Star Village - Roadside undermined
- Soldberg - Debris and boulders in the roadway
- Crown Mountain (WGOD) - Landslide *blocking 90% of roadway
- Honduras - flooding, debris
- Veterans Drive - flooding, debris
- Mandela Circle - Flooding
- Northside (Four Corners) - Debris and boulders in the roadway

I am so glad the alert let us know that everywhere but here was ok? 

After reading this email, I ventured out onto the property to survey the damage. 

yes that is over 5 inches of rain

Pool has filled up and on the verge of overflowing into the pump closet, usually the water is right below the blue flowers.

These lovely pricker trees have decided to come into the yard?

Cistern overflowing, I was really surprised having 4 down spouts and only 1 drain we didn't flood the house. Now my favorite pictures

Shannon, I think we have a leak somewhere in our office here? Anyone know a good carpenter?

Here it is at 3PM, just GO AWAY already?

I would love to hear your story and if you have any pictures of what happened to you during this storm, please send them and I can post them. 

So I guess I spoke too soon about September, don't come here this month, it sucks. 

I know that by Sunday it will be beautiful again and I will have all the beaches to myself again! 

You know I will be happy again once this crap leaves. Good luck with your favorite football team this weekend and enjoy the first Sunday of NFL! Go Colorado Buffaloes, beat Central Arkansas, Go Yankess beat those BOSox, and well the JETS, I guess it really doesn't matter if the season starts......

Happy Friday! 

Labor Day Weekend in the Virgin Islands

Well, the end of Summer is here marked by that holiday known as Labor Day. Not that it really matters as it is Summer here year round.

September has to be one of my favorite months here in the Virgin Islands. First off, it is the start of football season. But most importantly, it is the height of hurricane season, which means that no one will come and visit this time of year even though the weather is really nice (last major storm was Marilyn in 1995) and as I sit here, there is a 13 mph breeze, 85 degrees at 1 PM and mostly sunny. All the WAFI's (Moorings, SunSail and other charter companies) are not sailing this time of year. What does this mean to us? Well, you can have most of the mooring fields and beaches to yourself.

So what to do on Labor Day Weekend? Spend Saturday getting all your household chores done, swimming in the pool with the dogs and catching some college ball.

Then on Sunday you head over to the Capella Islands or Buck Island National Wildlife Preserve. Not to be confused with the Buck Island in St Croix. These little islands are the ones you can see from the Marriott Resort when you look to the East and if you have ever stayed at the Marriott and done one of their snorkel tours, this is where they bring you. There is an old lighthouse on the island.

Then watch the Colorado Buffaloes beat Colorado State with an old school buddy. 

And on Monday, Labor Day you head on over to Jost Van Dyke and the Soggy Dollar Bar for a little RnR. This time, it was just the wife and I for a quiet relaxing day. We were surprised at how many neighbors to West were here to visit (I will have a whole other post on this, more like a rant). Mic the bartender was off, he has Mondays and Tuesdays off.  It was really surprising to see no rental sailboats around and the overall day was really quiet there. You had two St Thomas Frat Party boats blaring their house music, Visitors from the West, the two o'clock Bad Kitty/Breakaway tourist stops and a couple of other private boats. You know it is September when you get your Roti in 5 minutes from when you ordered it?

The best part of the day was around 4PM, everyone left and we were there with 8 other people! That was amazing, not to mention the ride home, which always brings me to play Adios to Jost when we pull out of White Bay.

Why I Like September in the Virgin Islands!

No one is here?

http://youtu.be/otA3K5Muxe8