Islands.com Names St. Thomas Top 10 Place to Live!

Yes, we have been named by Islands.com as the top 10 Caribbean Island to live on!

Nos. 3 to 1: St. Thomas, USVI

Corby Parfitt was once a marketing director cramped in a San Francisco cubicle. Now he and his family live on the USVI island closest to the mainland, St. Thomas, because of a unique offering: Home Depot. That store has been essential for Corby’s business, a real-estate company.

Here is a link to their website:

http://www.islands.com/gallery/living-in-caribbean-top-10-best-islands-to-live

Driving in the Virgin Islands

We get many visitors to the Virgin Islands and it always comes up about driving here. Why? Probably because we drive on the left with vehicles from the United States mainland, which are set up for driving on the right, steering wheel is on the left. This is in addition to roads that are narrow, windy and often have no center lines, which have faded over the years here and there is no more money in the budget here to have them repainted.

This makes many visitors very uncomfortable and I remember my first time driving on St. Thomas from the airport to my friends house in Mandahl,  a house that is perched on the side of the hill. I was alone and that was such a white knuckle experience for me, that I think I drove one more time in the 4 days I was here. I remember asking my friends, why can't they just switch over to the right? The next time I came, I had reserved a RAV4, but they were out of them and was given a mini-van and thought I was going to die! That lasted about 2 days. Now I laugh about it as once you drive here, it becomes such habit that when I go stateside, I often find myself going to the left, especially in parking lots.

A little history, the Virgin Islands were once a Danish colony and the mode was left. When the US bought the islands, they kept the left as standard. Now Guam recently changed one from left to right, why can't you do that here? Well, change here is never a popular word. My guess is that the taxi cabs (mafia here), does not want that to change because then many visitors would feel comfortable driving here and wouldn't use the cabs.

Which brings me to if you are visiting here, don't be afraid to drive here, it is pretty easy, you don't go more than 30 MPH and you will get used to it. Everyone seems to rent Jeeps here, but they cost a premium and you really don't need one, you won't be driving on sand, all of our roads are paved (maybe not in the best of shape) and Jeeps are easy to break into. You will be just fine with an economy car like a Toyota Yaris. Keep in mind that if you are planning to take the car ferry over to St. John, Hertz does not allow it. There is a good car company that rents a Jeep though for $50/day at Paradise Car Rental, 340-514-2692. Gas is anywhere from $4.59 to $4.89 a gallon and this price hasn't changed in over a year now.

I often have fun when I am driving visitors to our house as we live on a single lane, hilly, over grown cement road. 

Here are some rules of the road here for you too!  

Do's

• Wear you seatbelt
• Have a beer or a cocktail while driving.
• Obey all stop signs and traffic lights. 
• Keep your left shoulder to the left side of the road. 
• At night keep an eye to the left when an on coming vehicle is coming in the other direction, right hand vehicles have their lights aimed to the right as not to blind the other driver, well it is back wards here.
• When someone lets you out of an intersection or is sitting there giving you a chance to go and honks at you, they are not mad, they are just being polite and letting you out. A simple tap of the horn suffices for a thank you. 
• Stay Left, it is easier to see if you are going to drive off the side of that cliff! 

Don'ts

• Drive the speed limit, no one goes 10 MPH where it is posted. There are no radar guns down here. 
• Drive legally drunk but see above for cocktail do's. 
• Talk or text on your cell phone. 
• Try to park downtown. 
• Ask a local if they should take Route 33 to Route 42, we have no clue what you are talking about. We use landmarks here since there are no real address here and no one knows what route is what.
• Rear end a safari cab, they stop where ever and when ever. 
• Honk your horn when you come upon a stopped car. They are either having a conversation, grabbing a newspaper, or letting some one out of their car, they will eventually move, just be patient. The concept of pulling over safely has not yet caught on down here. 

  

Winter Break - Steamboat Springs, Colorado!

Taking a break from island life to do a little skiing in the USA. Visiting with the in-laws too who flew down from Canada. Nice powder and rented a nice log cabin!

Holidays in the Virgin Islands!

Sorry it has been a while since my last post, been busy with all kinds of activity.

Christmas this year was fun, having friends over for Christmas Eve dinner of Turkey.

Followed by Christmas Day at Jost Van Dyke with friends and a white elephant party!

And then New Years Eve day at Jost. We leave before sunset to avoid the craziness that goes on there at night. I was in bed by 10 PM.

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: 

http://newsofstjohn.com/2013/12/24/twas-the-night-before-christmas/

‘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!”

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.

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