Exploring a Wreck: Chocolate Hole St. John

St. John and Fresh Water

The $5,000 Water Bill
A little incident yesterday had me thinking about water, something we in the Virgin Islands probably think about more than most. I had left the water running while topping off my hot tub for way longer than I should have. It wasn’t so bad, though. I caught it before the cistern was empty, and it certainly wasn’t as bad as what happened to my friend, Danny. He rents out part of his condo on St. Thomas and the lady who’s renting it left the toilet running for more than a month, leaving Danny stuck with a $5,000 plus water bill.

Water in the Good Old Days
None of this would have happened in what we ex pats think of as the good old days. Water was way more precious back then, and we were way more careful. In those days, you had your cistern water and that was it. Not only that, but most cisterns, and most houses for that matter, were considerably smaller than they are today. If you ran out, it was a big problem. No washing, no showers and no flushing and getting more water wasn’t so easy.

There was no WAPA water back then and no desal plants. Caneel Bay had a water catchment and Cinnamon had a series of wells in the gut that ran above the camp.  Any water not provided by nature, that is, from rain or wells came to St. John on a big barge from Puerto Rico. As you might imagine, this was an extremely limited supply to be shared by all those in need. Not only was the supply limited, but so was the delivery system. The only water truck that I can remember, available to bring water to your house,  came from Pimpy H2O and Pimpy only had one truck. So if you ran out of water, which would most likely happen when there was a prolonged dry spell, and everyone else was out of water also, you had a considerable wait to look forward to or, more than likely, you just sat back and prayed for rain.

If It’s Yellow, Let it Mellow
Besides prayer, another option was water conservation, a serious matter back then. Toilets had notices posted above them to alert newcomers that old stateside habits didn’t go over here on St. John. Cutout cardboard signs with hand-drawn illustrations with messages like:

“On this Island in the sun,
We never flush for number one”

or

If it’s yellow, let it mellow,
If it’s brown, flush it down”

When you showered, brushed your teeth or washed dishes, you gave a little squirt of water and turned off the faucet. Only then did you do your scribbling, brushing, cleaning or soaping. That accomplished, you turned on the water, briefly, just enough for a good rinse and turned the water off once again. Consequently, your supply water lasted a long time.

One other thing I remember from the good old days, was that everyone drank cistern water, unlike today when it’s almost unheard of. Notwithstanding the many evil pathogens now presumed to flourish in our cisterns, I never knew of anyone who got even an upset stomach from drinking water that wasn’t store-bought and factory-produced.

Today
Today we use a lot more water. It’s expensive, but fairly easy to come by. A big desalination plant operated by WAPA produces thousands of gallons a day and is stored in giant tanks and there are numerous choices for water delivery trucks. Unlike in decades past, houses, villas and McMansions have swimming pools and Jacuzzis. Visitors to the island as well as many residents shower to there heart’s content. They leave the water running full blast while they brush their and flush the toilet as often as they put it to use. And people don’t think about water as much as they used to, except when they get a $5,000 water bill, I guess.

St. John Weather

High Temperature: 88 degrees
Water Temperature: 81 degrees
Sunset: 6:32 pm
Winds: ESE 10-15 mph
Forecast: Overcast with chance of rain

St. John Live Music Schedule Saturday March 31

Castaways – Dance Party – 11:00 – 777-3316
Driftwood Dave’s – James Milne – 7:00 – 10:00 – 777-4015
Morgan’s Mango – Luba – 6:00 – 9:30 – 693-8141
Ocean Grill – Rascio on Steel Pan – 6:00 – 9:30 – 693-3304
Rhumblines – Lauren – 7:00 – 10:00
Shipwreck Landing – Mike Miknut – 6:00 – 9:30
Skinny Legs -Hot Club of Coral Bay – 6:30 – 9:30 -779-4982
Spyglass – James Cobb – 5:00 – 8:00 – 776-1100

See Weekly Schedule

Chocolate Hole

Great Cruz Bay

St. John Music Schedule Saturday March 19

Castaways – Kenny Floyd – 8:00 – 11:00 – 777-3316
Concordia – Inner Visions – 7:00 – 10:00 – 693 5855
Fatty Crab – Sambacombo – 11:00 am – 4:00 pm – 693-5244
Island Blues – Mojones  – 7:00 – 10:00 – 776-6800
Morgan’s Mango – Luba – Piano & Vocals – 6:30 – 9:30 – 693-8141
Rhumb Lines – Lauren & Bo – 7:00 – 10:00 – 776-0303
Skinny Legs – Hot Club of Coral Bay – 6:30 – 9:30 – 779-4982
Westin, Cruz Bay Prime – James Cobb – 6:30 – 10:00 – 693-8802

A word of caution: I’m doing the best I can to present an accurate music schedule, but to be sure, it would be a great idea to call the restaurant or bar beforehand to confirm.

Weekly Music Schedule

Dawn, St. John Virgin Islands

Chocolate Hole, St. John, US Virgin Islands, 6:15 am December 13, 2010
It’s a beautiful Virgin Islands dawn. The sky is clear. The seas are calm. The air is cool and crisp. It’s quiet and peaceful. The tree frogs have stopped their singing and the birds have not yet begun.

For us on St. John and in the Virgin Islands Hurricane Earl has come and gone. He was stronger and came earlier than expected. Although not predicted to effect us until late Monday afternoon, conditions deteriorated on Sunday night.

On St. John, boats at anchor suffered the worst of the storm. All the boats in Chocolate Hole were swept from their moorings, save one that later sunk. Several boats were also lost in Great Cruz Bay and Cruz Bay.

Westin Beach, Great Cruz Bay	Floating Dock from Great Cruz Bay Dinghy Landing	Chocolate Hole Beach

Trees were down all over the island and current was out, internet down and cell phones spotty.

Caneel Bay suffered some structural damage and the awning over the dock at the Westin was blown down.

On the BVI matters were worse. On Jost Van Dyke, Sidneys at Little Harbour was pretty much destroyed. Abe’s, also at Little Harbour lost much of their dock. In Great Harbour, Rudy lost his dock. Word from Tortola was bad reporting the loss of many boats. Anegada was the worst hit with widespread damage and flooding.

Rainbow
The rain keeps coming.  Not normal July weather here on St. John. Looks like our weather system has developed into a tropical storm, TS Bonnie, heading into the Gulf of Mexico.

Yesterday was clear most of the day and I did get to see a cool rainbow late in the afternoon.

Earthquake
21st July 2010 –An earthquake measuring a magnitude of 4.48 on the Richter scale was felt throughout the Virgin Islands at approximately 8:00 pm July 21st 2010.  The report indicated that the epicenter was located in the Virgin Islands Platform near 18.55 latitude and -64.96 longitude … read more

Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands Notes
In 1980 there was only one vehicle on Jost Van Dyke, a Jeep. There were no paved roads, no electricity, save for a few solar panels and generators, no phone except a radio phone at customs. The ferry, The blue Atlantic, was a hand-made wooden craft capable of handling about 10 people, tops.

Electricity came to Jost Van Dyke in 1990.

My First Automobile Ride In Jost Van Dyke
Saturday, April 15, 1995

It was a beautiful evening. The moon was full, the seas were calm and the sky was clear.

We left Chocolate Hole, on St John just after sunset. The moon rose over the mountains in back of Cruz Bay as we rounded Lind Point on our way to Abe’s in Little Harbour, on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands.

Abe's

Abe’s was fairly busy. Bareboaters from Germany, a woman with high heel sneakers and short shorts, a couple from Tortola with a 40 foot Hattaras and some others. Steve, Abe’s son, was tending bar.

We had a big dinner. Lobster, conch, rice and peas, corn and cole slaw.

During dinner I saw a Suzuki Jeep leave from in front of Abe’s house. It got my attention because I never had seen a vehicle on this beach before.

Later, just as we were finishing dinner, the vehicle returned. I saw the driver for the first time. It was Steve. I asked him where he got the jeep, and was it his and where he was going.

It turned out that Kendrick, one of my old friend’s Etien Chinnery’s sons, was now in the business of renting vehicles. Kendrick, who was a former customs officer and bar tender at the Sand Castle in White Harbour had also began Jost Van Dyke’s first ferry business. He had one jeep for rent, this automatic transmission Suzuki Jeep for rent for $35.00 a day. Steve had rented it for three days.

I asked Steve if he’d take us for a ride and being the nice guy that he is, he consented. We went over the mountain to Great Harbour, around the bottom in back of the beach at Great Harbour, passed Rudy’s and then along the waterfront and back to Foxy’s where there was music and dancing.

Foxy had left for the evening and Tessa was closing up the store. Ivan was playing guitar with a local trio. The bar was fairly crowded and everyone was in good spirits. I saw some of the regulars there,  Godwin and Nippy and Melvin were dancing with the tourists. My friends, Etien Chinnery and Junie, Abe’s brother from Little Harbour, were over by the band watching the scene.

We were in for a treat, another first for me. Dean, one of Foxy’s sons, was going to do his famous fire dance. It was a great show. Dean was in costume and made up like an African warrior. The sound of drums from the drum machine. He danced with his fire sticks and blew fire out of his mouth like a fire breathing dragon. Then he broke up some liquor bottles in a cardboard box and placed the broken shards on the floor. He danced on the glass and then  he danced holding up the biggest man in the house, a 250 pound Brit, in his arms. Dean was quite the showman and I was duly impressed.

After the Dean Spectacular we got back in our rent-a-car and drove back to Abe’s for the moonlight trip back home to St. John.

Thanks Steve. Thanks Dean. Thanks to all my very special Virgin Islands friends!

GS 4/15/95

Amarat in Flower, Chocolate Hole, St. John Virgin Islands

Fig Banana Flower, Chocolate Hole St. John USVI

One of the most common trees in our “native dry forest garden” is the amarat. They are acacias, (casha bush) but do not have thorns likes most other varieties.

Lately they have been in bloom and their flower and new leaves are particularly attractive.

Our non-native (exotic) fig banana is also in flower. It should open up soon and well be enjoying figs in about six weeks.

Chocolate Hole, St. John USVI 5/6/09