St. John Sunset Wednesday 11/10/2010 - Photo by Yelena Rogers

St. John, US Virgin Islands (USVI)
The adage goes, “red sky at night, sailors delight.” So if folk wisdom prevails, tomorrow should be a beautiful day.

The official forecast, however, calls for “numerous showers and isolated thunderstorms in the morning…then scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon” and even a Flash Flood Watch, which remains in effect through Friday morning…

Rain, rain, go away. Come back again some other day.

another flood - more mud

Westin Resort, Great Cruz Bay, St. John US Virgin Islands
The Westin Hotel on St. John, which had been doing so nicely in making repairs after last month’s flooding, took another blow yesterday. Flood waters from Guinea gut once again entered the Westin grounds fouling the pool and eroding the beach. At least this time the pool repairs should be a little quicker as the resurfacing has already been done.

Sunday Morning Sunrise

Chocolate Hole, St. John US Virgin Islands (USVI)
Notwithstanding the Flash Flood Warning and the high probability of rain, my weather forecast system of looking out at the sky served me well and yesterday’s hike was rain free.

Last night however, it rained like crazy with thunder and lightning and high winds. So far this morning so good, but it sure looks like rain. Unless it looks better later on today, I’ll probably cancel my planned visit to Jost Van Dyke.

Being that I’m in the process of another book reprint for St. John Off The Beaten Track, I’ve been revisiting the island’s trails to check for changes since the last printing. I’ve also been concerned about trail conditions after the winds of Hurricane Earl and the flooding from Hurricane Otto. Following are reports from last week’s St. John trail hikes.

Francis Bay Trail
The Francis Bay Trail remains in good condition with the exception that part of the new boardwalk constructed for handicap access is now under water. This is undoubtedly due to the unusual amount of rain we’ve experienced lately and will correct itself in the coming months.

Maria Hope Road
The Maria Hope Trail is still in good condition even though there been no improvements or maintenance done on the trail by National Park contractors. The one good overlook has filled in with vegetation and although still providing views they’re not quite as outstanding as before.

Guinea Grass (photo by Yelena Rogers)

Tektite Trail
Like the Maria Hope Road, the Tektite Trail remains in good condition despite lack of maintenance. The sections of trail passing trough fields of guinea grass are beginning to become overgrown and may be difficult to follow in the future if the trail does not continue to be well used by hikers.

L'Esperance Estate

L’Esperance Road
The L’Esperance Trail is also in good condition as are the L’Esperance and Seiban ruins cleared by volunteers last year. These estates, however are beginning to show signs of being reclaimed by bush if a campaign of maintenance by either contractors or volunteers is not initiated.

Chocolate Hole, St. John US Virgin islands (USVI)
It’s 9:00 am Saturday morning. I’m looking out over the Caribbean to the east. The sun is shining through some high clouds. It’s misty (dusty?) The winds are strong and the sea is rough. It’s been like this for a few days now.

Looking at the weather forecast I see this is bold red letters: Flash Flood Watch in effect through Monday afternoon…

According to the Weather Underground website, today we have a 50% chance of rain which will include two different classifications of rain, “scattered showers” and “isolated thunderstorms.”

Tonight’s expected rain will change from scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms in the evening to  “periods of showers” and “scattered thunderstorms” after midnight with the probability of rain at 90%.

And tomorrow on Sunday we can expect numerous showers and isolated thunderstorms in the morning…then periods of showers and scattered thunderstorms.

That’s a lot of different types of rain, kind of like the myth about the Eskimos having hundreds of words to describe snow. From now until tomorrow we’re expecting: scattered showers, periods of showers, numerous showers, isolated thunderstorms and scattered thunderstorms.

And can somebody out there tell me what “50% chance of rain” means.

Does it mean that there is a 50% chance that it will rain at all and a 50% chance that it won’t rain at all?

Does it mean that there it should rain during 50% of the forecast time period?

Or does it mean that it will rain on 50% of the forecast area?

But right now, FLASH FLOOD WATCH, not withstanding, the sun shines and I’m going hiking… (hope we don’t have any scattered showers, periods of showers, numerous showers, isolated thunderstorms scattered thunderstorms until I get back.)

Westin Resort, St. John US Virgin Islands (USVI)
Several of our blog readers have been asking for updates on the conditions at the Westin Resort since the damage incurred by the heavy rains a few weeks ago.

The pool is still not in operation, but workers were present and the job of refinishing seems to be progressing nicely.

The tennis courts have been cleaned up and all the old surfaces removed, but thus far, that’s it. Rumor has it that the hotel is thinking about putting down a hard surface instead of the old synthetic turf, but because of the significant expense involved, it appears doubtful.

The Kid’s Club, Arcade and Conference Rooms are still out of commission. The Beach Cafe is still closed and is being temporarily replaced by the Cruz Bay Prime above the hotel lobby.

My take is that work is being done, but certainly not at particularly feverish pace, and I would be surprised if much is completed before Thanksgiving.

Will keep you informed…

G

Cinnamon Bay Self Guiding Trail

It appears that the Virgin Islands National Park is doing some work on the Cinnamon Bay Self Guiding Trail. Concrete pathways are in the process of being installed, making access easier and safer and wheelchair friendly.

bay rum tree lined trail

Flowing gut along the Cinnamon Bay Self Guiding Trail

white tailed deer

Video: Cinnamon Bay Gut

Westin Resort, St. John, Great Cruz Bay, US Virgin Islands (USVI) 10/15/2010

Westin pool drained once again - scheduled for cleaning & resurfacing

The Pool
Last week I came across the water trucks filling up the Westin Pool and reported that repairs were under way and that the pool would be ready in a day or two. Not so.

Either by mistake or by design, when the pool was filled to a level whereby the pumps could circulate the pool water through the filter system, the mud within the pipes, pump and filters were released into the pool. This resulted in a clean pump and filter system, but a dirty pool.

The pool has been draining and is almost dry and the mud and debris is being cleaned up. Apparently the Westin is taking this opportunity to resurface the pool, something that needs to be done periodically.

The long and the short is that the pool won’t be ready for a while, but my guess is that it will be competed before the Thanksgiving Holiday.

The Beach, Beach Bar and Beach Restaurant
The beach is being cleaned up and should look back to normal soon. The restaurant will need some time as it appears that the hotel may be taking this opportunity to make some improvements as well as repair the flood damage

Kids Club, Arcade and Ballroom
The gym is up and running, but the Kids Club, Arcade, ballroom and conference rooms have all suffered flood damage. At this point everything that got wet has been removed and is either being cleaned up or replaced. Again this might take a while, but again I suspect this too will be ready before the end of November.

Tennis Courts
The green surfaces have almost all been removed. They will either be replaced or there is talk that the hotel may opt to recover the courts with a hard surface.

Still Lookin' Good!

Tennis Court

Playground - Ready to Go

My Recommendations
I’ve been receiving a lot of e-mail asking my advice for people scheduled to arrive at the Westin this month. The following is my personal take on the issue:

Visitors should be coming to experience St. John, to me the accommodations are secondary with the caveat that they be comfortable.

The pool is nice, but the beaches are better. The best beaches by far are on the north side of the island, so missing out on the man made beach at the Westin is no big deal. The hotel is even offering a shuttle service to Hawksnest, Trunk and Cinnamon Bays.

The Westin rooms are indeed comfortable, so I would be happy to be on St. John even without all of the normal hotel amenities. The real fun is snorkeling, diving, hiking and the beautiful National Park Beaches – all still available after Otto.

So, I personally would not cancel my plans to come to St. John, with one exception. If you are bringing young children, kids too young to be turned on by snorkeling, hiking, beach going or diving, then no Kids Club, no arcade and no pool would be a big deal and I would reschedule my trip.

There is something for the kids, though, the playground is up and running.

I repeat, this is just me. Please make your own decisions and please continue to monitor the progress at the Westin

From the Westin Website:

Inclement Weather Update
Due to extremely heavy rain October 5-7, 2010, related to Tropical Storm Otto, the area around The Westin St. John Resort & Villas experienced heavy flooding resulting in damage to the property. The resort operations’ team is working quickly to return to normal operations. The resort is open and under limited operations; however, the hotel is waiving all cancellation fees as well as the Resort Charge from now until November 14, 2010.

A resort update:
• Beach Café Restaurant is scheduled to reopen October 27, 2010.
• Snorkel’s Bar & Grill is closed & is scheduled to reopen November 14, 2010.
• The resort is utilizing Cruz Bay Prime as its main restaurant.
• The Pool is closed for repairs & is scheduled to reopen November 14, 2010. Our customers will be able to use the pools located in the Virgin Grand Hillside villas. The resort will also be offering complimentary round trip shuttles at three set times per day to St. John’s most beautiful beaches: Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay and Hawks Nest Beach.
• The Kids Club & Arcade are closed but are anticipated to reopen November 10, 2010. Our Activities Department is providing babysitting service as well as activities for all ages around the resort.
• The Tennis Courts are closed & are scheduled to reopen October 27, 2010
• The government has issued an advisory of “swim at your own risk” for all Virgin Islands beaches until the water quality can be tested and deemed safe. For the most up to date information please visit www.dpnr.gov.vi/notices.htm *
• The Westin Work Out Facility & Spa are open.
If you would like to reschedule your upcoming reservation to a later date please contact our Reservations Team at 888 627 7206 or email STJon.01098@Westin.com.

*DPNR update 12:00 noon 10/15/2010
The following beaches meet water quality standards and are safe for swimming or fishing:

St. John

Westin Resort, St. John US Virgin islands

It’s been raining quite hard here on St. John for the last day or so causing significant flooding. I’ve heard reports from Coral Bay about rock and mud slides and other flood related problems. On St. Thomas, I heard that Crown Mountain Road is all but impassible.

But here closer to home I’ve seen quite a bit of damage in the area around the Westin where Guinea Gut overflowed. Flood waters ran through the resort and undermined the bridge over the gut and for several hours vehicles could no longer pass between the Westin on the east and the St. John Market on the west. The causes of  it all are two areas of stormy weather, one now a named storm, Subtropical Storm Otto and another referred to by the meteorologists as Invest 97.

At the Westin some rooms were flooded, as was the pool and the beach area. Large breaking waves caused a sailboat anchored in Great Cruz Bay to was up on the Westin Beach adding it to the other unfortunate craft brought ashore by Hurricane Earl.

Bridge over Guinea Gut

Tennis Courts

Sailboat is washed ashore by breaking seas

It’s Wednesday night and still raining, hopefully the rain will stop soon.

Waterlemon Cay Snorkel

I’ve often heard that the Waterlemon Cay snorkel is the best on St. John. Maybe so, but it certainly is a popular one. Here are some photos from a recent snorkeling adventure.

(And by the way it’s WaterLEMON Cay, not WaterMELON Cay)

Brain Coral	Parrotfish	Peacock Flounder: Master of Camouflage
Tarpon

More about Waterlemon Cay and Leinster Bay

It was good while it lasted but the St. John Gourmet Market has changed their discount policy for locals. No more 10% discount for purchases greater than $20.00 and 20% discount for purchases greater than $50.00

You must now buy more than $75.00 worth of stuff to get the 10% discount and $150.00 or more to qualify for a 20% discount.

I’ve been shopping there just about exclusively taking advantage of the the good local’s discount, but it’s probably time to check out Starfish Market to see how their prices compare.