St. John South Shore

Good News From WAPA:

“Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority engineers and technicians completed repairs to gas turbine Unit #23 in St. Thomas’ Harley Power Plant last night and returned all feeders to service by 11:42 p.m. The feeder rotation schedule implemented on Monday and Tuesday has been discontinued.

“A wiring fault which occurred in the generator on Monday was repaired when subsequent troubleshooting determined that a computerized control card for the starting diesel component needed to be replaced. The part arrived from Puerto Rico Tuesday evening and was immediately installed.  After programming its software, the unit was returned to service before midnight.”

Westin St. John Rewards Guests Who Volunteer for Virgin Islands National Park Maintenance Program
“From now through December 31st, Westin St. John Resort & Villas is offering a $100 resort credit and transfers for guests who volunteer at nearby Virgin Islands National Park. With the Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park, visitors can participate in a one-day program to help maintain park trails and ruins, and remove debris from beaches and coastlines. All you have to do is show up at 8 a.m. any Tuesday or Thursday.”
By Karen Borsari for Shape.com

Diving Accident at Salomon Bay
A young New Bern man, described as the best of the best, was killed in a diving accident in Salomon Bay in St. John. James Alexander, 24, son of MERCI Clinic director Nancy Alexander and heart surgeon Dr. George Alexander, died Friday as he and his twin brother David were on a diving expedition in the U.S. Virgin Islands…. A National Park Service official said that Alexander was free diving with his brother. He ended up on the bottom at a depth of 30 feet. read article

JetBlue takes off from Boston to U.S. Virgin Islands

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS – The sights and sounds of the U.S. Virgin Islands greeted travelers at Boston’s Logan International Airport this morning as the Department of Tourism showcased VI culture in celebration of JetBlue’s first flight to the Territory from the continental U.S… read more from South Florida Caribbean News

Best national parks to visit during winter
By Elaine Porterfield , msnbc.com contributor

Lots of folks know about Yosemite’s festive lodges in the winter, the excitement of viewing buffalo in the snow at Yellowstone or alligator spotting in the Everglades. Emphasis on lots of people. But there are a number of other lesser known national parks that are gems in the winter, when crowds are down, stargazing is amazing and temperatures range from temperate to pretty terrific.

“Some of the beauty of going to any of the parks in the wintertime is that you’re not going to encounter the crowds you would in the summer or fall,” said Kurt Repanshek, editor of National Parks Traveler, a website devoted to the national parks.

Slideshow: America’s lesser-known national parks

Repanshek, who has had a lifelong passion for preserving and protecting national parks, says some of the most memorable visits he’s made to many of the parks happened in the off-season. One of his faves: Virgin Islands National Park on the island of St. John. The park includes 5,650 acres of submerged lands that protects beautiful coral gardens and seascapes… Read more

St. John Photo of the Day

Photo taken from the Tektite Trail of Beehive Cove.

St. John News

“Lost” Petroglyphs Rediscovered at Virgin Islands National Park…read more

Gov. DeJongh Seeking $42M for Broadband Infrastructure…read more

Live Music on St. John Wednesday, March 2

Castaways – Steven Sloan – 7:00 – 777-3316
Coconut Coast Studios – St. John Flutes – 5:30 -7:00 – 776-6944
High Tide – Chris Carsel – 7:00 – 10:00?714-6169
Island Blues – James Cobb – 7:00 – 10:00 – 776-6800
Larry’s Landing - James Jams – 10:00 – 693-8802
Sun Dog Cafe - Open Mic with Mark Wallace – 7:00 – 10:00 – 693 8340
Westin, Cruz Bay Prime – David Laabs – 6:30 – 10:00 – 693-8802

A word of caution to my visitors: 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

Nanny Point, St. John - Google Maps Satellite Image

Nanny Point

Nanny Point, located on St. John’s southeastern coast has recently been acquired by the Virgin Islands National Park Service. The 2.2-acre parcel, donated by Stanley Selengut, commands some outstanding views of Coral Bay and out towards the British Virgin islands. Mr. Selelengut, the owner of Maho Bay Camps and Estate Concordia, donated the land to the Trust for Public Lands, which then donated the Nanny Point headland to the V.I. National Park.

Nanny Point could easily have fallen into the hands of developers. The acquisition of the land by the National Park through the generosity of Mr. Selengut will ensure that Nanny Point will be available for the enjoyment and benefit of the public at large.

Thank you, Mr. Selengut!

Nanny Point, St. John US Virgin Islands (USVI)

Nanny Point	cactus covered headland	View of the British Virgin Islands
View of Ram Head Point	View of Salt Pond Bay	tide pool
View North from Nanny Point

Nanny Point also happens to be the habitat of a rare plant species, Solanum conocarpum, native only to the island of St. John.

Solanum Conocarpum

“Solanum conocarpum is a thornless, flowering shrub that may reach more than nine feet in height and is found in dry, deciduous forest on the island of St. John.

Initially, the plants lost their dry scrub thicket habitat in the intense deforestation for cotton and sugar cane cultivation on both islands. Now, the additional threats of residential and tourism-related development, grazing by feral goats and the practice of burning off vegetation.
There are only about 220 S. conocarpum plants left in the wild in two areas on St. John – 156 plants at Nanny Point on land recently donated to the Virgin Islands National Park and 60 plants on private land.

Funded by the National Park Service, a project to propagate and reintroduce S. conocarpum into areas within the park was begun in 2003. But the plants are threatened by park management practices such as trail and facility maintenance, in addition to the feral pigs, feral goats, Key deer, and donkeys. The plants on private land are at risk from residential and tourism development.”

Environment News Service

Fungi Passage

The passage between Whistling Cay and Mary Point on St. John is called the Fungi Passage. Virgin Islands National Park Ranger Denise George once offered to tell me the origin of the name. She said that no matter how hard the wind blows,  how big the ground sea or how strong the tide, the Fungi Passage is always calm. She also explained that fungi is a Virgin Islands staple dish made from okra and cornmeal, often served with fish, like in “fish ‘n’ fungi.”

“In the Virgin Islands,” Denise said, “a good fungi, like the waters in the Fungi Passage, is always very smooth.”

Denise likes to make stories and this one is a good one so lets just say that maybe she’s right.

The island just to the north of the Fungi Passage is Great Thatch one of the British Virgin Islands and the passage between it and St. John is called the Narrows. In the photograph you can see the opening into that stretch of water notorious for a strong winds and currents.

The big island further to the north is Jost Van Dyke, also in the British Virgin Islands. The bay on the east is the main town, Great Harbor and the one on the west behind the four masted schooner under full sail is White Bay.

The photograph was taken from the overlook on Centerline Road at about 9:00 AM on Sunday.