Christmas in St. Thomas

Season's Greetings to our friends and family.

I write this entry taking a quick break from "assisting" Julian with building his gift from Santa. A nice gift - but did Santa seriously realize there are some 700 pieces to assemble this Lego Mars Mission set? Oh well - a fun thing to do together...or watch Mark do.

The Christmas season has not been without its excitement and busy schedule in St. Thomas. Starting off with school Christmas concerts and ending with a New Year's Day Party - we have had a packed calendar.

Just before all this craziness started, we were very happy to welcome our friends the Ellsay family to St. Thomas. Chris, Christine and their three children Andrea, Ryan and Cari (ages 4,6, and 8) are sailing around the world on a 42-foot catamaran. This adventurous family left Parry Sound, Ontario in June and made their way through Georgian Bay and the lakes of Ontario to New York and then headed south. Having completed the Caribbean 1500 cruising rally which began in Hampton, Virginia and ended in Tortola they met up with us. With our children all being close in ages - the pack of five got on like a house on fire. We had a few evenings with them including one at our house where we all decorated our Christmas tree and then another - far more eciting from our perspective - visiting their boat and eating freshly caught mahi. This boat seems far bigger than the average 42-footer. And at one point there were 10 adults and eight young children on board - and it still felt spacious. The Ellsays left a week before Christmas heading east to other islands with the hopes of being in St. Martin by Christmas.

On December 19th - Santa flew into the St. Thomas Yacht Club for a visit with all the children. It was a fun evening and always fun to watch the children sitting patiently waiting to have their name called to sit with Santa and receive a gift. Despite previous years experiences, Max marched up confidently to Santa and sat on his lap.

Christmas Eve was dinner at our house with friends. We sat outside and drank champagne before dinner and then it got a little too windy to stay out there. Christmas Day was fun and relaxing and then we spent the evening with our friends and neighbours for dinner.

A few more days to play then back to work on Monday. The boys are off school until January 8th and then Mark's parents will make their way to visit us for a couple of weeks.

Happy New Year.

December

I have spent the last few weeks ignoring the early warning signs of Christmas by swiftly changing the radio station when anything resembling a Christmas carol is being played and ignoring any Christmas displays in the stores. I did, however, have a good laugh at the inflatable snowman displayed outside our local Home Depot, partly deflated and looking like he was melting in the heat. Some things really don’t translate well across borders.

For obvious reasons, it hasn’t felt like December. The month of November went by very quickly with my parents visiting St. Thomas. They arrived November 1st after a five week cruise that took them down the west coast, through the Panama Canal, up the Amazon and through the Caribbean. Quite the adventure. Needless to say, there was a sharp contract from their highly catered trip with chocolates on their pillows each night to visiting with us. They may have found offerings on their pillows left by little lizards – but believe me, they weren’t chocolates. Mum and Dad’s visit resulted in beach trips, visits to the yacht club and ferry trips to St. John. Julian and Max truly enjoyed all the extra attention and had two additional people to wake up each morning.






In addition to having a busy family visit, November was steady with work, school and sailing. And now it’s the week before Christmas.

Of course, with procrastination, there are consequences. The Christmas season has hit us like a hurricane. One friend warned me a few weeks ago, “When the Christmas trees arrive, you have to go right away or they’ll all be gone.” And she wasn’t kidding. Fortunately our local Cost-U-Less was also selling something that resembled a freshly cut Christmas tree, tied up so tightly there was no knowing what was hiding within the branches – the few branches there were. Charlie Brown would be proud. The tree is happily displayed in our living room with all of our decorations carefully shipped from Vancouver. It’s a weird and new concept to have your tree in a room where the breeze blows the branches and decorations.

And then there is the work assisting Santa’s big day. All I can say is I am a new fan of on-line shopping. Who knew it was so easy and that shipping would be so fast? The best part is I didn't have to set foot into a single shop and battle crowds. The line-ups at the post office are another story but I am learning to go with my phone, a book and other things to do while I wait.

This week Julian has a Holiday Breakfast and concert hosted by his class and Max’s class has another event finishing up the week and term. On Friday night we are heading down to the Yacht Club for a family dinner as rumour has it Santa is dropping into the club for a quick visit. Santa apparently quite likes St. Thomas as there have been multiple sightings over the past couple of weeks. Julian went to one event attended by all schools on the island and reported to us that evening that “Santa didn’t have a beard and he looked different.” Oh I wish I had been there to see that. However, all the children of the island came back from this event hosted by the Governor of the island with a lovely book and stories about talking to Santa.

The weather has cooled and the winds have picked up. I have quite a few more stories and photos to post but want to get this posted quickly first as our laptop has finally returned. More later.

hurricane? what hurricane?

This weekend has been simply beautiful weather. In fact I just got back from sailing for over two hours in Cowpet Bay. Great breeze. I have been talked into sailing in a women's regatta in a couple of weeks and am trying to get in some practice sails. Believe me - there are not enough days for me to prepare for this event as I have done NO small boat sailing - let alone racing in over 20 years. Dark glasses, hat - maybe I'll go unnoticed.

And while you may think I should have had my fill of "breeze" - it still amazes me that not only did we go through a hurricane - but how the weather can change so quickly and dramatically.

Fortunately - Omar did not hit us that hard and moved through very quickly. The two hurricances that did really hit this island hard - Marilyn (1995) and Hugo (1989 )- were not only strong hurricanes - but they sat on the island for a long while, severly clobbering buildings, infrastructure - everything. The memories and experiences from these storms are still very vivid. We frequently hear different renditions of how residents survived the storm. The good news is the island is incredibly organized in its preparation of an oncoming storm.

St. Croix was hit quite hard this week. Much of the island was without power and several boats sunk, docks were lost and there was damage to many homes. Clean up and repairs are well underway.

After weathering the storm at our neighbours home - we returned to our house finding everything in place. No leaks, drips or anything broken. We still had a lot of clean up and getting everything back in place. Shutters to open and everything back out that we had warpped and put away in heavy black plastic bags. But it was all there!

The rest of the week was fairly busy playing catch up at work. I am anticipating some new interest in generators and even running some advertisments next week for some machines we have in stock - Hurricane Omar Generator Blowout.

Last night Mark and I went out for dinner with our friends John and Tara to St. John. We jumped on the ferry and took a taxi to a little restaurant that overlooked the islands. It was actually a fun adventure as well a good meal.

Back to work and school tomorrow.

Did I also mention we had an earthhquake last week that measured 6.8? We were outside on the deck when it happened and our concrete house barely moved but the metal roof made quite the racket.

Hopefully that is our quota for potential natural disasters.

Thank you everyone for all your kind (and frequently comical notes) to us. We love hearing from you.

omar goodness

My plans to go sailing yesterday were interrupted by a storm. Once out of the August and September period - there is a lesser probability to be walloped by a hurricane. However, this is still very much storm season.

Tropical storms and hurricanes usually start in the south east and move in a north westerly direction. This storm - Tropical Storm Omar - which passed over us in a fairly mild manner during the weekend has been building and is now circling back - first over Puerto Rico and then over the US Virgin Island and BVI. It looks like the forecasters are saying it's still a tropical storm with winds gusting to 70 miles an hour and will not reach hurricane status until it's over us.

Having said that - the island has gone into preparedness / panic mode resulting in many people driving and shopping in the same areas. It didn't help that the cover of the local paper read Forecast paints bull's-eye on islands with a big map circled in red around St. Thomas.

The problem is - if the storm lasts long enough - it may take some time to get new supplies into stores. The power may go down for a period of time and it could be more challenging to get around the island if there is severe flooding (which they are predicting).

This morning - the first order of business was to get a quick lesson from our landlord on how to secure the hurricane shutters. They are very sturdy folding shutters that slide on tracks in front of all our sliding doors and lock into place. I started to work on a couple by myself until various large lizards and other jumping and crawling things started leaping out of the folds. I've decided that Mark can help me with the rest when he gets home.

The second order of business is fill vehicles tanks. I've seen before with storms and other hurricanes - that residents start to get panicky with petrol. Today was no exception and the queues were long. I did, however manage to (over)fill my tank. Unlike others, I didn't fill several jerry cans and load the truck up with extra reserves.

From one line of slightly anxious people to the next - I made my way over to CostULess where I was met with a parking lot overflowing with vehicles, people and carts full of water and supplies. At this point, of course, I had convinced myself there would be no water left except a half case of perrier. Much to my relief, the store was loaded to the rafters with everything as it was their shipment day.

What do I buy? How much do I get? The first few things seem fairly obvious - extra batteries for the flashlights and lanterns. More water jugs because if the power is out - we won't have a functioning water pump. Canned foods, dry foods, juice and UHT milk. Wine.

I run into many people we know - some who live on boats and are getting ready to leave the island to a more protected area to moor in the mangrove protected island of Vieques. I am thankful I don't have to make a four hour open-water crossing on a small boat.

I bypass most fresh produce and nothing more for the freezer just in case we are without power for a while. I keep doing a double-take at my cart - it's quite unbelievable that I am actually buying these items. Someone has replaced the real Charlotte with a canned vegetable and chef boyardee consuming mother. I watched one fellow walk down the aisle with a case of SPAM and decided that it would have to become pretty desperate before I reach that stage. I opted instead for some canned wild salmon. It should go quite nicely with the chef boyardee. Maybe some canned peaches for dessert?

Then some things are a little less obvious like making sure we have enough cash on hand in the event the banks are closed. Mark has called me twice to ask me how much to take out. $1000? more? Do we need to worry about having cash on hand for the business? Neither of us know the answer to these questions so we'll have to guess.

Max's school has just called me and asked to have him picked up at lunch as the school will shut down early. All the public schools were closed all day and I don't know what the plan is for Julian's school.

Never a dull moment! Fortunately - we feel fairly prepared and the other option for us is our office building which is not only connected to city water and a generator - but it also has an apartment with a kitchen and full living facilities.

If you are interested - you can track the storm on http://www.wunderground.com/ or on the national hurricane website. But remember, it's not a hurricane.

long weekend

Long weekends are good for many things. They provide that little extra time to accomplish projects or activities that don't normally fit into a weekend. And I must say, one of the best things about renting a house is the time that has been freed up by not having to do gardening and house maintenance tasks. When I now hear a local Home Depot advertisement suggesting some nasty sounding clean-up or maintenance project to do over my holiday weekend - I can completely ignore it - guilt free! Of course, I am not getting off quite that easily. There are still plenty of other "chores" to fill my time. And what we don't have to maintain at the house - we are fixing, cleaning and repairing at the building that houses Import Supply and our tenants.

This weekend, however has been a nice balance of play and work. Julian and I started the weekend on Friday as his teachers had a professional day and there were no classes. We got most of the errands out of the way - buying Julian some soccer cleats, going to doctor appointment for immunizations, and the almost daily visit to the grocery stores. Our local Marina Market is a small place with fairly good selection - a one-stop-shop where you can get everything from a loaf a bread to a bottle of wine. Depending on the day however, there may only be wine as the bread, dairy and produce shipments have not arrived.

Another humourous aspect of living on such a small island is how people get to know you and your family. Should I actually go shopping in Marina Market without children - the first question any of the check-out cashiers will ask me is "Where are the boys today?" or "Where's Max?". Clearly, the boys' have established a reputation for being enthusiastic connoisseurs of their produce...or something.






Mark raced a laser in a dinghy regatta this weekend. There was a variety of weather conditions - some gusty winds and pretty impressive rain squalls. We went down to the club and watched everyone rig up their boats and set off from the beach. Max pulled all the boat trailers in and out of the water wading in the water until he was neck deep. Julian fed fish from the dock with his friends.

The concept of Thanksgiving seems foreign to us right now - first of all as Canadians in a US territory but mainly as we don't have any major seasonal triggers. No sudden changes of colours or leaves to rake. We did, however see some perfectly shaped pumpkins in the store - all set to be carved. I can only imagine how much they cost - but that is something I am getting used to. In fact, I barely batted an eyelash today when I bought a loaf of bread for...$7.00. Let's hope it isn't stale.

I found a scorpion (mainly dead) in the living room this weekend. Julian was very excited. I was a little less enthused when I watched Mark take it away with our BBQ tongs.

Very stormy weather now - rain that reminds me of driving through a car wash. We'll have to watch this storm.

message from mark - special correspondent

It is hard to believe that Max and I have been here 6 months and Julian and Charlotte have been here nearly nine months. What is it like to live here? I will attempt to put pen to paper (or more aptly finger to keyboard) and describe a few of the wonderful and different experiences and perceptions I have had.

St Thomas is physically beautiful. There are plenty of beautiful beaches and the water, at least at this time of the year is warm like bath water. It is a few degrees cooler in the winter season. The ocean is appropriately aqua marine blue, the clouds, when there are clouds, are billowing white.

I remember talking to friends who had moved from Vancouver to LA. They spoke of finding the weather there monotonous. The weather here is anything but monotonous, especially at this time of year. August and September are the most humid months. September through November are apparently the wet months. It never really rains all that long, usually less than 30 minutes at a time. When it rains it sure can come down. Our roof is clad with metal and when a rain shower passes it often sounds as if someone is dousing the house with a fire hose. It can rain 3 to 4 inches in a showery afternoons. The temperature has so far ranged from about 25 Celcius to the low 30’s. There is usually a decent breeze blowing at the house, which helps to keep us feeling cool. In short the weather here is pretty near perfect. Another way to gauge it is: I have only worn long trousers about 6 or 7 times since we have been here. Six times for evening events when it was deemed that shorts would be inappropriate (one was a black tie event and I am not sure I can conceive of how shorts could have been worked into that event in a socially acceptable way) and once for a business meeting.

Living here has changed my perspective on a few things too. For example I could never understand the light fixture with integral ceiling fan that you often see in houses in the southern US. I have now come to understand ceiling fans area requirement for good sleep on a still night.

The joy of driving a nice German sports sedan on the road to Whistler also seems like a distant memory. There is no point in owning an expensive car here, the road surfaces are uneven and tend to develop gaping potholes after a rain shower. Locals tend not to be amongst the most careful group of drivers and the resultant body damage, missing side view mirrors etc must not be repaired, but instead displayed as an island badge of road warrior honor. The island is mountainous and the road surfaces hard on tires, which by some unspoken law cannot be changed till the cords show through. Better yet, if you have a space saver spare tire or 2, those should be substituted for the full size tires and used indefinitely.

As there are no alternate routes to most locations, there are frequent rush hour traffic jams caused by traffic volume. The best part of the morning commute is seeing the West Indian police officers, neatly dressed in their uniforms and white gloves standing in the middle of the four lane main road through Charlotte Amalie directing traffic with shrill blasts on their whistles and numerous hand gestures.
When you drive here you do have to be careful not to follow the car in front too closely. Islanders usually avoid expending the extra energy that would be required to activate their turn signals. They do however stop their vehicles in the middle of the road at a moment’s notice to chat to friends at the side of the road or in the car in the oncoming lane (which will of course also stop to chat). As this is expected behavior those new to the island should remember to breathe deeply and smile and not lay on the horn, as this only works to prolong the conversation.

One wonderful USVI custom is that you MUST greet anyone you wish to speak with (in person, or on the phone etc) with “Good morning”, or “Good afternoon” etc. If you walk into a bank and join the bank line up, you should, for instance, announce “Good afternoon” to the group of people ahead of you in the line. Most will respond in kind. It is a great ice breaker. Some locals (and government clerks) will in fact not acknowledge that you are standing infront of them until you address them appropriately – but once you do they are all extremely polite and willing to assist.

Before we moved here, I had been told that “things move at a slower pace in the Caribbean.” I had no tangible way of quantifying what that meant. I have a better handle on it now. Getting to a destination takes longer because of the aforementioned roads and traffic. When you arrive at a Bank, a government office, grocery store etc be prepared for many wickets or tills, but only one or two will be staffed and the lines will move more slowly the closer you get to the cashier. The pace of business is also a bit slower. From what I can tell this is because there is less choice of service providers. The good electricians, for example, will be very busy and will not call you back as they could not get to your job till possibly next month.

Charlotte and I have found it difficult to keep pace with the sheer volume of requests for new generator quotes and service through this, our first Hurricane Season. I suspect this speaks more to the former owners hard work building up the business over 25 plus years, but it is confidence inspiring to see things continue to move forward somewhat.

The house has a pool, which has turned out to be invaluable. It serves as a way to cool off on hot days. Electricity, as with most of the Caribbean is incredibly expensive here. We have heard storys of people turning on the AC for a month and finding their electricity bill has gone up $1800 for that month. As a result we have tried not to run the air conditioning too much, though we have given in a few nights in the last month. The pool is also a great diversion for the boys. There are quite literally in the pool almost every day of the week. The boys love going in the pool and just having the pool here at the house has resulted in a marked improvement in Julian’s swimming. Max while not actually able to swim yet is able to dog paddle a bit and really enjoys swimming in the “po-po” as he used to call it.

The yacht club is about 5 minutes from our house. It is a great spot. The dining deck, covered with a large shade sail is about 15 feet from the water’s edge. There is a reasonably active one design IC24 fleet. There are a number of very good sailors that have come out of the STYC, including a recent America’s Cup helmsman and Olympic medalist who sometimes sails in the IC24 fleet. As far as cruising opportunities, the BVIs are the chartering capital of the Caribbean and they are just next door (we can see them from the house). There are of course also a large number of wonderful islands to explore “down Island” through the chain of Caribbean Islands. We have been busy enough so far, that we have not yet had a chance to charter a cruising boat. Hopefully soon.

There are more wonderful things to write about, seeing sea turtles, picking ripe Papayas in the yard etc. Perhaps I will be allowed to write about them on “Charlotte’s blog” in another six months!

six months

It never fails. The weekend comes along providing the perfect opportunity for a little extra shut eye - and I awake before the chickens – and Max.

The sunrise this morning, however, made the unfathomably early rise worthwhile. After another very heavy rain last night, everything looks so lush and green. And as the sun rose, the water turned that wonderful emerald green colour as a few boats made their way out of the harbour to St. John. I really love this view – and while there are many spectacular vistas on the island – many from a higher vantage – I don’t think I could ever tire of watching the activity out this harbour and the views of St. John and BVI.

I actually can't believe the amount of rain we have had in the last few weeks. One downpour after another. Last Sunday the rain was an all-day affair giving us the excuse to read books, play snakes and ladders and make cookies. We gauge how much water is collected in the cistern by the pool level. It currently sits level with the pool deck - so I think it's safe to do a few loads of laundry this weekend without running out of water.

This morning we all had a quick dip in the pool before I headed off to a yoga class with my friend Tara. The yoga class is pretty good and is quite popular despite the fact the studio is heated. And no, I don't mean that it lacks air conditioning - the room is actually heated with a space heater. I am sure there is a good explanation as to why the class has to be conducted at this temperature – otherwise the yoga instructor has a warped sense of humour - or the poorest circulation in medical history.

Julian is taking sailing lessons on Saturday afternoons during which time Mark can also be found out in the bay sailing a laser. Often Mark takes Julian out on the laser after he has finished his class and the two of them buzz around the bay for a while. They come home in their surfer shorts, rash guards and sun glasses looking salty and relaying stories of their latest sailing adventure.

Business at Import Supply has been steady. The past few weeks have been so busy it has been hard to keep up. My accounting skills are slowly shaping up and I am beginning to get a much better handle on what needs to be done and when. As a US territory - we have payments that are not only made to the IRS but also to the local Virgin Islands Government. Getting all these things straight have been a bit of a challenge as a foreigner (FICA. FUTA. 501 forms, 401 forms...eeek)- and an even bigger challenge for someone lacking book keeping and basic accounting skills. It's amazing what you can force yourself to learn when it comes to your money.

On October 1st - Mark and I will have survived our first six months in business- together. Not only have we navigated through the labrynth of generator sales, service and basics of running a business - we have actually shared an office. Of course, no one really knows whether they really and truly can work with their spouse until they try. The determination of roles and responsibilities became apparent over time. Mark plays a more operational role - working closely with our General Manager and the technicians. And while I have honestly being trying to learn more about the basic mechanics of a generator, Mark plays a far more convincing role showing up on a work site to meet with customers. Besides, I don’t really have the right wardrobe for this work.


We have 10 employees working on services and two office staff including a new office assistant who is (thankfully) an experienced book keeper. Two technicians are also new hires and Mark is arranging for another person to do services on St. Croix on a contractual basis. Each employee is provided with an Import Supply truck equipped with GPS trackers allowing us to know where anyone is at any given time. (Note to self: trackers may be useful for Julian and Max..)Getting the company vehicles in shape is ongoing and time consuming. We have built up our fleet from the acquired sad and broken-down scrap yard heap of metal to a much more respectable looking fleet of jallopies. If there is a vehicle deal out there - Mark has found it! The most recent acquisition was a Mitsubishi truck purchased from a Welsh woman who recently had her work visa rejected. It was an unfortunate story that involved her moving here with all her belongings including her nice, little truck only to find out that she couldn't teach and would have to return to the UK. Mark met her two days before she was due to leave - in a desperate position to sell the truck. The next day, he was burning around the island in his newest little toy. Of course, like any new toy that comes into our house, there is "discussion" on who gets to play with the new toy. Newer truck and it's standard! So far I'm fighting a losing battle.

With 14 Import Supply vehicles in what I like to describe as island condition" - there is always one in the shop or ready to be serviced. Car purchases, registration and service are almost a full time job in itself. On another note, we still don’t have local drivers licences because of the time and bureaucracy involved.
We have also had to work with an IT person to make a lot of changes to our computer systems. The phones were also a small nightmare for a short period. Phone lines had somehow crossed over cable lines – resulting in strong radio signals blaring music or radio chat over the phone lines. It was funny the first couple of days.

There are many quirks and quarks living and working on this island. Most things make us laugh (or roll our eyes) and others are just the way they are. You either accept it or move on. Fortunately, we spend a lot of time laughing.

boats and genips

It was very still and humid today. In fact, the past few days have been without breeze and much more humid. And while the breeze almost always comes from the east, we've had days where it has blown more from the north. Fortunately - it still feels manageable - and cool enough to sleep. I may, however, reassess the situation tonight.
Max is back to school this week. To be perfectly honest - this realization only occured after Mark drove by the school, called me on his mobile and exclaimed "there’s a lot of parents dropping off children at Max's school right now."

It's amazing how quickly you can get children out the door if you need to.

Fortunately, we live about two minutes from the school. And after all, it's pre-school! (After that little bit of Monday morning excitement, I did triple check Julian's school calendar to confirm that he started Grade One the end of next week...)

With Max in school, Julian and I have been together this week and we've juggled a little work and little play.

This morning, we made our way to the boat yard to oversee the boat being hauled out. Typically, the IC24s and other boats of various sizes are hauled out mid-end of August and put on cradles or stands until the end of hurricane season. I had not been down to this particular boat yard in a couple of months and it was a very different scene from an earlier visit. The yard was full of boats neatly lined up. Even the marina and the lagoon area had a far greater occupancy level. Everyone had completed their seasonal preparations and boats were safely tucked away.

Amazingly, for this part of the world, the entire boat hauling operation was extremely efficient. Boat towed over, lifted out of the water at the scheduled time, gently placed into its cradle - and nothing broke.




Of course, what this also means is that we can't do any sailing on this boat for a month or two.

On a completely different subject matter and with no idea how to segue to the following subject matter, we have an enormous genip tree in our yard. I had never tasted (or even heard of) this little green grape-like fruit. In fact, when a friend was over and pointed to the heavily clustered fruits hanging from the tree, I thought she was pulling my leg with a name like "genip". I had visions of it being one of those lines you feed a newcomer so they are easily identifiable when you go to a store and ask for "genips". Ah yes...a genip....here’s another one….



But sure enough, these little things that taste like a cross between a grape, lychee nut, and a plum are a popular treat in the Caribbean. You can also find them in Spain where they are called waya. The downside to the genip is they are a lot of work. For the amount of sweet, juicy pulp you get in each fruit - there is a lot of careful snacking around a good sized pit. So far, I am the only one in our family who can bother to eat them. Julian just wrinkles his nose and says, "no thanks."

I've noticed they sell genips by the branch at fruit stands. Hmmmmm. Well maybe if Julian and I are bored on Friday.....

flip floppers in florida

It's hard to believe the summer is almost over. Despite both boys having three months summer vacation, the weeks have blown by (some weeks quite literally). Julian completed eight weeks of his sailing camp, Max enjoyed his school camp and Mark and I have been undergoing our own small business learning and training process.

To celebrate the end of the summer, we decided to take a small jaunt over "stateside" to explore a little of Florida. The evening before our trip was very stormy. Thunder, lightning and enough rain to fill the pool to the rim. In fact, when we awoke the following morning to the continuation of the storm, it did cross my mind whether or flight would depart. Fortunately, by the time we were due to leave St. Thomas, the weather had settled considerably. However, Tropical Storm Fay was having some impact even in this area and resulted in our three hour flight being extended an additional hour with some wait time for a gate and the lightning to cease before we could "safely" disembark.

An extra hour on a stuffy plane with two young children is always a great way to start any holiday.

Our week in Florida was an interesting contrast to our life in St. Thomas. Following a short stay in Miami, we drove north to Orlando. We rented a large car (big enough the boys could barely reach other in the back seat), and drove on large, fast freeways. Actually, the driving part was fun. Coming from the roughly paved 30 mph roads of St. Thomas, it was a welcomed change to experience a little first-world highway infrastructure.

The three and a half hour drive from Miami to Orlando was an unremarkably flat drive. As you approach Orlando, there were so many billboards on the side of the road advertising Disney park tickets, hotels,and other services that there was vitually no room for mileage signage.

Orlando is a theme-park destination. Parks, parks and more parks. Disney, Universal Studios, Epcot, Sea World, waterparks. Huge numbers of cars, coaches, people, children and strollers.

What were we thinking?

Braving the masses, we visited the Disney's Magic Kingdom. The smartest move we made was getting a double stroller the lug the boys and our gear around this massive park. We did a tremendous amount of walking.

We had a fun time - all of us. Despite the crowds of "happy" people, the heat and in a couple of instances - the RAIN! - there was enjoyment watching the kids on the rides and rushing off to see something new.

Max loved the mini-race cars and exclaimed "Again!" each time the ride came to an end. Julian was tall enough to enjoy rides like Space Mountain and Splash Mountain - and screaming with delight at the fast rollercoasters.

The morning was quiet enough that we walked easily onto rides and through the park. As the day progressed, the queues grew in size (and so did the people).

At one point, the effects of Tropical Storm Fay were being felt in Orlando and the rain soaked us. We ended up getting some plastic ponchos to keep some of the rain off - and fortunately for you, I resisted any photographic record of our neon batman look.

Disney was an experience and fun for the boys. However, it definitely warranted a glass of wine upon returning to the hotel .

We celebrated Max's third birthday in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. Fort Lauderdale is an interesting spot of canals, bridges, boats and large waterfront properties. We had a fun beachside breakfast there and played on a very large beach.

We also did something else in Fort Lauderdale that we don't do in St. Thomas. Shopping.

As we get used to a small comunity, it was almost a shock again dealing with crowds large stores and all the selection. After getting some clothes and things we can't get in St. Thomas - I am pretty certain we have all had our fill of retail for quite a while.

And now back to St. Thomas. As we flew in yesterday afternoon, Mark and I remarked how this is the first time we have come back from a holiday trip and not been sad about coming home. It's great to be home and we are excited about work and starting school again. And maybe the roads aren't that great here and I can't always find the food I'd like or supplies we need - but it's a lovely spot.

OH! And today is Mark and my 12th wedding anniversary. Time really does fly by.

summer time

There was the most dramatic tropical storm Friday night. Thunder and lightning like I have never experienced! The lightning was so bright it was like a spot light in the house each time it flashed. Julian slept through the entire storm, however, little light-sleeper Max came flying down the hall to land in more secure sleeping arrangements - wedged between his mum and dad. The rain came down so hard I was sure I'd find something leaking.
And I did.
One of the side slat windows in the guest bedroom was open resulting in a new indoor wading pool for Max. Thank goodness for tiles floors - between water, sand and potty training Max (a slow and painful process I may add..)- it's a constant battle to keep floors clean. There is, however, a good breeze that blows through the house managing to blow a lot of it away - well most things at least.



After all the rain, the remainder of the weekend was quite pleasant. We had a couple of birthday parties and some needed down time. We were down in Magens Bay and the water was crystal clear and the beach was quite quiet.

Julian completed eight weeks of sailing camp on Friday. He is becoming quite the confident little Optimist sailor - steering and tacking the boat. I went down to the Yacht Club last week with Max and watched them out sailing and it was quite the sight. Julian was having a great time and doing really well -- even though he spent more time looking back and not where he was going. Then again, there are a lot of people we race against who do the same thing.



Speaking of racing, Mark and I continue to go out racing on Friday nights and now have full use of an IC 24 for a year. We have taken the boys out on the boat a couple of times with friends and anchor at Christmas Cove and do some snorkeling. This week is the last Friday night race and then everyone hauls out the boats to ready them for hurricane season. Many people take their boats around the corner to the lagoon which is a protected area for boats, and there are sheds, boat shelves and other options depending on what your boat insurance wants you to do.

Hurricane season also means our business is busy with service calls and quotes on new machines. The summer has resulted in many rolling black-outs on the island where WAPA (Water and Power Authority)shuts down the power grid in specific areas to reduce and limit some of the consumption. Needless to say, as soon as the power goes down there are calls into the office because someone has a generator that hasn't switched on.

The island is still fairly steady with tourists and hotels are apparently quite full. Cruise ships continue to slide in and out of the harbour and the traffic on the road definitely isn't any lighter. It is more humid these days - but thankfully there is a breeze that makes it less oppressive. Generally, people run their air conditioning more this time of year but so far our house has remained quite comfortable.

We are planning a small break from island life and will be heading to Florida for a week. It will be a good opportunity to get a few things not found here and celebrate Max's birthday with Mickey and Donald. The boys don't know they are going to Disney - so it will be fun to see their faces when we get there.

sailing

Mark and I have actually managed to go racing every Friday night for the past few weeks - without children! Babysitter comes at 4:00 and we are on a boat by 4:30 and ready to race.

There is a competitive little fleet of these modified J-24s - IC (inter-club) 24s. In fact, Peter Holmberg of America's Cup sailing fame is a regular as well as a few other sailing professionals.

One of the IC-24 owners, Neil will be leaving the island with his family for year in France. What has turned out to be a great opportunity is that he has asked us to look after the boat while he is gone. This past Friday we were out again racing with about eight other boats. It was actually a little windier than previous Fridays and we had some very quick races back and forth across the bay. It's actually a pretty tight fleet which means a few marks roundings were a little too close for comfort. We did actually have a run in with one boat - fortunately - he admitted fault and will be repairing the bent stantion.

Mark has been out a few more times than I have since we've been here and has been doing really well. In fact, I do have to report that he finished across the line in front of Holmberg in one race last Friday and was giving him a run for his money in a couple of others.

Last week, Alex was racing with us which was probably the first time the three of us have raced together in about 12 years. Again, it felt a little surreal doing this together in a completely different location. Deja vu - Cow Bay Regatta and Whidbey Island. It was a fun evening with few bruises.

One of the other nice aspects of this yacht club and its racing is the focus on youth. It is perfectly usual to see small children as young as three years old racing with their parents. Most nights we have had at least one child about eight or nine years old with us. And while we'll get Julian sailing with us soon, I think we'll wait for Max to fit into some sailing gloves first.

alex and nicholas visit st. thomas

I am overdue on the blog front due to some very worthwhile distractions. My sister Alex and her 7-year old son Nicholas decided they had quite enough of disappointing spring weather in Victoria. So - they called and said - "could we come this Sunday for 10 days?"

Our first house guests!!! And I just found new motivation to finally set up the guest room!

So after hauling our bikes out of the guest bathroom, and dusting off the red carpet - we were ready for our visitors. Alex and Nicholas flew in on Sunday June 22. We were all very excited - and Julian after doing "how many more sleeps?" countdown was beside himself with excitement to see his cousin...and his aunt.

We had a really fun visit which included:



- swimming at the house day and night.
- Nicholas joined Julian for a week of sailing camp.
- Alex, Mark and I raced at the St. Thomas Yacht club on an IC 24 (modified J-24)
- the six of us went sailing to nearby Christmas Cove on nearby Great St. James Island where we anchored then swam and snorkeled off the boat.
- dinners out as well as creations by guest chef Alex for Mark's birthday.






Alex and Nicholas did their best to visit many of St. Thomas' beaches. They also escaped to St. John for a night to check out the Westin Resort.

It was so nice to have the visit. Alex commented on several occasions how surreal it was that we lived here. To visit us several thousand miles away - and to be sitting on the couch that used to look out on West 14th Avenue - that now faces a harbour and some islands in the Caribbean. The big fir tree in the front yard of our old home has been replaced by a large coconut palm.

Now Alex and Nicholas are back in Victoria - sailing on their boat for the weekend. The house feels a little emptier -- and the bikes have returned to their home in guest washroom.

school's out.

There are a couple of events that signal the beginning of summer; changes in weather and the end of a school year.

Living in Vancouver - it's common place to discuss the weather. We follow the (mainly inaccurate) weather forecasts and then plan the weekend accordingly. Wasn't it a nice sunny weekend? Isn't all this rain and flooding horrible? Lovely day, isn't it? Storms, rain, sunny, hot, snow - there is always something weather-related to discuss in the elevator or in the coffee room. No lack of weather excitement.

And while there may not be distinct seasonal changes in St. Thomas - there's a similar preoccupation with discussing the weather. Winter months tend to be cooler with a lot more breeze and less humidity. Summer temperatures are similar but with greater humidity and a lot less breeze. And despite these very subtle changes in seasons - we talk about the weather. There is no escaping it. In fact, I caught myself yesterday launching into my introductory comments to our dinner guests, "isn't it humid today - I think this is the hottest day I 've felt yet." Riveting conversation. I need to read more.

But truthfully, some of the weather information is important, especially during the hurricane season. And weather reporting happens quite frequently here and during the summer months, internet and other reporting is monitored closely. And I never thought I would say this but I now welcome rain with great enthusiasm and a certain relief knowing that we are getting a little more water for the cistern. And while rain doesn't usually last too long - especially this time of year, it can come down with a vengeance.

Hurricane season officially runs from June until the end of November while most named tropical storms or hurricanes occur August through mid-October. Long time residents often refer to Hurricanes Hugo and Marilyn which hit St. Thomas severely and resulted in rebuilding much of the infrastructure that exists today. Before these hurricanes hit St. Thomas, there was a period of over 50 years before such a natural disaster had hit the area. Residents went from being a little apathetic to much more wary of tracking storms. So it will be interesting to watch. Hopefully from a good distance. Already from a marketing perspective - we have run some "hurricane preparedness" ads in the local paper and in the special "Hurricane Preparedness" supplement. A sophisticated advertising campaign, I'll tell you!

The school year ends early in the Caribbean - with Julian finishing kindergarten on May 30. Three months summer vacation! It was a very successful first term at Antilles School. In the absence of a school routine, we have Julian enrolled in sailing camp all day Monday to Friday at the St. Thomas Yacht Club. Already he is the quintessential mini-beach bum in surf shorts, rash guard, sunglasses and long-ish blond curls. At the age of six, he is already acquiring some basic sailing skills and doing really well. And we had to laugh when he reported to us after a day last week, "Guess what? My tiller extension came off when I was sailing - but they helped me put it back on". It was a proud moment for his sailing parents.

With Julian in sailing camp for eight weeks and Max in a camp at his Montessori school - the two boys will have a busy summer. And with the steady pace we are running at work, Mark and I won't exactly be spending the entire summer drinking rum cocktails by the pool (just part of it). This is very much our busy season with "hurricane tune-ups" , new sales and a lot of services - there's a steady pace of work. So it's a busy start to the summer.

vancouver visitors

Last Saturday, a Princess ship sailed in with our friends Pam and John. Pam and John were on a 10-day caribbean cruise celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary and looking so tanned - it made us look like we just arrived.

We met them at Crown Bay where the cruise ship was docked and set off for a mini tour of the island. First stop - Casa van den Driessche to see our home and say hello to the boys who were being cared for by a babysitter.

We drove up the north side to get some of the spectacular views down island, driving around the twisty, narrows roads. By the end, Pam and I were starting to feel like two little car-sick kids in the back seat. We stopped at Magen's Bay to wander along the beach and dip toes in water. The beach and park were very quiet and we almost felt like we had the beach to ourselves which was lovely.

From there we went for some lunch in an area called Bolongo Bay - to Iggies - which is a fun place right on the beach. We had some conch fritters and mahi-mahi fillets and washed then down with Presidentes and rum and ginger beer.


A very short visit but so nice to see some "old friends" .

flip flopper down

Last weekend was Memorial Day weekend - and one I won't forget.

After being without our pool for a short period - the repairs were complete and it was finally time to fill it up! Three truck loads of water and 12,000 gallons later - we had a pool. What was really amazing was the temperature of the water from WAPA - it was like a bath.




The weekend included a lot of pool time and we had a very busy and social three days planned.



Our neighbours and the parents of one of Max's classmates had invited us out on their 70-foot motor boat for a day trip and lunch. It would be their first trip out on their new boat and we were the first guests. We met them in the morning - climbed aboard and set off around St. John and the islands off St. Thomas. It was a beautiful Caribbean day. The sea was a sparkling emerald green and there was a nice breeze to keep the edge off the burning sun. An absolutely perfect way to spend a day.

We anchored off St. John looking over a very exclusive area of the island called Peter's Bay. I'm attaching some pictures of the homes in this area as they were beyond belief. Not your typical holiday homes. (Click on them and make them larger.)




Our hosts served a fabulous lunch - warm quiche, salads, cold chicken and fruit - as we sat around a big table on the deck looking out to the beaches of St. John. After lunch - we did a little swimming off the boat and Julian decided to try his luck with some fishing with their first mate.
Where the day takes a turn for the worse is when I stood at the top of stairs leading down to the stern platform - and a large (and quite heavy) platform door came crashing down on my foot.

Unbelievably - I managed to refrain from colourful language but became instantly concerned I had lost my toe. Without too many details - the incident resulted in a good mess on the deck. In fact, if I remember correctly - hosing the deck down happened as quickly as the emergence of a first aid kit. Needless to say, our day was cut a little short and we swiftly returned to St. Thomas with a call and scheduled appointment at the emergency clinic.

What continued in this comedy of errors was our difficulty getting ashore. There was no available slip for the boat at the marina. So we'd go in by tender. When the electric winch attempted to lower the tender from the upper deck to the water - the motor appeared to burn out. The half-lowered zodiac swung from the port side crashing into the side of the boat with Mark and the first mate trying to keep it from slamming into the boat. These were true Kodak moments, I'll tell you. Fortunately - Mark actually figured out what was wrong with the winch and the boat was safely lowered to the water. At this point, I am pretty certain our hosts were ready for a stiff drink except for the minor detail that Carmen is pregnant and due to have her baby in about two weeks. So while the stuck tender problem was being managed by the men- two less than able women - one with belly that is ready pop and another with a toe that is trying to stay together were trying to manage three small children from falling out of the boat.

After we said our good-byes and got into the tender - we slowly motored off about 100 feet before the engine cut out. I know they say things happen in threes - but seriously? At this point - all I could do was laugh. But then I couldn't really do this because my bladder was too full from not being able to get up after the accident.

The boat drifted for a while and then started up again. And then cut out. And started up again. Finally, we were at the dingy dock.

After stitches, x-rays and some minor surgery. I am now sporting a fancy new "sandal" to help the bone and laceration heal.



As a "footnote", I am reflecting on all my years racing and sailing on boats and the many injuries I've witnessed. Cracking heads with booms. Fingers caught between lines and winches. Falling off boats and into cockpits. I often marveled at shoe-less sailors wondering how they were not constantly breaking toes and cutting bits open. The moral of this story? I'd better stay away from power boats.