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.