Hello everyone, and happy Tuesday! I have a some quick news to share with all of you today. There is a new barge running trips between St. John and St. Thomas, making the trip a bit more convenient for all of us.
The Big Red Barge company announced this week that the Virginia Pride has been added to the schedule officially. The Virginia Pride was brought in temporarily in July while the Big Red Barge was undergoing repairs. Well beginning yesterday, the two are now running daily.
Below is the current barge schedule:
I don’t know about you, but I’m happy to see a 9 a.m. on the schedule now.
That’s it for today, folks. Have a great day!
Want to learn more about St. John? Looking to take an island tour?
Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tourSee the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor. Book Now. 🙂
It’s that time of year, folks! Public school has begun in St. John, and our teachers desperately need our help with purchasing much-needed school supplies. Julie King, a parent on St. John, has spearheaded this campaign, once again, and I truly thank her for all of her help.
The Need
Julius E. Sprauve School is located right in Cruz Bay. It’s St. Johns only public school, and it serves children from pre-k through 8th grade. (Children living in St. John who attend public high school take the ferry over to St. Thomas each day.) Teachers are looking for everything from pencils and markets to flash cards and books. Items range in price from $5.29 (pencils for our pre-k students) to $499 (a laptop for math students in grades four, five and six).
You can also send money directly to Julie. I know Julie, and she is a trustworthy woman. She is a bookkeeper on island, and would happily provide accounting records for this project to anyone who requests it. Julie mentioned that cash donations (Venmo, PayPal or checks) allow her to take advantage of quantity discounts, apply points, redeem rewards, use coupon codes, and shop around. If you’d like to send cash, you can do so three ways:
Check: Made out to Julie King. Mailing address is Julie King, 5000 Estate Enighed, PMB 97, St. John, VI 00830
Feel free to reach out to me at jenn@explorestj.com if you have any questions.
Last year, we successfully helped these teachers Clear the List. Let’s do it again this year! Thank you all in advance for helping the children of St. John!
Want to learn more about St. John? Looking to take an island tour?
Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tourSee the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor. Tours will resume August 29th. We took a little summer break. 🙂
Hello everyone, and happy Tuesday! Not a ton happens on island during slow season, so this is pretty big news! The Rum Hut sold, and work is already underway to put a new restaurant in that spot.
Word started spreading around the island last Sunday that The Rum Hut (formerly known as Joe’s Rum Hut prior to the storms) sold. Demolition began Monday morning. Word around the island is that it will be a high end sushi restaurant. I haven’t been able to confirm that, so only time will tell!
From what I can see, they have already demo’d the entire bar and the large desk area that is located in the interior courtyard-like area of the restaurant (in front of Wharfside Watersports and The Parrot Club). Check out a few pics we took over the past week:
SundaySunday – The bar is no more.Sunday
Wow!
As always, I will keep you posted on what’s happening over here. In the meantime, have a great day everyone!
Want to learn more about St. John? Looking to take an island tour?
Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tourSee the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.
Spend your days taking guests to amazing places like Saba Rock in Virgin Gorda.
Hello, and happy Monday! I know that many of you would like to own a business on St. John, and this could be your chance!
A top-rated boat charter company listed for sale literally just now! This St. John-based company has been in business for more than nine years and has a large, loyal clientele with numerous repeat guests. This makes it the ultimate turn-key business with an immediate return on investment.
I’m sure you are curious which business this is, but, unfortunately, I cannot release the name at this time. (I’m so sorry!) I can, however, release the name to any interested parties after a NDA is signed. The reason the owner has asked that we not publicly name the company is because they do not want current and future guests to get nervous over their bookings due to the sale. Rest assured, the business will continue operating as usual while it is for sale and once it sells. 🙂
What’s Included in the Sale
Three professionally-maintained, newer model power boats. (All are less than five years old.)
The Yamaha 300hP engines have been professionally maintained by Offshore Marine since new.
Each boat has its own 8.5′ West Marine inflatable dinghy powered by a 6hp Yamaha engine. (All are less than three years old.)
Each boat has its own triple axle trailer that’s in great shape.
Three mooring balls. (This is very hard to acquire in St. John.)
About the Business
Received TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Award for nine consecutive years
Great reviews!
800+ 5-Star reviews on TripAdvisor
425+ 5-star reviews on Google
Strong social media presence
13,000+ Instagram followers
11,000+ Facebook followers
Your next career may take you to the beautiful turquoise waters around St. John and the British Virgin Islands. Not a bad office if you ask me!
Want to Know More?
This business is listed with 340 Real Estate Co. for $1.8 million. (The owner would consider including two of the three boats, and adjusting the selling price according.) Please contact me, Jenn Manes, for more information. Call or text 203-376-3786 or email jenn@explorestj.com with any questions. I am a licensed realtor with 340 Real Estate Co.
If you are looking to purchase or sell a home, condo, land, timeshare or business in St. John, I would love to help you! Feel free to reach out to me at anytime, and we can chat.
Want to learn more about St. John? Looking to take an island tour?
Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tourSee the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.
I’ve received a lot of questions about whether the National Park is open. I’ve also received numerous emails from people with upcoming vacations, asking if they should visit the island. The quick answer to both is yes and yes. Read on if you’d like to know more. 🙂
Let’s start with the National Park. Yes, it sustained a decent amount of damage with numerous downed trees and some slides. As of Friday morning, the entrance to Caneel Bay remains closed. The Caneel Bay Beach Club at Honeymoon Beach remains closed. Taxi service from the entrance of Caneel to Honeymoon is temporarily suspended. If you would like to visit Honeymoon today, you are able to do so via the Lind Point Trail or by water. The Caneel Bay Beach Club is expected to reopen this weekend. Taxi service to Honeymoon will resume once clean up in that area is completed.
The campground and concessions at Cinnamon Bay reopened last night. The concessions at Trunk Bay reopened Thursday. The Visitor Center in Cruz Bay will reopen today.
A downed tree at Cinnamon Bay. Image credit: Steve Simonsen Photograph
I received an email last night from a repeat guest asking if it is too soon to visit the island. She is scheduled to fly in this week. The answer is unequivocally, no. Power is restored to most of the island. There are a few pockets like Ajax Peak and Carolina that remain without power. (There may be more, but those are the two I am aware of.) Hopefully both are restored today. The island is a little messy in some areas, but people are working hard to fix that.
St. John is a community that relies on tourism. We welcome you. 🙂
That’s all I have for today. Have a fantastic weekend everyone!
Want to learn more about St. John? Looking to take an island tour?
Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tourSee the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.
Power has been restored on a section of feeder 7e from Frank Bay to Mongoose Junction.
Aug. 14, 1:30 p.m. update
The airport is open. Flights are arriving, but many are delayed.
The seaports remain closed. There are numerous reports of lost and sunken boats. The Coast Guard needs to inspect everything before it can safely open the ports. Ferry and barge service remains suspended.
St. John is still without power. Portions of St. Thomas are back online.
Aug. 14, 2024, 1030 a.m. update
The airport will open today at noon.
The seaports remain closed. The Coast Guard is currently assessing the waters.
Aug. 14, 2024, 9 a.m. update
The worst of the winds have passed through St. John, although rain and wind will continue throughout the day today. The rain is coming down extremely hard at the moment (8:45 a.m.).
Wind gusts officially peaked around 70 miles per hour last night, although some of my friends who are on island believe the gusts were higher than that. At least three-and-a-half inches of rain fell in St. John so far.
Power is currently out territory-wide. St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix are all 100 percent without power.
All ports remain closed. There is no ferry or barge service currently. There airport remains closed. The Governor is expected to provide an update on the status of the airports and seaports today at 10 a.m.
Tree limbs and power lines are down around the island. There is at least one boat sinking in Chocolate Hole. At least four boats in Coral Bay are aground or ashore. Big limbs fell on a few of my friend’s cars, but everyone is ok. Areas of North Shore Road are pretty much impassable due to downed trees. There is a lot of very deep standing water in front of Starfish Market and the tennis courts. This is an area known to flood.
Several boats are aground or ashore in Coral Bay. Image credit: Flyaway ChartersSome limbs are down at our house, but everything is ok.
If you have a flight scheduled for today, check out FlightAware.com. Type in your flight number. Then click Track Inbound Flight. If that flight is not en route, your flight is not leaving today. That’s the easiest way to check.
Today is clearly not a beach day, but tomorrow may be. If you are on vacation and plan to go to the beach, be aware that there may be a good amount of runoff flowing into the beaches. It is not advisable to go in the water when there is runoff.
That’s all I have of now. I will post more later today. Thanks all! -Jenn
Want to learn more about St. John? Looking to take an island tour?
Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tourSee the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.
