We are now back in California. The time was well spent.
On the flight leaving, I asked the pilot to swing wide over the north shore so that I could take some aerial photos of the house
This photo a westward view of the "North Shore" of Saint Croix from Baron Bluff (at the bottom) to Ham's Bluff at the north western end of the island.
The arrow points to our home, situated on Little Cane Bay, further west (up) is big Cane Bay.
Where is Rust Op Twist?
July 17 - Saturday - Reporting by Ted
Last day of this trip we went to town for last minute shopping and then spent the afternoon in the water.
We also finished some interim decorating of the second bedroom which is looking great thanks to Karin's efforts.
The last photo is of a cuttlefish I saw while diving on the east end.
GO LANCE!
A modern day Nautiloid.
July 16 - Friday - Reporting by Ted
A dive club friend and I attempted to kayak out to go diving in the back yard but the surf was a bit rough.
So we abandoned our efforts and went in at Cane Bay where I saw a very cooperative turtle.
Lunch at Off the Wall and the afternoon spent with final chores.
Photogenic Turtle
July 15 - Thursday - Reporting by Ted
Today I conquered the "Beast".
The Beast is a steep hill which is part of the St. Croix Half Ironman competition.
I guess its about a 10% grade for about half a mile.
The Jamaican color stripes mark the summit.
I spent the rest of the day completing some final "projects".
Karin went shopping in town and bought fixin's for dinner of crab cakes and shrimp tacos.
At the top of the Beast!
July 14 - Wednesday - Reporting by Ted
Today we spent the afternoon in Frederiksted, at the beach.
Karin had been told that a particular section of beach was know as a place to find shards of pottery and china from the 1800's which are locally known as "chaney".
Nicely patterned and shaped pieces are often made into jewelry.
Karin found a number of pieces on the beach including a nice green one with a floral pattern.
We decided to take a swim and look for chaney in the surf zone using our dive masks.
That choice turned out to be the hot tip as we each found a few more nice pieces.
We stopped at the grocery for dinner supplies and relaxed on our beach for the sunset.
Chaney
July 13 - Tuesday - Reporting by Ted
Hannah left for home this morning. Karin spent the day preparing the front door to be repainted and painting it.
I hauled chunks of coral around and did some landscaping tasks.
In lieu of an ugly pic of the door or some rocks, here's another pic from Mango Melee.
Mangos!
July 12 - Monday - Reporting by Ted
My birthday is today. Not much going on. Went out to dinner to celebrate.
Birthday dinner at Savant
July 11 - Sunday - Reporting by Ted
Today was a busy day. It started out with another local festival called "Mango Melee!".
It is held at the Botanical Gardens and features all sorts of mango concoctions and features othe local produce.
Ladies perusing the other types of locally grown fruits.
After the melee, we were invited to a local bar called the Domino Club, famous worldwide for the beer drinking pigs.
We had passed the place dozens of times but never had the nerve to stop.
Tomb of the most famous beer drinking pig.
After a few "Mamawanas" we went to our friends house for a communal BBQ dinner.
July 10 - Saturday - Reporting by Ted
Saturday was dive day with the CRABBS dive club. The first dive site was called the Aquarium, a nice patchy reef with tons of fish.
Hannah at 60 feet
The second dive was the under Frederiksted Pier which was a short boat ride way.
Enroute we came upon two turtle which initially appeared to be in distress.
It was quicky apparent to all of us that they wer NOT in distress!
Quite the contrary, they were having a good time!
To witness sea turtles mating is indeed a rare event.
Turtles en amour...
The evening was spent in Christiansted at a local street fair called "Jump Up" which is held periodically throughout the year.
The highlight of Jump Up is the performance of the "Mocko Jumbies"!
Mocko Jumbies at the Jump Up festival
July 7,8,9 - Wednesday, Thursday and Friday! - Reporting by Ted
Wednesday was spent making preparations for the big water system changeout.
Thursday was installation day. After a 12 hour marathon of cutting fitting and muscling, the new plumbing, pump and pressure tank were in.
However, the initial start up failed and at 8 pm, I patched the old pump into the new system so that we would have water.
The problem ended up being a corroded non functional "foot valve"...
Friday, I finished up the loose ends and installed a new foot valve. Finally finished!
July 6 - Tuesday - Reporting by Ted
Tuesday was mostly a labor and shopping day, taking care of some finishing touches in the second bedroom and purchasing most of the supplies for the impending water system overhaul.
Late in the afternoon, Hannah and I took the tandem kayak out to practice getting out of it and back into it while in open water, skills which will be needed to use it for shore diving.
We saw a small sea turtle on the way back to the house!
Karin snapped today's pic from the windmill at sunset.
Sunset from the Rust Op Twist Windmill
July 5 - Monday - Reporting by Karin
Ted and Hannah went diving early this morning. They went out with Derrick and Anna of N2 the Blue. Their
first dive south of the Frederiksted pier had poor visibility. The 2nd dive - up by Spratt Hall was clear and
as they expected. They saw the usual stuff - a good sized ray, a nurse shark, etc.... I stayed home and painted...
But I enjoyed that. I finished up the painting I expected to do in the 2nd bedroom.
After Ted and Hannah got home - around 1pm - Ted started working again to move the Christmas Palm Tree from the front
street-side yard to the back beach-side yard. Hannah volunteered to make the hole on the beach bigger to receive
the tree. They'd been working for about an hour when I figured it was pretty safe for me to volunteer to "help out" -
i.e. - they were probably close to finishing. NOT. We ended up using the truck to skid the uprooted palm to
the backyard. It worked VERY WELL! But... we ran out of room to drive the truck forward any further... At that point
we had to use levers and rollers and Ted like a mule to continue to get that tree moved to the prepared hole! As
you can see - we were successfull. All three of us worked hard!
Ted, trenching to uproot the Christmas Palm from the front yard.
Success! Now that DARN tree better survive the move!!
July 4 - Sunday - Reporting by Karin
Well... We had an adventure with the new kayaks! We decided to take them out to Salt River and try them
out. It was windy - we worked hard to cross the bay to the other side and then drifted down along the shore -
exploring the mangrove roots, observing lots of birds and strange jumping fish. ... and then it poured rain!
Ted backed himself into an island of mangrove roots. Hannah and I followed! Hoping the mangroves weren't home
to lots of insects too....
Our friend Marcia invited us up to her friend Mark's house (out on the East end high up on a hillside) to watch the
Yacht Club's fireworks display. It was fairly impressive! We bbq'd and socialized. Had a really nice time.
Clockwise from upper-left: Karin and Hannah on the tandem kayak at Salt River, a gray heron, and the two bottom
pics - seeking refuge from the rain among the mangroves....
Avoiding getting even more wet...
July 3 - Saturday - Reporting by Ted
On the way home yesterday from the Buck Island trip, we stopped to look at some used kayaks.
We brought home two of them, a tandem and a single.
Today I built a storage rack for them and installed it under the rear deck of the house with a locking access door.
Tomorrow, we are going to christen them on a tour of Salt River Bay.
Karin and Hannah spent mid day in Christiansted doing a little shopping.
We then drove to Fredericksted to check out the EMancipation Day festivities but they had closed up shop before 5 pm.
So we came back to the north shore and had dinner on the beach at Cane Bay.
Beachside dining at Cane Bay
July 2 - Friday - Reporting by Karin
We finally "did" Buck Island! Marcia, her sister and 2 nephews (visiting from Boston) and
Ted, Hannah and I made the trip out there on the Teroro II - a 40' Trimaran. What a
beautiful sail! The snorkeling was ok. Lots of big parrot fish and lots of other fish too.
The water was gorgeous. We spent the first hour or so at a snorkel spot. Then went
over to the beach on this National Park protected island.
Sailing back from Buck Island!
July 1 - Thursday - Reporting by Karin
Today was a laid-back day. I did some more painting on the 2nd bedroom. Ted helped
me to put it in order afterwards. Hannah wanted to soak up some warm Caribbean salt water
on her first day on-island - so we spent a few hours over at Cane Bay. We also went to a
nursery to get some advice on what to plant out on the beach side of the house. Dinner was
at Savant.... Naturally!
Celebrating Hannah's academic success at Savant
June 30 - Wednesday - Reporting by Ted
Today was another beautiful day. We both rose at sunrise.
I finished removal of the beachfront tan tan tree and demolished the "tower".
After running a few errands, I went for a swim in the backyard.
Karin spent the day painting in the back bedroom and bathroom.
Hannah is due in this evening at 10 pm.
Sunrise at Rust Op Twist
Karin the painter!
June 29 - Tuesday - Reporting by Ted
Today was another beautiful day.
I dug out most of the beachfront tan tan tree and toppled the the "tower".
Karin moved rocks to make some planters for planting some bougainvillea later this week.
In the afternoon, we attempted to visit a nursery but they're closed until Thursday!
Can you dig it?
How many shades of aqua are there?
June 28 - Monday - Reporting by Ted
Today was mostly another leisure day. Beautiful weather all day long.
I did some yardwork, pruning the beachfront tan tan tree in prepararation for removing it entirely.
I also cleared the brush behind the Lone Palm to improve access to the space.
In the afternoon we made a shopping run to the usual places... the hardware store, the insurance company etc.
Dinner is on the grill tonight.
Cocktail Hour at Rust OP Twist
June 27 - Sunday - Reporting by Ted
The sun was up and shining at 6:02 am.... Gotta love the tropics. Today was a leisure day.
Our tenant and friend Marcia has her parents and sister visiting so we all spent the day at Cane Bay.
I did a shore dive at with Steve and Deanna Cunningham at a location called Twin Palms, just west of Cane Bay.
Karin sat on the beach and socialized.
A couple of big thunderstorms rolled through in the evening, windy and rainy!! They certainly added some water to the cistern.
Sample of the reef conditions at Twin Palms
June 26 - Saturday - Reporting by Ted
Here we are again, arriving safely an on time Saturday afternoon at 3 pm. The truck was parked at the airport so we loaded up and headed home.
The house was left clean and neat by the paying customers who had left on Friday. We watched the sun set then headed off to to Savant where we were greeted as long lost friends!
Sunset from the Rust Op Twist Windmill
