St Croix from Tom

Last Saturday I returned from 10 days in St Croix USVI. I went there to help Ray (the husband of Jan who are friends of ours) clear a piece of beach front property. There are preparing the land to be able to build a house. I have never been to St Croix so it was a chance for me to check out the island as well as help Ray with the work he wanted to get done while we were there.

The day we left was a typical travel day getting to the airport at 5:00 am and getting to St Croix at 5:30 pm. It took three flights to get there (you would think being this close would make it easier... NOT). Of course one of them was delayed due to mechanical problems after we had boarded the plane and had to get off while they repaired it. We think it was just a low tire, safety first! We got the rental car and found our hotel with out any problems, after all the island is only 14 miles by 5 miles and Ray is quite familiar with it. The first cold beer at the bar after we checked in tasted pretty damn good and so did the fifth and sixth, after that it was the traditional island drink, Pain Killer, which I was feeling none of by then.

Thursday our first full day where we spent driving around getting the demolition permit, verifying the delivery of rental equipment and buying some tools we needed to start cleaning up the lot, like shovels, rakes and a chainsaw. The next two days me and the chainsaw became one while we cut down several Seagrape trees and a few palm trees which then had to be cut up intp pieces. Needless to say I was pretty sore on Sunday. We had rented a bobcat to load the dumpster and use it to remove some of the smaller bushes and trees. Ray did most of the bobcat work and at one point all you could see was the tops of the trees and bushes moving and hear branches snapping so it looked like Jurassic Park when the T-Rex was crashing through the trees, pretty cool! See the picture to the right for what it looked liked when we started.

Monday the demolition contractor showed up and started tearing down the shed and the house. They had the shed down by the time we got there Monday morning but it took until Friday for the house because it was built all out of concrete and they used a lot of re-bar, it must have been cheap back then. See the picture to the left of the end result.

We did get a day off on Tuesday because the crew was off for Veterans Day which did not make Ray very happy because he was worried about them finishing by Friday. So we took the day to drive around the island and hit quite a few bar/restaurants including drinking with the pigs in the rain forest, yes you give the pigs a whole can of beer (near beer since the SPCA found out they were giving them real beer and it is bad for the pigs). They just chew it up, drink the beer and then spit out the crumpled can.

Each evening we would go to a different place for drinks/dinner to explore both the local and tourst places. My favorites (besides the pigs) was Parrott Cove which is a local hang out with great music and the Island Brewing Co which makes Black Beard Ale. It was interesting to see the different places since the island goes from the beach to the rain forest.

I did manage to get in some scuba diving on Sunday and Thursday.
Sunday was pretty cool because we dove the new cruise ship dock which was very different swimming around all the huge concrete columns that hold up the dock. It is a great place for sea life like all the different colored Sea Horses and some Frog fish that I have never seen before. Thursday I went to Cane Bay where you just walk from the dive shop to the beach and swim out and dive a wall that drops off to about 3000 feet deep. You could see some reef damage from the recent hurricane but there was still some more Sea Horses and some Reef Sharks.

I also got a tank and tried to dive off of the beach at Ray's property but the water never get deep enough for me to actually dive. There is a reef about 200 yards off of the beach and Ray wanted me to see if there was any place he could get a boat through but not that I found.

The Island is beautiful and the people were very friendly and laid back. Nothing happens to fast there so Jan & Ray will have to be patient when they build there house. We will be going back next year maybe in February or March so Myrla can check out the island and we can do some more diving.
You never know with Jan & Ray moving there it could be the next stop on our adventure.