WSJ 2010 (wk 23/24) - Still is Still Moving to Me

DavidnRobin · Jun 10, 2010

DnR enjoyed meeting up with jerseygirl and dd and db - thankfully MIL got TV working, but missed a lot of discussion unfortunately.

Nerd - too bad we didn't get a chance to meet - we ended up switching cars - not much better. While cheaper from Dependable - not worth it - we need a back window next time. Yes - I am old, but young at heart... (the couple we saw didn't have kids with them - was this you?)

So far:
Friday - Lime Inn for dinner, then Beach Bar for dessert (bushwackers) and some live music
Saturday - Resort, Talk to SW Chris (nice guy - helpful. recommended M80 roll at Happy Fish - 6K SPs or $125 - we took the $125), shopping at Mongoose Junction (used $125 to buy Hiatian Art that we buy every year - looks like the last pieces for a while...

- Steaks from home on the BBQ
Sunday: Maho Bay (best starter beach - eg fix Robin's snorkle) - Pork Cutlets on the BBQ
Monday: Woody's Happy hour, Trunk Bay (sunset) - Happy Fish for sushi dinner (M80 roll - yum)
Tuesday: Owners Update ($125 for 1 hour - spent 2 hours) - Hawksnest Bay - steak quesidillas for dinner - meet-up with jerseygirl and family for drinks at our villa
Wednesday: Francis Bay - then High Tide for dinner and live music - then to Moongoose Junction for drinks (at Geecko Gazebo) and live music

DavidnRobin · Jun 10, 2010

More UW Videos -
Big Fish at Francis Bay (Robin at end...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CldfLfFcIo

Parrot Fish Chase
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN4eiBe1mxY&feature=channel

Fuzzy Coral
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LFjzK0bma0&feature=channel

DavidnRobin · Jun 10, 2010

Hey Starwood - Please replace our front entry blinds in 3410 !!
my clothes keep on falling off - and no one wants to see me nekkid...

$2600/wk for a remodel - i think decent blinds would be a no brainer...

DavidnRobin · Jun 10, 2010

NerdAlert · Jun 11, 2010

Yep--we were the ones. Saw that Starwood Amex and that Jeep with no back window......
We doubled back to the airport and loaded up our kids later, after the second car....Thanks for great trip report.

pharmgirl · Jun 11, 2010

Thinking about trying to trade our maui to St John, saw the sitting room outside the master - nice! Always thought we would need the 3 BR, put if sitting rm has pull out sofa that would be fine for kids

Transit · Jun 11, 2010

David , The videos are nice but I miss your old style of WSJ reports.

DanCali · Jun 11, 2010

DavidnRobin said:
Tuesday: Owners Update ($125 for 1 hour - spent 2 hours)

2 hours owner's update? How did that go?

DavidnRobin · Jun 11, 2010

Transit said:
David , The videos are nice but I miss your old style of WSJ reports.

I do as well - hard to beat last years bee story. I may try and fit in things - I usually write while Robin gets ready.

DanCali said:
2 hours owner's update? How did that go?

It went well - I could have left after an hour, but was enjoying talking to our sales person (the closer was another issue - 'ummm - how about NO') - and going up to see the 2Bd Loft. As I said - I thought they would give me the prices to share, but no. So no free advertising for them.

However, I would highly recommend our sales person (very informed and no BS) if you are interested in buying WSJ (either phase) from SVO because you just have to... His name is Michael Raimondi - 340-714-6371. He has lived on STJ for ~40 years

The closer was the same person who was our salesperson last year (who asked me why I was on an Owners Update when I know it was a sales presentation...) Luckily - I blocked her name form memory - stay with Mike if you can...

They offered like 90K SP as incentives, but were limited on what I had the priviledge to purchase (did not show me anything except in our current season - weird). Also they are not selling the last 2 buildings until the 1st sell. Property taxes are included in the MFs.

I think the 'Owner' price was $30K for an EY Float 2Bd Loft - low season - float. They were also selling a VG studio for $11K EOY (but you can pay ~$3K for an EY resale...)

The Starwood subsidy has ended for Hillside - so that will impact MFs.

I got $125 - and used it to by some art (I may have mentioned...) form Hiati that we buy every year - form a place in Mongoose Ju (Bambola?). These are hand pounded oil drum tops - very detailed - we have 5 peices already - these 2 are large.

The 2Bd lofts are nice - but no parking and no pool/bbq close by is deal breaker for us.

pharmgirl said:
Thinking about trying to trade our maui to St John, saw the sitting room outside the master - nice! Always thought we would need the 3 BR, put if sitting rm has pull out sofa that would be fine for kids

That would work fine I think - except tell them to use the bathroom downstairs...

NerdAlert · Jun 12, 2010

Yikes- Spirit Airlines on strike!

Stuck on St John (stop)...Send sunscreen and food (stop).....

DavidnRobin · Jun 12, 2010

NerdAlert said:
Stuck on St John (stop)...Send sunscreen and food (stop).....

I just heard - nice... how long is the swim to PR?

DavidnRobin · Jun 14, 2010

Greatest STJ/BVI Day ever...
By boat: WSJ -> Gibney Point -> Waterlemon Cay -> Jost Van Dyke (White Bay) -> The Indians -> Norman Caves -> The Bight at Norman Island (Willie Ts) -> Booby Cay -> WSJ

With jerseygirl and her DD and DB
(courtesy of Stuart Scott, USVI Services)

jerseygirl · Jun 14, 2010

I concur -- best USVI day ever! A great big thanks to David for organizing it!

Ken555 · Jun 14, 2010

I think you guys have all the fun!

Westin5Star · Jun 14, 2010

DavidnRobin said:
Greatest STJ/BVI Day ever...
By boat: WSJ -> Gibney Point -> Waterlemon Cay -> Jost Van Dyke (White Bay) -> The Indians -> Norman Caves -> The Bight at Norman Island (Willie Ts) -> Booby Cay -> WSJ

With jerseygirl and her DD and DB
(courtesy of Stuart Scott, USVI Services)

You know how I love great excursions. Congratulations to you and Jersey!

I will be in St. John in October. How would I go about setting up a similar day for my family???

DavidnRobin · Jun 15, 2010

Turtle Video from The Indians - outside Norman Island, British Virgin Islands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ufv90FbXCI

DavidnRobin · Jun 15, 2010

Westin5Star said:
I will be in St. John in October. How would I go about setting up a similar day for my family???

I will send PM - this is not something that Stu normally does (he is a Reverand and mainly does Weddings) - but I can make an introduction via email when we get back. (or should I say - if we get back... c'mon Spirit)

Carolyn · Jun 15, 2010

Hey David

We are neighbors...3424, but different weeks

We are spending Week 44 on Virgin Gorda in a private rental (not timeshares here) and Week 45 at WSJ. Last year we had to stay in Bldg 33 because 34 was completely closed. Can't wait to see our "new" villa. Thanks for all your videos-they're awesome!!

Carolyn

DavidnRobin · Jun 16, 2010

Carolyn said:
Hey David

We are neighbors...3424, but different weeks We are spending Week 44 on Virgin Gorda in a private rental (not timeshares here) and Week 45 at WSJ. Last year we had to stay in Bldg 33 because 34 was completely closed. Can't wait to see our "new" villa. Thanks for all your videos-they're awesome!!

Carolyn

Hi Carolyn - we like the remodel (as said) - of course there are issues (this is STJ afterall).

Our vacation has been great (sans Spirit Airlines fiasco). We ended up making a 1-way return to SFO on Delta - cost = $1500 (ouch) - but better than waiting and getting stuck. Plus I had to cancel my flight from FLL-SFO on Virgin (and lost 1/2 of that cost). If Spirit starts up on Friday we will be out our $ there as well (unless I can force a refund) - one expensive trip this year...

Yesterday (Tuesday) - we drove over to Lamshure Bay yesterday and Island Blues for lunch. Island Blues has been fixed up some and we like the location by the water over Skinny Legs. Lamshure was calm (and warm) but didn't see anything new (no turtles, but yet another StingRay).

Monday - BVI day with jerseygirl and family (already wrote about) - still need to load the many videos.

On Sunday - we spent the day at Honeymoon Bay - it was fantastic - we snorkled over to Salomon. We parked at Caneel Bay resort (for $10 - refundable if you buy something at the bar/restuarant or gift shop) - well worth it is you don't want to walk in from Lind Point (steep hill).

Last Saturday/Friday - hmmmm - I will try and recall.

We have been eating in alot - Robin is loving the new kitchen.

DavidnRobin · Jun 16, 2010

Shark Video - Salt Pond Bay (STJ)

We trekked out to beach at the furthest point at Salt Pond Bay near Ram Head.
{hot - carrying snorkle and lunch stuff - glad I carried that SN Pale Ale...

)

caught a great video of a shark that swam right by me - I chased but it was moving too fast - but.... TOO COOL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY0wPPH2WNs

Westin5Star · Jun 16, 2010

Awesome shark video. I reminds me on the ones we swim with at Ship Channel Cay (Bahamas).

If you look at the beginning of the video you can see the sucker / cleaner fish on the back of the shark. I must have caught at least 10 of them while fishing off the pier trying to catch grouper. They love to attach themselves to the sharks and they are the easiest fish I have ever caught. I was told by the island attendants that they are not edible or at least they didn't recommend it.

DavidnRobin · Jun 18, 2010

If anyone here at WSJ (June 18) wants our remaining 'stuff' (food, etc.) at 10AM - call our villa - #3410

DavidnRobin · Jun 24, 2010

I am going to be deleting the YouTube videos that I made of the 2bd BV villa (links posted above) - so if you want to see them - do so soon.

Overall - we had a great trip - sorry the trip report was lacking. We did some new things, but most of it was some of the same things we did in the past. Plus - we didn't have any fun issues (like the bees - or missing flights) that we had in the past.

Summary...
Do not switch airlines to get to STT - the Spirit Air strike ended up costing us an additional $1400 because I had to fly home via Delta. Even with the strike ending in time to catch our flight (therefore no refund from Spirit...) - they moved the Spirit flight back so we would not have made our VirginAm connection flight anyway. Lesson-learned.

We loved the remodel for the most part - did it really cost ~$2600/wk to do this remodel for our 2bd TH? No way! However, do we get $2600/wk of value from the remodel? Possibly... Of course - we will have to wait and see what happens with the roofing/siding - and if this was covered in the Special Assessment (as was promised). In addition - the future MFs with lack of SVO subsidy and more deliquent Owners will be an important issue.

The best things was our day-trip to the BVI (w/ jg and family) - and seeing a shark (as shown in video) off the blue cobblestone beach at Salt Pond Bay. SP Bay was fantastic - and while the hike out to the blue cobblestone was hot/humid - it turned out to be worth it. The is a must-see bay - and can't wait to go back.

Our anniversary dinner at Asolare was somewhat dissappointing - especially after the recent hype. The location and view was great - but I was dissappointed with the food. I can see why they only sat about 6 tables the night we were there - while I heard that ZoZo's was pretty full. The location of Asolare will always last - but I suspect the chef will not...

Renting a 4WD on STT and taking the car barge to STJ was a great way to go ($60RT is way cheaper than taxi-passenger ferry-taxi (RT) - and the rental cost was much lower. But next time I will need to find a better vehicle (somehow). The most important aspects of a vehicle on STJ is 1) good tires, 2) good brakes, 3) A/C, and 4) a passenger compartment that can be sealed (I do not care if the car is banged up). We also prefer 4WD (while some say this is not needed) because we drive STJ roads that need 4WD. Our 4WD from Dependable lacked #4 - and we really did not want to deal with mosquitoes/flies every time we got into the vehicle. Plus - Robin did not want to take her nice camera - so we missed alot of good photo ops. This is worth researching more to try and figure out how to achieve all 4 requirements.

We did a great job of eating in the villa - and that saves lots of $ - especially over 2 weeks. In addition - we drank a lot less alcohol this time probably because it was just the 2 of us. Luckily - Starfish has Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (and Torpedo) - we went through 2 and half cases (although jg's dd helped out some). If you are a beer-snob like me - buy a case from Starfish -it was only $38 (total) - versus about $11 per 6-pack.

I hear STJ has been having all sorts of rain (flooding) right after we left - we lucked out there. Most of the time we were there - the weather was perfect (for STJ).

Lots of very angry Owners - hopefully, with 2 Owner-friendly HOA Board members this will change, but I do not expect it wil be a quick change - and there will be more battles (re: MFs) - but it is an excellent start towards Owner-to-Owner communication and improved transparency.

We can't wait to go back - June 10-24 next year (unless something comes up that prevents us from going).

I wil post some more videos that I took (on this thread) when I get a chance to upload to YouTube.

Robin came up with a good description of expectations while visiting USVI - "Long waits in short lines" - describes the USVI very well.

Later - Go Slow, Stay Left and Drink Right...

olivias dad · Jun 24, 2010

Thanks for all the updates, cant wait to go ourselves. We will be there last week of August, pray for no hurricanes!

:cheer:

ksqdomer · Jun 28, 2010

you heard right on the rain. Arrived on Friday the 18th and just got back yesterday the 27th. 3.5" of rain the first weekend. Overcast almost all week. It finally started to get better this weekend.
We still had a great time.
The SN Torpedo was a nice surprise!

WSJ 2010 (wk 23/24) - Still is Still Moving to Me

TUG Review Crew: Veteran