Never a dull moment

St. John in a nutshell!

I try to always book a red eye out of SF so as to land on St. Thomas early in the afternoon. That allows for the the taxi, ferry, taxi to the truck and the drive to the shack while it is still light out. Lifting the flaps and seeing what has been living inside while I was gone a month during daylight makes for a better sleep on the first night.

No red eye this time. Very late arrival.

Blew into the shack around midnight. Wonderful. No power. This truly sucks for the second time. Yup, I left the refrig on to save the incidentals and assorted frozen goods I could not eat before I left. A refrig with no power is a gruesome sight in the tropics. Welcome home. I'll deal with it in the morning. Headlamp on I checked for creatures and crawled into bed.

That was my first view at 6am trying to scope out why there was no power. WTF.
Flames had shot out of my only receptacle? WTF.

The broken blue bits? Those were all my clothing containers laying shattered on the floor and shelves. WTF.

Crank up the generator and cry in my coffee.

I carry the refrig outside and spend two hours cleaning out the dead body inside! I am not going to tell you what was inside. Once, hanging on a building in SF, the police and owner asked me to pry my way into an apartment window on the fifth floor because the tenant was not responding. Making like a cat burglar from a past life I found her deceased. CSI would make it about 10 days. Oh yeah, as my old man the cop would say, "it's a smell you don't forget". Most people in fact can't handle it. I was surprised how nonchalant I was about it all. Maybe painting that building above the restaurant in Chinatown had killed my sense of smell. Or maybe it was the garbage pack rat on Pine with the roaches that had covered the window and scurried over the sill to the outside wall when I opened it collapsing the 40 year old curtain in the process. Hezi, an ex Israeli soldier, and I nearly fell off the stage from the stench. And he had seen combat in 73'. All that said, the refrig was worse. I kid you not. If I knew I could get another one I would have thrown it away.

Next, up to the temporary power pole and the containers to get another GFCI and flip the breaker at the pole. Even that was tripped. Clearly we had electrical problem while I was gone!

Of course I jolted myself installing the GFCI. The best thing about 110, it's not 220! The circuit works, I plug in the refrig, it doesn't. Now I am pissed. Yes, I should have done the electric first before cleaning the refrig but I thought the surge protector had done its job. Hell it blew up! It did its job! Plus the last time this happened no problem.

It is still early so I jump into the truck and make for the barge for St. Thomas. They have to let me off the barge because I forgot my wallet and checkbook. Oh my god this is not going well. Race back across the island, up the mountain and then speed back to catch the next barge an hour later. Now it's raining.

A break for the good guys. Home Depot has a small refrig. That is no small accomplishment. In fact it is the one I always wanted. Same cu.ft. but a larger freezer. $180 later and a food trip to Cost u less and Pricesmart and I'm on a return barge. What a day. Humping it down the mud slope in the rain should be fun.

Styling with the new stainless...

So what exactly took place. Was it a monster power surge from WAPA as lines touched in a violent storm? Was the shack hit by lightening via the exposed rebar sticking out of the adjoining retaining wall? A live aboard sailor in Coral Bay said they spent an evening watching lightening hitting the mountainside. What ever it was I was glad I wasn't there, especially the lightening part. Seeing it hit nearby is some very spooky stuff. My broken clothing containers were probably result of standing water--I get some in monster rains--that were electrified in the power surge. Apparently water and enough juice leads to explosive steam vapors. Who knew?

You guessed it. Unlike stateside, the power company here is not liable for such power surges. Generally most folks put a ginormous surge protector up at the main power pole when the house is completed.

I lost a refrig, they lost this!


Now just as I was feeling pretty good these guys got me. While stepping outside to use the great outdoors they had moved in while I was away. Small nests everywhere hanging under leaves, branches and the like from knee to head level along the trail. I did not realize it until I was deep in their midst. All I can tell you as I ran helter skelter bouncing off of saplings, the initial bite is less than a yellow jacket but the aftermath is another affair. This is a deep burn that stays with you. Their reputation is well earned.

Welcome back Patrick. The new termite mound inside the container is not even worth talking about. Did I mention I met "Coach" from Survivor in Miami? Just like the show, talkative and very friendly.

Okay, back to work a few days later not before trying to save a dying chick. They do die. Out of ten eggs maybe one survives. Not because they are attacked, they just seem to die. I find their little carcasses about the property. This guy was on his last legs. I made him warm under the light. He settled right in and made himself comfortable. It is as if he knew. That's my good deed for the year!

When Ryan left for the states we buttoned up all the sheet rock that took two persons--the ceilings. Left were the walls that I needed to insulate, also parts of the entry and kitchen plus the bathroom. What I should have done is brought down all the necessary sheet rock. We ran out of time. I won't make that mistake again. Sliding 9' sheets out of the container, under the camper shell, back out and then walking the ramp followed by 15 steep steps, pivoting and then taking them inside the house is not easily done 20 times without breakage--you or the sheets! After three sheets in with one broken I realized I had to make ramps for sliding the sheets in and out the truck. A couple of slow days later I had the sheets in the house.

Insulated and ready to rock!

Several days later everything was hung. On with the taping and mudding.

I brought this stuff down in a suitcase. The Ultraflex saved the day. When we had assembled the drop ceiling in the living room it had some 1/4" issues at the corners. The planes in space did not match up so to speak. As Ryan said at the time with a smile, "don't worry about it, the plaster guys will take care of that" knowing full well I was the plaster guy. Plaster, what's that?!

All I can tell you is the taping and hot mud-90 minute-took a lot longer than I thought. Just the arches were a learning curve. To be fair, I knew that before I even designed them. About the only easy thing was the self stick fibre glass taping mesh. Batch after batch, build up after build up, cleaning the tools in between, the living room ceiling took me almost a week. Smartest thing I did, I had bought wheels for the scaffolding. No more dragging it around the floor.

The rest of the house took another week, at least. Worse still the hard part had not even begun. We are a long way from a level 5 wall surface. However with steel studs the wall starts off flat and true. That is a huge plus. There will be no pop outs with everything screwed. The hard part as a novice is keeping them smooth!

The arches start to take shape.

During this time I took delivery from Tropical Shipping the Diamond veneer plaster I had ordered from Seacoast in Florida. I saved $20 a bag ordering it direct rather than going through MSI on St. Thomas. More importantly I got it within 10 days instead of six-eight weeks. I later found out they were not supposed to sell it to me for some distributorship reasons. Whatever. Another 1,000 lbs to carry down to the house.

Time to go to the beach. Maho makes it to an album cover. I did not look as good as her but I laid down the same way. After what I have been through the religious symbolism might not be a coincidence! The fun was just starting however.

This is not what you want to wake up to on your computer screen. Back home I look daily at the Irish racing forms--the Obits. Here you check what's coming across the Atlantic during the hurricane season. Like seeing your name in the obits it's not a good thing to see this pic. Basically it translates to-stop everything you are doing and board up the house and property. It is one thing when the house is done with hanging shutters and a clean yard and a finished roof. A construction site with visions of your 2x4's impaling people creates its own drama. Not to mention two days of frantic work that may not be necessary should the storm make a turn.

Making use of whatever is available to close all the openings.

The storm did not change direction but instead it got a whole lot bigger and meaner.

The view from the space station

After buttoning everything up I pulled a runner in the late evening to my friend Roger's in Cruz Bay. Originally I planned on going in the morning but when a very large limb came down at 12:30am with the storm still 150 miles I threw in the towel. I learned my lesson the last time around--it is too late to run if the storm has landed! I figured I'd camp out in Roger's driveway which is clear of any large trees and just sleep in the truck. His dogs gave me away. Fran gave me the key to the downstairs bedroom. Next morning we sat around waiting. So did the storm. It stopped moving for several hours. Late morning the storm arrived on a northwest course. Upon reaching St. John it decided to pause and change direction to the north. As it rotated it spent half a day hovering over the Virgins. On a positive note it was all wind and very little rain by hurricane standards. Given the record rains we had been getting already that was a godsend. I think sustained winds were about 110 with gusts to 135 at higher elevations. Getting hit during the day is a lot better than at night. The sounds are not as scary. By nightfall Earl was moving off. I spent another night at Roger's. It goes without saying there was no power on the island during this whole time.

In taking stock the day after, Roger's place was in good shape. Other than being able to walk across the debris in the pool, a broken limb here and there, the storm had been all sound and fury. Let's take a drive. We made it out of the driveway and down around the first turn. There was no going further. Very large trees down everywhere blocking the road. Once we started hacking the tree lots of folks showed up and made a single lane possible. Of course I left home without boots, gloves or machetes. Borrowing Roger's best machetes I said I had better try to get to the other side of the island. My refrig was without power going on 36 hours.

Standard tree debris everywhere.

I was virtually the only vehicle on the road as I traversed the island. However it should be noted that WAPA and assorted road crews had been out very early in the a.m. clearing the countless trees so there was at least one lane. The most striking feature of the whole trip was the wet leaf matter coating the roads, at some places a couple of inches thick. Vast stretches of forest had no leaves. For safety, I drove in four wheel drive--the roads were that slippery.

Once I was off the main road the fallen trees were everywhere again. Locals were busy at work with chainsaws etc.

Further up it was just me. Chop, chop. The road to my containers.

Nothing large but it does take a while wearing Crocs and hacking with what soon became a dull machete. By late afternoon I made it to our cul du sac.

All the way down the driveway were fallen trees. I did not even try to clear them. I parked the truck by the Wales house in the picture. Our driveway is down and to the left. There is a driveway there, I promise.

The best picture ever. The shack still stands with the chickens asking "where have you been?" Despite forgetting so many things I had bought gas for the generator before the storm hit. I jumped down to the house and fired her up to turn the frig on. I was to run the generator for the next week as we were without power.

The view looking back at the shack. The galvanized roof took a major hit. There used to be a lot of larger trees along the tree line. That trunk laying down crashed into my septic below.

The forms we had built somehow resisted the impact.

Another tree that had blocked the view on the neighboring property took a hit. This is starting to work out okay!

Another cluster of trees disappeared with one broken trunk still standing. These were not small trees. All over 50'-60'. Several smaller ones are gone from this tree line.

The large cluster had blocked this view above.

The shack rocks. Everywhere around it trees were snapped yet no damage other than the roof

Every hurricane has its anomaly. Here's mine. Not two feet from this shelf the trees are bare, several have been snapped and the young palms have no stems left. Yet the soap dish etc., which barely hang on even on a good day, are still there. Go figure.

This is only a small part of a larger tree that fell exactly where I park my truck. Had I been as cavalier as I have been in the past about storms my truck may have suffered badly.

An email to a bud says it all......

"House and shack survived. I have no big trees left. On the positive side my view has expanded significantly as the blocking trees on the property next store are gone too! Monday morning at 1:30 am I pulled a runner when the storm was about 150 miles away and I had big tree limbs coming down. If that was happening at 150 miles what was going to be happening at 60 miles in the morning? I went to my friend Roger house in Cruz Bay. As the storm increased and stayed around longer than expected I figured my place was toast. When I came back in mid July after the enormous rains and lightening storms I came back to a place that had been hit by lightening or a massive power surge. My electric circuits were fried, receptables that clearly had flames come out of them, my refrig melted and the plastic boxes holding my clothes blown up, now this! Paradise is tough!
To find the shack still standing with every big tree around it gone is too amazing. Sure my galvinized roof took a hike and the insides were wet but who gives a shit. It took all day just to get down the driveway with all the trees blocking it.
Phones work now, my Internet card gets me on-line but no electricity. Running the generator, eight on eight off. Today I'm going to take a drive. Lots of boats on the beaches and rocks. They say the beaches at Francis Bay and Maho are gone. I'm going to go check. Most of the big trees up valleys that end at centerline have been topped. Half the trees on my property have no leaves....."

In the end it was the boats, beaches and trees which suffered the most. On island the Westin got savaged. For a whole host of reasons they took a complete hit. The beach, buildings, swimming pool and tennis courts. They had to close most for repairs.

These are just a few of the boats. Most were owned by folks off island.

A couple of days later, hurricane, what hurricane? With all the Sahara dust gone, clear as a bell.

Pool or the sea? Tough choice for these folks!

Another reason we invented indoor plumbing. These guys only come out at night. They weave their web and remove it by morning. If you are a little sleepy when you run into this guy you will wake up! He blocked the path up to the truck.

I spent the next several days cleaning up the property. I keep telling myself this is all keeping me young!