Invest 98L was just upgraded to Tropical storm Rafael (Patty was just used by a short-lived storm near the Bahamas), and the center of its wide cone of probability lies 50 miles east of the VI, with the closest approach coming mid afternoon on Saturday, naturally when our flight from Boston is suppo...

The 2 PM Friday update has one model showing a pass over St. Croix and St. Thomas, while all other tracks are ~ 100 miles eastwards: http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/?lat=14.7&lon=-62.7&zoom=6&type=hyb&rad=0&wxsn=0&svr=0&cams=0&sat=0&riv=0&mm=0&hur=1&...

It took me a minute, but yay - Inner Vision Sunday night! Rain gear will come in handy.

Kevin

The storm tracks of the various atmospheric models were just updated (Thursday night, 8 PM), and the tracks now vary from directly over St. John to 200 miles east. 98L also seems to be picking up speed, with closest approach now looking like Saturday night. While the system's development and organiz...

We will be arriving Saturday, the afternoon before what will probably be named as Tropical Storm Patty makes its closest approach to St. John. This morning, the ensemble track passed right through Tortola, but as of 8 PM Wednesday the averaged track has shifted ~150 miles eastward. Still, given its ...

ERL: Thanks for the tip! I wasn't expecting much in the way of music during this trip, it being really low season and all. We leave on the 28th, and so won't be able to make your Beach Bar rendezvous, but perhaps we could meet at High Tide or Woody's Inner Vision gigs. Being from NH, I'm easy to spo...

Nice web site! It leads off with the Queen Angelfish, which is my all-time favorite. FWIW, I have had luck on the last few trips finding several of them hanging around the rocks at the east end of Maho, just as you round the point towards the Maho Campgrounds beach. By the way, we will be on island ...

CTBG: While it isn't waterproof or as portable as the Flip Fish cards, the book "Reef Fish Identification" (http://www.amazon.com/Reef-Fish-Identification-Florida-Caribbean/dp/1878348302) is a great and very comprehensive guide to Caribbean reef fish. We keep a copy at Coconuts, along with...

I have and like the Panasonic TS4; it takes great underwater stills and videos, and is a great general purpose point and shoot as well. It's small enough that I take it places where I wouldn't bring my DSLR. The one inevitable downside of underwater cameras is that you have to open an O-ring hatch a...

Also worth mentioning is the old stone bridge and other cool ruins around Annaberg, as well as the America Hill ruins between Cinnamon and Maho. http://www.seestjohn.com/trails_annaberg_area.html http://seestjohn.com/trails_cinnamon_bay.html If you haven't yet downloaded a copy of Trail Bandit's gre...

If you are staying at a villa, you might want to wait until you get there. We always run a pronounced surplus of suntan lotion, and leave a large labeled Tupperware box in the laundry room for guests to pick from, and leave their surplus. There is a drugstore above the Starfish Market, and you could...

Wow, glad to see the fork restored, but that new (patriotic?) paint scheme will take a little getting used to...

Kevin

FWIW, I've brought a digital food thermometer down to the beach, and recorded 79 F in late January, and 87 F (!) in August. This thermometer nails the freezing and boiling point of water, so it's very accurate. We never find the water too warm in summer, but have to admit that we find the winter wat...

The Iguana Grill also has a timing detail that is worth noting... when the ship's bell rings at Woody's, signaling the end of happy hours, you can simply cross the street and garner yet another hour of happiness, till 7 PM. Plus their grub is great, and reasonably priced!

Kevin

A friend and his family have rented our place for a week next April. They have young children, and prefer to fly non-stop, Boston to STT. He mentioned that ticket prices were really high, so I just checked aggregating sites. WOW! The cheapest that I could find were ~$1200 round trip! We tend to book...