USVI-On-Line

I used to work for a Congressman. You'd be amazed by the issues that were taken up because he didn't know about them but received a personal contact from a constituent. I don't mean form letters or those little postcards your favorite groups encourage you to send en masse, I mean one heartfelt letter written by someone who was affected by the issue.

It didn't happen all the time, and I will say that there are other Congressmen (especially the ones who don't have to work hard to stay Congressmen) who don't operate that way, but I worked on some very interesting issues that started with a letter, phone call or email.

In a side note, I do not think the new Tourism Czar Beverly will let this decision stand. I suspect she will fight it, just like the extra luggage charges on booze.

I just called InterIsland ferry (company that runs the Jost ferry) to ask them about this issue. Of course they had no idea what I was talking about. They said they are still running the same as usual and that you can disembark on St. John after clearing customs. Hopefully it stays that way.
BTW - the fee is now $60 round trip

Well, that is good to hear. I guess I'll just assume everything is still on for our trip to Ivan's in a couple of weeks.

This only applies to boats that can carry more than 12 people, so the smaller operations won't be impacted.

Well that does include ferries then-- but again-- they list 4 docks that ARE secured. What's the disconnect?

Maybe I'm missing something but the whole things seems to start here:

"This is happening because the National park and Port Authority docks are no longer secured for Homeland Security. They dropped the security."

Who is the "they" that dropped the security? Get "they" to reverse that decision and all is well.

Like I said...am I missing something here?

you'd kind of think that the NATIONAL park , being all National and governmental and such would be required to be up on homeland security stuff?
just sayin'

Really, this letter looks like a "reminder", and nothing more.

It says boats shud pick up passengers at the docks which are "secured" ... the ferry dock in CB, the dock at Caneel, and the dock at the Westin. Reads like some captains were just picking up passengers off the beaches ... which are not "secure."

Thanks, Frank, for weighing in-- just as I suspected.

Hubby is a regular reader of your blog and was concerned when he spotted this on your site.

Ultimately I think the whole "Secure" thing is total BS. But here we are and I think the boat owners just need to use the appropriate pick up and drop off points.

Unless of course there's something in place that would prevent them from doing so (a Catch 22 if you will) or that would cost them more money if they have to pay the entity in charge of the secured dock.

Aww, screw it, let's just put a big bubble over the whole island and call it a snow globe!! STJ will just look like another tacky chatchky that you can buy for $3.99 in Panama City, FL.

Gromit, you crack me up!!

I am here to amuse... thank you... you've been a great audience... I'll be here all week!

Wow. This is one confusing thread.

Ok here is the best guess that I can come up with on this one. The newly applied old rule, deals with boats that are inspected by the Coast Guard and hold twelve or more passengers. The four docks that qualify are the Ferry Dock, the Car Barge, the Westing, and Caneel Bay.
The Westin and Caneel are closed to all boats except there own. The Ferry Dock and the Car Barge dock are under contract by the local government to the Ferry operators. So this leaves no "secured" point on the island for companies like New Horizons, Breakaway, etc to pick up on St John. I am not sure about the Ferry to Jost but I suspect they don't leave from the normal Ferry dock. If this is the case then they have problems as well. So the obvious answer is to secure the National Park dock to the same "stringent standard", as the Ferry dock, pay off whom ever it is that certifies it and let life continue as it has in the past. As for the normal day trip boats, like Josh and Matt, Lion In Da Sun, or John Brandi, Palm Tree charters, they are exempt as these boats and several more fall under the twelve pack rules. So time will tell how all this washes out. My guess will be that the Coast Guard, if they are serious about these letters, will try real soon to make an example out of a Captain and operator of one of these vessels.
Jay

That is going to really suck if we can't take the ferry from STJ to Jost without the hassle of going to STT first. We have found the ferry to be a convenient and inexpensive option. Hopefully this issue will have a positive outcome.