USVI-On-Line

Thanks Julie!

V.I. Answer Desk: St. John Dinghy Dock
(from The St John Source)

Source reader Julie King wants to know when the dinghy dock at the Cruz Bay ferry dock will be fixed. The dock is missing planks and, in one spot, has a big gap between planks that appears too large to easily step over.

She noted that the St. John Spice webcam has the dock in its view, and St. John lovers who frequent travel forums would also like answers. She said Tuesday that travel forum participants have talked about placing bets on when the dock will be fixed.

“There was a question on Trip Advisor that asked if betting is illegal,” King said.

The dilapidated dock sits front and center in the webcam’s view, and is the backdrop for tourists who write messages in the sand for webcam viewers to see. As of Tuesday afternoon, 3.96 million people looked at the webcam since Jan. 11, 2009.

V.I. Port Authority spokesman Monifa Marrero said that work on the dinghy dock, which suffered mightily during the fall’s hurricanes and storms, should be done by the end of January.

She said it went out for bid in December 2010. She had no further information.

http://stjohnsource.com/content/news/lo ... inghy-dock

Thanks LProf (& St. John Julie).

No further information? Hmmmm... sounds sketchy to me. Question is, have the bids been closed yet? We're almost at mid-month already

I say we start placing bets to see if it's even started by the end of January.

Yay for stjohnjulie.

Put out for the bid? Wouldn't putting that out for the bid cost more than actually just fixing the dock? I mean you just need a hammer, couple nails & 2x4s.

Good for you Julie!


Also, my husband would be happy to come down and fix it. Just send airfare!

If it's not done by the biginning of June, I promise he will do it.

Bids??? Really?...even I (fairly handyperson inept)could repair the dock in less than a couple of hours using new tread and stainless steel screws instead of nails which will just pull out again in the next storm. Oh well...maybe soon come.

Thank you Julie for asking what we all wanted to know.

It doesn't seem like the kind of job that would require being put out for bid. I'm wondering if the guy who had worked on it before had won a bid. Seems odd. But glad the question has been asked.

its a sad sight - i do say! remember everyone, we're on St. John time!!!

The government can't do anything without putting out notice and accepting bids. RED TAPE.

On the St. John Source, they have the section called the "Answer Desk". I love that section! I ask a lot of questions I think all but one of the questions I asked resulted in a mini article. Got a question, just ask! Linda does a great job, and the Source is my favorite local news site.

Honestly, it works. Kinda has a Pirates of the Caribbean feel to it.

I guess my question is, if someone goes out on "the dock" and gets hurt-then what? Big liability issue there. Maybe government will wish they acted a little quicker.
mricco

I'm curiuos to see if the winning bid for the tender shows up with hammer and nails tomorrow -- you know, being the end of January and all.

I'll bet a beer...it won't be done when I get there in March...lol

I honestly think that in years past the locals would have just fixed it themselves.

I noticed that Skinny Legs had a 50/50 raffle posted for repair donations. I don't remember the exacts as it was my turn to drink and the wife's turn to drive