RonUSVI

[sandollar]

Thanks for your recent post re: Water Island. You are correct; I assumed Water Island was part of NPS.
Appreciate your picking up on that. Is there ferry service to Hassel Island? Any relevant info would be appreciated. Perhaps it would make more sense to spend time on STT also. My husband is interested in WWII history; hence, the interest in Water and Hassel. This board is great !

[captainjay]

I missed the other post. Ron is a wealth of knowledge about the history of the island. As for Hassel the history goes way back past WWII. The guys at Sea Tow along with the NP just cleared a trail to the ridge there is a five gun Napoleonic era fort up there.
Jay

[VayCay]

sanddollar,

Thank you for helping plan our day on STT. I too am a fan of WWII "relics"?! and would love to go visit the sites on water island before we go check out CA. Maybe you, or someone else could chime in and let me know if there are any kind of tours available of that island or kinda just go it alone?

Thanks,

VayCay

[hugo]

There is an outfit called Water Island Adventures http://www.waterislandadventures.com that does bike tours of Water Island. This is mainly aimed at cruise ship traffic in St. T., but I've heard they do a good job--- certainly worth contacting for info!

[sandollar]

Wow! A 5 gun Napoleonic era fort on Hassel! Sounds great, captainjay. Also, VayCay, I really don't have much of any visitor/touring info on either Water or Hassel, as yet. I emailed VI National Park Service asking if visitors were allowed on Hassel and the best way to get there? Waiting for reply or perhaps someone else on these boards might know the answer. There is a ferry service from STT to Water I. listed under ferry service for STT. You might like to view: http://www.seestjohn.com/ then "select a place to visit" pulldown window. Hassel is there even though it's STT. Another board member lead us to this site! Thank you!

[VayCay]

yeah i looked on google map...and it looked like a short swim to hassel and a short ferry to water...hard to tell until you are standing on one beach looking across to the other . either way..even if we had to catch a ferry to water and walk to a site, that would be fine w/me...just be fun to "island hop" as we are not attempting the BVI's, since this is our first time to STJ/STT

[captainjay]

The water island ferry leaves from Crown Bay Marina, right beside Tickle's. As for Hassel I don't think there are any formal tours available yet. You could try to contact the Friends of the Park as they are helping with the cleanup. As for how to get there it is likely going to mean renting a boat of some kind.
Jay

[RonUSVI]

We, the St. Thomas Historical Trust, have a MOU with the NPS to help raise funds for the work being done on Hassel. We hope to soon have tours for folks to visit, it's a bit premature. We are uncovering loads of artifacts and they have to be cataloged and secured. We also hope to have a maritime museum opened over there as well as picnic areas. Currently,, we have a museum/store, located in Royal Dane Mall, that will have some items of interest on display.
Currently this guy http://islandtreasuresvi.com/ does some tours although we have not met with him recently to see what his tour consists of or how his plans fits in with ours. He has worked tirelessly in the past for Hassel Island, but he marches to the beat of a different drummer and wants to do it himself, although he needs to clear it through us and the park. He has had, in the past, a permit to do tours. I have to check and see the status of his tour company.[/url]

[VayCay]

thank you Ron!

[sandollar]

With appreciation and thanks for taking the time to update us on Hassel; sounds like a wonderful island. We'll just stand by. If we don't make it this time around, perhaps another, provided Mom's health remains fairly stable.
As time goes on, please feel free to post; we'd love to hear. I'm sure the task you are undertaking is huge, to say the least, and such a noteworthy cause.