The day the Lights went out in St.Thomas.
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 5:33 pm
Tuesday
We all woke up fairly early, once again, the sun shines right in at sunrise. If going to bed at 8:30 or 9:00 at night didn't make you get up, the sunshine did. We congregated in the kitchen and began eating breakfast. All of a sudden, the lights went out. Everything shut down.
We knew that power outages were a regular feature of life on St. John, so we weren't alarmed. We were heading out to the beach anyway, and didn't really need for the power to be on while we were gone.
We had decided that we would check out Francis Bay Beach.
The northern swells were still there, but had abated some, and we thought that Francis might be sheltered enough to afford us some reasonable snorkeling. We found a great parking spot, right at an opening into a little shaded spot on the beach. We set up our spot and donned our snorkel gear.
The water was a bit murky at the shore, but better as we moved further out. It was still not fully clear, but we were able to get in some snorkeling and have a good time. The sun felt good, the water was warm, and if I wasn't seeing all the underwater critters I wanted, well I was just happy to be here instead of at home with 40 degree temps and little sun. I love the water and I could live in this stuff.
.
We hung out here for most of the day, or at least until mid-afternoon when the sun was invading our shady spot. We decided to pack it in and head back to the Villa.
When we got there, we discovered that the power was still out. The guys headed out for the store to get food we could cook on the propane grill out on the deck, and Helene and I searched for candles and lamps. We found a pack of 4 taper-style candles but no candle holders. (The hubbies took care of that for us later by drinking beer so we could use the bottles to hold candles. The sacrifices these guys have to make for their families!) We found lots of tea lights in a zip bag, but they had mostly melted into each other.
We sat at the table trying to pry them apart and digging the wicks back out of the wax. We found 2 oil lamps, lots of wooden matches, and a propane lighter out of fuel. There was no evidence of a battery powered radio, so we had no way of knowing what was going on.
When the boys returned, John proceeded to make a really good dinner. He grilled some Italian Sausages, put a pan of water on to boil, and cooked some spaghetti. A jar of sauce, grilled sausages, and Voila! a spaghetti dinner. He also made some garlic bread toasted on the grill. We ate a hearty dinner, and stowed the leftovers for another day. Yum. I love spaghetti. We ate by candle light.
At the store, they heard that a boiler had exploded in the power plant on St. Thomas, and they were all dark over there, too. It was speculated that the power would be restored by morning.
After dinner, we cleared off the table, and replaced our candles with the oil lamps. A game of cards was happening. We started with Poker, 5 card draw, and deteriorated into such games as sticking a card on your forehead that everyone can see but you, threes are wild but only if you have a two in your hand, and other such games. We laughed a lot and kept on playing till we were all yawning. Time to hit the sack. We had beaches to go, and promises to keep. High hopes that the power would be restored by the AM.
We all woke up fairly early, once again, the sun shines right in at sunrise. If going to bed at 8:30 or 9:00 at night didn't make you get up, the sunshine did. We congregated in the kitchen and began eating breakfast. All of a sudden, the lights went out. Everything shut down.
We knew that power outages were a regular feature of life on St. John, so we weren't alarmed. We were heading out to the beach anyway, and didn't really need for the power to be on while we were gone.
We had decided that we would check out Francis Bay Beach.
The northern swells were still there, but had abated some, and we thought that Francis might be sheltered enough to afford us some reasonable snorkeling. We found a great parking spot, right at an opening into a little shaded spot on the beach. We set up our spot and donned our snorkel gear.
The water was a bit murky at the shore, but better as we moved further out. It was still not fully clear, but we were able to get in some snorkeling and have a good time. The sun felt good, the water was warm, and if I wasn't seeing all the underwater critters I wanted, well I was just happy to be here instead of at home with 40 degree temps and little sun. I love the water and I could live in this stuff.
.
We hung out here for most of the day, or at least until mid-afternoon when the sun was invading our shady spot. We decided to pack it in and head back to the Villa.
When we got there, we discovered that the power was still out. The guys headed out for the store to get food we could cook on the propane grill out on the deck, and Helene and I searched for candles and lamps. We found a pack of 4 taper-style candles but no candle holders. (The hubbies took care of that for us later by drinking beer so we could use the bottles to hold candles. The sacrifices these guys have to make for their families!) We found lots of tea lights in a zip bag, but they had mostly melted into each other.
We sat at the table trying to pry them apart and digging the wicks back out of the wax. We found 2 oil lamps, lots of wooden matches, and a propane lighter out of fuel. There was no evidence of a battery powered radio, so we had no way of knowing what was going on.
When the boys returned, John proceeded to make a really good dinner. He grilled some Italian Sausages, put a pan of water on to boil, and cooked some spaghetti. A jar of sauce, grilled sausages, and Voila! a spaghetti dinner. He also made some garlic bread toasted on the grill. We ate a hearty dinner, and stowed the leftovers for another day. Yum. I love spaghetti. We ate by candle light.
At the store, they heard that a boiler had exploded in the power plant on St. Thomas, and they were all dark over there, too. It was speculated that the power would be restored by morning.
After dinner, we cleared off the table, and replaced our candles with the oil lamps. A game of cards was happening. We started with Poker, 5 card draw, and deteriorated into such games as sticking a card on your forehead that everyone can see but you, threes are wild but only if you have a two in your hand, and other such games. We laughed a lot and kept on playing till we were all yawning. Time to hit the sack. We had beaches to go, and promises to keep. High hopes that the power would be restored by the AM.