Getting Settled in St. John

Wow. Can’t believe we’ve already been in St. John a week.  And more so, just how much we’ve gotten accomplished since we’ve been here.

Connectivity

Our first and most important task was getting an internet solution installed. Chris did a lot of research into our options, which included DSL, cellular via AT&T or Sprint, line of sight wireless, satellite or 4G Wimax.

We had heard reports that the DSL was a bit unreliable, and that cellular signal would be iffy at our house.  We also knew from Google images that ground space for setting up satellite would be tricky (but we could use the roof if needed), however a new dish would likely be required as a larger one than we have is recommended for the weather conditions down here.

Given that the guys at Surf da Web were so super friendly in answering our questions, and offered an install date upon our arrival, we decided to give Choice WiMax the first shot over the line of sight option.  Especially since a new tower on the Coral Bay side of the island was just installed.

With all of the rain storms in the area, we were amazed that they were able to get us set up and surfing by Tuesday afternoon by mounting an outside modem on the utility pole on the street aimed up the mountain towards the new tower.  So far, we’re quite happy with the service – which is giving us 3MB down and 1MB up for a very reasonable $55/month (we had to buy the $200 modem, plus $150 install charge).

And it’s a good thing we didn’t intend to rely on AT&T or Sprint, because our phones often roam over to the British Virgin Island’s towers on Tortola, which is visible out our windows. We’ll mostly likely be canceling our Millenicom service which we use for Sprint data, as we’ve not been able to get online via our aircard anywhere on island yet.  Since AT&T does seem to work fairly well on other parts of the island, I opted to turn on the tethering plan on my iPhone to use as a back-up internet option.

For phone service, since AT&T doesn’t work at our cottage (but does just fine up our driveway), we’re utilizing Google Voice to forward to whatever is best working at the moment – our cell phones, our Skype number or receiving Google Voice through G-chat.   If we were here longer term, we’d likely invest in a cellular booster system similar to what we have in our RV so we could bring the AT&T signal reliably into the house.

Transportation

Our next task was to secure transportation, as renting a Jeep at $75/day is not sustainable for our entire stay here.  We budgeted to purchase a late model 4WD vehicle in reasonable island shape.  Around here, when you describe something as an ‘island car’, that pretty much means it runs reliably, is up to date on the important stuff, but ain’t much to look at.

Just before we flew over, I spotted on Craigslist a 1998 Jeep Wrangler for sale on St. John that seemed to meet our criteria.  It had new tires, new brakes and a new radiator – the things that get the most wear and tear on a hilly island, and you absolutely need to keep on top of.  While we were in town (‘town’ here refers to the main area of Cruz Bay, which is a 35 minute drive from us) on Tuesday doing a grocery run, we called the seller. It just so happened he was a couple blocks away, so he drove over and took us for a lengthy test drive on some of the curviest and steepest hills in the area.  He introduced us to the typical quirks of the vehicle (such as, the seatbelts and radio don’t work – but then again, most don’t down here.)

It was a perfect vehicle for our needs here.  So we made arrangements to electronically send him funds and finish the deal on Thursday when we had to return our rental.   But doh – that was Veteran’s day, and the DMV, banks and insurance agents were all closed.  He kindly gave us a lift back to Coral Bay, which gave us the bonus of seeing how the Jeep handled going up our very steep long incline to our cottage.

The next morning, we walked down that very steep incline intending to catch the public bus over to Cruz Bay. After waiting way too long with the local heard of goats, and witnessing a few folks hitch rides, we decided to give this part of island life a try ourselves.   Just as soon as we stood on the corner and pointed our fingers to the street (you never hitch with your thumb here) – we had an offer to hop in the back of a pick-up truck. Wow.. it was an exhilarating ride across Centerline Road, with amazingly awesome views and totally illustrated island life and culture.

Navigating through the car buying process was quite easy. We met our seller at the local insurance agency where they notarized the signing of the title and we purchased a basic liability policy for $196/year (we’ll get a pro-rated refund when we sell the vehicle before we leave in March).  We then went a couple blocks over to the DMV where we visited a couple windows, filled out a form and paid $40 to transfer the title.  We walked out of there with our new title in hand and then returned to the insurance agency so that our seller could discontinue his insurance on the vehicle.  Easy.

Convenient that the island’s microbrew taphouse is in the same complex as the insurance agency.. we treated ourselves to some island brew!  The local brew is top notch here, and our fridge is well stocked.

Home Nesting

Our other big accomplishment has been putting our home together. The place we’re subletting is basically a glorified screened in porch with a kitchen & bath.  When we arrived, there was some mix up that meant the cleaning service requested by our landlord hadn’t happened. The place hadn’t been cleaned since the last hurricane and was quite a mess. And with not having brought anything to clean with, we did our best to get things shinier.

The cottage came partially furnished with a couch, dresser and mattress set. We were prepared to find an option for a desk and anything else we might need.  However our upstairs neighbor told us about the storage shed across the way, and said we were welcome to use it.  When we took a peak we discovered an awesome desk, bookcase and small kitchen table!  We e-mailed our landlord about the items, and he said we were welcome to use them!  Perfect..  cuz getting furniture up here might have been a bit challenging.

Over the weekend we boarded the car ferry over to St. Thomas with our new little Jeep and went on a shopping excursion. There are grocery markets in St. John, however they are quite pricey – pretty much 2-3 times the price of what you might pay on the mainland. There is one small hardware store, however most household goods can’t be purchased here.  So most folks periodically take the car ferry for $45 round-trip over to St. Thomas, and do their stock-up shopping there.   On St. Thomas there is a Big K-Mart (only general department store option), some larger grocery stores and some COSCO-like discount warehouse stores that are quite popular. By and large, the prices are much better there – and stuff more abundantly available.

After a week of sleeping on a hard bed with no pillows, our task was household items.  We loaded up the Jeep with pillows, a blender, towels, bed quilt (amazingly, I’ve been cold at night), a foam topper, snorkeling gear, cheap rum and other things to help us feel at home.

With everything coming together, we took a little video tour of humble abode:

(Direct Link to the Video for those on RSS, etc.)

It feels good to have our home base logistics come together.  Now we switch to more island exploration and getting to work on several projects.