Finally, something that should work in that open-air space just below the Banana Deck.

Han Winogrond, who has run Sail Safaris out of Cruz Bay for about six years, with snorkel outings and sailing tours and rentals, has leased the space and will open the St. John Sailing Center before the end of the month.

“ We needed a place for our classroom lessons, and this is perfect,” Han tells us.  “We can have the classroom upstairs and the boats on the beach right across the street.”

Sail Safaris currently has five boats, including four Hobie Cats and the latest addition, Fly Girl, a 27 foot catamaran.

There is a “Learn to Sail” package that’s $280 per person. It includes three lessons, and a free fourth lesson or, if you were a quick study, a free rental.

It was only a matter of time before the recession made its way into a St. John t-shirt.

This one is from Jolly Dog Jeff.  You’ll find it at the Jolly Dog store at Skinny Legs.

Cruz Bay’s newest restaurant in the old Stone Terrace location has been open for a few weeks, but it is still a cash-only operation.  Cactus on the Blue is doing both lunch and dinner.

We’re not food critics, but we thought the food and service were both very good and the prices, reasonable.

And you can’t beat the location.

Above, the salsa sampler, and a tasty black bean hummus.  Below, chicken taquitos and braised beef enchiladas. (Cactus on the Blue: 340-693-8515)

Coconut Coast Studios’ regular Wednesday sunset cocktail party gets a guest appearance this Wednesday, Three Kings Day.

International flautist Nancy Ruffer will join weekly regulars Rich Greengold and Katha Riccardi, along with a guest appearance by local artist and musician Michael Banzhaf, the second year in a row the quartet has performed together at Coconut Coast.

The Detroit native, who now lives and works in The U.K., is visiting family in the Virgin Islands this month.

The four will perform at Coconut Coast on Frank Bay Jan. 6 from 5:30 to 7 pm.

Let’s stop by the Beach Bar and say Hi to Allie. She makes a mean Bailey’s Banana Colada, aka the BBC.

See for yourself, below!

The holidays are over and for St. John it was a good two weeks.  The villas were full, the restaurants did well and the beaches were busy.

And now the holiday visitors are heading back to snow and cold.

This is the line for the 11 a.m. ferry Saturday.  Ruth at St. John Spice calls it the longest line she’s seen in quite a while.

With the holidays behind, High Season is in full swing now.  Here’s to having a good one!

Has Conrad Sutton’s rental lot been hit with a foot of snow?  Did a visitor decide to ship a rental back home?

Neither.

“I have been renting vehicles from them for years, and told them that if they gave me a bumper sticker, I would put it on my truck and take a picture of it in the snow,” says Bostonian Mike Pankievich.

“They got a kick out of it and are hanging a large print of it on their office wall.”

Got a snow-covered St. John sticker?  Let’s see it.

That is an AWESOME photo. Bob Schlesinger from Tropical Focus sends it to us, taken from a perch at the top of Bethany.

The Great Cruz Bay fireworks show lasted a modest 15 minutes, perfect for St. John’s short attention span.

Cruz Bay parties included elbow-to-elbow crowds at the Beach Bar and Morgan’s Mango, and Chris and Mo Carsel’s bluegrass and folk-rock at High Tide.

(Happy third anniversary to On-StJohn.com too!)