when you thought it couldn't get hotter: Wood Firing

A few times a year the clay studio does a wood firing here on property. This process from start to finish takes 3-4 days including the initial heating and the cool down. We use old shipping pallets to fuel the flames. Generally they would end up at the dump, luckily we have a few sources that send to us instead of doing that. The most labor intensive part of this is breaking down the wood pallets into manageable pieces that can be put into the small opening. Staff, locals, and guests all participate. The main event takes the better part of a whole day when the fire has to be constantly maintained. Andrew Scully, a recent guest is giving a hand keeping the fire up.

There were 20 people standing around at one point during the afternoon just hanging out enjoying the process. People brought food and drinks and literally sat around the fire. A few days later the kiln had cooled enough for the bricks to be removed and the spoils of their labor revealed.

Winter Promo: 6th night Free

Winter Escape 2011 Promotion

Booking Window: Now-January 30, 2011

Travel Window: January 25, 2011 – April 15, 2011

Booking Code: WINTER2011

For bookings made between now and January 30th for travel between January 25 and April 15th, your 6th night is free. This promotion must be booked directly through our reservations department, 800-392-9004 or can be booked online. MUST USE BOOKING CODE WINTER2011 at the time of booking. This promotion cannot be applied retroactively to existing reservations.

How to end a great day?

Yesterday afternoon I decided I would cap my day off with a little sunset sail. It was my first sunset sail of the season and I went out with Fred and Renee of Pepper. I walked down to the beach just as Fred was pulling up in the dinghy. The water was flat like a pool and the easy ride to the boat gave Larry, Susan, and I an opportunity to get acquainted with one another. They are from Pennsylvania and this is their first time visiting, some friends of theirs told them about Maho. (Larry is an Eagles fan and myself a Titan, so the playoffs weren't a topic we stayed on long.)

After boarding Fred gave us a breif history of Pepper, and island sloop. Back before there were roads on the islands, donkeys were the only real mode of transportation. So for several hundred years, island sloops were used. They are very simple yet practical designs and it is easy to see how much easier it made getting imports, exports, animals, and people to and from other nearby islands. There would have been no seats on an island sloop, just plenty of storage and standing room, one mast, two sails, and a tiller. A great boat for getting around the area and perfect for an intimate sunset sail.

Renee passed out some of her famous "White Cap" drinks (will have to sail for that recipe) and snacks and we sat back to let the wind carry us onward. Along the way Fred and Renee were great tour guides giving us historical facts and fun facts about the islands and stories from the past, but it didn't feel like we were on a tour, it all just kind of flowed seamlessly as we sailed along. Susan is a sailor at home and got to try her hand at the island sloop, but we didn't make Larry take Renee's place pouring drinks.



The sunset was great, and we all just kind of stared not really talking, just appreciating. Honestly, it didn't even dawn on me that i hadn't captured it with a photo until just now. It was just one of those moments where everything faded away and the only thing that mattered was that, well, nothing really mattered in that moment........but in the best of ways.

Wax On, Wax Off

Not just a Karate training technique anymore. Now its recycling. Sometimes we have linens that become unusable. They get a stain or a rip or its just time to retire them. Instead of tossing them out, we recycle them into hand made items for sale in our shop. Annalisa is our resident artist in our textiles studio. She and her team prepare all of the fabric, put designs into it with wax (wax on), dye it, boil the wax out (wax off), some times adding more wax and more dye for multiple colored cloth, and then they are finally ready for the fabric to be cut, sewn, transformed into a bag, or place settings, bandannas, and anything else our seamstresses can come up with. The process isn't overly technical. In fact, many people take a class here making their own table runner and then go home and continue recycling by buying home kits from hobby stores. You need wax, a brush or stamps, dye, and boiling water; and of course some old linens.

Maho Showing Ken Burns Film February and March

What? You don't watch PBS? Honestly, I don't either. But last year we broadcast the Ken Burns (who is Ken Burns?) latest documentary The National Parks: America's Best Idea in our pavilion for guests and island residents. I am not much for documentaries, and the National Parks as a whole has never really been on my radar. But by the end of the first episode, I was hooked. Since then, I have visited 4 different parks (Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, and Alcatraz) and America was right to preserve them for the public.

Can you imagine if St. John were not 2/3 National Park? What if all of the beaches were privately held or commercialized? As it is, 2/3 of St. John belongs to each American although i don't consider myself a land owner on St. John.

The footage of the parks is amazing, and the stories of the individuals who are responsible for making sure these special landscapes are protected are interesting. Often times it was one person who led the drive and who had the passion for individual parks that we can be thankful to for their preservation.

This year we are partnering with the VI National Park to air the series in our pavilion on Friday nights through February and March for island guests and locals. It will give you a new appreciation for the Park System and for how special St. John is being primarily public land.

Our Press Release:

Last year’s popular Ken Burns’ series “The National Parks America’s Best Idea” is now available for public viewing on the big screen at Maho Bay Camps’ outdoor restaurant each Friday night throughout February and March. This beautifully photographed series will be presented in conjunction with the V.I. National Parks each Friday at 8:00pm and offered free of charge.

Originally aired on PBS this series is described as “…a biography of compelling characters and a biography of the American landscape. Nearly a decade in the making, The National Parks: America's Best Idea is a visual feast, featuring some of the most extensive, breathtaking images of the national parks system every captured on film. It contains the most contemporary footage of any Ken Burns film since Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery.”

No Super Bowl at Maho this Year

This year we will be unable to host a super bowl party at Maho Bay. In years past we have been able to pick up a signal with an antennae or borrow a satellite feed from nearby, but that satellite is no longer active since the quality of service had greatly diminished over the last year. The game is on Fox this year, and our local stations that can be picked up by antennae are only CBS, NBC, and PBS. We've always had a great time showing the super bowl here, unfortunately that will not be possible this year. We will have a taxi sign up for guests to be able to go to town or Coral Bay, but those arrangements have not been confirmed yet as we are trying to find where the best place to send people will be. We apologize for the inconvenience, but wanted to go on and let people know. Hopefully someone who is coming that week is reading this.

Its cold, get a hoodie!

New to our collection is our Maho "Tree shirt" as they are being called around camp. We've taken the design and put it on a hoodie by popular request. Since we had requests while people were here, that means they definitely did not get the opportunity to buy one since they did not yet exist. So, until January 31st (as long as supplies last), we are offering free shipping on hoodies ($50) to the states. Who says Maho can only keep you warm while on island?

Please contact Jamie at store@maho.org to place your order!