Article from The Source Today

This was in The Source. No mention of www.stjohnvillarental.com or www.frankbayvillas.com today. In fact, nothing at all about vacation villa rentals on St John. So, you will just have to read this article instead.

Park Service Presents Boaters with New Plan for Hurricane Hole
by Pamela Reid Bussard
May 5, 2008 -- Boaters who want to keep their boats in St. John's Hurricane Hole this year will have a new procedure for acquiring a permit.
Before June 28, if a storm warrants opening the protected waters, the Park Service will notify boaters. They will then be allowed to select one of 78 chains, or storm berths, and tag it with a buoy with their boat identification. Then the boater must notify the park for a permit.
That spot will be the boat's storm berth for the season, but it can only be used when the Park Service identifies a storm that warrants use of the protected waters.
If there are no storms before June 28, the Park Service will open Hurricane Hole at dawn on that day. Boaters may select and identify a berth, and then make an appointment with Rafe Boulon, chief of resource management for the park, to apply for a permit.
Hurricane Hole is normally off limits for anchoring.
"We have a very special, delicate, unique spot -- we want to take care of it," said Tracy Naudin, who lives aboard her Sparkman and Stevens 42-foot yawl. "I want to preserve the mangroves, and not only as a boater to protect my boat -- the mangroves hold the ground down. They are absolutely what keeps us safe, but there are a lot of boats, and we all want in."
Boaters must mark the chain they select with a minimum of one buoy, with the vessel's name and registration or documentation number clearly marked on it, according to a news release from the park. Only then, by appointment, can boaters apply for a permit with Boulon.
Selecting a spot and then making an appointment to apply for a permit is a change from last year's permitting procedure, where boaters spent the night in front of the Park Service offices in advance of the announced registration time.
"We are not having a registration day -- that's been eliminated," said Christy Loomis, the parks's geographic information specialist, who answered questions on behalf of Boulon. "It was just chaos with people coming more than 24 hours ahead of time. People who came at the time they were supposed to be there would have been in the back of the line."
Last year boaters tried to camp out to be the first in line to get a permit, Loomis said. Camping isn't permitted in front of park headquarters.
The Park Service changed the procedure in response to a survey of last year's permit holders. (See "National Park Seeks Input on Streamlining Hurricane Hole Registration.")
Park rangers will be on hand before dawn at Hurricane Hole, according to Loomis.
"I don't know if there is a good clear way [for assigning storm berths], but I think they are getting close," Naudin said. "I am definitely on the mangrove's side, but I also want to preserve my home."