If you live aboard your boat, your dream volunteer job could be waiting at V.I. National Park on St. John. The park needs bay hosts at Caneel, Cinnamon, Hawksnest, Salt Pond, Lameshur and Trunk bays. Slots at Maho and Francis bays are filled.
“You get paid in sunsets,” said Park Superintendent Mark Hardgrove.
Andrea Joseph, who runs the park’s fee collection program, said boaters must plan to spend a minimum of three months and a maximum of six months on the job.
They must inventory the boats in the bay between 5 and 7 p.m. every day. She also said they must work five days a week, which can be any five days, though the park prefers the days be consecutive.
To get the volunteer post, boaters must show either their driver’s licenses or passports, must have their boats and dinghies registered in the Virgin Islands at their expense, and must pass a V.I. Police Department check, which will cost the boater $12. They must also provide a photograph of their boat.
In return, bay hosts get a free boat mooring in one of St. John’s beautiful bays as well as the opportunity to meet new people. Joseph said bay hosts also receive five gallons of gas for their dinghy every two weeks and free holding tank pump outs at Yacht Haven Marina on St. Croix.
Boat visitors must pay $15 to spend the night in the bay, and Hardgrove said not all comply. Golden Age and Senior Access passport holders pay half price.
“Only 60 percent of the boats pay the fee,” Hardgrove said.
The oversight or intentional failure to pay means lost revenue to the park.
Hardgrove said the bay host doesn’t have to collect money from the boaters. Instead, after telling them about the fee, bay hosts point them to the fee collection post, called an iron ranger, on the beach or dock.
To apply, call Joseph or Chief Ranger Lloyd Morris at 776-6201. Joseph’s extension is 249. Reach Morris at extension 254.
