usvi-on-line
Machete wielding woman at Maho?
Machete wielding woman at Maho?
I was reading through Feet, Fins and 4WD's last night for the first time, and came across an interesting tidbit regarding Maho. Seeing as this is my favorite beach, I was wondering if anyone here has had a run-in with the machete wielding pi**ed off sister discussed in the book?
That women is long gone. She used to live in a really small trailer on the beach side of the road just north of today's pavilion. The concrete base for her place is still there. Contrary to today, that end of the beach was sparcely used before the pavilion with most people at the northern edge, from the turn north.
Most times she was quiet as long as you walked at the water's edge and did not approach the house, but ocassionally she would come out like a banshee. I never saw her leave the house pad, but she would yell until you backed away.
Most times she was quiet as long as you walked at the water's edge and did not approach the house, but ocassionally she would come out like a banshee. I never saw her leave the house pad, but she would yell until you backed away.
That's almost as scary as a couple of cops with guns in a donut shop loading up on caffine and sugar.flip-flop wrote:We saw a machete man at Gibney one day. It freaked me out a bit until I realized he was climbing a tree...my first thought was great a crazy man with a machete is climbing a tree....
-Bert
The liver is evil, it must be punished!
Ya, and the machete man probably owned the tree he was climbing! Gibneys still live there.flip-flop wrote:We saw a machete man at Gibney one day. It freaked me out a bit until I realized he was climbing a tree...my first thought was great a crazy man with a machete is climbing a tree...the I realized he was going for a coconut.
Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
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stjohnjulie
- Posts: 570
- Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2008 10:34 am
- Location: St. John VI
Machetes are our most basic garden tool. It's kind of the "catch all". I have several, including: "The good one" which is sharp and good for mowing the lawn, "the big one" which is used for cutting down trees, "the crappy one" which I get to use because I haven't mastered the art of it all.
Not to long ago our highway crew consisted of a few guys and their machetes. They'd start at one end of Centerline, work their way to the other end, then start all over again. (Now they are high-tech with their fancy pants weed whackers) Point being, a person with a machete shouldn't necessarily be take as a threat.
Not to long ago our highway crew consisted of a few guys and their machetes. They'd start at one end of Centerline, work their way to the other end, then start all over again. (Now they are high-tech with their fancy pants weed whackers) Point being, a person with a machete shouldn't necessarily be take as a threat.
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California Girl
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gimpiegirl
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:01 pm
it's been a while. i can't remember her name, but she chased my mom off the beach with her machete quite a few years ago. quite scary! she certainly made an impression on my mom! 
i want to say her name was mrs. marsh? she thought that the property belonged to her is the tale we heard. i didn't realize that it was in that book! too funny.
i want to say her name was mrs. marsh? she thought that the property belonged to her is the tale we heard. i didn't realize that it was in that book! too funny.
Actually, although she was probably certifiably crazy, she was partly right about the property belonging to her. Under V.I . law up until the the 1970's, shorelines were generally owned to mean low water by the adjacent property owner. In response to the fact that many traditionally public beaches on St. Thomas and St. Croix had been developed by resorts that were denying access, even from the water, the VI drafted the Open Shorelines Act in the 1970's. Unfortunately, under the US Constitution, private land can not be taken for public use without compensation. Our Governor at the time, Melvin Evans, would not sign the Act into law, but allowed it to become law in face of the politically and racially charged situation at the time.The developers of hotels were certainly not about to challenge the Act legally for the same reasons. The Government never officially took title to any shorelines, so we continue with private property that the public has a right to use.... In the case of the Marsh family at Maho, they were only seven-elevenths owners, since the National Park had purchased 4 undivided shares in the estate.gimpiegirl wrote:it's been a while. i can't remember her name, but she chased my mom off the beach with her machete quite a few years ago. quite scary! she certainly made an impression on my mom!
Most of us here on St. John were somewhat sympathetic to Miss Marsh's machete wielding-- it was when she started getting those radio signals on her tooth fillings that warned her about the Federal agents in the bush that we began to wonder a little.