Where do Tiki Poles Come From?

Santa does not bring tiki poles down from The North Pole. But they do come from south of the equator in Bali.

The Balinese people have been known for centuries to be expert wood and stone carvers. They make the best wood carvings in the world.

That's why the St. Hazards tiki poles come from Bali. Pictured is the owner of this small shop that is making lots of wood carvings for Hazards and the gift shop right now. Everything is made one at a time - by hand.

The gift shop at Hazards will have the real thing - tiki items from south of the equator where tiki was born.

News from Bali

These photos were all taken from the central part of Bali in a town called Ubud. This area is known for its' woodcarvers, painters and craftsmen. The photo of the worker in the rice field was taken from the terrace of the hotel, which is built around a working rice field.

It seems that there is some kind of temple every 100 ft. or so because all of the families have their own temple for their compound plus there is one for the neighborhood. Here's a photo of one of thousands like it.

The streets are lined with shop after shop. Many sell the same thing, but of a lower quality. Some make what they sell, but others buy from the market. You really need to know what you are doing here to locate the best quality right from the family that makes the items to get a great price. Fortunately, our friends in St. Barths have made introductions to experts who live in Bali to help us out. The Hazards gift shop will have lots of new things this year.

Greetings From Bali

Back in 2004 St. Hazards owner Ed made his first trip to Bali, Indonesia and brought back Hazards' Tiki Bar, tiki poles, gazebos, the giant crocodile by the pool and lots of other special items for the gift shop.

Ed is back and this post is sent from Bali, literally half way around the world (13 hour time difference). Bali is just below the equator and above Australia and below Vietnam in very general terms.

The beach photos are from a neat bar on the beach near Kuta, the main tourist town. Hazards will have new ideas as seen in Bali for this season. The other photos are from a small hillside village where many of the craftsmen live and work. And yes, they are making one-of-a-kind things for the gift shop right now.

The Balinese are a very happy, welcoming people that often greet you and welcome you on the street as you walk by. There are very few Americans visiting, so we are an attraction in ourselves. They all wonder about our special accent because most of the English they here is from Australians. They speak the normal way, not us.

Middle Bass Island will have more influence from Bali this season. Stay tuned.

Middle Bass Island Updates

Lots of progress on Middle Bass Island this fall.

But, through it all the palm trees still stand. The photo of the palm trees on the beach was taken last weekend. All of the smaller ones (14 ft. or less) were moved to a greenhouse for a relaxing winter. The 24 ft. ones on the beach were too big too store.

The marina bath house is almost finished and will be ready for next season.

Just to the east is the new Middle Bass Island Yacht Club building

And the new building at the Sonny S dock is almost complete. It will offer complete protection for travelers in all weather.

Finally, the last photo is of the sunrise as seen from the St. Hazards condos last weekend. The fall weather is always great on Middle Bass Island.

Hazards at St. Barths' LeSelect

Hazards owner Ed is pictured next to the Hazards sticker at the order window of LeSelect and with owner Marius. The other 2 photos are of the inside and outside of LeSelect.

LeSelect was started 61 years ago and inspired Hazards.

St. Barths Friends Visit St. Hazards

We have made many great friends in St. Barths and some have been able to visit St. Hazards.

In the bottom photo is LeSelect owner Marius with Jeff from Kalamazoo, Michigan, Marius' son Eddy and Tom and Joyce from the Detroit area. All but Eddy have visited St. Hazards.

The middle picture has our good friends Jim and Dianne from Pittsburgh. The were at St. Hazards their second time this summer.

Tom and Joyce from the Detroit area are in the top photo with Marius. They chartered a sailboat from Sandusky to make their second visit to St. Hazards this summer.

St. Barths inspires St. Hazards, so it's great to have visitors to both.

St. Hazards Helps Celebrate the 61st Anniversary of LeSelect in St. Barths

Sixty-one years ago Marius Stakelborough started the first bar/restaurant/library/rental place and anything else you need in St. Barths.
On Nov. 11th, St. Hazards owner Ed was there to help celebrate. Pictured is Ed and Marius. The other photo is of long time LeSelect bar tender Francis next to the Hazards sticker on the order window.
Marius visited St. Hazards in 2006 and is now 87 yrs. old. Many of his friends met in St. Barths also have made it to Hazards over the years. And LeSelect is the inspiration for Hazards.

St. Hazards to St. Barths

St. Barths is the inspiration for St. hazards and is about 2,000 miles away in the Caribbean. The writer of this blog is back in St. Barths and was lucky to shoot a video of the landing at the St. Barths airport. The airstrip in St. Barths is about as long as the one on Middle Bass, about 1,600 ft. But, the one in St. Barths has a mountain one one side and a beach on the other. Check out this link for the landing video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9tSKXOT2QA

Pictures is the plane that made this landing - a Cessna Caravan.

Middle Bass Great Pumpkins

These are the largest pumpkins grown on Middle Bass this year. One is about 255 lbs. Carrie Schneider is the proud mother of the 2010 crop.

New Sonny S Dock and Shelter Underway

Visitors next season will enjoy a new Sonny S dock and a modern structure for shelter. We're told that federal stimulus money made this "break wall ready" project possible. The new dock is in the same location as before, just bigger and better.

Middle Bass Yacht Club Building Under Way

The Middle Bass Island Yacht Club, with over 700 members, will have their new club house ready for next year. It's located at the southeast corner of the state marina at the end of their docks. We were told that the Middle Bass Island Yacht Club has more members than any other yacht club in Ohio.

Marina restrooms a Go

The new state park marina restroom arrived in 4 pieces and all were quickly installed on their large foundation. Next a deck will wrap around it all. This restroom is on the southeast corner of the marina.

Hazards Party for Islanders

A many year tradition continued on October 9th with a special party for all of our friends on Middle Bass Island. Special thanks to Linda and Carrie for planning everything and being our guest bartenders for the night. The food the guys cooked up was extra special because they combined all kinds of items in new ways. Now Hazards has new ideas for the 2011 menu.

Thanks to our Middle Bass Island friends for a great year!

Margaritaville and UB40 in Las Vegas

Ed, Hazards' owner, was in Las Vegas this week to attend seminars on the new reservation software St. Hazards will be using to make online reservations very efficient. It's a very sophisticated system that should make visiting St. Hazards easier.

While there, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville had to be visited. This year Hazards had real palm trees inside, but it seems Jimmy uses the fake ones. And his $10 margaritas are about twice the Hazards' price.

Down the street at Mandalay Bay, UB40 had a one night concert at the beach bar. UB40 is one of Hazards' favorites with recordings like "Red Red Wine", "Kingston Town", Cherry Oh Baby" and Can't Help Falling in Love". They were formed in 1978 in England, just one year after "Margaritaville" was recorded by our other favorite.

What happens in Vegas... gets to Middle Bass!

Driving From the Beach Bar - Into the Lake

Save 50% on all rentals in September.






Saints & Sinners Beach Bar opened this year and brought in visitors that arrived by boat or ferry. Only 2 guys from Michigan arrived by car. The "drove" over from Put-in-Bay and ended up at the only beach bar on the islands. Here they are going back to Put-in-Bay.