Hazards inspiration is LeSelect in St. Barths

Here's a panoramic view of the outside of the St. Barths bar that inspired the creation of Hazards. It's called LeSelect and it opened in 1949. Seated at the far right is Marius who started it all and will be 88 this June. Marius visited St. Hazards in 2006 and gave us his seal of approval.
There's lots of St. Hazards stuff at LeSelect and lots of LeSelect stuff at Hazards.
It would be great to see them both.

Landing on a small island

Here are a few short videos taken recently by St. Hazards owner Ed in St. Barths showing some landings and take-offs of planes from their very small airport. The runway is only 2,133 ft. long and is considered to be the third most dangerous commercial airport in the world.
The Middle Bass Island airport is shorter at 1,852 ft., but does not have a mountain on one end.
St. Hazards was inspired by St. Barths and many of our ideas come from there.

Landing in St. Barths

Beach landing in St. Barths

Mountain landing in St. Barths

Le Select Party in St. Barths

Our friend Marius had a great party on Saturday at his Le Select bar in St. Barths. A link to the 50 second video is below. As you walk into this 61 year old bar you'll see the St. Hazards flag. Marius can be seen seated in the video and he has been our friend for many years.

Le Select video

Friends of Hazards in St. Barths

Today Marius Stakelborough was seen wearing his Hazards cap at his bar in St. Barths called LeSelect.

Marius started LeSelect more than 61 years ago and has had everyone from the king of Sweden to David Rockefeller to Jimmy Buffett come by to chat. Jimmy liked it so much he lets them use Cheeseburger in Paradise for the name of the snack bar.

The top photo shows the St. Barths town of Gustavia. LeSelect would be in the top left area of the photo. This was taken by Hazards owner Ed on Feb. 11 as the plane was approaching the airport.

St. Barths is about 1,000 miles southeast of Miami. Lots of friends from St. Barths have visited St. Hazards over the years.

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.

Jimmy Buffett LeSelect St. Barths Banner at Hazards

Our good friend Marius Stakelborough celebrated the 60th anniversary of starting his LeSelect bar/library/music store/taxi and everything else needed in St. Barth in the Caribbean last November.

Hazards owner Ed was there - and for the 50th - as were people from all over the world. Including Jimmy Buffett who with his Coral Reefer Band put on a great show for all.

The big banner that greeted visitors to LeSelect was stretched tree to tree on the main island road. At the end of the week long party, Marius gave this banner to Ed so that it could be displayed at Hazards. Hazards was inspired by LeSelect and St. Barths and Marius visited back in 2006 and gave his seal of approval.

Now this same banner hangs on the ceiling of Hazards as our sign of friendship across the 2,000 miles that separates us - but not in spirit.

Everything at Hazards is authentic and has a story.

Coral Reefer Band members Peter Mayer & Jim Mayor play in St. Barths

Coral Reefer Band members Peter Mayer and Jim Mayer stopped in to play a few songs at the BAZ bar in St. Barths. Jimmy Buffett and the band had just put on a great show to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of LeSelect. Thanks for lots of great music.

How Does Jimmy Buffett Leave a Concert?

In St. Barths, Jimmy leaves the show he just put on by boat. With the band, of course. The boat was waiting right next to stage on the harbor in Gustavia.

Jimmy Buffett Concert Photos

Here are more photos from the St. Barths concert Jimmy put on for our friends 60th anniversary celebration.

Jimmy Buffett videos from St. Barths

Here are a few videos that St. Hazards owner Ed took of Jimmy in St. Barths for the LeSelect 60th anniversary celebration. One ends early because the memory card filled up. Several thousand photos were taken over a three week period. More photos to come.

Marius introduces Jimmy Buffett at the St. Barts concert

Jimmy Buffett in St. Barts giving us Ceeseburger in Paradise

Jimmy Buffett concert in St. Barts for the LeSelect 60th Anniversary

Jimmy Buffett in St. Barts to celebrate LeSelect's 60th anniversary

Jimmy Buffett at BAZ bar in St. Barts for LeSelect's 60th Anniversary

Jimmy Buffett at Le Select on Sunday

The owner of Le Select in St. Barths, Marius Stakelborough, finished his three day celebration of his 60th anniversary in grand style on Sunday. His good friend Jimmy Buffett stopped by to shoot the champagne cork at a bee that hangs over the bar - a very long tradition at Le Select.
A nice friend took a picture of me next to Marius and Jimmy in the background.
Back in February Marius was very kind to let me hang the St. Hazards flag at Le Select. And here's a great photo of Jimmy near the flag.
Jimmy was most graciuos and spent lots of time with his fans. We all thank him for that.
Amazingly, Marius is now 86 yrs. old and partied for the three days with extra high energy.
More photos to come from this great weekend.

Jimmy Buffett Show in St. Barths

The big Jimmy Buffett show with the Coral Reefer Band to celebrate the 60th anniversary of LeSelect went on yesterday, Saturday, onthe harbor. My very good friend Marius, the one who started LeSelect 60 years ago granted me access to take some fantastic photos of this concert. Too many to post all at once, but here are a few to get started.
Jimmy put on a two hour concert that had all of the favorites and some new songs. And all for his friend Marius.
More to come.