REPORTS FROM THE RIP: Island Time!!!! St Thomas

Blue Heaven

I am sitting here drinking a Hibiscus and Aloe infused bottle of water. Yea I Know. Sounds a little frilly for me, but there is a Rastafarian dude that comes to the docks daily with water bottles of his concoctions. He calls himself the doctor. He makes the potions of " Herbal remedies" and sells that In his words, " Ahe boy I be da man de call da dcta. Man I gat one o dees drink dat will clean ya blood, I got anotha dat give ya enagy, I gat one dat will make a hang ova disapeeeea in a minute. I got some ting for what eva ails ya. and All ma drinks will make ya man hood tall as da montain and strong as da tree."……. Well I do like them… as for their effects, I can not speak to his claims. The morning before I flew back to the states a week ago, I had my first drink from him, It was the aloe drink. After drinking it I worried about what I had done to myself, as in a few hours I was going to be at thirty thousand feet in a crowded plane having hours before drank an unsealed bottle of herbal water from a Rastafarian. To my relief there were no bodily functions brought on by the drink.
Its been a while since my last blog. We are now in St Thomas US virgin Islands. In my last blog, we were in Puerto Rico and reprovisioning for the next leg of our adventure. We made our way from Puerto rico to St thomas in one day while fishing part of the way. We had a few wahoo bites and caught one. But the sharks got ahold of it and removed the tail. We still had plenty left for sushi.
Upon arriving in St Thomas, we came into Red Hook which is where American Yacht Harbor marina is located. Red hook is actually a small bay that is a hub of marina and ferry activities. There are lots of restaurants and bars a short walk from the boat. From our slip in Red Hook, to the east by a few miles is the US island of St John. Just past that is the British virgin island of Tortola. Looking to east in the morning, the array of smaller islands mixed with the larger islands gives the view an almost 3-D look. I am including pictures, but they can never give the view justice. All the hills surrounding the marina are dotted with houses. The bay itself is full of sailboats on moorings.

St John and Tortola in the distance to the east

When we were in Puerto Rico, Tylers girlfriend flew in to meet us and ride over to St Thomas with us. She was a pleasure to have aboard. ( well with the exception of all the lovey dovey , Kissy puppy love stuff between her and Tyler LOL). She really got to get a full experience of island travels. A couple days after our arrival, The boss called and said to take her on the boat over to St John and anchor out for a night. We idled the few miles over thru the sound that separates St Thomas from St John. Upon arriving there, we puttered around in and out of a few bays to Water Lemon rock in Fransis Bay. There we picked up a mooring ball and snorkeled and Tyler and Tylla went for a hike to see some of the old Sugar plantation ruins in the hills. After that we moved back around to Cinnamon bay and grabbed a mooring ball for the evening. Sitting there nestled between the bluffs and small mountains that surround the cove, it was had to imagine wanting for much more. We paddle boarded up until sunset, then grilled out on the back deck. Thanks to you Boss for letting us share that day and that experience with Tylla.
Beyond that There is not much going on here. The fleet of sport fish boats is slowly trickling in. Most will arrive in the next 3 weeks. The Betsy The Hook and Bull and the Reel Tight have been fishing here and there, Most days they are catching a blue marlin or two, some days there are some white marlin caught as well. Looking forward to getting in the mix when the boss gets here shortly. The whole reason for coming to This part of the Caribbean, is that the larger Blue Marlin will begin making there presence known on the North Drop just about 25 miles north of here over the next few months.
Last week I flew back to the states for a week. It was good to get back there after being gone since the end of Febuary. I spent a few days going out to Anclote island and fishing for trout. It was nice to get back. BUT… I still hate traffic. I could not wait to get back to the islands and drive on the wrong side of the road. The next blog will hopefully have some more adventurous stuff and more fishing pics to throw at y'all