REPORTS FROM THE RIP: Old and new friends ( And Pedro)

Left to right Ed Pedro Matt at the Casa De Camp Yacht club

Small Blue marlin

When I last posted, I had been making my way to Casa De Campo on one engine do to a broken fuel line. The day that I arrived here, My buddy DR Kurt Theodore ( proctologist) and my old mate Tyler landed in Cap Cana with the parts to repair the engine. We did indeed repair the fuel line and spent the entire next day cleaning fuel out of the engine room. But man was it nice to know we were fixed and up to running speed again.

The next day we took the boat offshore for some practice marlin fishing. We had a blast. We went 2 for 2 on blues. That means we got 2 bites and hooked and caught both fish. We also saw a bunch more fish. At one point we had a triple of Blue marlin in our bait spread behind the boat. marlin were darting from bait to lure to bait and back. But to our shock they did not eat on bait. Its still an awesome sight to see. Tyler was a big help. While Matt is an accomplished fisherman, He had not done much Marlin fishing. Tyler was an awesome teacher. It was nice to see the top of Tylers head again from my perspective on the bridge.

Fishing has been better and better each day. Most boats are seeing 5-9 fish day and catching 4 for 7. If it is this good now, I can't wait to see what it is like in March when it is normally the best.

Being back here in Casa De Campo is great. Its as if we never left. We are treated as locals instead of a boat that is just passing thru. There is a lot to be said for that.

A few days ago, Matt and I went to the grocery store out in La Romana. I had Duarte, the dominican guy that helps out a little on the boat, join us. I got a cart for him and a cart for the boat. I had him put some essential groceries in his cart. Most of the things were food stuffs he would have never afforded for his family or could afford. After checking out, We made our way to Duarte's house. Duarte lives with his wife and 4 kids in a small house that is not much more than plywood and corrugated tin sheets fastened together. He was so proud to show us around and introduce us to his family. It was one of those moments that gives you real perspective. He was a proud man showing off his home and family to friends. I was honored to have made that visit.

The boat season is beginning to really get going here. While most of the slips are full, the empty slips are just waiting for boats that are still trying to get here. I know of a few boats that are in Long island and the Turks and Caicos that are just waiting on a weather window to make it here. Marina Casa De Campo is hosting the fishing season kick off party this Saturday night. Its a heck of an event that they put on.

Some of you may remember Pedro from last season here in Casa De Campo. Pedro is a Dominican guy that seems to have gone fishing on every boat in the marina last season. He showed up last week and Matt and I had a few beers with him. He is quite the party animal. It will be interesting to see what the coming season brings for Pedro and the situations he seems to get into........