REPORTS FROM THE RIP: Marlin and Mermaids (Lots of marlin pics)

Nice one for Andy Rey

In this job I am afforded many opportunities that most people dream of doing. I am fortunate and thankful for that. I am able to show my kids ( now adults) things and places that I only dreamed of at their age. Recently my daughter flew to St Thomas to visit me. Before her visit, I met a Lady that runs a Mermaid company here in St Thomas. Kelly Grace owns Caribbean Mermaid Academy. She asked if I knew of anyone with a boat that she could shoot some pictures off of over in St John for some advertising. I told her that I was in all likelihood going to bring the Blue Heaven over to St John to swim and snorkel when My daughter arrived and that I would check with the boss to see if it was ok if she joined us. I explained this to my boss and he graciously said OK. I told her to bring an extra tail for my daughter. She had always dreamed of being a mermaid when she was a child. So the day after my daughter arrive in St Thomas Kelly Grace showed up at the boat with her Mermaid tails. I was not sure what to expect. These tails are made of Silicon rubber and are beautiful. So we went over to St John USVI and my daughter ( 21 years old) got to fulfill the life long dream of being a Mermaid. Lets face it. at 21 years old, my daughter ad always grown up going to Wheeki whachi springs and I bet she watched the "Little Mermaid " a thousand times. You just can not take the little girl out of a grown woman.
The day after the Mermaid excursion, One of our guests arrived. The Boss told me to take him and my daughter fishing for the day before he arrived. My daughter had assisted in fighting a blue marlin in the past, but had never caught one on her own. Well she fulfilled another dream that day, She caught a 250 lb blue marlin all by herself. I was so excited and proud of her. Thank you Steve for helping me fulfill these dreams for my daughter
For the past week or so we have been doing a lot of Marlin fishing. Blue Marlin aggregate along the drop off north of St Thomas and the British Virgin Islands to Spawn this time of year. The best times to fish for them are around the August and September Moons. The fishing was hot or cold each day. One day we would see five or six Blue marlin and catch 3 and the next day we would not see one. It was not just us either . It seemed that each day a couple of the boats fishing would see a bunch of marlin and the next day those same boats would never see a fish. On a sad not, The Tiger sharks also patrol the same area where we are fishing. Unfortunately we have lost a few nice Marlin to the sharks. Not much you can do about it.
We spent some time down at Anagoda and the easter BVIs and fished off of Anagoda as well. Each night we went to a different marina or anchored out. One night we tied off to a mooring ball at Anagoda and went ashore to the Anagoda Reef Club. Anagoda is very different from the rest of the mountainous islands down here. It is very low and looks a lot like Bimini in the Bahamas. It has beautiful beaches and nightly there are small restaurants on the beach that grill some of the best lobster you have ever had. We hired a guy named Barry to pick us up in a small boat and ferry us ashore. Once ashore, we were seated at tables all lit with christmas lights and surrounded by palm trees with more christmas lights strung between them. All of the tables are in the sand. Im not sure if the lobster is just that good or if the setting there just makes it all that much better.
With the peak of hurricane season upon us, our eyes stay to the east. Each day it seems another system tools off of Africa. So far most of the storms have veered north of us. Today we have Invest 99 just to the east of St Thomas. It is disorganized but will likely dump some serious rain on us here.