On June 2nd my wife, myself and my In-laws took a sail onboard “Rumbaba” and I wanted to share our day.

It started off perfect, we arrived at American Yacht Harbor on the east end of St. Thomas at Red Hook around 9:15 and after a brief drive around looking for parking we decided to drive down by B Dock so I could drop my mother-in-law off since she had a broken foot and wouldn’t have to walk too far. Waiting for us by the dock was Captain Bobby. He told me the best place to park across the street and off I went. By the time my wife and I made it back to the dock, my in-laws were in the dingy on the way to the boat. A few moments later he returned got us board and off we went to Rumbaba. A jump onboard, off with the shoes and stowing of our bags and we underway. Well sort of, low tides had us stuck in the bottom, but we easily powered out of it and into clear water.

The trip out of the harbor and through Vessup Bay was uneventful. We chatted and became familiar with Bobby and his mate Karen ( I think got her name right, I am terrible with names). The trip out was met with an offer for drinks and some really awesome homemade banana blueberry bread. As we raised the mainsail and Bobby unfurled the jib the topic of where we would like to go came up. He explained we had 2 choices – we could either do a longer sail and have one spot to snorkel/swim, or do a shorter sail and go to 2 places to snorkel and swim. My father –in- law suggested we try Maho Bay. Bobby said the winds looked favorable for that and we could try for it.

The winds were great in my mind. I have been sailing a long time, learned to sail in the USVI and sailed competitively throughout college, so I knew we could make it. In fact, we made the trip up to Maho Bay with only 3 tacks, mostly running on broad reach or close hauled. The highlight of the sail was the rain. We saw it moving across St. John and hoped that it might just miss us. We thought wrong as the green hills of St. John slowly disappeared in veils of white. It moved to open water and eventually got to us with a nice puff of wind lifting us up as the rain approached. Not much we can do except don the weather gear and ride it out. These things come and go in the USVI all the time. Everyone put their gear on except me. Not that I was too “macho” for it, but having sailed in college in all weather from rain, to sleet to snow, I wasn’t about to have a little rain ruin my fun. It poured, as we plowed our way through and just as quickly as it came it was gone, moving behind us towards St. Thomas. We watched as the rain made its’ way across Pillsbury Sound to make St. Thomas disappear in a veil of white as it done with St. John earlier. The rest of the sail up was perfect as we made a final tack into Maho Bay, sailed further and then furled the jib, lowered the main and turned on the engine. A quick pick up of the mooring and we were suddenly there. Total Sailing time about 2 hours.

Bobby and Karen( again hope I got that right) quickly fitted us with swim fins masks and snorkels and jumped into the dingy to ride to shore, where we got out to gear up. Maho Bay beach was relatively un-crowded with a few people swimming in shore and few snorklers by the rocks where we were headed. In no time at all we were set and we moved along the rocks on the right side of the beach. The waters were filled with tiny fish swimming around, there must have been at least a million of them and they made for a great scene as their silvery bodies reflected the sunlight. Overall the reef was dead, with a few signs of life in sea fans and the odd Elkhorn coral formation. We did however see some great fish including a barracuda approximately 2 feet in length, several Queen Parrot fish, cowfish, puffers, royal grammas, butterfly fish, and tile fish aka as Old Wife a local VI favorite fish to eat.

Bobby had great timing as we made our way back to the beach he was on the way with the dingy to pick us up to head back to the boat for lunch.

I should say now, lunch was a definite highlight on this trip and one of the reasons why I picked Rumbaba over other boats. Captain Bobby offers his guest a choice of either grilled Mahi Mahi, Tuna, Chicken, or Steak. Through communication a few weeks earlier with him I told him we all wanted the Mahi Mahi and we weren’t disappointed. First, we were met with a huge tray of “appetizers” which included chilled grilled shrimp, cut up carrots and celery, grapes and crackers. While we ate, Bobby got the grill going and started to cook the fish. Along with some home made garlic bread. It wasn’t long before the fish was done and sent back down to the cabin where it was plated with some salad, pasta and fruit along with a piece of the garlic bread and then handed up to be enjoyed. The fish was awesome! A nice thick piece that wasn’t under or over cooked, had a nice marinade and really was a highlight of the day. It was washed down with a series of Painkillers and other libations making for one of the best lunches we had all week.

After lunch we quickly packed up and left the mooring for a leisurely sail down wind back to St. Thomas. The winds were strong enough that we only needed the jib and the sail was casual and relaxed as Maho Bay faded into the distance behind us and Red Hook grew closer. Bobby kept us entertained with various stories about the boat and past guests, including one about a lady who once fell off the front of boat after just one too many, and how her husband/friend nonchalantly proceeded to tell them she went overboard.

Having spent a lot of time growing up in the USVI we also talked about the changes over the years, especially on St. John, where it is still mostly parkland, but some people have been able to build where it was once thought unobtainable. Bobby pointed out the home sites of the some of the VI’s more notable and famous residents too, which was fun. As we made it into Vessup Bay again, out came homemade chocolate chip cookies which helped put a nice touch on the end of the day.

By 4 we were on the mooring again and getting ready to back ashore. The 4 of us loaded up into the dingy with our bags and gear and Bobby took us over to another dock where it was easier for my wife and mother in law to get off the boat. After saying goodbyes we headed towards the car and back to our Villa at Frenchman’s Cove.

Total cost - $125 a person if you paid by cash or $140 by CC. We also tipped the mate $40 each as we felt she did a great job throughout the day.Without a doubt we will book on Rumbaba again in the future. It was a highlight of our trip and really made for some great memories.

Here is a link to his website: St. Thomas sailing charter, Virgin Islands sailing charter, & St. Thomas day sail

Scott

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