Horizon Yacht Charters

There’s something wonderful about chatting to returning guests who are so excited to have seen wildlife on their cruise; whether that’s under-water or elsewhere. Having recently spent some time in the Australian outback, I was sincerely hoping not to experience some of their rather unique and sometimes scary wildlife… but cruising the Leeward Islands from our base in Antigua, it really is incredibly rewarding.

Right now, it’s the summer months here in Antigua and there’s nothing better than getting home in the evening, sitting on the verandah with a cold glass of wine and watching the frigate birds fishing for their evening meal as the sun goes down. It’s so active around that time each evening that you can almost set your watch by them. Who needs TV when you have that kind of entertainment?!

Last season there were an abundance of turtles spotted by our vigilant guests; I tell our guests that they will only see the turtles if they donate to the Antigua Sea Turtle Programme and help the volunteer patrols who walk the beaches every night during nesting season. I’m not sure they buy that, but we have collected a fair amount of money for this important Programme, even so! Mykl is the Project Manager here in Antigua and she is our turtle guru…

Any sailing trip would not be complete without seeing a pod of dolphins or even whales. Many of our guests spotted whales a few months back whilst they were sailing in between Antigua and Barbuda – a distance of around 25nm. As for dolphins, we are so grateful to the Kneafsey family (and their crew) who are life long friends of Horizon, for sending us their most recent cruising video from July 2011. They spotted this pod of dolphins sailing between St Barts and Nevis. They’ve called it “Somewhere between Paradise and Wonderland”. Click to view the footage below.

Racing the Dolphins

I think that sums up the sailing here around Antigua, Barbuda and beyond… what do you think?

We are delighted to announce that we have a new Orana 44 Catamaran in our Antigua fleet. The yacht is a 2010 model and boasts sleeping accommodation for 8 – 10 people. She has 3 double cabins, a convertible saloon and 2 single berths accessed via the deck.

She will be on our website soon but, in the meantime, if you would like to view this yacht please email Jackie at info@antiguahorizon.com and we can send you full specification and charter fees.

Email Jackie: info@antiguahorizon.com

Happy sailing!

We first met Stuart and Dianne Leigh from Ontario when they chartered with us back in December 2004. They took our Beneteau 393 called “Sensei”. They were due to sail elsewhere but a hurricane had put paid to their plans, so we met them in Antigua and looked after them from here. Since then, they have been back to sail with us in Antigua and, since December 2010, are now the proud owners of a Bavaria 40 Cruiser called “Tardis”.

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If you’ve always wanted to cruise further afield and take in more islands to really experience the diverse culture of the Caribbean, then read this great article. The journalist was on board our Bavaria 40 “Mystery” for the trip with Captain Jack, amongst others. We can also offer a one way trip from Antigua; so if you had a shorter sailing vacation but still wanted to experience this cruise, just talk to us and we can tailor a trip just for you.

Sailing Today Horizon Yacht Charters Antigua article

When you cruise – for one week, one month or even one year (for those lucky enough), you will always meet interesting people – some you will like and some you will be indifferent to. But ultimately, cruisers have always got a tale to tell, a word of advice and an easy invitation on board to sample the local rum/beer/other home brew!

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Many of our guests send us their Antigua passage plans in advance and this is such a great idea. Whether you are sailing Antigua & Barbuda only, or perhaps taking a trip south to Ile Des Saintes via Guadeloupe or the one way cruise to St Martin.

That way, we can work with the Captains to make alternative suggestions and comments given our local knowledge and other guest experiences. It’s also good to start to have a clear picture in your mind of how to get into each anchorage and which anchorage would be good in certain conditions.

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With just over 4 weeks to go until the start of Antigua Sailing Week 2011 – arguably one of the most well known Caribbean regatta’s – the island is buzzing.

Many people come to Antigua just for the parties and the live entertainment but if you can get on the water and see some of the amazing yachts racing, so much the better. The dates are April 24 – 29 2011. Why not charter a yacht to watch the spectacle and then join the parties as the sun sets? Of course, you can still find the peaceful bays and anchorages to enjoy – the action takes place out of English and Falmouth Harbours mainly, with an overnight in Jolly Harbour Marina.

Bob and Paula Grenier chartered our new Bavaria 40 “Tardis” last month and had a great time! We’ve selected these four photographs to share. The view is actually from Fort Barrington – a short hike up from Deep Bay, a pretty anchorage on the north west coast of Antigua – it’s certainly not a crowded anchorage as you can see! The other great thing to do in Deep Bay is to snorkel over the wreck of the Andes – a merchant ship that went down in 1908. In another photograph, Paula is at the wheel leaving Antigua behind as they make the 25nm passage up to Barbuda. Once there, they visited the Frigate Bird Sanctuary and took this great shot of the birds. A sailing cruise would not be complete without a cold beer at the end of the day watching the sun go down – Cheers! It’s so nice to welcome people back to Antigua time after time and we hope to see Bob and Paula next year for some more great Caribbean sailing.