Yes, after months and months of blood, sweat and tears the Adventure Antigua Classic Yacht Sailing started doing tours and charters this week with it's day sailing boat "Ocean Nomad". If you are a regular Adventure Antigua blog follower then you know all about the traditionally built Carriacou Sloop but if not please go to www.sailing-antigua.com for some info on the project and the boat.
On Tuesday I called JD and Tony who were skippering the Xtreme and Eco Tour boats and asked them if they had people who booked online with us for those tours so that we could offer them a free sailing tour. I needed some real live tourists to test the tour out and tell me what they thought.
We convinced 5 people to join us on Ocean Nomad for a comp day sailing trip on Wednesday and met them with the boat in Jolly Harbour at 9:30. Four of them were from Sandals and one other from the same area. The day went as planned even if the winds were extremely light. One of the guests posted these images on facebook. Remember that if you are on Facebook you can become a fan of Adventure Antigua and add photos or video too.
On Friday was the first proper paid sailing charter. The guests had found www.sailing-antigua.com through this blog and liked the idea of sailing with their family on a fast boat that was built right here in the Caribbean. Of course these boats were designed to carry huge amounts of cargo and to do it quickly. Ten family members is the max that we plan to take and they joined the boat with plenty of room to spare. Off to Cades Reef for our first snorkeling session and then on to Carlisle Bay for more and some chill time before the regular Adventure Antigua lunch.
In the afternoon we cruised up to Rendezvous Bay as it was so calm there.
It was a private charter so they could go wherever they wanted once we could be back before dark. The sail back down the coast was very relaxing in the light winds. 
One of the guests had done plenty of sailing back in the UK and in the BVI so I let him have the helm for a while. 
All in all it was a lovely day and both trips went as planned. "Trip of a lifetime" was one of the comments I heard but generally all of the guests thought that the day sailing trip was something unique and fantastic.
We are excited!
On Tuesday I called JD and Tony who were skippering the Xtreme and Eco Tour boats and asked them if they had people who booked online with us for those tours so that we could offer them a free sailing tour. I needed some real live tourists to test the tour out and tell me what they thought.
We convinced 5 people to join us on Ocean Nomad for a comp day sailing trip on Wednesday and met them with the boat in Jolly Harbour at 9:30. Four of them were from Sandals and one other from the same area. The day went as planned even if the winds were extremely light. One of the guests posted these images on facebook. Remember that if you are on Facebook you can become a fan of Adventure Antigua and add photos or video too.
On Friday was the first proper paid sailing charter. The guests had found www.sailing-antigua.com through this blog and liked the idea of sailing with their family on a fast boat that was built right here in the Caribbean. Of course these boats were designed to carry huge amounts of cargo and to do it quickly. Ten family members is the max that we plan to take and they joined the boat with plenty of room to spare. Off to Cades Reef for our first snorkeling session and then on to Carlisle Bay for more and some chill time before the regular Adventure Antigua lunch.
In the afternoon we cruised up to Rendezvous Bay as it was so calm there.
It was a private charter so they could go wherever they wanted once we could be back before dark. The sail back down the coast was very relaxing in the light winds. 
One of the guests had done plenty of sailing back in the UK and in the BVI so I let him have the helm for a while. 
All in all it was a lovely day and both trips went as planned. "Trip of a lifetime" was one of the comments I heard but generally all of the guests thought that the day sailing trip was something unique and fantastic.We are excited!
Hey, Eli, congrats on finally getting it started! You going to take cruise ship folks on Ocean Nomad?
ReplyDeletethanks. we sure will. all are welcome!
ReplyDeleteEli - we had a great time - hope the sight of me in swimming trunks won't put off any prospective customers!
ReplyDeleteCheers from cold wet London!
Steve