Snorkeling at Cades

For years I have enjoyed snorkeling at Cades Reef especially at one particular section which we still go on private tours (xtreme and Eco only). We have never made Cades reef one of our regular snorkeling stops until we started the Classic Yacht Sailing cruise seen here. Our day sailing offers snorkeling twice with Cades Reef being the first and longest stop. Both Jason and the other guide (depending on the day) go in the water with the guests and take them on a tour through the reef to make sure that they see the best parts. Most of the time we have people who have never been snorkeling before so like on all of the Adventure Antigua tours we give a snorkeling briefing before we get in. This usually includes info for total beginners and tips for people who haven't been for a while. Once the briefing is out of the way then the guests can get into the water and take a few minutes next to the boat to get used to the gear and surroundings. The spot at Cades that we go to with the sailing tour is almost always clear. I have not seen it murky there yet which is great. The reef has been damaged by hurricanes and by the effects of climate change like most reefs these days, but there is still loads of interesting stuff to see including corals, fish, turtles, rays, and the rest of the usual undersea life. Of course not every day provides this variety as this is the wild and you never know what you will find. On all of our boats we have high end silicone snorkeling gear, and with the special guided experience even first timers can enjoy themselves. I hope to see you out with us soon on this unique sailing and snorkeling experience.

Calm seas and nice conditions

I know my friends in North America don't need to hear this but the weather here couldn't be better at the moment. During the week i had the worst cold ever and it seemed that the weather was also "cold" and miserable for a few days. That has all changed very quickly and today was so nice that Roddy, Guili and I decided to go sailing up to Falmouth Harbour. We took a fishing rod and sailed straight out to see towards Guadeloupe which was just visible through the haze. We didn't get a bite but had a lovely sail up the coast. In Falmouth the harbour was full of mega yachts along the docks i suppose because charters are slow.

Our Eco Tour for tomorrow filled up with local people catching the deal we offered which is very nice of them. Thanks to you all!

Captain JD and Captain Tony will be on the boat with Trevor so it will be a great team out there. I will be sailing the Ocean Nomad back from Falmouth because after a few espresso martinis at Skullduggeries we decided to leave her there for the night. I hope that it warms up for you guys up north but if not you are all still welcome back here in sunny Antigua!

Dolphins

There is so much that people who want to swim with dolphins don't know about. One such dark secret is the huge dolphin slaughter in Japan. Recently i mentioned it in this blog when a Dolphin Park manager was trying to suggest that his sea lions were rescued from a cull in South America. I asked him if he meant like the ones in Taiji seen in this link.
The reason I knew about it was that years ago when many of us here on the island were protesting the way the ALP leaders were giving dolphin import permits to a dolphin park here an activist called Rick O'barry (website) came to Antigua to speak about the whole captive dolphin argument. Well he tried to come here. He was actually taken off an American Airlines flight just before take off in Miami and told that the Antigua Government would not permit him to step foot in Antigua. Anyway, he came to Antigua via telephone conference and then years later came properly to tell us about the whole concept of Dolphin captivity including the method of how many dolphins were captured. One such way was shown in his bloody video taken in Teiji. Check it here. Back then he was a radical who was taken off flights and labelled as a trouble maker. Since then info that he tried to get out has spread throughout the world and there is now a movie about the Japanese Dolphin Slaughter about to be launched worldwide done by a new more aggressive breed of Radicals. One of them is a friend from Antigua who like me owns and sails one of the beautiful Carriacou Sloops. Charles missed a few regattas over the past few years because he was deep undercover making this movie. "The Cove" is already gaining critical acclaim internationally and you can read more about it here and see a trailer here. Charles is the guy with the "goatee" you first see.





www.adventureantigua.com

Sailing in Antigua during your holiday.

Today I was scheduled to take some guests sailing, but I have been wiped out by the flu. Everyone says it doesn't last long so I am keeping my fingers crossed. This is a collection of video and pictures piled together in a little movie. I originally used a track from Bob Marley (which would have been pirating) and had to change it to something that YouTube let me use. Not the best music for a sailing video but legal!
There isn't a much better way to spend the day than sailing on a Caribbean build wooden vessel. "Ocean Nomad" and her crew will take you on an educational cruise with all the adventures you would expect from Adventure Antigua including snorkeling and turtle watching. For more info you can go to the sailing website http://www.sailing-antigua.com/. Hope you like this cheap and cheerful movie.

Huge discount on Eco Tour this Sunday

This coming sunday we had just two passengers from a Cruise Ship booked with us via our website: http://www.adventureantigua.com/ and with the big after holiday slow down that we've been experiencing we havent been able to get anymore bookings for that day. This time last year it would have been the norm to be full most of the time. Today we have no boats out, yesterday we had two but with very low numbers. This whole week is very slow and bookings are few and far between. Nell who does all the bookings was worried that she would have to cancell the couple from the cruise ship, but this isn't easy to do. By now they will have left their homes and will be on the ship. We don't ever cancel tours unless we absolutely have to, so in an effort to take more than just two people out this sunday we are offering a special "buy one...get one free" one time deal. If you want to go boating this sunday and will be here in Antigua then call nell on 726 6355. The cruise is this one and it's 50% off the normal rate of US $100. If you are a resident here you will get a better deal as is the norm on all of our tours. I hear that bookings have picked up for later in the season with all the super flight deals that are bing offered. Fingers crossed. Tomorrow we have another sailing charter booked which is cool. We had a nice one on monday. Will add a cool vid of the sailing tours tomorrow.

more activity in 2009!

Of course at the start of every New Year millions of people all across the world try to make positive changes according to their “new year’s resolutions”. I have decided that I am going to try to get a little fitter this year and more importantly I want to have something physical to do on a regular basis. With all the injuries to my joints from years of windsurfing and kitesurfing I have to try something new and less Xtreme.
It’s gonna be Golf.
I can imagine many of you shaking your heads, but I have always been interested in the technical and tactical aspects of golf. In fact, in the old days many of my friends on the pro windsurfing tour would play golf whenever they had time off.
A few months ago I was in the San Juan airport in Puerto Rico and noticed with excitement a new Carl Hiaasen book. I have read every book he has written and immediately snatched this one which was called The Downhill Lie. Little did I know this book was something entirely different than his usual crazy environmental and crime ridden works of fiction. There were no snakes being dropped on to cruise ships, there were no former governers living in the bush and eating road kill, there were no captive dolpins killing the bad guys by trying to copulate with them. This was just his golf memoirs. I got duped just like many others into buying a book completely about golf. Oh well, he is a funny guy and I decided to read it. While reading it I visited some friends in London who had recently purchased the Nintendo Wii game that came with the Wii Sports. After seeing them play golf using their remotes like clubs to whack imaginary balls towards a green, I knew I had to give it a try. Wii has revolutionized what I call “video games” by adding physical action to what has always been a true couch potato activity. Check this random video of some guy telling you about it.



The game is way better than he makes it look btw. Anyway, it was silly and fun, but actually taught me what a par was! In fact it taught me plenty as I had no idea about the game even though I was reading a book about it. The next thing I knew was that I had a Nintendo Wii and was playing golf back in my home in Jolly Harbour. Of course this wasn’t the steady activity that I was hoping for, but it was a good bit of silly fun. Most of the Adventure Antigua crew has been over to play Golf and Tennis. Trevor who is one of the best cricketers and tennis players with the AA team sucked at Tennis but was far better at golf. I guess the rum and cokes didn’t help for tennis too well. Anyway, the next thing I had to do was to get some proper lessons. For Christmas my mom got me some golf lessons and yesterday I took my first one at the Jolly Harbour Golf Club. The pro there, Ulrich Francis, admitted that although he has given a huge number of lessons, he had never taught anyone who hadn’t held a golf club before. I was the most inexperienced beginner he had ever taken onto the course which didn’t sit well with me. Isn’t a beginner someone who hasn’t played before? Well anyway, I was the most legitimate beginner he’s ever taught and it wasn’t easy for either of us. I had to learn how to hold the club (a sand wedge), I had to learn how to bend my back properly, how to position my feet with weight in the right places, how to bend my knees properly and push my ass out correctly, I had to learn how to swing, had to learn how to release and hold it, I had to learn how to twist my hips the right way and most importantly I had to turn my right leg and foot towards the left. There were other things too and this was all before I could begin worrying about hitting the blasted ball. JEEZ this was not nearly as easy as I thought, but then again I had just read a book about how insanely hard the game was even for experts. After 30 minutes I was sweating and there were balls all over the place. With the club that was too short for me I think it didn't make much difference. I dug some nice holes (divots) and made a couple of hits where Ulrich seemed to be happy with. He was concerned about my obviously broken arm and about my knee pain, but was optimistic that me playing a round of golf may happen some day. Lesson two will be Thursday. My good friend Andre Phillip who I taught how to Kitesurf before he became one of the best kitesurfers on the planet has been harassing me to get these lessons so that he can have another person to play with here. Since he is leaving on Saturday, I think he will have to wait until he comes back from his next international kitesurfing adventure. Wish me luck tomorrow and by the way I am way better than the guy in the vid. lol
PS. Mom, thanks for the golf lessons....... i think.

Adventure Antigua crew "Sergie"

Serge "sergie" Gobinet has been working for Adventure Antigua for some time now and i thought i had a bio on him on the blog. I don't know how i missed it but i am getting older and we will just blame it on that.

Serge is the younger brother of Francis Gobibet who worked of and on with me from the start of Adventure Antigua's eco tour way back in 2000. I have known the Gobinet family since they arrived here in Antigua when Francis was a little child. Serge was born on the island and shortly afterwards was on the little boat with his brother, sister and parents cruising up the North Sound of Antigua where we now do our Eco Tour. His life has been spent fishing, diving, snorkeling, sailing and generally doing what Adventure Antigua is all about - enjoying Antigua and Barbuda's natural marine side. He's probably been swimming (and snorkeling) long before he could walk!

After Francis left Adventure Antigua to go work on some of the huge mega private yachts that spend their winters in the Caribbean and summers in the "Med", Serge decided to follow him looking for the same kind of work.

Serge said that despite Palma being a similar hub for the mega yacht industry and an excellent place to find work on the massive private luxury yachts, it wasn't nearly enough like Antigua. He missed home here in the Caribbean and finally decided to come back. We were happy to have him work with us and with the new sailing side of Adventure Antigua starting up Serge was even more happy. Of course, Serge is an excellent snorkeling guide and is a great asset on the powerboats, but his experience in sailing is most important and you will see him out with me whenever we have tours on the Ocean Nomad. Say hi when you see him.

Happy New Year from Adventure Antigua

hi there, I am currently on holiday in tobago where the weather isn't nearly as good as it is in antigua according to my crew. anyway, I am using my mobile phone at the moment which is pretty good but not as easy as my laptop. more proper blog posts coming soon. enjoy the last of the holidays!

Happy Holidays from AdventureAntigua.com

Hope everyone has a great holiday season and lets hope all the doom and gloom we keep hearing about the economy ends soon.

Here is some more wall paper for your computer. Click on this link and then right click to save it on your computer. Enjoy!

Every day in Antigua and Barbuda is a fishing day...

A wise man once said that a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at the office and I think he was right.Despite years of mismanagement and a complete lack of enforced fishery policy, Antigua and Barbuda still somehow manages to some great sport fishing. There are several methods of fishing that do well in Antigua depending on what kind of gear you have and where you can get to. The most obvious and most popular type of fishing for visitors to Antigua and Barbuda is the deep sea variety. Larger pelagic fish like Blue Marlin, Wahoo, Mahi Mahi, Tuna, Kingfish, sail fish can be found aboard this way aboard one of the many boats offering charters. The Antigua Sport Fishing Association puts on several tournaments during the year with its May tournament receiving the most international visitors. The local record in that tournament is a blue marlin that was almost 800 lbs. Fishermen on these boats use large rods and reels which pull artificial fish like lures behind the boats at speeds of around 8 knots in the hope that one of those big fish will come out of the deep and get hooked. Some of the freshest and most delicious fish in our restaurants come from this method.
Another type of fishing that is becoming more and more popular among visitors is light tackle inshore fishing which includes fly fishing. Fly fishing has been popular on lakes and in streams in Europe and North America for years and years and the salt water variety is fast becoming as popular. Little lures which can be as small as a bee are cast in shallow waters where some fish congregate to feed or lay eggs. How an angler retrieves the lure can excite the fish and lure it to bite the hook. This method of fishing is quite challenging and rewarding for those people who like areas off the beaten track. Barbuda has excellent inshore fishing and fly fishing as does areas on the North of Antigua. Both islands have several guides that can help you find good places to do this sort of fishing.
Another popular type of fishing is what we call bottom fishing. This is the most traditional method of fishing and can be done from either a boat or from the shore. You get a hook some bait and a sinker, throw your line over the side and wait. If you are in a good spot you may get a delicious snapper for dinner. All of these fishing methods require patience, dedication and a general love for the outdoors. Release what you are not going to eat and enjoy, but keep in mind the other thing some wise man once said: “Every day is a fishing day, but not every day is a catching day”.
www.adventureantigua.com

a gift from Adventure Antigua.com

I am off to the shops to get a few gifts last minute. Here is one for you. It is wall paper for your computer. If you need directions on how to use it as your computer screen's background just ask for directions in the comments section here. Thanks and enjoy! Here is the link.

Antigua Classic Yacht Sailing charters begin!

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!

Antigua to Saint Martin sailing video

After reading the last blog entry before this one you may enjoy seeing a video of some of the sailing. It was a 90 mile trip with several rain squalls and plenty of strong winds. The video was taken by Guili and me and put together by me on the cheap and cheerful windows movie maker.



www.sailing-antigua.com

Windy sailing trip to Saint Martin

Recently we decided to go down to St. Martin to have some minor repairs done on the boat. The trip was supposed to be a very quick one leaving early Tuesday morning and returning on Thursday which would mean we would have one full day in St. Martin to get our stuff done.
Adventure Antigua crew Tony and Jason came along as well as friends Guili and Glen. We cleared out from Jolly Harbour customs and immigration the afternoon before and met up at 4:30 am the next morning in the dark. When we go out the harbour the winds seemed to be blowing out of the north east at about 15 knots which was great for sailing to Saint Martin 89 miles to our north-north-west. After everything was set up and we were under way with Tony at the helm and the sun rising I decided to go and have a nap below.
I didn't sleep much if any and after a while i felt the boat start to rock and roll more than it had done so far. I also noticed through the cabin hatch that the sky was turning dark again. A squall must be approaching and Tony would need help.
By the time I got up top the rain was just starting to fall and the winds were blowing about 25. Tony was struggling to keep the boat on a broad reach as she tried to round up into the wind. We had far too much sail for those conditions, but it was too late to reef them (make the sails smaller). Anyway, the winds had peaked and Tony was managing to hold her steady even if it was with great effort. Tony is one of the strongest guys i know (pound for pound). I went back below to snap a few photos of the boys in the rain.
After the squall, as is usually the case, the winds dropped down and sailing was very easy once again. It was sunny now and We could see Redonda, Nevis and just make out St. Kitts. The seas were a choppy 4-6 feet and there were flying fish everywhere.
After an hour or so we saw another squall coming and this time the winds hit us harder than before with gusts up to 30 knots giving me loads of weather helm
I took over from Tony and struggled to keep the boat on course wishing that we could reef the main to make it easier and safer. Guili was on the main sheet trying to depower it as best he could as the rain and winds tried their best to overwhelm us.
This time after the squall had passed the winds didn't back off and we were left sailing in more wind than the boat was designed to carry those sails in. Without gloves, my hands would have been rubbed raw by the tiller and i was very happy for them. After about two hours i was exhausted and asked Tony to take over. He didn't last that long and I was back on again. This time i asked Tony to help me hold the tiller as it was just too much for me. After a few more hours we finally saw St. Barts way off in the distance, but as we saw it the winds picked up more. Now that we could see land ahead of us i felt comfortable giving Guili the helm for a while. Many people find it hard to sail in a straight line out at sea if they haven't had much experience, but with land ahead I knew Guili would find it easier. He did a great job but needed a bit of help in the strongest gusts. Along the way we managed to catch several small tuna and a few cuda as well, but slowing down to bring them in was far too difficult. After the last fish we kept the line out of the water. None of us had ever seen as many flying fish leaping out of the water and gliding left and right. The winds didn't ease up until we were in the lee of Gustavia 12 miles from Saint Martin's south eastern tip. Once we were in the channel again the winds started to howl. It took us exactly 12 hours to sail from Antigua to Saint Martin averaging 7.5 knots, and on a traditional wooden boat I think that was very fast. There was a two hour stretch where we never went slower than 9 knots and we hit many tens and quite a few elevens. Three times while surfing we went over 12.5 knots which i doubt i will see again for some time. We were exhausted by the time we approached Phillipsburg just at sunset. It's a good thing we didn't arrive at night as they were dredging the harbour and massive dredge pipes were where the normal channel was. Just after dark we managed to get a spot next to a tug boat at Bobby's Marina. It was too late to clear in so we just had dinner and crashed. IT had been a very long day and we were all spent.

Some things making Antigua and Barbuda unique

The nation of Antigua and Barbuda has a very interesting and distinct ecological makeup. Keeping in mind that the country is actually made up of two larger islands and an unusually large collection of smaller ones, you will understand why it’s fascinating and different environments come together into something so beautifully unique in the Caribbean. Let’s start with a geographical description of the country first to give you a better idea as to why the natural side of the county is so fascinating. Firstly the two main islands; Antigua and Barbuda sit on the same continental shelf with about 26 miles of shallow waters connecting them. On either sides of the islands and their connecting shelf the water drops off into abyss like depths that contain a massive variety of life. Many people forget about Redonda which is a small island about 30 miles to our west which is also part of the county. It sits on its own continental shelf and makes up the massive triangular territorial and ecological zone connecting Antigua Barbuda and Redonda. The three islands are as different as each other in almost every aspect with Antigua being made up from limestone and volcanic rock with a slice of clay between them. Having both limestone and volcanic rocks on the same island is unusual and helps give it unique habitats. Barbuda is totally made up of limestone rocks with nothing above 38 meters above sea level on the island. Caves beaches and mangrove habitats provide a wealth of ecology that has yet to be properly documented. Redonda is the most unusual in terms of its geographic makeup and is simply a huge volcanic mass of rocks pushing up from the sea. With its steep rocky cliffs and high top it supports a very interesting variety of plants and animals with its bird life being the most impressive.

Antigua is the largest island within the country. There are more bays and coves than any other in the Caribbean, and they say we even have 365 beaches. In the south, volcanic side of the island the landscape is hillier, and with that there is usually more rain as well. This has lead to very different territorial eco systems, with one area called Fig Tree Drive being described as the rainforest. Visitors can take taxi and jeep tours through the area to get a better look at some of the lush and tropical vegetation that one would expect in a rain forest. Although there are no perennial streams or rivers, you will see some little ones in that area during wetter periods. One of the best ways to see the rain forest is with the new Zip-line company which has set up its tour in the middle of Fig Tree Drive. The north and east of Antigua has been carved from limestone rock and with that you will see many reefs, rocks and little islands off-shore. This is another unique feature Antigua has over most Caribbean islands. There are few places that have nearly as many off shore islands as Antigua does. Quite a few of these islands are large enough to be habitable. One of them is the private Long Island which is also known as Jumby Bay where one of the Atlantic’s best scientific sea turtle study has been taking place for over 20 years. The endangered hawksbill turtles come there to nest each year between May and November and a great many fascinating discoveries have been made there. Long Island is one of many protected from the Atlantic within the North Sound, which is a large area enveloped in the calm waters provided by barrier reefs and islands. One of the most important islands there ecologically is Great Bird Island which didn’t get its name by accident. A large and diverse variety of migratory and indigenous birds spend time there nesting and roosting at different times of the year. My favorites are the Red Billed Tropic Birds which only nest on rocky windward facing cliffs that have caves. The windward ledge of the island has numerous small caves and during the winter you will see these beautiful birds coming in to land and take shelter there. Apart from the feathered animals on Great Bird Island, there are also many other life forms that make the island a must see destination on your visit to Antigua. One such life form living there that you may not be lucky enough to see is the Antigua Racer. The Racer is a totally harmless non venomous grass snake which is one of the rarest animals on the planet. Why? The racer somehow was only found on Great Bird Island, and when the first proper scientific study was done back in 1995 only 60 of these animals were accounted for. That was the world’s population of Antigua Racer snakes! Anyway, much has been done for the little guys since then and you may be lucky to see one some day. Nearby is Rabbit Island where you won’t find a single rabbit, but you will find many more birds including our local brown pelicans which nest during the early summer months. Another few hundred meters to the south is Antigua’s largest offshore island called Guiana with its vast expanse of mangrove habitat. There are several types of mangrove plants with the “red” variety sending its long roots into the sea being most important for juvenile fish, crabs, lobster and other aquatic life. Much of the sea life you will find in the waters surrounding the country’s territorial zone is sustained by mangrove habitats which is where a huge variety of sea life gets its start. While taking an Eco Tour (with Adventure Antigua) you will see all of these islands and their interesting habitats. I could write pages and pages about the food chains and ecological habitats that you will find around Antigua and Barbuda but to keep it simple I will just say that there is a so much more to the country than meets the eye and you if you take the time to have a closer look off the beaten path you will enjoy your experience here so much more.