To fish, or not to fish, that is the question.

We get a mixed bag of sailors with us here at our Antigua charter base.  By that I am referring to their desire or lack thereof, to fish!  Some are so adamant that they have "come to sail" and you "can forget that fishing idea".  Some confess, albeit quietly, to trying the sport of fishing but with zero success. Some have caught the biggest fish in the history of fishing but sadly it got away.... hmmm.....

I would say that most of our guests prefer to see their fish swimming under the water at one of the many snorkelling spots around Antigua & Barbuda.

Perhaps you have to start young - a bit like skiing.  I snapped these youngsters having their own mini competition on the dockside:

The whole fish thing is just a good excuse for a party.  As I discovered a couple of weekends ago when I went to the weigh in following the Antigua & Barbuda Sports Fishing Tournament.  A staggering 43 boats got together to compete against each other in this annual fishing tournament.  They came from far and wide and made an awesome sight in Nelson's Dockyard, English Harbour.

As far as the eye could see the competitors were polishing their reels and fluffing their lures (You are right, I am not a fishing expert!).

The weigh in took place amidst cheers of "well done" and "nice catch".  I missed the big fish, but managed to see this chap having his photograph taken by the press.

The brilliant thing about the tournament, for the non-fisher-people amongst us, is that they cook what they catch on huge BBQs - everything from grilled mahi-mahi to lobster and avocado wraps.  So you could get all sorts of food or grab yourself a fresh lobster and a glass of wine and watch the entertainment.

When the sun goes down, the party really gets going.  The Carib girls were in great demand by the media - FishTV were following them around rather closely!  I wonder why?

The boats made an impressive sight after dark and the crews were finally able to relax after a scorching day on the water.  The Carib and Wadadli flowed as Chicki Hi Fi played some heart-thumping music.

You can always join in the fun and partying if you are chartering with us.  Just anchor in English Harbour, dinghy ashore and join in the lime.

That's all for now... join me soon when I'll be experiencing just some of the many events and parties that take place around Antigua and Barbuda.  For now, I'm hanging up my blogging gloves.

Sailing to the Peak in Antigua

When a friend says to you "fancy a hike" it's somewhat better than "take a hike" but still it conjures up images of  sore feet, dodgy knees and lots of out-of-breath puffing!  And I wasn't disappointed!

Antigua has so much to offer and it's great to get inland once in a while during your sailing charter to see the flowers, vegetation and the stunning views.

Pats from Indigo Divers (PADI dive operator based right here in Jolly Harbour Marina) decided that it would be a great idea to hike to the tallest point on Antigua called BOGGY PEAK.  Well, to be technically correct, it was renamed back in 2009 and it is now called MOUNT OBAMA after Barack Obama.

Given that this was a great way to research a hike for our sailing charter guests, I enthusiastically agreed.

I was collected at 05.15am on a Sunday morning (excuse me, isn't Sunday a day of rest?) and told to wear stout shoes (what, no flip flop chic?!) and bring water. Bearing in mind the sun had not yet risen and even the birds could not muster any energy to chirp, it was no surprise to be told "no sunscreen".

We met our Hiking Group just past the Pineapple farm (home to the famous Antigua Black pineapple) which is located further south along the west coast from Jolly Harbour Marina. Here we joined a lively group ready for the hike.  I use the word "hike" loosely as the word "climb" would have been more appropriate.

The temperature was around 80 degrees and felt positively cool as the sun has not yet made an appearance.  The path is an actual road so it is easy on the feet; all good so far.  The path winds around the mountain and then starts to get a little steeper but it is still manageable if you take your time and sip water along the way.  The vegetation along the path is lush; bananas huddled together for company in bunches, sitting under broad, green leaves waiting to ripen.  At that time of the morning, the mongoose were out scampering and doing whatever mongoose do.

There are some very steep pitches and you wonder how you would ever get a vehicle up there; even a 4x4.  The views through the trees are very much worth it.  You can see the ocean and the palm trees along the coast.  Looking at the view is also an excellent, tactical way to recover your breath and this is to be recommended as you don't want to peak (excuse the pun) too early.  

Some time later, we reached our goal - the tallest point on Antigua - Boggy Peak, or Mount Obama, was conquered!  We felt great; a sense of accomplishment and a little warm.

Having conquered the peak and caught our breath. we were then ready to make our descent.  Perhaps now was not the time to tell Pats that I have a fear of descents; bizarre as it seems.  Pats was brilliant and decided that she would tell some interesting scuba diving stories to take my mind off the 45 degree angle that my legs were unnaturally coping with.  The walk down is quite tough on your legs but we made it to the bottom at around 07.15am.  Who's for breakfast on board?

When you are ready to head inland and want to stretch your sea-legs, I would thoroughly recommend this hike.

Fact File:

Hike time:  1.30 - 2 hours
Height:  1319ft
Mountain range:  Shekerley Mountains, Antigua
Best time of day:  start 5.30am - 6am
Essential:  water, small towel and your sense of fun 

Dr Who's time machine spotted in Antigua?

Stuart and Dianne are the owners of a Bavaria 40 in our Antigua charter fleet.  A great couple, they really epitomize the idea that you can own your own boat in the Caribbean even if you don't live here year-round. Here's what Dianne has to say about her yacht ownership experience in Antigua.

"We live just outside Toronto, Canada.  Our sailing season is short here (May – October) and we have strong winds early and late in the season with the odd interesting summer storm with STRONG winds! We have owned our own yacht up here for 6 years , starting with a DS22, evolving through a C&C 30 and we currently have a Beneteau 350.

We decided to buy our Bavaria 40 partly because Horizon offered a great deal, and we also liked the layout and our experiences with Horizon in Antigua.  The name of our yacht is TARDIS! 

Dr Who’s time machine was called Tardis which stood for Time and Relative Dimensions In Space. In other words, when you went inside Tardis it was much bigger than it appeared on the outside. Couple that with visiting the Islands being like a trip back in time and you have it.

Our favourite anchorages in Antigua & Barbuda are the south shore of Barbuda - this is our absolute favourite - but we also enjoy English and Falmouth Harbors as well as Deep Bay and Nonsuch Bay.

We sail together as husband and wife on board Tardis.  To do this successfully you need a boat that has enough space to get away from each other when the need arises without being too big. Also patience is a prerequisite as each has their own learning curve and different levels of comfort.

Our long term sailing plans are to spend a minimum of 5-6 months of winter aboard Tardis starting in 3 or 4 years. A longer cruise has also been discussed but as yet nothing firm. When we are back home the biggest thing we miss about sailing the Caribbean is the sun, the people, the ocean and Ting".