We re chartering out of Antigua around August 20 and plan to cruise ther and around Guadeloupe over a 10 day period. Can anyone give advice on anchorages and passages?
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Stay around Antigua
We found Antigua much more interesting and more relaxing than Guadaloupe - with the exception of Le Saintes (sp?). I'll see if I can dig up my old charts or cruising guide and get more specific.
We found Antigua much more interesting and more relaxing than Guadaloupe - with the exception of Le Saintes (sp?). I'll see if I can dig up my old charts or cruising guide and get more specific.
Alternative
To follow Phil's underwhelming recommendation of Guadeloupe, another itinerary that you might consider is to sail from Antigua to Nevis, St. Kitts, Statia, and Saba. They are infrequently visited by chartering sailors, and those who do visit are welcomed with open arms. Also, if you scuba, Saba is one of the not-to-be-missed locations on the planet. Robert Pancza
To follow Phil's underwhelming recommendation of Guadeloupe, another itinerary that you might consider is to sail from Antigua to Nevis, St. Kitts, Statia, and Saba. They are infrequently visited by chartering sailors, and those who do visit are welcomed with open arms. Also, if you scuba, Saba is one of the not-to-be-missed locations on the planet. Robert Pancza
St Kitts/Nevis from Antigua
Sounds good. Proble is that the Charter boat must be anchored in a harbor at night. I don't have the chart in front of me, but I seem to recall that the islands are west of Antigua, which means a beat back on a 40 nm rhumb line.. so I don't see how we could do it in the daylight. Please, more details.
Sounds good. Proble is that the Charter boat must be anchored in a harbor at night. I don't have the chart in front of me, but I seem to recall that the islands are west of Antigua, which means a beat back on a 40 nm rhumb line.. so I don't see how we could do it in the daylight. Please, more details.
St. Kitts, etc.
Your impressions of the trip are right. This itinerary does involve some more serious sailing than many charter vacations. The sail from Antigua to Nevis is one that would take most of the daylight hours, going downwind under prevailing wind conditions. There are harbors in all of the islands, although they aren't the cozy little pockets that you can find on many islands. I don't know if you have your boat yet, but Sun Yachts charters out of both Antigua and St. Martin and will allow one-way charters between the two islands. If you start in Antigua and then travel to Nevis, St. Kitts, Statia, and then Saba, the sail to St. Martin is not usually a beat, but rather a close reach. As I said, it's a fair distance to cover, but it's also a really different type of chartering experience. Robert Pancza
Your impressions of the trip are right. This itinerary does involve some more serious sailing than many charter vacations. The sail from Antigua to Nevis is one that would take most of the daylight hours, going downwind under prevailing wind conditions. There are harbors in all of the islands, although they aren't the cozy little pockets that you can find on many islands. I don't know if you have your boat yet, but Sun Yachts charters out of both Antigua and St. Martin and will allow one-way charters between the two islands. If you start in Antigua and then travel to Nevis, St. Kitts, Statia, and then Saba, the sail to St. Martin is not usually a beat, but rather a close reach. As I said, it's a fair distance to cover, but it's also a really different type of chartering experience. Robert Pancza
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