Antigua Yacht Charter Sailing with Kids - Days 6/7

Day 6 of our Sailing Trip in Antigua with Dream Yacht Charter

Jumby Bay to Deep Bay

Day 6 Track in Antigua

Daily Tip

Getting the main sail up on a catamaran is always a decent challenge. It takes time for the sail to be hoisted up the tall mast and the lazy jack lines tend to always catch the battens. And a potential hazard is that the skipper can become distracted by looking up the mast when motoring into wind instead of watch out for hazards.

We like to raise the main while still anchored. It is an ideal set up because your boat is held into the wind. When doing this you need to:

keep your wits about you
have the engine on for maneuvering if need be
let out the mainsheet so that no matter what the boat angle to the wind the mainsail has no pressure on it.

Once your main is up, you can just motor up on the anchor, then bear away and get sailing. Once under sail just unfurl the headsail.

Jumby to Deep Bay was an awesome series of deep broad reaches under a constant 15-knot breeze across the north end of Antigua between reefs and islands. Then a nice beam reach down the westside.

Again the Bali 4.5 outperformed the Lagoon 400S2. But expectedly so since it is longer with a higher mast. At one point we hit 8.5 knots. Nothing exciting going on in this video but just imagine cranking along at 8 knots enjoying the day under perfectly trimmed sails.

The other thing we liked about the Bali was the full size stand up fridge. Notice the clips on the bottom – smart!

Bali Fridge so awesome

Despite the competition, we rafted up together both on our anchors in Deep Bay.

Anchored In Deep Bay

I have to say that Deep Bay is not to be missed. It is a 3/4 round bay with a gorgeous beach and clean clear water, it is a great anchorage spot and a place to just have fun with the kids. And if you can put a smile like this on your kid, then it is all worth it.

World’s biggest smile

And if you can get 8 kids to do what they are told all at the same time like this, you’ve mastered it! (Not really)

Day 7

Deep Bay to Jolly Harbour and the Dream Yacht Charter Base.

Day 7 Return to Base From Deep Bay

Boo hoo – last day. To return the boat at 9 am – we had to get up at the crack of dawn, have a nap, and then another nap and then get going. Deep Bay is close to the base so there is plenty of time.

The last day is always sad – BUT with that said, we had wisely planned a few extra days in Antigua at an AirBnb in Dickerson Bay. From there we did excursions back over the rest of the island to parts we’d missed and some of the interior.

Here is our zip line tour of the forest