Sweet Sunday

Kingaloop on CitySearch says:

From the time I made the reservation to when I departed the marina, the entire experience was perfect!

5 Stars

Mandy L. on Yelp says:

I took the basic sailing course last weekend and it was awesome! The instructor Jonathan was very knowledgeable and easy going.  It was a wonderful way to spend the weekend and in 2 days - I learned to sail!! Definitely taking their next course.

5 Stars

Dylan O. on Yelp Says:

I spent a wonderful afternoon on a private sailing lesson. The staff was very helpful and encouraged us all to take part in the sailing experience. We were a nice small group so we had a nice personal trip. The day out on the water was probably the most enjoyable part of our trip to The Big Apple. I never thought sailing would be the highlight of our trip, but it was.

Thanks to the staff at Atlantic yachting. I highly recommend this company!!!

5 Stars

Nicole W. on Yelp says:

I received a gift certificate for a 2 hour sail for myself and 5 people for my birthday.  I used it this past weekend and brought along 5 girlfriends - we have an amazing, memorable trip and unanimously decided to make it an annual event.  The crew were great, the weather was perfect! We sat at the front of the boat, while Jon served us mimosas, Logan steered the boat and we had Dean Martin singing to us through their IPod hookup below.  AMAZING!  I would recommend it again and again.

We're featured on Daily Candy

Thanks to the folks at Daily Candy who made this awesome video about learning to sail. We had a blast sailing with them. Here's their review and video below:

We’re on a boat, mofos.

Except this big, blue, watery road is the Hudson, and, instead of T-Pain, we’re cruising with the boys from Atlantic Yachting, a sailing outfit offering affordable lessons and charters right outta the West 79th Street Boat Basin.

In today’s video, sailors Logan and Jonathan — last names withheld to protect them from admirers — showed us the ropes (literally) as we made our way up to the George Washington Bridge.

Yes, the boys are both in need of a first mate.

And they run a seriously tight ship.

Atlantic Yachting Featured on NBC

If You Can Sail the Hudson, You Can Sail Anywhere
Learn to sail in a weekend on 79th street

By LYNDA BAQUERO

Did you know you can learn to sail in just a weekend....on 79th Street? That's just one way to "Take A Break" in the Big Apple.

I went out onto the Hudson, with Captain Logan Rowell and Jonathan Horvath, of Atlantic Yachting, from the 79th Street Boat Basin on a beautiful Beneteau sloop called "Go Lightly"...and was told, "if you learn how to sail here, you can sail literally anywhere". It's kinda like driving in the Big Apple, right?

Atlantic Yachting offers weekend sailing courses, where Rowell told me "total novices come leaving like they truly know how to sail." Students are taught sailing theory, water safety, and all aboutknots, over the course of two days. And having the Hudson River as a classroom adds to the fun. Rowell says that"because of the buildings, the wind is very funky around here."

Horvath warned about keeping a close eye on watercraft around you because "there's lots of business traffic around here. You have water taxis, you got people going to Ikea back and forth, and you got barges...everything."

But if you want others to do the work while you enjoy being on the water, Atlantic Yachting offerschartersails for as little as $399.Their sailboats are decked out with all the amenities, and they serve drinks and gourmet catering. It's like having your own floating, private nightclub.

We're going to be on NBC!

Atlantic Yachting will be featured on NBC News with Emmy award winning reporter Lynda Baquero. Lynda learned to sail with us and made a great video about her experience. We're looking forward to watching the finished piece. The story will air on NBC 4 Monday July 20th and will loop all week on NY Nonstop, NBC's 24-hour digital channel. 

Great Sailing Sunset

Thanks for the pictures Diana!

5 Stars

Glenda on Yelp says:

A friend and I rejected Monday by sailing today on a private charter on the Go Lightly - a beautiful classic French Sloop owned by the clever fellows of Atlantic Yachting.  

Our captain Robert was first class all the way.  I have some sailing experience, and he was incredibly professional and personable - and made sure we had a great time.  We really just wanted to chill on the boat and talk and enjoy the scenery and relax and he tuned it to that immediately, and sat up the cushions for us and checked on us frequently to make sure we were set with beverages.

We sailed North on the Hudson for the incredible views, then flew back under sail with a beautiful wind, sun, and the incredible energy only the water can bring.  

I'm booking my next sail asap and couldn't recommend a more magical NY experience.  Thanks Miles and thanks Robert, and also to the great skip on the boat.

Our Fourth of July Sail Recommended by New York Magazine

New York Magazine chose our Fourth of July party as one of the best places to be to celebrate the fireworks in New York.

5 Stars

Lily on Yelp says:

I charted a boat  from Atlantic Yachting this past weekend with some friends for my boyfreind's birthday and I can't say enough about it! ! I have been sailing twice before with other companies in Manhattan and this totally blew those experiences out of the water. This felt like the ultimate in luxury  - the crew were super friendly and laid back but totally professional and it seemed like they were there to make our sail whatever we wanted it to be. They let us choose our route, plugged in my ipod, and set up the food we brought on platters making it seem like we had a private chef and not some last minute mexican takeout. It was a totally magical night, much more than I expected it to be. I will definitely do this again this summer!

Fourth of July on the Hudson!

In 1609, the high-seas explorer Henry Hudson stumbled upon an island, where 400 years later public officials would devise a series of elaborate events and tie-ins to honor his discovery. One of the most noticeable is a plan to move the nation’s largest Fourth of July fireworks from the East River to the river bearing his name.

The news, quietly announced last week by Macy’s and noted on the NewYorkology blog, has some city residents wondering whether all this celebration of Mr. Hudson has finally gone too far.

Many of those skeptics, by the way, happen to live or work along the East River, the dividing central corridor of the city and home to the annual Macy’s fireworks show for the last 15 years (although in 2000 there were displays on both rivers).

“It’s a huge day, the biggest of the year,” said Jon Bloostein, owner of the Heartland Brewery, near the South Street Seaport, when told of the move. “The only thing we’ll have going for us now is people who go to the East River by mistake.”

Beyond business considerations, Mr. Bloostein said the East River, which whisks among Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, is “more New York” than the Hudson River, which he noted is lined on one side with “people from New Jersey.”

Growing ever bigger, louder and more sophisticated at the frenzied pace of a military arms race, the Macy’s fireworks display made its debut in 1958 on the Hudson River. Over the years launch sites have moved from off the Upper West Side, to Governor’s Island, before settling on the East River.

This year’s event calls for a 26-minute barrage of 40,000 firework shells fired from six barges between 24th Street and 50th Street on the West Side, according to the press release issued by Macy’s.

The Brooklyn borough president, Marty Markowitz, said in a statement that he would urge Macy’s to split the fireworks show between the East and Hudson Rivers.

Barring that compromise, a loss for Brooklyn and Queens would be New Jersey’s gain. That may go some way to repairing some of the division of recent years between New Jersey and New York on a day of supposed national unity.

Over the past several Independence Days, Jersey City has held a dueling, much smaller, firework show partly in response to a perceived snub from Macy’s. In 2007 the dispute escalated after New York City fire officials refused to allow Jersey City to have fireworks over the Hudson River, invoking an 1834 treaty signed by President Andrew Jackson that gives New York jurisdiction over its surrounding waters. Jersey City staged the event on land.

The mayor of Hoboken, David Roberts, said in past years the fireworks could be partially viewed from his city by peering through the Manhattan skyline. This year the fireworks will be directly overhead.

“We’re very excited about it,” he said. “Thousands of New Jersey residents and I bet a couple of New York residents will get a better view from our side.”

By A. G. Sulzberger for the New York Times

The Hudson, 400 Years Later (NYT Editorial)

All this week, a mighty procession of ships and boats is sailing and motoring up the Hudson River from New York Harbor to Albany, stopping in harbor towns and cities along the way to the roaring of cannons and pealing of church bells. It’s a big event for a big anniversary: the 400th year since Henry Hudson made the same voyage in his little ship, the Half Moon. It is also an opportunity to take stock — to see how far the Hudson has come and how far it still has to go.

The river is a living logbook of environmental destruction and rebirth. Having suffered a century of industrial despoliation, it inspired the modern environmental movement in the 1960s and ’70s, starting with the successful battle to stop Consolidated Edison from building a hydroelectric plant on Storm King Mountain, south of Newburgh.

Landfills were plugged; power projects thwarted. And after decades of delay, General Electric has, at last, begun to dredge PCB’s from the river above Albany, slowly clearing away the final dark stain of the Hudson’s industrial past. As all the blue crabs, striped bass and bald eagles would tell you if they could, the river flows far cleaner than before.

But the job is far from finished. When the flotilla heads upriver, it will pass gleaming parks and river walks, and go under a historic railroad bridge that is being turned into a soaring public walkway. It will also pass condominium sites in places like Yonkers, where development threatens to turn the riverbanks into the high-rise equivalent of stadium bleachers, and the aging Indian Point nuclear plant, whose outdated cooling pipes suck up and kill billions of fish and fish eggs. For all the progress, many of the Hudson’s fish populations remain seriously threatened.

The river’s fiercest advocates — among them Pete Seeger, who turned 90 this year; Riverkeeper; the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries — know the struggle is far from over. One of them, the nonprofit Scenic Hudson, recently began an all-out campaign to protect 65,000 acres of land along the Hudson from sprawl and overdevelopment. This is a 10-year project that will require cooperation among various land trusts, New York State and the federal government.

The goal is noble, its future uncertain. The financial crisis has put a huge dent in both public and private resources. But economic recovery will come someday, and the river will still be here. Long after this week’s party ends, there will still be serious work to do to preserve the Hudson River’s long-term vitality, and we are counting on New York State to dive back in.

From the New York Times Editors

Flotilla of Historic Ships

As part of a statewide yearlong celebration to mark the 400th anniversary -- the Quadricentennial -- of the discovery of the Hudson River by Captain Henry Hudson, a flotilla of historic ships set sail up the river Saturday morning. Their destination (as was Captain Hudson's, though he didn't know it at the time) is Albany, which they should reach by the 13th.

The flotilla was led by a scale reproduction of Hudson's ship the Half Moon (above), which sailed to New York from Amsterdam, manned by 18 volunteers.

As the ships travel north, they pause by waterfront communities celebrating with festivals, music and parties. Today (Tuesday), they'll arrive at Beacon/Newburgh, where they'll stay for educational programs til late afternoon.

Part of the celebration includes NYS Quadricentennial Legacy Projects like the creation of a park at Governors Island, the site of one of New York's first Dutch settlements. The Dutch royal family will be coming to town to visit, and a Governors Island Dutch Festival takes place on Sept. 13.

According to the Brooklyn Eagle, there are more than 1000 events planned to celebrate this year. For example, a musician in Poughkeepsie has turned an entire bridge spanning the Hudson into a musical instrument. In September, a variety of workers in New York and Amsterdam will swap jobs for a week. There are concerts, exhibitions and events up and down the Hudson all month, and more this summer.

The Henry Hudson 400 Foundation will celebrate with commemorations in both Amsterdam and New York City, including a three-day event in September 2009 around Battery Park with special exhibitions planned throughout the city.

5 Stars

Jacob J. on Yelp says:

I highly recommend all of their sailing courses! I took their basic sailing course and am signed up for their Coastal Cruising next weekend. Can't Wait!

Dutch Trading Ships in the Hudson

SCHENECTADY — After Henry Hudson's Half Moon left the river that would later bear his name in 1609, someone else did all the heavy lifting of making Manhattan the financial capital of the world.

That would be Dutch traders sailing small ships, such as merchant captain Adriaen Block's Onrust, a 56-foot-long, 29-ton ship.

A replica of the Onrust, assembled by 250 volunteers since 2006 on a farm near Schenectady, was crane-lifted into the Mohawk River on Wednesday to be fitted out for the flotilla of ships coming north June 6 to mark Hudson's voyage.

That puts Onrust — Dutch for "restless" — back on the map. She'll sail as an educational classroom after the hoopla of New York's official quadricentennial plays out this year.

Onrust, pretty with blue paint, red trim, and oiled oak, snarls for action from its blond-maned, leaping-lion figurehead.

Authentically replicated, the Onrust carries six cannons, a pair of huge lee boards that were used to tack and keep a straight course, and sails made in Holland and by Courtney Andersen, who rigged ships in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.

Few modern construction items operate on board, but the ship does have a motor. "They have to have one to sail the Hudson," said the vessel's captain, Gioia Blix, who has captained the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.

Built in 1614 by a stranded crew on Manhattan, the original Onrust was the first covered- deck ship built in New York, and, experts believe, the first one made in America.

She was used for mapping bays and inlets, and trading in furs for the hide-hungry European market, where beaver skins were fetching tons of money for the Dutch merchant captains competing for Native Americans' pelts.

The Onrust sails with a similar mission as the Half Moon replica — making people aware of what organizers say is the very important Dutch history of New York that's been long forgotten.

A Lovely, Lovely Experience

Koke on CitySearch says:

From Amanda who booked our charter to Logan our captain and Scott his crewmate, we experienced outstanding service and a stress-free, relaxing time. We took a 2-hour sunset sail and our only regret was that the time seemed too short. We will definitely go back for a longer sail with Atlantic Yachting. They are the best!

Five Stars

Gina on Yahoo says:

I took my family out for Mother's Day a few weeks ago and it was spectacular. The sail was gorgeous and the staff was really fun yet professional. My mom had a perfect day and I'm sure we will do it again next year!

Unbelievable

Sasha on CitySearch says:

My boyfriend took me out on a private sail for my birthday last weekend and it was an unbelievable experience.

The city is gorgeous from the water, especially as the sun was setting. We had champagne and hung out on the deck of the boat and just watched the city pass by.

Everything slows down when you're sailing. Its is calm, there are no honking cars, screaming people, or hustle bustle of the city.

The boat was spacious, clean, and probably bigger than any boat I have ever been on. Our captain and crew were really nice and relaxed. They made us feel at home right away and were excellent hosts.

I definitely want to do this again.

5 Stars

Sasha B. on Yelp says:

This is the best birthday treat! Fabulous ship (the Go Lightly) great weather, the NYC view from the water, fantastic, friendly and knowledgeable crew (Sean & Dan) all 5 minutes from home. What more could you ask for? If you can't own your own sailboat, this is the one to charter.