New Year's Eve

Hey Folks! We hope everyone had a great Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa! To celebrate the new year, we will be having a special NEW YEAR'S EVE Dinner Cruise, the menu and price will be the same as that of our regular Dinner Cruise, which also means that if you book online you will receive a 20% discount. C'mon out and join us!

And do have a Happy and Prosperous New Year (when it comes!) =)

Happy Holidays!

We want to take this time to wish everyone a very HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! We hope that this will a time for enjoyment for you all... to Food, Fun & Family! Cheers! =)

Christmas in the Islands!

Hey everyone! Just a reminder about our special Christmas Eve Dinner Cruise on Saturday, December 24th... It promises to be a fantastic time out on the water!

We also send our WARMEST wishes to our friends up North, you can always try Christmas in the islands & just to sweeten the deal -- WE'RE OPEN ON CHRISTMAS DAY! Come join us! =)

Christmas Eve Dinner Cruise

Hey Everyone! Thank you to those who were a part of our Thanksgiving Special... We hope that you all had a wonderful time!

 We will be opening up a special Dinner Cruise for Christmas Eve -- Saturday, December 24, 2011. The menu and price will be the same as that of our regular Dinner Cruise, which also means that if you book online you will receive a 20% discount =)

Call us at New Horizons & Breakaway Charters 340-775-1171 for more information.

A Thanksgiving Alphabet

T...Turkeys, tablespreads, being together,
H...Happiness and homes to protect us from all weather,
A...Aunts and uncles, a reunion in Fall,
N...Nieces and nephews, family members all!
K...Kind-hearted kin coming over for dinner,
S...Surely you'll have fun, but you won't get thinner!
G...Gourds and pumpkins, mouths open wide.
I...Indians and Pilgrims we remember with pride.
V...Very special times-there could even be snow.
I...Imagine what it was like at Plymouth long ago.
N...Never forget how the settlers led the way,
G...Giving thanks and blessing this special day.

~ Author Unknown

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
From the New Horizons & Breakaway Charters Family

Thanksgiving Full Day Sail & Dinner Cruise on the Water

Hello folks! I know we've been going on and on about our Thanksgiving Specials and we haven't really given you enough information. Well this post will rectify that! =)

Below you'll find menu, time and price information. Remember, spaces are limited and a reservation is required.

Call us at New Horizons & Breakaway Charters - 340-775-1171 / 800-808-7604 for more information.

Anonymous Review by Email

This was a fantastic trip.  Captain Marcus and crew, Sandy and Moose, were very friendly and helpful.  They also demonstrated high levels of professionalism and communication in handling the boat.  It was apparent that our safety was their first concern. They did all of this without impacting the enjoyment of the trip in any way.  I barely noticed Sandy giving quick and competent first aid to one of us who suffered a minor scrape ashore.  Everyone had a great time.  Even the notably more sedate and mellow travellers were having a real good party as we got going.

Flow of the stops and choice of locations was near perfect.  The snorkeling was great.  I have been on several other tours that did not have near the quality of reef views so close to the surface – it was great even for a near-sighted, near-novice snorkeler. The choice of restaurant was very good as the choices were great and the food good.  I had always wanted to see the baths. The alternate stop due to the weather  was impressive.  I very much enjoyed the bubbling springs and its interactive display of the wave action.

I would recommend this trip to anyone-- it was definitely a highlight of this vacation for us!

~ “Wisconsin”

New Horizons & Breakaway Charters Changes

Hello Blog World & faithful friends of New Horizons & Breakaway Charters!

This week's post is just to make you all aware of the many changes we set up to take effect on October 28th. However, before we get to that, let me just say to all those planning on visting St. Thomas/St. John between now and next week - our Sailboat (New Horizons) is in dry dock for our annual maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience but we have to spruce her up to keep her running smoothly for you guys. =)

Anyway, the first change is that there has been a price increase on all our tours. We've tried to keep our prices the same for the past few years, however, its getting more and more expensive to keep things up to par. Therefore, our FULL DAY SNORKEL ADVENTURE is now $95 per person, the DINNER CRUISE is now $90 per person and the BVI is $150 per person + $30 CASH International Fees. As you can see its just a slight increase, nothing too drastic, we wouldn't dream of doing that to you guys.

The next change is, the FULL DAY SNORKEL ADVENTURE's departure time has been adjusted to accomodate all cruise ship passengers. Over the years, we've had to turn potential guests away that really want to do this tour due to the fact that their ship won't be in port in time for departure. Therefore, effective Oct. 28th the new departure time is 10:00AM.

As always, thank you for your support of our business, WITHOUT YOU THERE WOULD BE NO US!!

Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call us at (340) 775-1171 or (800) 808-7604. Or email us at newhorizons@viaccess.net

Thanksgiving Day - Full Day Sail

Make your reservation for a traditional Thanksgiving, the Caribbean way with everything from a traditional THANKSGIVING DINNER to the best snorkeling spots in the islands aboard a 65' sailboat.

WE SUPPLY EVERYTHING!
Continental Breakfast with Juices, Mimosas & Bloody Marys, Open Bar ALL DAY (including Tropical Blended Drinks), Snorkel Equipment & Lessons Provided. Two (2) island stops for Swimming, Snorkeling & Sunning. And of course THANKSGIVING DINNER!

*~*MENU*~*

4 OVEN ROASTED TURKEYS

Homemade Gravy

Honey Baked Ham

Herb & Apple Dressing

Cranberry Sauce

Green Beans Tossed with a Crumbled Feta Cheese, Onion, Dill & a Creamy Italian Dressing

Tri-Colored Pasta with Broccoli, Cauliflower & Zucchini in a Creamy Italian Dressing

Montage of Fresh Fruits & Berries

Caesar Salad

Homemade Double Fudge Brownies topped with Kiwis

Date: Thursday, November 24, 2011
Times: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Price: $130 per person & children (12 and under) 1/2 price

Tim the Trumpetfish

Greetings! I am Tim the Trumpetfish and live by Great St James and I would like to give you a glimpse into my underwater realm!

We are actually relatives of seahorses and can be yellow or green with blue or purple heads and to make it more intresting we can easily change color!  We can exceed a meter in length and our heads being about one third of that length!  We swim vertically with our snout down to blend into the background of sea sponges ,sea fans and sea whips to hide from predators or feed.

We have to be very crafty when trying to catch a meal. We can hang out with large herbivorous creatures shadowing them till we have the opportunity to strike,but usually we  hang vertically in the water, drifting with the current till the unlucky victim passes underneath us then,WHAM! We suck them up like a vaccum using a method called "pipette feeding"and lunch is served! (We are not limited by the visible size of our snuts we have elastic tissues that strech to accommidate larger meals if need be!)

Well, enough of the spooky stuff we are also quite the lovers! Our courtship rituals or "dances" are very elaborate using our color changing abilities. But thats not all! The men carry a huge burden in the reproductive process! We are the ones who not only fertilize but carry the eggs in a our pouch till they are born! So ladies there are great guys out there who also share your pain.

There is so much more to us than what meets the eyes - come and see whats under the caribbean waters! Call New Horizons Charters at 340-775-1171 and they'll be sure to make arrangements to intoduce us to each other... I look forward to meeting you! =)

Congratulations to one of our Own!

Our Very own Jodi Longshore has had the best day of her life yesterday!

Starting the day, she met 20 GQ Mexican models who were here in St. Thomas, USVI for a cover photoshoot for the Mexican Edition. She swam with them and got to know them a little and then, they shocked her by asking her to be a part of the photoshoot.

Thinking that this was too good an opportunity to pass up she accepted, but with reservations as to what her boyfriend might think.

Upon getting home to share her good news, she found yet another surprise - her boyfriend waiting to ask her to be his wife!

She said YES!!!

Now she sports a beautiful Sapphire engagement ring. Congratulations Jodi!!

Coral Reef

Hi, I'm a Coral Reef in the Virgin Islands and although I may look like a rock thats underwater there is much more to me than what meets the eye! Come with me on a journey to see what secrets I hide!

Coral reefs are made of tiny polyps who look like tiny sea anemones that are linked together in groups to form the coral and live in water up to a range of 6m deep and grow less than 3cm per year! 

I am quite fragile despite me looking like a rock!  Just touching or standing on me could kill part of me that took so long to grow, so please keep a healthy distance from me!

We are quite amazing if I may say so! We can protect and feed a varitey of sea creatures and fish, protect coastal dwellings and coastline by forming a natural barrier from severe weather, and over 500 million people depend upon us for their food and livelihood.

We also are used in the treatment of Cancer, HIV, Cardiovascular Diseases and even Ulcers. Some of our limestone skelentons have even been used in grafting human bones!

There is so much more to tell so come on down and see for yourself the underwater gardens and the power of Coral Reefs. Call New Horizons Charters at 340-775-1171 to reserve your front row seat to the beautiful Coral Reefs of the Virgin Islands!



Blue Tangs in the National Park (St. John)

Here's a message from a friendly Blue Tang at Honeymoon Beach in the National Park - St. John:

Helloooooooo!  I'm a Blue Tang living in St John at Honeymoon Beach (you may know our famous Dory who was in a family movie) and I would love to tell you about my wonderful life here in the Virgin Islands.

Blue Tangs are very vibrant and colorful fish, starting with yellows, then light blues, and even deep purple although we are called BlueTangs. We are also called Surgeon or Dr. Fish by the Locals here, either way we are sure to catch your eye while snorkeling through here! We are not very shy!

We like hanging out in large crowds over the reefs and we are more plentiful than any other fish species, accounting for an observed 15.4% of the region's overall fish population here in the U.S. Virgin Islands (according to studies done over a 10-year period in waters adjacent to the Virgin Islands) and we love to eat algae over the reefs.

We can alter the hues of our scales, and that's fun, but our flesh is poisonous and combined with our sharp spines which we can stand straight up if we feel threatend, so we are not a fish to scoff at! So like anything you see in the wild its probably best NOT TO TOUCH since you may not know what will happen if you get on our bad side, or the extent of damage you may cause by simple curiosity.

Not to frighten you, we just like to swarm around new and curious things and are friendly.  I'd even go as far to say we are the hams in our neck of the woods and greet every boat that pops by so we hope to see you folks out on this tour (Full Day Sail) with New Horizons and Breakaway Charters on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Now don't forget to make reservations! I hear that's how it works over there, so call New Horizons and Breakaway Charters @ 340-775-1171.

See ya!

A Day in the Life of a Sea Turtle

One of our guests spotted a sea turle while out on our Full Day Sail and we wondered what he would say to us if he could... *thinking*


Here's what we think he'd say:

Hi! I'm a sea turtle and live in the beautiful blue waters of the US and British Virgin Islands. There is just so much to explore here and not to mention the view and food is amazing. Let me give you a tour of a day in the life of a turtle.

Its normally a beautiful sunny day when my family and I wake up and swim around the reefs eating algae, sea grass or jelly fish for my meals, (so please no plastic in the water it looks like jelly fish to me and my family).

Then at times we receive visitors that are not from the ocean but from all around the world who come to see all of turtle- kind!

Most of our new found friends have never seen us up close and get a bit excited (while we are just swimming around our home the coral reefs) while snorkeling on by, on passing tours like this one (New Horizons Full Day Sail), taking our picture!  We are all very flattered but would like a little space since if you touch our shell the oils from your fingers can cause fungal diseases to our shell.  No offense!

We enjoy the pace of life here, just sunning and relaxing, but at certain times we have a population boost and that's hard work for our lady turtles! Our moms to be travel a long way to where they themselves were hatched and find an area and then they start to dig.

After digging to a satisfactory depth (around 40-50 centimeters and  16-20 inches deep) these mama turtles lay over 150 or more eggs! This whole process takes around 30-60 min. and the gender of our hatchlings is determined by the temperature of the sand!  Lighter sands maintain higher temperatures and decreases incubation times resulting in more lady turtles.

I'm sad to say most of our lil' ones do not make it due to predators, pollution, and a variety of other elements with only 0.01% who do make it and so to help us we hatch at night to avoid sea gulls and other predators.

We would love to see you and educate you more on the life of sea turtles. We are sprinkled all over here in the US and British Virgin Islands so here is an open invitation to you to come on down here and enjoy yourself turtle style!

Our Very Own Beauty Queen!

From July 7 thru 10, 2011, our very own Carol Tuohy represented the Virgin Islands as Mrs. U.S. Virgin Islands in the United States All World Beauties Pageant held at the Prairie Center for the Arts in Schaumburg, Illinois.

There were 17 other contestants, the oldest of them being 40; she is 71!  She won Best Talent by doing ribbon dancing - she danced to the Everly Brothers song “Wake Up, Little Susie.”  She started with a “poodle skirt” which was then ripped off to reveal a black leotard for dancing!  At her age, she still can jump high in the air, get down on the floor and back up with no assistance, all the while twirling her ribbons on sticks.  The crowd went wild!

She also won Best Fashion Wear.  She wore a black sleeveless sheath dress with a drop waist, a hounds-tooth black and white long scarf through the belt loops, black and white jewelry, black and white heels, and topped it all off with a black straw hat with a turned up brim of black and white hounds-tooth.  All the other contestants wore cocktail dresses, she thought she did the wrong thing, but went with it. And what do you know, it must have pleased the judges!

She would have loved to bring the title home, but 1^st Runner-Up was not bad... =)

She has won 3 titles in the past 10 years representing the Virgin Islands: 
Ms. V.I. Senior America 2001, Ms. Senior Sweetheart of America 2008,
and Ms. Classic Queen of Hope 2010.

Soggy Dollar Bar - JVD

The Soggy Dollar Bar, located on White Bay, Jost Van Dyke, BVI. The birthplace of the "Original" Painkiller, (a very popular rum drink among many guests who sail or motor into White Bay).

The island of Jost Van Dyke is only 4 miles long, population less than 200, and is known for its "barefoot" lifestyle. There is no dock at this stop so guests will have to swim ashore, this is also where to the bar gets it's name - their motto is "Jump in and get your dollars soggy, then spend them at the Soggy Dollar Bar".

Guests can relax in the hammocks under the palm trees, go snorkeling, play some fun beach games, and order a World Famous "Painkiller" from the bar that created it.  There is also the option of shopping at the boutique, then you take home one or more of their t-shirts with all the catchy phrases about vacationing and partying in the islands.

Join us on our BVI trip and see first hand what a great place this is!

The Baths of Virgin Gorda

We recently had a potential guest on our Facebook Page ask the question, "What is 'The Baths'?", so we decided to share some information on it with everyone else.

"The Baths" are situated about 1.2 miles (2 km) south off the maintown Spanish Town at the southern tip of the island between Spring Bay and Devil's Bay. "The Baths" are an area of unique geologic formations and one of the BVI's major tourist destinations.

At "The Baths", the beach shows evidence of the island's volcanic origins, which deposited granite that eroded into piles of boulders on the beach. The boulders form natural tidal pools, tunnels, arches and scenic grottoes that are open to the sea. The largest boulders are about 40 feet (12 m) long.

Since 1990 the area has been a "BVI National Park" as are the adjacent bays, and the area is a major tourist attraction, with swimming and snorkeling being the main attractions.

There a several different trails through "The Baths", designed for the young and agile and also for those who are not as agile as they once were. On these trails, you'll come across some boulder formations that are a must see, namely, Neptune's Hideaway, Grand Cavern (The Cathedral), The Anvil, Skull Rock and The Throne.

"The Baths" are referred to by some as "The 8th Natural Wonder of the World". Join us on our BVI Trip and find out why that is.

New Horizons & Breakaway Fireworks Cruise

Join us and celebrate St. John's Carnival and Independence Day aboard New Horizons and Breakaway on Monday, July 4, 2011! We board at the Sapphire Beach Resort Marina at 7PM... Guests will be greeted with their first cold drink of the evening and a grand variety of Hors D'oevres. We will anchor so you willl have a front row seat to the Fireworks off of St. John.

Menu:

~*~*~

Filet of Beef kabobs with an assortment of Fresh Vegetables

~*~

Salmon Crotini with cream cheese, red onion, peppers, dill & lox

~*~

Chicken Drummettes slowly cooked with a honey BBQ Dressing

~*~

Mushroom caps stuffed with a blend of Pesto, Pinenuts and Peppers and topped with melted Mozzarella Cheese

~*~

Tomato & Basil Bruschetta

~*~

Chilled Shrimp served over a bed of lettuce with Lemons & Cocktail Sauce

~*~

Dessert: Homemade Fudge Chewy Brownies topped with Strawberries

This includes an open bar all evening:

Freeflowing Champagne with Strawberries

Red & White Wine

and of course cocktails

New Horizons: $90/PERSON (Children 12 & under - $45)

BREAKAWAY: $80/PERSON (Children 12 & under - $40)

Time: 7PM - 10PM

Monday, July 4, 2011

FIREWORKS START AT 9PM!

Reservations Required!

(340) 775-1171 / (800) 808-7604

New Horizons Dinner Cruise

Sunsets in the Caribbean are spectacular! The best way to enjoy the sunset is, of course, from the water, where the view is unobstructed and a friendly crew is there to see to your every need.

We board at the Sapphire Beach Resort Marina at 5:00PM. You are greeted and given a brief history of the boat and orientation, along with your first cold drink of the evening and a starter of Tomato & Basil Bruschetta and Smoked Salmon & Caviar over cream cheese rounds.

We then set sail to a picture-perfect cove to anchor for a buffet-style dinner.

Menu:

~*~*~*~

Appetizers:

Classic Caesar Salad tossed with Homemade toasted Croutons

Tomato & Basil Bruschetta

Smoked Salmon & Caviar over cream cheese rounds

Entrees:

Fresh Mahi Mahi (as fresh as you can get)

Island-Style Caribbean Chicken Breast baked in a Homemade Sweet & Sour Suace

Peel & Eat Shrimp

Side Dishes:

Tri-color Fussilli mixed with grapes and vegetables in a Sweet & Creamy Honey Dressing

Green Beans tossed with Crumbled Feta Cheese, Onion, Dill & a Creamy Italian Dressing

Assortment of Homemade Breads

Monatage of Fresh Fruits & Vine Ripened Seasonal Fruits

Dessert:

Chocolate Jungle: Homemade Brownies topped with Fresh Kiwis & Strawberries

New York Style Cheesecake

Beverages:

Alcoholic & Non-Alcoholic Drinks include -

Red & White Wine

Free flowing Champagne with Strawberries

Freshly Brewed Coffee

Liquors

Sodas

PREMIUM STOCKED OPEN BAR!

Dates: Tuesdays thru Fridays

Time: 5PM - 8PM

Cost: $85/PERSON

EXCLUSIVE DINNER TRIPS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE!

With a booking of 15 or more people, New Horizons is yours for the evening! Here are a few options:

Champagne Sunset Cruise - 5PM-7PM

$70/PERSON + 15% Gratuity (15 Guests Minimum)

Classic Dinner Cruise - 5PM-8PM

$85/PERSON + 15% Gratuity (15 Guests Minimum)

Live Music Available

Elegant Dinner Cruise - 5PM-8PM

$120/PERSON + 15% Gratuity (15 Guests Minimum)

Sunset and Moonlight Cruise - 5PM-8PM

$90/PERSON + 15% Gratuity (15 Guests Minimum)

Surf and Turf Dinner Cruise - 5PM-8PM

$145/PERSON + 15% Gratuity (20 Guests Minimum)

Check out our website (http://newhorizons.daysails.com/) for detailed menus and more information.

New Horizons Improvements!

New Horizons has been out of the water for about 10 days... but she's back now and better than before!

Take a look at her in the boatyard getting spruced-up:

Even our smallest crew member was around to give a helping hand:

=)