October 2012
This is a video of our last trip to the Spanish Virgin Islands. Good company, good wind and a great setting....the good old simple life.
In the last 2 years we have sailed almost 2500 nautical miles, and visited 18 different countries. Enjoyed the company of many crew members from 9 nationalities and made friends around the caribbean. Hey!?... What s a better way to enjoy the little time you have on earth than playing in a natural habitat, learning from nature and from other people who were brought up in a different enviroment than yourself?
Life is dinamic and goes on and on and on...we have decided to put IMAGINA for sale and are pursuing new dreams and challenges....ADVENTURES ARE NEVER OVER, IT`S TIME TO START LIVING!  STAY TUNNED...THIS IS NOT THE END OF ANYTHING....on the contrary...IT S JUST THE BEGINNING.
June 2012, Salinas - Puerto Rico

After 3 amazing months exploring and kiting our asses off in Los Roques, we sailed up north to Puerto Rico.  We made based in a little town off the south coast (Salinas). It is surrounded by mangroves which make a great protection for the upcoming hurricane season. We ll take a few trips due east to the Spanish Virgin Islands (Vieques and Culebra) while keeping a close eye to the weather. 

JANUARY 2012. LOS ROQUES, VENEZUELA

After one month on the hard we (finally) got out of busy , hot and expensive Trinidad. Tony, Magda, Nico and Romi joined us for a month and enjoyed Testigos Island and Blanquilla for a few days, till we arrived to unbelievable beautiful Los Roques. We ve been kiting almost every day, eating big barracudas and drinking lots of local beer (what else do we need?). We have changed our plans and decided to stay put till February, before moving on to Bonaire. We will need to work something out with the local authorities, since our visas will expire soon so, armed with some bottles of rhum we ll head for the renewal. My brother Joaquin is in town , sore muscles from kiting lessons. Life is good!
Once in Bonaire we ll need crew for the trip back north to Puerto Rico, Culebra and so on. Wrtite if you are up for it!
OCTOBER 20th, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

IMAGINA is safe and sound, on the hard in Chaguaramas, Trinidad. This past year we have sailed and enjoyed some of the nicest caribbean islands, in company of some really cool people. We will take a break for a trip back home, and indulge ourselves in mundane and city pleasures....not for too long though....We will be back in November for some work on the yard and general maintenance, before heading west to the beautiful archipielago of Los Roques in Venezuela, and further to the dutch antilles. We are currently receiving applications for this trip and the sail back north probably back to the Virgin Islands some time in March.

August 14th, Union Island, The Grenadines

IMAGINA is anchored off a little island called Union, south of The Grenadines. We have travelled about 600 miles south in the last 3 weeks, getting away from the bad weather. Tropical storm "Emily" passed about 50 miles north of us reaching to 40 knot winds and huge swells. 
The Leeward and Windward Islands were interesting, very natural, filled with fruit trees, hikes, rivers, impressive waterfalls and volcanoes. DOMINICA is our favourite so far, friendly locals and a chill out atmosphere, reggae parties and not so touristy as the islands north.
Our crew members, Wade and Audrey left for their trip back to Washington DC and the North Carolina to get back to work. Good luck!
The Grenadines are very beautiful islands as well, with a very active chartering scene, even though it is low season. We sailed past expensive and exclusive Mustique, and visited St Vincent, Bequia and Canouan along the way till we got to the Tobago Cays, where we spent the last week away from everything. Lots of turtles to snorkel and dive with, stingrays,  swimming in unbelievable turquoise water, and dinghy exploration of the reefs. We also had a great night of BBQ on the beach, playing guitar and drinking rum, just having a great time together with the crew of Shenanigans, an Irish/English boat who s been sailing alongh with us.  A little trouble, never hurt anybody right?
We are heading towards Grenada and on to Venezuela next, as we ll find prices to haul out the boat in the next month. Therefore we will need crew for our next trip to the archipielago of Los Roques a few months from now. Cheers.
Check this LINK to see our latest pictures!


 
July 3rd, Sint Maarten.

After a month around Sint Maarten, Antigua and St Barths, we are ready to go south. Hurricane season has started and we need to get our asses out of here. The plan is to hop along the chain of islands known as Leewards and Windwards, then on to the Granadines and finish some time at the end of  July in Grenada, we ll see the place and the options (and prices) to haul out the boat there, and if not we ll move on to Venezuela, which is probably a mess but way cheaper.
Wade and Audrey are onboard, eager and ready for the month long adventure. Sailing, diving and chilling. Ahoy!


El Mono "spotting", dinghy rides, BBQs onboard, crew gone wild and swimming with turtles. Busy month!

See THE LOG for the latest news.


If you want apply for a spot to crew with us, read through the whole site and send us an email , or drop us a line through the CONTACT page with some info about yourself.

June 11th . Sint Maarten.

After cruising the Virgin Islands, we continued south to the busy and developed Sint Maarten, a good place to get supplies, travel arrangements, and a bit of land pleasures. We ve been hanging out in Simpson Bay Lagoon, visiting old friends, buying spare parts, and so on.
Ang went back to North Carolina, he spent 2 months onboard, being the crew who stayed longest onboard so far. Mono flew in from Patagonia to replace him. Forbes will be leaving next week to dive and travel in Turks and Caicos, and Summer is staying for another couple of weeks before heading back to Florida.
IMAGINA will sail to Anguilla, St Barths and St Kitts hoping to score some good dive spots. By the end of the month we ll be back in St Maarten to get supplies and change crew. There are 2 people confirmed and one opening left. We will cruise south back to St Kitts, the Leeward and Windward Islands and arrive to Grenada  by the end of July where no hurricanes can get to us!
See our latest PICS and see THE LOG for the latest news!

If you want apply for a spot to crew with us, read through the whole site and send us an email , or drop us a line through the CONTACT page with some info about yourself.
May 13, Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands


We spent a month cruising the Spanish Virgin Islands. Enjoyed Culebra and Vieques a lot, diving and swimming in a biolumiscent bay. We had a great BBQ on the beach, where we ended up running out of gas and almost sinking the dinghy (somebody forgot to put the back plug in) all in the same trip. It was well worth it though!
Jordan flew back to Ashville in North Carolina, he s been a real good crew and we are already missing his singing and crazy jumping...
Samira flew in from Colorado and so did Forbes from London. There are 5 of us onboard together with Ang, who s been with us for about 5 weeks and probably staying for another few. The fishing has been great, Amber Jacks and a real big lobster have been feeding us lately. Not  bad for a bunch of rookies.
We are currently in the little island of Jost Van Dyke, cool and popular, sandy and barefoot walks, dives and hanging out on the beach. We ll cruise the BVIs for the next weeks and get to St Martin by the end of the month. See our latest PICS.




Check THE LOG for the latest news








If you want apply for a spot to crew with us, read through the whole site and send us an email , or drop us a line through the CONTACT page with some info about yourself.
April 17th, Isla Culebra, Puerto Rico

Pois (colorful swinging balls) and a lot of rhum got our crew really creative!  

We made it to Puerto Rico accross the MONA PASSAGE without any problem. After relaxing for a few days in the south coast, we cruised slowly through Ponce and finally arrived to the beautiful eastern islands known as Spanish Virgins. It has been 4 months of cruising against the trade winds, now we are ready to enjoy some short island hopping with the wind on the beam! Our new Genoa is working just great, we are much faster ( as fast as an old boat  can be...). I hope it lasts.
While anchored in Green Beach, in Vieques island, and after an icepick accident we had to go back to "mainland" Puerto Rico to fix our fridge. 3 days "stuck" in Port was enough for everybody onboard. We were ready for some real caribbean time!
Kelly left us  for her flight back to Colorado. She went from seasickness and acupunture while under way, to steering, trimming sails and even helping to get onboard a 20 pound Yellow Jack which we had for three meals in a row. Mariana is back after a 2 week trip to Argentina. That makes 4 of us now onboard (together with Jordan and Ang) and we are having a really good time. We had some serious fun drinking rhum and writing with Poi (some kind of circus like bright swinging balls). 
Jordan is trying to catch a boat ride back to the states at the end of the month, which means we ll be needing crew starting the first weeks of May, near the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Culebra seems to be a chilled little island, free mooring balls for IMAGINA and lots of diving to explore. I guess we won t be leaving too soon....
See our latest PICS


Check THE LOG for the latest news


If you want apply for a spot to crew with us, read through the whole site and send us an email , or drop us a line through the CONTACT page with some info about yourself.
March 21st. Boca Chica, Dominican Republic

SAILING , SAILING AND MORE SAILING!
 The south coast is a pleasure to explore. From La Caleta Underwater National Park to Bayahibe, a pictoresque Dominican town  further to the east.
Isla Saona, with its pristine waters and white sandy beaches, gets hammered with hundreds of people every day. With the boat tied to a mooring ball, and after arriving against the oncoming traffic of catamarans packed with drunk French and Italian tourists (how many can they fit?), we spent a night BBQing on the beach to an almost full moon...just to ourselves...That was cool. See some pics HERE.
The sailing has been great, the best so far. 20/25 knot breezes almost on the beam the whole way, plus a very experienced crew, assured the best time for us and a nice time off to our engine, and peace to our ears. Nothing beats the sound of the hull going through the water!
We are in Boca Chica now, and Ceci, Vic and Connie are gone. We ll get the boat clenaed up and wait for 3 new crew to arrive this week before start heading east towards Puerto Rico. The Mona Passage (potentially big waves and lots of wind) awaits.


Check THE LOG for the latest news

If you want apply for a spot to crew with us, read through the whole site and send us an email , or drop us a line through the CONTACT page with some info about yourself.
February 28th. Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

We crossed over from Turks to Dominican Republic in a beautiful beam reach and sailed to the east coast taking advantage of the night land breeze which weakens the easterlies this time of the year (or so we thought!). After a few quiet days in Samana Bay, we took off and scored a (free) whale watching tour and  a nice wreck dive near Punta Cana. Our new crew, Dario and Adriana, coped well with the rough weather and 10 foot waves during the last 80 miles of the passage.
We ve been getting some rest, and slowly fixing the dinghy davits (which almost collapsed) and some water leaks in the saloon.
On tuesday we plan to head south to a small island called Catalinita and further to Saona before heading toward the southern coast.
Check THE LOG for the latest news.

Read through the whole site and send us an email , or drop us a line through the CONTACT page with some info about yourself if you want apply for a spot to crew with us.
February 9th. South Caicos
The Caicos Bank (Photo by ROMI)
When you see a picture of the Caicos Bank from the sky, it s an amzing scene. Check the pic that Romi sent us when on her way back home after getting off IMAGINA last week. The mix of colours, different blues and greens is trully impressive.
When you try to cross it beating against the wind it is a different matter. It took us 12 hours for the 50 mile trip. Mariana spent 5 hours on the foredeck getting soaked by the 8 foot waves that landed on the boat, while trying to find the coral heads and rocks only 3 feet under the surface. A whole lot of fun....
We are now anchored in Long Cay, and have been sleeping in every morning. We also changed running lights, fuel filter and patched the dinghy (for the 3rd. time).
Dario is flying from Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Adriana is joining us from Santa Cruz(Bolivia) on tuesday. We ll wait for them before heading for Grand Turk. Check the LOG for the latest news.


Read through the whole site and send us an email , or drop us a line through the CONTACT page with some info about you if you want apply for a spot to crew with us.
January 28th., Providenciales, Turks N´Caicos.

After a short trip from southern Bahamas we are anchored off the southern coast of Providenciales, in the Turks N´Caicos. It is a nice bay but very rolly anchorage with not very good holding. We had 2 very good kiting days in Long Bay on the northern shore, but when we finally returned to the boat found her 20 meters from where she was supposed to be! Oooopssss!!! Next time we have a 20 knot wind forecasted we ll drop over 100´ of chain so we can stay put. We don t like being so popular among the other boats...
We are planning a trip to explore the north of "Provo". There are plenty of dive sites we want to see. Nico and Romi took their first breaths underwater last week, while we were cleaning the hull, and a school of baby nurse sharks surprised us and scared the hell out of us as well...They will leave us on Tuesday- Miamibound- with a few dives under their belts.
We will rest for a few days before sailing west to see South Caicos. There are 2 new crew joining beginning of February. We still look for crew for Dominican Republic mid March before we head for Puerto Rico. Check our LOG for the latest news.


Check our WHERE WE ARE GOING page to follow our steps or if you fancy a caribean sailing adventure. We ll go for some good sailing, excellent diving and kitesurfing when possible, combined with some island hopping.
Read through the whole site and send us an email , or drop us a line through the CONTACT page with some info about you if you want apply for a spot to crew with us.
January 10th. Nassau, Bahamas

We are back in Nassau after a 2 week trip to the northern Exumas. Abe, Clara, Romi and Nico helped tremendously to get Imagina safely to the next destination.
We got Sandy Cay all to ourselves for a day, snorkelled off Norman´s sunken plane which belonged to a drug Lord in the 60´s, were chased by huge Iguanas in Allen´s Cay (Mariana almost left a finger for their lunch) and flew our kites to a not so strong SE wind in Chub Cay. A night sail on the way to Rose Island, while on watch, showed Abe and I the biggest and brightest shooting star we ve seen (and for sure will ever see....right Abe?). AMAZING!
Today we dropped off Abe and Clara for their plane back to Miami and will enjoy a bit of "city" life, going ashore for beers and some massive reprovisioning. We also have some engine work to do and try to get a cabin door to stay shut. Other than that the boat is in good shape.
Nico and Romi will continue aboard all the way to Turks and Caicos at the end of the month, when they will fly back to the States. Imagina will need crew starting in March for the trip to Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.


Read through the site and check our WHERE WE ARE GOING page to follow our steps or if you fancy a caribean sailing adventure. We ll go for some good sailing, excellent diving and kitesurfing, combined with some island hopping. Drop us a line through the CONTACT page or send us an email if you want to join.


 

December 8th. Key Biscayne, FL.


Lots of work and some sailing find us anchored in Key Biscane.
Some improvements (new -refurbished- dinghy engine, new Jabsco toilet -Us$300, ouch!- and new anchor/ mast lights are our additions to Imagina.
We went sailing to Key Biscane and found a nice little sheltered anchorage to spend the night and test the new dinghy engine.

The main sail (restiched) behaved really well and, though i don t think we will win any races -yet- helped us reach 6 knots. Not bad at all for an old boat!
Easterly winds and sun preceded 2 stormy days and a cold front which is hitting us right now. We ll stay put till the weather settles, and leave for Key largo and Elliot Bay in a few days.





Read through the site and check our WHERE WE ARE GOING page to follow our steps or if you fancy a caribean sailing adventure. We ll go for some good sailing, excellent diving and kitesurfing, combined with some island hopping. Drop us a line through the CONTACT page or send us an email if you want to join.
Cheers!
November 22nd, Miami Beach
It took us 3 days from Indian Town to Miami Beach. Big fancy "Miami Vice" like mansions, quiet anchorages, dodging bridges and shallow waters! We are finally tied up in a new marina, it is more like a working yard, a bit noisy and messy, but a whole lot cheaper as well...
We will stay here waiting for the new toilets, the generator and some parts for the engine. Approximately in 10 days we ll sail south to Key West and back to Miami to pick up crew before heading to Bahamas.

 Read through the site and check our WHERE WE ARE GOING page to follow our steps or if you fancy a caribean sailing adventure! Good sailing, excellent diving and kitesurfing, combined with some island hopping and homemade BBQs on deck under the stars await us. Drop us a line through the CONTACT page or send us an email if you want to join. We want to go sailing soon! 3 bunks are still open! Cheers.
        

 


November 4th., South Florida

WE ARE BACK IN THE WATER!
After a few days "hanging" in the yard, maintenance is coming along well. Yesterday we took IMAGINA out for a first spin after two months, motoring 5 miles into a local canal without a single engine hiccup. Mariana is learning really fast her new skills as first mate and will be an unvaluable asset for the expedition.
The Florida keys, in 2 weeks time, looks like a good destination as a test for the new main sail and as a preparation trip before our departure in December. Right after this, 2 crew members will arrive for the crossing to the Bimini Islands in the Bahamas.
Bunks are filling up, and we will be sailing January and February, when we get to Turks and Caicos, with a full crew. If you want to come onboard in March for some sailing, diving and Kitesurfing in the Virgin Islands, read through the whole site and send us an email or go to the CONTACT page.
Check WHERE WE ARE GOING NEXT to see our destinations.
October 15th, 2010. South Florida

   
We are docked in Miami harbour carrying out some maintenance, while we wait for the hurricane season to be over. The place is ok, much cheaper and quieter than the big marinas downtown. In December, Nicolas and Romina, IMAGINA´S first crew members ever, will join us for the trip to Bahamas. In Nassau, Abe and Clara will jump onboard for a couple of weeks for some island hopping. We will need crew, later in January and beginning of February for the trip south to the Exuma Islands area as we make our way south. 2 new crew members (Vic and Connie) have just confirmed their spots for the exploration of reefs and beaches in Turks and Caicos, leaving us with only 2  spaces left for February. Read the website and drop us a line through the CONTACT PAGE if you are interested.
Great sailing and snorkeling, Scuba diving and 15 knot winds in flat water reefs for kitesurfing, anchoring in secluded bays and, why not, a bit of partying...it should be great.
Check WHERE WE ARE GOING NEXT