Position at 1200 UTC. Monday, 21 Nov – Day 0
Hi
all,
Greetings from the Crew
Imagine. This morning at 1100 UTC, Imagine will lift anchor & set a course for the Caribbean!
We
are excited to get underway & reach the Caribbean, but sad to say goodbye for now to many friends. We'll
send daily updates of our progress & love to hear from you all along the way. Last night we had a wonderful
time celebrating Thanksgiving with Neil & Erika on Manuia & the Crew Mehari in Fuetorventura, Canary Islands.
Just
a quick note before we set sail & will write more as we go.
The
Crew Imagine.
Marc, Jane, Caroline, Grant & Noah
Time:
1100 UTC
Current Position: 28 02.8N 14 20.9W
Course:
at anchor
Speed: at anchor
miles
sailed: 0
miles to go: 2850
days
to go: 19
Position at 1200
UTC. Tuesday, 22 Nov – Day 1
Hi
Everyone -
Just a quick note to let
you know that we are doing OK out here. We have had good winds and have only needed to motor a couple of
hours over the last day but unfortunately the seas have been pretty confused today which hasn't been a comfortable ride.
Yesterday, we were able
to do quite a bit of school but today not so much. The teacher hasn't been feeling very well.
Somehow, Grant and I picked up a stomach flu before we left and have felt pretty crumby today and it's not just
seasickness. But we're starting to feel better so hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.
If you follow our course,
you'll notice that we are not going straight to the Caribbean. In order to get into the favorable trade
winds, we need to go south for almost 700 miles before we go west. Hopefully, this will provide us with
good winds and following seas.
We
hope that you are all doing well and getting ready for a wonderful holiday.
Love
to all,
Jane, Marc, Caroline, Grant, and Noah
N
26 degrees 23 minutes
W 16 degrees 43 minutes
Position at 1200 UTC. Wednesday, 23 Nov – Day 2
Hi
all -
We hope that you are doing
well and starting to enjoy your holiday weekend. We are still sailing along and have had great winds.
We have actually had to run the generator for power because we don't need to run the engine - we haven't done
that in a long while. Although not too bad, the seas are still a little yucky (very technical).
But I am looking forward to the long following swells that I have heard so much about for an Atlantic passage.
We were able to do some
school today and the kids have been busy putting together their 3D puzzles that we bought for the passage. Imagine
will be full of 3D puzzles when we arrive in the Caribbean. I'm not quite sure what we will do with
them all.
Grant and I are feeling
much better and so far no one else has gotten sick. Let's hope that continues.
Thanks
for all of the emails with well wishes and prayers. We really appreciate the news from home.
Love to all,
Jane,
Marc, and the kids
N
24 degrees 35 minutes
W 19 degrees 24 minutes
Position at 1200 UTC. Thursday, 24 Nov – Day 3
Happy
Thanksgiving Everyone!!
Well
the crew of Imagine is busy trying to celebrate Thanksgiving out here on the high seas. No School, Yeah!!!
Right now, we are drawing and coloring turkeys and making Indian headbands.
Before
we left, we celebrated an early Thanksgiving feast on the beach in Fuertaventura with our friends from Manuia and Mehari with
chickens, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and even pizza. We even played American football. We won't be having
a huge feast today but we will definitely have some festive treats.
The
seas have settled down some giving us a more comfortable sail for the holiday. We hope that you are all
enjoying yourselves on this Thanksgiving.....spending time with friends and family, watching football, eating turkey, and
giving thanks.
Love
to all,
Jane, Marc, and the kids
Position
at 1200 UTC
N 23 02.1
W 20 22.0
Course:
230T
Speed: 6 knots
Wind: 10-15 knots
Miles
Sailed: 437
Miles to go: 2459
Position at 1200 UTC. Friday, 25 Nov – Day 4
Hi
Everyone -
Hope that you are all
recuperating from a fun Thanksgiving and are enjoying leftovers. All is still going well out here on Imagine.
The winds have been great, so we have sailed almost the entire way so far. The seas are OK - not
great but nothing serious just rolly enough to be annoying. But we're getting used to them.
The kids are well and
actually completed a lot of school today. Appropriately, Caroline and Grant had a US History review on
the Pilgrims today. We also have been trying to do exercises like sit ups, push ups, yoga, etc.
This is quite hilarious on a rolling sailboat.
Have
a great long weekend.
Love
to all,
Jane, Marc, Caroline, Grant, and Noah
N
21 47.7
W 22 44.4
Course: 240T
Speed:
6.5 - 7 knots
Wind: 15-20 knots
Miles
Sailed: 589
Miles to go: 2307
Position Report as of 12:00 UTC Nov 26 – Day 5
Hi
all,
We're still doing
well out here. We've had some great sailing and the seas are becoming more consistent making for a
more comfortable ride.
We
have hit the 20 degree north latitude and have altered course toward the west. Now, it feels like we are
on our way home. Nothing else new. We have the fishing lines out but we haven't
had any bites yet. The kids have been keeping busy doing school, helping with watch, reading, watching
movies, and doing more 3D puzzles (I really have a lot of these).
We
hope that you are all having a great weekend.
Love
to all,
Jane, Marc, Caroline, Grant, and Noah
20
07 N
24 57 W
COG 264
Speed
6 knots
Wind 15E
Miles to go: 2092
Position Report as of 12:00 UTC Nov 27 – Day 6
Hi
Everyone -
Not much new to report
out here. All is going well and we are still sailing right along. We haven't motored
at all for the last few days. I think that this is the longest that we've ever gone without having to run the engine on
a passage. The seas calmed down nicely today so we are all enjoying the ride.
We
broke the 2000 mile to go to our waypoint - Yeah!
We
hope that you all had a great weekend.
Love
to all -
Jane, Marc, Caroline, Grant, and Noah
19
50 N
27 37 W
Course: 250
Speed:
7 knots
1955 miles to go to Barbuda
Position Report as of 12:00 UTC 28 Nov 2011 - Day 7
19°
07.4' N
030° 15.5' W
Course:
240
Speed: 6 knots
1805 miles to go to Barbuda
Hi
all,
Just a quick update from
the Crew Imagine. We continue sailing along and we are thankful to have had an uneventful passage so far.
We are settling into the daily groove with school, watches, reading, eating, sleeping and a daily movie.
We do keep a diligent watch even out here in the middle of nowhere. A couple of nights ago we came
within a 1/2 mile of a fishing boat - we had spotted him miles out, and had to divert course a bit to go around him without
incident, but Marc had flashbacks to the Indain Ocean & GoA. Speaking of which, many of you know that
we sailed with LaPalapa through the GoA corridor and as timing would have it, we are close again out here in the Atlantic
and talk with Roger via SSB daily. We also get on a Net in the mornings with around 30 yachts & provide position reporting
and catch up with friends.
I
thought some of you back home might be interested in the link below to the ARC Rally. Around 230 yachts
left the day before we did from the Canary Islands and you can use the link to see there progress - it's pretty cool technology.
Add in about another 150-250 non rally yachts like us out here, and you can understand why we keep a good watch.
http://www.worldcruising.com/arc/
&
Click on Fleet viewer
Fair
Winds,
The Crew Imagine.
Marc,
Jane, Caroline, Grant & Noah
Position Report as of 12:00 UTC 29 Nov 2011 - Day 8
18°
06.6' N
032° 49.4' W
Course:
260
Speed: 7 knots
1660 miles to go to Barbuda
Hi
all,
All is well on board Imagine.
Last night was a bit lumpy for us with confused seas and made sleeping next to impossible. But today
we seem to be back in a good groove and making good speed & will be taking it a bit easy today.
Starting
to see a few of the sailboats out here - spoke to one on the VHF who was crossing in front of us last night and hear a few
others on the radio out here in our area.
Thanks
for all the notes along the way. It's great to hear the news from home & hearing that a few of
you are getting your Christmas trees & houses decorated already. We got out some of our Christmas music
here and it will be going non stop til New Years now, but will wait to decorate til we reach Barbuda.
http://www.worldcruising.com/arc/
&
Click on Fleet viewer
Fair
Winds,
The Crew Imagine.
Marc,
Jane, Caroline, Grant & Noah
Position Report - 1200 UTC November 30 – Day 9
N
18 02
W 35 36
Course over Ground: 265
Speed:
7 knots
Wind: E 15-20
Miles to go: 1500
Hello
Everyone -
We are still sailing along.
Other than 3 hours very early in the passage, we haven't used the engine at all. Amazing.
We did have a minor catastrophe
though. Our freezer went out a couple of days ago. We couldn't really call the repair
man but Marc finally got it working again. However, it was out long enough for everything to thaw so we
are now in a race against time to eat everything before it goes bad. Of course, the freezer was absolutely packed in order
to feed us for 19 days. Also, to make life easier for the cook this passage, I had already prepared a number
of frozen meals (lasagne, casseroles, curries, pot pies, etc, etc.) so we have to eat all of those plus all of the frozen
meats. Forget about our usual passage diet - we will probably be gaining weight this trip.
Of course, next week it will be pasta, grilled cheese, and tuna salad. Oh well, such is life at
sea.
Other
than that all is going well. We've been busily doing school, reading, making Christmas presents, and
art projects.
We
hope that all of you are enjoying your week.
Love
to all -
Jane, Marc, Caroline, Grant, and Noah
Position Report: Dec 1 - 1200 UTC – Day 10
17
53 N
38 37 W
COG: 270
Speed:
7.5 knots
Hi Everyone -
Big
day today - We passed the half-way point and have ONLY 1295 miles to go!!! This is about 7.5 to 8.5 days
depending on our average speed.
Another
big event today was that the kids finally got to open their Advent Calendars that our friends, Neil and Erika, gave them before
we left. Noah had been counting the days until he could open it. They had eaten their
chocolate piece before I even woke up this morning...something to look forward to everyday.
Other
than that, it's been a fairly quiet day. The teacher decided it was a day off school today as I was
just too tired to teach so we supplemented with a historical movie, lots of reading, and art and music classes.
We
hope that you are all having a great week.
Love
to all,
Jane, Marc, Caroline, Grant, and Noah
Position Report: December 2 - 1200 UTC – Day 11
17
57N
41 30W
Speed: 7 knots
COG:
274
1157 miles to go to Barbuda
Hi
all,
We've had a couple
of great sailing days averaging 171 miles on Nov 30 and 165 miles yesterday; considering our usual average is 150 miles per
day, we're very happy with our progress.
Yesterday,
I mentioned that I was too tired to teach and I thought that I might explain our watch and sleep patterns. As
we already mentioned, we keep a 24 hour watch on Imagine. That means that someone is always up on deck
(except for quick breaks) watching for boats, weather, wind direction, etc. The kids help out with the
watches a lot during the day and evening but Mom isn't really keen on letting them do night watches on their own (although
they'd like to). So Marc and I share the night watches in 4-5 hour shifts. We also
try to take a 2 hour nap during the day. Depending on how much we actually sleep, some nights this works well and we feel
somewhat rested and other nights - well not so great. The other night for me was not great and I was pretty
shattered most of the day. Since you never get a full night's sleep, it's pretty tough to ever
"catch up". The best examples I can give is that it feels like we are on a perpetual "finals
week" or even more like the first few weeks with a brand new baby at home.
Oh
well, it will all be worth it when we get to Barbuda.
As
always, we hope that you are all well and enjoying the week.
Love
to all,
Jane, Marc, Caroline, Grant, and Noah
Position Report - December 3, 1200 UTC – Day 12
17
52 N
44 24 W
COG: 263
Speed:
5.7 knots
993 miles to go to Barbuda!!!!
Hi
all,
We are all thrilled that
we have passed the 1000 mile to go mark. I know that it sounds crazy but mentally it just makes us feel
better. We are all excited to get to Barbuda! We chose Barbuda as our place to complete
our circumnavigation because it was our favorite beach in the World. And right now, we are all looking
forward to running on that 11 mile, pink-sand beach....heaven.
All
is going well out here and we are still sailing right along. Although from the weather reports that we
download daily, it looks like the wind may die down quite a bit in a couple of days and we may have to finally turn on the
engine. Oh well, we certainly can't complain.
Nothing
too exciting going on today, except for school and hanging up our stockings to help promote the Christmas spirit.
We also put the fishing lines out again. We had to take them in when we were trying to eat all of
our thawed food, but now we can finally have some fresh fish. Hopefully, we'll catch a big mahi mahi
today.
We
hope that you are all having a great weekend.
Love
to everyone -
Jane, Marc, Caroline, Grant, and Noah
Position Report - December 4, 1200 UTC – Day 13
17
55 N
46 55 W
COG: 243
Speed:
6.5 knots
815 miles to go to Barbuda...or Les Saintes or Antigua!
Hi
all,
Well, as it goes with
cruising, our plans have to be flexible. A low pressure system that we've been watching all week is
now causing us to alter our course south to avoid the brunt of the potentially nasty weather. Today we
have wonderful conditions and enjoying a great sail, and tomorrow should similar, but then on Tuesday the weather will change
and we are heading south to go around the low. This will leave pretty poor conditions though to close out
our sail and we may end up making landfall further south than we had hoped. Oh well, Jane's favorite
place in the Caribbean was Les Saintes, so all would not be lost!
We
did fish yesterday and were rewarded with a Tuna (too small - threw back) & a Mahi - 36 inches and made for a great dinner,
but the really big one got away unfortunately.
School
was off for Sunday today, and we are relaxing a bit, doing some art, puzzles, reading and will watch a family movie with some
popcorn this afternoon.
We
know we are getting closer to home. We finally rolled the clocks back a couple of hours - we just couldn't
handle it being dark until 9 in the morning anymore. We'll do 2 more hours then be on Atlantic
time EST +1.
We
hope that you are all having a great Sunday - go Bears & Packers!
Love
to everyone -
Jane, Marc, Caroline, Grant, and Noah
Position Report - December 5, 1200 UTC – Day 14
17
03 N
49 27 W
COG: 264
Speed:
7.3 knots
Miles to go: 702 miles to either Barbuda or Antigua
Hi
all,
We had a nice, peaceful
night sailing with quiet seas and so far a good day today. Although we didn't have another record speed
day, we did hit our average of 150 miles so not too bad.
Just
like all of you, it's Monday on Imagine and we are back to school. The kids have been working hard
to get everything done so they can enjoy a real Christmas vacation. They are also working on a BIG art
project with Dad as the teacher. They are trying to complete it today, in case it gets rougher out tomorrow.
We'll keep you all in suspense until we can send a picture when we arrive.
They
have also been spending a lot of time practicing their music. Grant and Noah are playing the recorder and
Caroline the guitar. They are trying to master a couple of Christmas songs for the holidays.
Well that's life out
here on the high seas. We hope that you are all doing well and having a good Monday. Thanks
for all of the emails.
Love
to all,
Marc, Jane, Caroline, Grant, and Noah
Imagine Position - Dec 6 1200 UTC – Day 15
17
08 N
52 15 W
COG: 287
Speed:
6 knots
538 miles to go
Hi
Everyone -
We hope that everything
is going well with all of you. We are still doing OK out here and anxious to get to land.
Today we are experiencing the rain associated with the low pressure system north of us, that we have been watching.
It's been raining buckets out here and the winds have been jumping around from 10 to 30 knots. The kids have declared
it a "movie day" and I have to admit that I agree. It feels like one of those cold, rainy Chicago
days where you want to stay inside all day. Unfortunately for us, someone has to stay on watch.
Luckily, Imagine has the all enclosed cockpit so we have at least been staying warm and dry, so far.
Have
a great day.
Love
to all,
Jane, Marc, Caroline, Grant, and Noah
Position Report as of 12:00 UTC 7 Dec 2011 - Day 16
17°
13.3' N
054° 40.9' W
Course:
274
Speed: 6.4 knots
2450 miles sailed &
a mere 400.1 miles to go to Barbuda
It's
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANE today!!!
We
made it through the low pressure system yesterday that was concerning us for a while. We had torrential
downpours yesterday, but thankfully there was no lightning which was a huge relief. Just high wind gusts
(30+ knots) & a bit rough sea conditions in the morning that once passed, left us a beautiful day for sailing for the
rest of the afternoon which has continued through today. We're not sure what today will bring, but
it's Jane's day off! No school, no making meals, no dishes, no scrubbing the heads! A day in paradise
for Jane.....
We are getting close &
are just keeping our fingers crossed that the weather will cooperate with us for just a couple more days. If
we had to, we could motor the rest of the way in, but it is so nice to continue sailing & we've calculated that we
won't be able to arrive on Friday during the daylight hours, so we don't need to rush & will just take it easy
and plan for a Saturday morning arrival. We are still targeting Barbuda & think we'll be able to
make it there now.
Everyone
on board is well. Marc served up breakfast (dry frosted flakes) to the kids this morning while Jane slept
in (she did the 12am-5am watch last night).
Glad
to hear from everyone & wishing you all well.
Marc,
Jane, Caroline, Grant & Noah
S/V Imagine
Imagine Position Report - December 8, 1200 UTC – Day 17
17
29 N
57 13 W
Course: 273
Speed:
6 knots
254 miles to go!!!
Hi
Everyone!
Thanks to everyone for
my birthday wishes. Although, the seas were a little sloppy, I had a great birthday out here on the high
seas. I awoke to presents of a new wallet and a Canary Islands lava necklace and some beautiful homemade
cards. At School Imagine, the kids don't have to go to school on their birthday so, of course, they
didn't think that the teacher should teach on her birthday either so we had a short day. Do you think
that they are working the system?
The
good news is that we think that we are done with the squalls and winds of the low pressure system, but the bad news is that
now we have no wind. Right now, it is actually 2 knots. And the way that the forecast
looks we may have little to no wind for the rest of the trip. So finally, the Volvo is getting a work out.
Although, it's never fun to motor, we really can't complain after the great run that we have had so far.
The other good news is
that it looks like we will be able to make landfall and complete our circumnavigation on the beautiful beach of Barbuda.
At least it looks like that right now.....
We
hope that you are all having a great day.
Love
to all,
Jane, Marc, Caroline, Grant, and Noah
PS....
Fish ON!!!! We just caught a beautiful 3 ft Wahoo. It looks like fresh fish for dinner!
Position Report as of 12:00 UTC 9 Dec 2011 - Day 18
17°
21.3' N
059° 38,1' W
Course:
270
Speed: 6.2 knots
Wind: East 5-7 knots
115
miles to go to Barbuda
Hi
All,
We continue motor sailing
along our final day at sea. The sun is out today and it's hot!! May have to break for an ocean swim
if the winds stay calm like they are now.
Grant
& I put up the spinnaker this morning for the first time on this trip, and think its a wasted effort - just not enough
wind to even fill the sails. When the girls wake up, I'm sure the order will be to haul in the sails
and crank up the revs. We can't complain though, we had 15 1/2 days of sailing without using the engine
at all, and we are all anxious to make landfall.
We
are seeing a few more sailboats along the way and came close to a french cat out here. He hailed us to
chat and was apparently having problems with his sail and was running low on fuel (real shocker). Jane
asked if he needed any assistance and he came back requesting beer....sorry, not a beer to spare, mon ami.
Hopefully
our final report will come to you tomorrow as we should arrive to anchor at first light in the morning on the 11 mile pink
sand beach of Barbuda.
Fair
winds from the Crew Imagine.
Jane,
Marc, Caroline, Grant & Noah
Position Report as of 12:00 UTC 10 Dec 2011 - Day 19
17°
38.24' N
061° 51.2' W
2,861
MILES SAILED - 0 TO GO
WE
MADE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi
All,
Early this morning at
5:16am local time, Imagine & Crew dropped anchor off the 11 mile pink sand beach of the island of Barbuda!
We
are very blessed and thankful for a safe and uneventful passage. Dropping anchor here in Barbuda marks
a huge milestone for us.... It is here at this very special beach on Barbuda that we cross our line to close the loop on our
circumnavigation!
That
is 35,650 MILES since we left Chicago in early September 2008. WOW, WHAT A RIDE.
We'll
write a more detailed update soon, but wanted to share the news. Thanks to all for following our adventure
and your notes along the way.
Now
it's time to pop the champagne (and Shirley Temples), sit back on the back deck and enjoy the sunset!
Fair
winds from the Crew Imagine
Jane,
Marc, Caroline, Grant & Noah
