Captain Shawn Dear, 43
If the third time’s the charm, Shawn Dear has found his true calling as a charter captain.
Career number one, spanning 16 years, put his Honors Degree in Electronics Systems to good use. Now, maintaining IMAGINATION’s communications and navigation equipment keeps Shawn’s electronics skills up-to-date, while career number two as a UK policeman sharpened his people skills to deal with all situations that arise sailing the seven seas.
Captain Dear’s main areas of knowledge are St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and the BVI’s. His sailing experience includes crewing on private monohull yachts and skippering a variety of multihulls for Tradewinds Cruise Club out of Bequia, St. Martin and the BVI’s. For 18 months he was the First Mate on the Tall Ship Royal Albatross based in Malaysia and Singapore. He has sailed the coast of Southern Africa from NW of Capetown, past the Cape of Good Hope and up to Durban and back - and done an Atlantic crossing from Antigua to Bermuda and on to the Azores.
Shawn is ‘a young-minded, sporty guy’ whose interests revolve around squash, martial arts, fishing, windsurfing, hiking and diving. He enjoys having kids on board who like being on the water and can swim. Describing himself as a very patient PADI MSDT Scuba Instructor, Shawn is fully comfortable taking 10 year olds diving. In his role of Activities Director he has stocked plenty of fishing gear onboard, plus an inflatable kayak, windsurfer, noodles, lots of beach games and scuba gear in an assortment of sizes. There are board games for the rare rainy day and as children first come aboard, they are given a notebook for drawing, painting and writing about their sailing adventures.
Captain Dear does his best to give IMAGINATION’s guests of every age the holiday of a lifetime – whether that will be an activity-filled cruise or lazy days to relax, chill out and recharge.
Chef Ally Dear, British, 43
Ally started handling boats as a youngster messing about on sailing dinghies in the estuaries of England. Fast forward a few decades to find her island hopping in the West Indies, confidently handling all the duties of First Mate and Chef aboard IMAGINATION. To ensure her guests enjoy the best provisions and the highest quality local ingredients, Ally prepared, tweaked and re-tweaked dozens of recipes, creating menus to suit a variety of palates and dietary preferences. Her dishes are inspired by the cuisines of the southern United States, Italy and France - with "the occasional Caribbean twist."
With Shawn, Ally has logged thousands of miles on IMAGINATION sailing from St. Lucia to Grenada learning all the best spots to take charter guests. They both love hiking in the rugged beauty of the Windward Islands and discovering the wonders of the Caribbean underwater world. Ally, a PADI Qualified Open Water Diver, is continuing her SCUBA training with the aim of becoming a Divemaster.
Before running away to sea Ally was a Registered General Nurse at Poole Hospital Trust in England for 23 years.
