A Ship Resurfacing from the Salty Ashes
- Raissa Teles
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
You never know when a surprise will come your way, until it arrives.
With a bold dream and a past full of memories and stories, a ship had sunk in the harbor of Ibiza, waiting for new owners to reshape its future.
A bunch of crazy people - dreamers, entrepreneurs, pirates, farmers, and wizards, had to come together for this mission.
The time had come for allies to join forces, to finally unite utopias built on land with those born at sea.
This is the story of a boat, a fairytale, and the birth of an alliance across oceans. It’s about the power of staying open, to change course, and to receive the unexpected gifts of the great mystery.
Our first time meeting the boat, Juntos farm and Christian
October 2024
On one hand, we were happy, proud, and complete, having realized so many dreams we had long been preparing for.
But we were also exhausted. It had been a long sailing season, from crossing the Atlantic to reaching Norway, Iceland, and Greenland.
We were confused, not sure how to continue with Piratas do Amor in a way that could be financially sustainable.
As much as we love the ocean, we needed a break from the wind and water. We longed to anchor ourselves, to rest, and were excited to begin our community project in the forests of Brazil.
We had invested two years (and a lot of money) to get our licenses at Enkhuizen, becoming First Officers for tall ships up to 500 tons.
But it was never about becoming professional sailors.
Our dream has always been to create experiences at sea, to practice a new culture based on love.
For us, sailboats are laboratories for true cooperation, autonomy, community living, and remembrance of how to live in harmony with nature.
After trying for years, we learned it’s not easy to make a living from this dream, and that the commercial sailing industry, with very few exceptions, is not exactly aligned with our values and vision.
Thinking of giving up and restarting Piratas do Amor on land, we decided to go to Ibiza.
We just wanted to rest, meet our dear friends Chabeli and Keith who live there, and decompress after working so much in Greenland.
And I must confess: we had never really wanted to go to Ibiza.
I personally thought it was only a party island - full of drugs and distractions.
But surprise, surprise: it’s much more than that.
On our last night, we went to a dinner party with some friends. A guy sat down next to us and asked: “Are you the Pirates of Love?”
We clicked instantly.
We told him about us, and how the hell we became pirates.
He told us about himself. Christian is his name, also a pirate, but in disguise.
A man with unique charisma, bright eyes, and revolutionary visions.
A crazy Swedish guy, founder of Juntos Farm, a regenerative hub in Ibiza.
Besides the farm, and and everything that comes with this already huge project, he also recently bought an old wooden Spanish tall ship. Why not, right?
His dream: to ship cargo under sail and host conscious events and meaningful expeditions.
We had the experience he needed.
He had the boat we were searching for.
But more than that, we believed in each other’s dreams: as if they belonged to the same story.
Beyond the boat, his vision is about spreading a message of resilience, autonomy, and freedom. That night, we all agreed that the world seems to be going in a strange and dangerous direction, ruled by fear and control, where humans appear more and more disconnected from their bodies, hands, intuition, wild nature, and each other.
And so we wondered: if the system collapses, how will we still travel between regenerative projects and communities? How can we ship our organic goods and food, while also experiencing the awe and healing power of the ocean’s horizon?
The answer is called Cala Millor.
Before we left Ibiza, Christian asked us: “What would you do if this boat were yours?”
With hearts full of inspiration and minds overflowing with ideas, we returned to Brazil ready to shift our lives into a new phase. After so many years embraced by the sea, we fell in love with the forest, and, together with our dearest friends, began shaping a community project from scratch called Tiwa.
How could we now integrate our passion for the sea with the need to grow roots?
We regained our health and strength, recovered from what felt like a long hangover of salt water, and began putting our thoughts and intentions onto paper.
Still as volunteers, we returned to Ibiza twice more, and Christian visited us once in Tiwa.
Beyond the boat project, a deep friendship and alliance was born between us.
Alliance Brazil - Ibiza
Our networks of friends were somehow already connected, people devoted to the regeneration of Nature and humanity, working on bioregional development, agroforestry, spirituality, art, and culture. From Ibiza to Brazil, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Atlantic Forest, from Bahia to the Amazon.
We realized that Cala Millor was an essential piece of this puzzle, perhaps the Mother Ship of a Medicine Fleet.
The start of a constellation of aligned vessels and soulful crews, engaged in fair trade between organic producers, connecting regenerative communities around the globe, and hosting journeys where adventure meets spirituality, where life aboard, sailing, and the ocean itself become a medicine for the disconnection of modern times.
The dream is big, but we must start small, and local.
October 2025
Exactly one year after meeting Christian for the first time, and after generating the impulse that jump-started this wild dream, we returned to Ibiza.
This time, as three Pirates of Love: Christof, me, and Michal, our dear friend whom we invited to help shape this dream team and be in service of Cala Millor.
Michal is a Catalyst Wizard, on land and at sea. A brilliant facilitator, artist, and sailor. We met at the Traditional Dream Factory in Portugal in 2022, and despite our nomadic lives, we kept the friendship alive. He later joined our Pirate Voyage in Spain, we sailed aboard Grayhound from Azores to Passaia, and always dreamed of working together one day.
This day arrived.
We spent ten days together, working in sprint mode, grounding the vision, mapping strengths, challenges, shadows, and the true purpose of this boat.
We came to understand what had moved Christian and Doron, the other founder, to buy the boat.
It’s about creating a platform for transformation, where people can question their relationship with themselves, each other, and the world.
Working in sprint mode, where art, cards, nature, siestas, weird stuff, cuddle puddles, endless creation and brainstorming all come together on the magical island of Ibiza.
Cala Millor wants to be a flagship for the regenerative movement.
And just like a human being, with many layers and gifts, she has her own unique qualities:
She can carry up to 250 tons of cargo, sailing organic and ethical goods between the Balearic Islands, the Mediterranean, and eventually across oceans.
She has a day license for up to 150 guests in Ibiza. It may sound like a party boat, but no. She will host conscious gatherings rooted in an authentic, participative, artsy onboard culture.
She can also cross oceans and take people on longer expeditions: voyages that serve as true rites of passage: healing, transformative, and in deep communion with nature.
This triangle is unique: it allows us to generate income during the summer season in Ibiza, and then have the financial freedom to explore different cargo routes and long ocean crossings.
The dream is that after next year’s prototype season, we will sail Cala Millor to Brazil in 2027, hosting medicine journeys up the Amazon River.
On the way back, we will stop in the Azores with many other sailboats, to celebrate ancient wisdom, and the power of self-reliance and freedom in times of control.
“It doesn’t matter where the world goes, we are ready!” says Christian, on the long-term dream of Cala Millor and Juntos Farm.
We are part of this dream becoming real, day by day.
Piratas do Amor are now part of the Cala Millor crew, together with Diego, our captain, and founders Doron and Christian. Our mission is to help bring the Legend of Cala Millor to life: to shape the onboard culture as true pirates of a new era, to design the concepts behind the events, cargo, and voyages, and to start spreading the word about this ship bound for glory.
What an honor to be part of such a wild and beautiful endeavor.
The next sprint will happen in Brazil at the beginning of next year. The boat will hopefully touch the water by the summer of 2026.
Keep your fingers crossed, and your pirate eyes open, for the legend of Cala Millor to resurface from the salty ashes.
Soon.
Another surprise of life, just when we were about to give up.
I guess when we walk the path of our true mission, greater forces keep helping us rise whenever we fall.
A big cheers to bold souls who believe in their dreams, and pull every rope possible to make them happen, with integrity and love.
If not now, then when?
With love,
Raíssa
Pirata do Amor
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