ABOUT US

Welcome to our journal. This blog was inspired after a night of catching up with our cruising friends. As we exchanged stories of our travels - where we've been, what we did, how the passage was, etc. It dawned on us that our memories aren't as good as they used to be (not that they were great to begin with..)

We had forgotten a lot about the finer details of our experiences during our travels that make it ours. We could remember the destinations, sure! But it's the journey that matters, right?

So, at the end of 2016, we decided to start a journal/blog not only as a way of documenting our travels, experiences & adventures for ourselves, our family & friends but also to share information with fellow cruisers & travellers alike. If you don't know us and just so happen to chance upon this site, Welcome. We hope you will also enjoy our tales and follow our journey. 



Alex

The Captain. The 3rd owner of Raptor. I was born in Odessa, in the USSR and immigrated to Melbourne, Australia at age five. After a trip to Thailand in 1995, I was bitten deeply by the travel bug, and have continuously traveled since.

I am an avid travel photographer with a focus on underwater photography. As a photographer I try as much as possible to get to places where tourists do not go (both above & below the water). I decided to get my own boat to get to places where commercial dive boats cannot, and as such I'm always in search of pristine reefs that are isolated or undiscovered by the masses.

I set off on a world circumnavigation aboard my 46ft ocean-going catamaran Raptor in 2007. Sailed the east coast of Australia to Papua New Guinea, then to East Malaysia, Indonesia and landed in Singapore for almost 4 years to work before resuming my journey in 2012.

Joni
 
The "First Mate". I was born and bred in Malaysia, and moved to Singapore in 2001 for work. I too have always loved to travel and enjoy all sorts of water sports like diving, swimming, wakeboarding & even underwater hockey! So, the thought of sailing the world intrigued me, even though I had no prior sailing experience.  

I joined Alex on his journey in 2012. My initial plan was to take a 3-6 months break from the rat race. Fast forward, two oceans later, I'm still here and still going.. "Living the dream" or trying to at least. 

Living on a boat, is not without its challenges. It's expensive to maintain and you spend a lot of time working on it (repairs & maintenance) in "exotic" places. Sometimes you can get stuck in that "exotic" place for too long! It's not all champagne and sunbathing as most perceive it to be. But it does bring a certain adventure, change in lifestyle and new perspective to life.


All About Raptor



Raptor is a 46' Fastback 43s cruising catamaran built by John Goss in 1996. It has comfortable sleeping quarters for up to 6 people (2x Queen, 1x Double & 2x Single cabins; one of which is for storage). It has a single bathroom with a separate shower, a desalinator for fresh water, and is powered by 4 x 130Watt Solar Panels & a Wind Generator. 

It has a single inboard, cockpit mounted 50HP Yanmar diesel engine with a retractable saildrive leg {yes, single engine on a catamaran}. The vessel weighs approx 7.5 tonnes empty, and around 10 tonnes fully laden (all gear, fuel, water). 

Raptor is a cutter, masthead rig with a full compliment of sails (incl. spinnaker), and all navigation gear, as well as a VHF radio. Raptor has an Iridium 9505A satellite phone with masthead antenna on board in case of emergency, or general correspondence, as well as all required safety gear - life jackets, 406MHz EPIRB, drogue, sea anchor, etc. 

For more photos: See the Raptor


The Plan

To circumnavigate around the world. Raptor set sail from Melbourne, up the east coast of Australia to Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Maldives, Chagos, Mauritius, Reunion Island, South Africa, Namibia, St Helena, Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago. Raptor will make her way through the Caribbean islands. After that its out through the Panama Canal & on to the Galapagos Islands and the rest of the South Pacific. And finally back to Australia.


If you're curious about how much it costs, hop on to FAQ | Costs of Cruising

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