TIMOR AROUND THE WORLD IN 30,000 Nautical Miles THE OWNERS OF dren but lacked the yacht. Even traveling in 3rst class, GOLDEN COMPASS the demands of the lengthy trip—hauling two children EARNED THE and luggage from country to country via air, rail and VOYAGER’S AWARD road and the inconsistent quality of meals and accom- FOR THEIR EPIC modations—proved to be quite challenging. GLOBETROTTING, The highlight of that 3rst trip turned out to be a week WHICH TAUGHT THEM spent aboard a charter yacht in the Greek isles. HOW MUCH CAN BE “That week was absolutely magical,” says Kristy. GAINED FROM VISITING “We had never experienced that level of service, PORTS LESSER KNOWN. comfort and excitement, it was unforgettable. We started to imagine what it would be like to travel around the world on our own yacht for an extended JIM RAYCROFT !"# $%&#'( $) *+*-)$$! %$',--'$./0&1 period of time. Wouldn’t it be perfect if we could travel motor yacht Golden Compass, Ed and Kristy (last to India, China and Southeast Asia without the di5- name withheld on their request), developed a deep culty caused by interruption of [our] normal diet, exer- enjoyment and appreciation for the sea at young cise and sleep routines?” ages growing up in their respective childhood homes They began attending the Fort Lauderdale and of Seattle, Washington, and Southern California. Monaco boat shows. Drawing on their extensive travel When they met and began to grow a family of their experiences and the hundreds of yachts they toured own, it was only natural that boating remained an during these shows, they began developing the image important part of their lives, providing unforgettable of their ideal yacht. memories as they explored Washington’s San Juan “As owners with little experience in superyacht TIMOR islands aboard Ed’s father’s 35-foot Tollycra2. cruising, we struggled to identify the most important “We had a wonderful time exploring various ports— attributes of a yacht to best meet our personal needs salmon 3shing, putting out the shrimp and the crab as well as those of our charter guests,” says Ed. MALDIVES pots, hiking, biking and enjoying the wonderful scenery Their initial spec for a 130-foot yacht with and wildlife,” Kristy says. 2,800-nautical mile range was soon expanded to 150 Next, they acquired a 50-foot Chris-Cra2 to continue feet with a 3,000-nautical mile range. They looked into their exploration of the Paci3c Northwest, and the commissioning a new build but found the delivery date increasing enjoyment boating brought to the family pushed their timeline too far into the future. experience inspired a dream in Ed and Kristy to travel “Suddenly, the economy changed dramatically, and the world with the kids in tow. the cost of yachts plummeted. Yachts that we could not “We equipped the decks with netting to prevent any consider previously were now a reality,” says Ed. mishaps with the children and continued exploring The right vessel at the right time turned out to be a farther up the West Coast to Alaska,” Ed says. “We 151-foot Picchiotti, an Arthur DeFever design built in decided that we really wanted to travel around the 1982. The full-displacement, steel hull vessel had AMAZON world with our kids for a year before they reached high ample beam that provided a spacious, stable platform school; this became our main priority.” while her relatively shallow dra2 made many anchor- these pages But there would be years of family raising and hard- ages accessible. Meanwhile, her fuel-e5cient engines, Some of Ed and Kristy’s (le! page) favorite charging career moves to come before they would pull generators, desalination equipment, HVAC and redun- moments on their 30,000-nautical-mile voyage that dream out and dust it o4. Their 3rst around-the- dant systems were chosen for their relative simplicity include cruising the Amazon River and diving more than 100 of the best dive sites in the world, world adventure came in 2001/2002 as a 15-month to maintain. The accommodations with an owners’ including those of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. journey, which included home schooling their two chil- suite and four guest staterooms would provide the 182 SHOWBOATS INTERNATIONAL SHOWBOATS INTERNATIONAL 183 ADVENTURE CRUISING CUBA required space for friends and family to visit and also track. They found themselves on a journey that would serve well for charter. literally and 3guratively expand their horizons and The deal was made at the end of 2008, with the re3t challenge their world views. taking place in Fort Lauderdale. The owners jumped “Cuba [brought up] so many con6icting views: The into the project full time, moving aboard the yacht and youth struggling to move the country forward and acting as general contractors. From the end of Decem- make more progress; girls dressed to the nines on a ber 2008 through mid-August 2009, Golden Compass Friday night in spite of the rampant poverty; pristine was a dream in progress. natural park areas with few if any local tourists; a once- “We subcontracted the work ourselves and spent thriving Havana trying to hang on to its roots, 3ghting hours developing plans and checklists,” Ed says. “We deterioration, as they slowly renovate, caught in a 32ies were fortunate to have the advice and guidance of time warp,” Kristy re6ects. dozens of industry experts whose e4orts were invalu- Over the following year, Golden Compass would able. We developed many lifelong friendships during explore The Bahamas and Caribbean and make it all this process, which laid the foundation for the success the way down to South America. “The Amazon River of the entire journey.” (see SBI July/August 2010) was remote and beautiful Planning the start date of the Golden Compass “world in the few areas that are still untouched,” Ed says. “Very tour” turned out to be a moving target from day one. few luxury yachts travel here, so the reception and But as the work on the re3t was winding down, the interest we received from the locals was amazing. The plan for the world cruise was heating up. kids paddled in their dugout canoes to greet us. Word “We had many preconceived ideas about where and of our arrival would spread up river by word of mouth when we would go and how long we would stay in and radio. Hundreds of kids in their canoes were ready various destinations,” Kristy says. “We are intrepid trav- for us as we passed their villages.” elers, but this style of yachting was new to us and we Golden Compass continued on, crossing the Atlantic were trying to incorporate personal preferences and to the Canary Islands, on to Gibraltar then calling on advice from more seasoned superyacht owners. If ports throughout the Mediterranean. By the fall of 2010, measured by the length of dinner conversations and she had worked her way around the boot of Italy into answers received from others, there is no doubt that the Adriatic to the coast of Croatia, south to Montene- destinations such as the Amazon, remote Indonesian gro and then to the Greek isles, Crete, Turkey, Cyprus islands, East Timor and Papua New Guinea would and on to Israel and Port Said. She transited the Suez provide a far more exciting itinerary than the Carib- Canal, stopping in the Egyptian port of Sharm el- bean, Mediterranean and South Paci3c. The realiza- Sheikh before continuing down the Red Sea through these pages tion that we would 3nd such satisfaction in these the Gulf of Aden and ending the year in Dubai, U.A.E. The owners’ choice to cruise to remote areas was a big surprise for us and for the few Early 2011 found Golden Compass on the move again, off-the-beaten track locations guests who dared venture with us.” heading south in the Indian Ocean on her way to the AMAZON led Golden Compass to tour the small island nation of East Timor Traveling by yacht came with some other surprises, Maldives and some of the best diving on the planet. with the country’s president too. “We initially anticipated leaving Fort Lauderdale Continuing easterly, she called on ports in Sri Lanka, (middle, far right) and experience in August 2009, but we soon learned that itineraries India and Andaman Islands before transiting the Bay a 1950’s time warp in Havana, INDONESIA Cuba (top, far right). have to be constantly adjusted according to weather of Bengal to Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. TIMOR patterns, immigration requirements, bunkering require- “Traveling aboard Golden Compass gave us the ments, moorage/anchorage availability, provisioning safety and security we needed to be con3dent to needs and associated costs,” says Ed. As the trip explore remote areas,” Ed explains. “Not limited to progressed, they would become familiar with the sort areas within comfortable driving distance from a of challenges that were inherent when traveling by resort, we could simply cruise and anchor anywhere yacht to remote lands, including exchanging thousands that looked interesting. of emails with yacht agents and government o5cials “Cruising by yacht provided the added bene3t of to coordinate trips up the Amazon River and to seldom- allowing guests to concentrate on the here-and-now, visited countries such as East Timor and arranging to become comfortably immersed in the texture and special security in many destinations, including Colom- 6avor of the surrounding culture—not to be distracted bia, Cuba, Port Said, Gulf of Aden and Jakarta. by the challenges of conventional travel,” says Ed. “We started to imagine what it would By October 2009, the Golden Compass voyage was Yet traveling by luxury yacht also allowed guests to be like to travel around the world on our 3nally underway.