Rean Philip Snyman

My hubby is the Skipper of this vessel and was born in South Africa in 1970. By trade, he is a computer programmer and entrepreneur. He has also been involved in yacht charters for many years and has been itching to get out on his yacht and sail around the world. Rean started sailing in the early 90s and is the ultimate handyman. He loves tinkering on the yacht and insists on knowing how everything works. He not only designed the interior layout of our boat but literally everything that went with that, electrical plans, AC ducting, plumbing, whatever you can think of that is necessary, he researched, planned and designed. Naturally, he is also the best husband in the world!

Mari Snyman

I was born in 1978, also in South Africa which is where we met and got married. I was an attorney for a few years but ‘retired’ when we moved to the UK and became a housewife – best move ever! I have no formal training in sailing and have to give credit to hubby for teaching me all I know. Naturally, I am the galley slave! I will also be the one documenting our travels as I enjoy that sort of thing. I am not, however, a computer or technical wiz, so please have patience with me as I’m figuring all this out as we go along.

Pepper dog

Pepper the deckhand, born in England on 26th of June 2009, is our Yorkshire Terrier and has been travelling the world (the little bit of it that we’ve seen so far) with us but has never gone sailing - he is in for a surprise! Pepper will be responsible for chasing birds and thereby keeping the decks poop free which of course makes him the most important member of the crew. We haven’t quite figured out where he is going to poop, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

Temporary Crew

On our voyage across many oceans we hope to be joined by our family and friends as often as they can. To help us on our way, the people below have all assisted us with the renovation of Top Secret and are joining us until we reach the Caribbean. It will certainly make it easier on the long voyages so everyone can get enough sleep and not continually have to be on watch. We are very grateful to them and hope they enjoy the ride!

Henry Snyman

Even though the surname may suggest it, Henry is not related to Rean, he is just a mate. He was born in South Africa and assisted us tremendously with the renovation of Top Secret. Being a builder Henry’s input was invaluable and as he is always up for a challenge, he immediately volunteered to join us across the Atlantic. Henry does not have much sailing experience, but as he is quite a logical and practical person, we are very happy to have him tag along.