Slava was born very far from the sea, in Belarus, but he became a cadet of Riga Marine College at the age of just fifteen. The first real sea voyage he made was on board a tanker in 1980. Later, Slava joined the Marine Academy in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) where he started his long sea going career, as an engineer on board different types of merchant ships; generally cargo, bulk carriers, and containers. During this time, he saw the polar bears in the Arctic, the gigantic statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, the Docks of Calcutta and the Fjords of Norway. Now, Slava re-joins Captain Romel on The Wellesley to take you on this adventure. He lives is Klaipeda, near the Baltic Sea. He speaks Russian, Belarusian and English. He loves dogs, good books, and his garden.