followtheboat | Site-Wide Activity

Jamie wrote a new post

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 11:09:04 +0000

Labuan Bajo Old Town – Komodo District, Flores Labuan Bajo is the fishing port on the west end of Flores, the large Indonesian island that’s home to the Komodo National Park. Most people come here […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 09:48:28 +0000

Free Photo Download – Lombok Morning Fishermen Having gone through thousands of photos for our new book, I thought a few of the unused ones were worthy of seeing the light of day! This photo was […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 09:53:40 +0000

Where Have We Been? (Hint: It Involves 100,000 Words and Two Thousand Photos) No, the bilge hasn’t flooded, and no, we haven’t been boarded by Yorkshire canal pirates! We’ve had our heads down working on our cruising guide, […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 06:00:00 +0000

One Year On and Liz's Book It’s been a year to the day that we moved onto Happidaze. When we look back over the last 12 months we realise just how many projects we have […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 17:43:34 +0000

Podcast: A Year Later – Looking Fowards and Looking Back We’ve just published our first podcast of 2026. Did you know it has been exactly a year to the day that we moved onto Happidaze? Although we’ve not […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 13:23:57 +0000

One Year On The Canals It’s been exactly a year since we swapped our sailing boat for a widebeam canal boat, after nearly 20 years living afloat. How has it been — and do we […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Sun, 07 Dec 2025 01:06:00 +0000

Boat Life Game Changer – Installing A SEPARATING / COMPOSTING Toilet We decommission our electric pump-out toilet and replace it with a separating toilet, often called a composting toilet. Why would … Read More »

Jamie wrote a new post

Sat, 06 Dec 2025 11:04:52 +0000

We Got Rid Of Our Pump-Out Toilet A new post for our FTBMates, in which we finally replace our pump-out toilet for a new separating toilet. This involved drilling some pretty big holes […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Sun, 09 Nov 2025 00:09:00 +0000

No Wonder Our Diesel Generator Wasn't Working! There is just one job left before we can become continual cruisers. Well, I say ‘one job’, but we all know boat maintenance never … Read More »

Jamie wrote a new post

Sat, 08 Nov 2025 11:54:51 +0000

Recommissioning Our Diesel Generator Just look at the state of our generator’s cooling system. No wonder it wasn’t running properly! It was like someone had poured a cup of mud into […]

Jamie Furlong wrote a new post

Sun, 02 Nov 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Onum Harvest Festival In Cochin In our look at the People of Madurai, we timed our visit for their havest festival, Pongal. Meanwhile, in the neighbouring state, … Read More »

Jamie wrote a new post

Sun, 26 Oct 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Repairing Our Webasto Heater, Our Generator… And Our Dog! When we took Marley, our Buladore dog, from the kennels, he came with a report stating he was ‘giddy’. You wouldn’t think it when … Read More »

Jamie wrote a new post

Sat, 25 Oct 2025 10:54:58 +0000

Free Desktop Image Download This image was taken from The Suites, a boutique hotel on the west coast of Lombok. It was one of our favourite anchorages (you can catch a glimpse of […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 21:57:50 +0000

There's Just One Thing Left Before We Leave… Ahoy! There’s one thing left to sort out on our boat before we can leave and call ourselves ‘continual cruisers’. It’s been plagueing us since May, […]

Jamie Furlong wrote a new post

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 10:13:31 +0000

The People Of Madurai – Street Photography Madurai is the ‘cultural capital’ of the state of Tamil Nadu, SE India. We visited in January 2011, around the time the local people were […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Sun, 05 Oct 2025 01:15:00 +0000

Testing Our OffGridWater Filtration System on Our Canal Boat – Part 3 Introduction It feels like a long while since we’ve been out on the canal, but we chose a glorious day to test our new water m … Read More »

Jamie wrote a new post

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 13:18:46 +0000

The End of Water Rationing: Our Best Upgrade Yet Finalised Is this the ultimate off-grid water solution for boat life? We’ve finally solved the biggest problem every boater faces: running out of fresh water. […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Sat, 27 Sep 2025 22:33:47 +0000

How We’re Installing an OffGridWater Water Filtration System on Our Canal Boat: Part 2 Welcome back to our project of creating a completely self-sufficient water purification system aboard our wide beam canal boat! In … Read More »

Jamie wrote a new post

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 09:27:04 +0000

Boat Water Filtration Part 2… and new T-Shirts! Ahoy! Welcome back to our project of creating a completely self-sufficient water purification system aboard our wide beam canal boat! In the first […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 11:45:10 +0000

How We're Installing a 6-Stage Water Filtration System on Our Canal Boat: Part 1 Embarking on Our Water Filtration Journey In the first of a two-part series, we embarked on the installation of a comprehensive OffGridWater water […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Sun, 07 Sep 2025 15:05:11 +0000

Installing an OffGridWater Purification System for Safe Drinking Water on Our Canal Boat Can we make canal water drinkable? We begin our installation of the OffGridWater purification system for our widebeam canal boat and we know you have […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Sun, 31 Aug 2025 07:53:50 +0000

Cromer in Black & White – August Bank Holiday at the Seaside An August Bank Holiday is more than just a trip to the seaside; it’s a snapshot of Britishness: ice cream and chips, wind and rain, chaos and myths, a […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 17:00:00 +0000

From Green to Clean: Our Quest for True Water Independence on the Canals Introduction To Water Independence Is it possible to turn murky canal water into safe drinking water on a narrowboat? We’re on a … Read More »

Jamie wrote a new post

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 11:07:30 +0000

Plannning Our Water Filtration System Is it possible to turn murky canal water into safe drinking water on a narrowboat? If you caught our comprehensive post on water filtration, you’ll […]

Jamie Furlong wrote a new post

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 11:15:13 +0000

The Backstreets And The People of Massawa, Eritrea In this photo essay, we revisit our trip to Massawa Eritrea, in 2010. Many of the photographs in the original blog post were of … Read More »

Jamie wrote a new post

Sun, 10 Aug 2025 10:14:32 +0000

We've Revamped Our Website With Better Images & Clearer Navigation We’ve been reviewing our website and have made a few adjustments to its structure. This was due, in part, to missing images from older posts, dead […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Sat, 09 Aug 2025 07:44:05 +0000

Your Questions On Water Purification From The Canal Hello, dear friends. Our next big project aboard Happidaze is the installation of our water purification system. We know you have questions, and some […]

Jamie Furlong wrote a new post

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 08:43:07 +0000

Unveiling the Soul of Dharavi, Mumbai: An Unforgettable Photo Journey In April of 2010 we went to visit the Dharavi slums of Mumbai. Twice. It was an incredible experience, and we got to grips with the society […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 21:37:58 +0000

Rediscovering My Intimate India Photos with Modern Photoshop I’ve been doing some housework on our blog, and I’ve noticed many of my India photos are missing from old posts. This is an opportunity to revisit […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 19:42:35 +0000

The Ultimate Guide to Fail-Proof Canal Water Filtration The allure of continuous cruising is the promise of freedom and self-sufficiency. However, that independence requires us to master our own resources. […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 13:04:24 +0000

Black and White Photography Around The Boatyard As you may suspect I own a few cameras, but I love the idea of having a dedicated one for black and white photography. In my arsenal is a Fujifilm […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 07:28:50 +0000

New clobber for our supporters coming soon We haven’t posted a new video lately, if you don’t count all the live streams we’ve been broadcasting, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy. In […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Sat, 26 Jul 2025 10:35:07 +0000

Your Questions – Live Stream Broadcast Technical gremlins have been sorted so we are rescheduling our live stream broadcast for Sunday 4pm British Summer Time. That’s New York 11am – […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 11:17:57 +0000

Would you like to see a live stream from our boat? Would you like to see a permanent live stream from our boat? We have this crazy idea that we could install a dedicated live … Read More »

Jamie wrote a new post

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 08:45:37 +0000

How I Use Infrared Photography for Black and White Photos In our latest episode I include a few infrared photographs. I suspect many of you will not be familiar with infrared photography, … Read More »

Jamie wrote a new post

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 07:40:12 +0000

Walking In A Park Made of Glass – Barnby Dun Do you know what a ‘cullet’ is? No, neither did we, but we’ve added the word to our vocabulary after learning about a Pilkingtons Glass landfill that’s […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 06:49:20 +0000

Would you drink canal water?! In this week’s episode we give our newly installed solar panels a test and take you to a beautiful little nature reserve that we suspect most […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 10:03:56 +0000

A complete guide to installing 3kW of solar on our boat This week’s video is a bumper episode in which we cover the entire thought process and installation of our solar panels aboard our widebeam canal boat. […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 09:32:25 +0000

Installing 3kW of solar panel power on our boat – are we crazy?! Ever wondered if you can power a floating home entirely with the sun? In this post and our latest video episode, we’re taking you a … Read More »

Jamie wrote a new post

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 17:37:49 +0000

Letting Go Of The Past For A Simpler Life Now that we’re full ensconced aboard Happidaze on the canals of England, we take your questions and ponder on our new lives. What’s the downside of […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Mon, 23 Jun 2025 11:38:04 +0000

Our New Logo It took us a while but we’ve finally settled on a new logo for followtheboat. We needed something that would encapsulate our sailing heritage and our […]

Liz wrote a new post

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 16:42:59 +0000

Summer has arrived, but boat maintenance never stops! Summer is here; we feel it everywhere, in the light, in the trees, in the birdsong, and in the wildlife. From misty mornings to … Read More »

Liz wrote a new post

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 15:47:09 +0000

Working through the seasons It’s the longest day of the year this week, and we’ve been living aboard our wide beam canal boat for five months now. While Jam … Read More »

Jamie wrote a new post

Sat, 14 Jun 2025 10:20:25 +0000

Photo stacking for great macro photography In Episode 398: Is off-grid mooring the last freedom? (Life on the riverbank), we featured a number of macro photos, specifically of wild flowers. Many […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 08:06:07 +0000

What are your thoughts on these logo ideas? Our ‘two sails’ logo has become so synonymous with followtheboat that we’re in no rush to change it. It is a little misleading, however, since […]

Jamie wrote a new post

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 17:22:40 +0000

It's Our 400th Episode… thanks to you! For a bit of fun we take a look back at a few of our moments aboard Esper and compare it to life now aboard Happidaze. There are many similarities, not […]

Liz wrote a new post

Thu, 29 May 2025 19:11:55 +0000

Is foraging along England's canals safe? (Plus recipe for nettle soup) In the last episode’s comments, someone asked if it was time to make dandelion wine. I’m not keen on making wine (it seems like a l … Read More »

Liz wrote a new post

Thu, 29 May 2025 17:18:08 +0000

The joy of walking in Thorne Community Wood One of our favourite places in Thorne is the Community Wood situated right across from us in the marina. We began to get to know its paths back in […]

Liz wrote a new post

Thu, 29 May 2025 16:50:50 +0000

Bygone shipbuilding in the village of Thorne We ended up in the small town of Thorne by sheer serendipity. It’s where Happidaze was taken for her buyer’s survey at Staniland … Read More »

Liz wrote a new post

Thu, 29 May 2025 15:38:10 +0000

Thorne's forgotten shipbuilding and ancient history Ever sped past a quiet town like Thorne on the motorway, oblivious to the incredible secrets it holds? We uncover layers of forgotten history, from a […]