Our time on the hard in the sweltering 30°+ heat of June at Marti Marina. For you non-yotties being on the hard means propping ones boat up on big sticks and climbing up and down a 10ft ladder in order to get on and off the boat.
A Day In The Life On The Hard Read Post »
I’m compelled to send you this quick text I received from a friend of ours who is a delivery skipper (a vastly underpaid job whereby the skipper takes on a huge responsibility to safely dispatch a vessel from one location to another). We’ll call him The Boat Stig. The Boat Stig was given the task of delivering a yacht from France to Turkey. That’s a bit of a boot, and this was a delivery skipper’s worst nightmare: the owner was on board.
The Crazy World Of The Boat Stig Read Post »
Started fishing at 5 this morning, about the time the cicadas started. The anchorage is a stunning setting, especially at that time in the morning. I put some coffee on and chucked some crumbs out the back. Not much action for a bit until I attracted the attention of just three fish. In all the time at this anchorage (two nights) these are the only fish I’ve seen.
Catch #3: Carangidae/Pompano Read Post »
Yes, after four years, three near misses, two lines and one very impatient cat we have finally bagged our first catch off the back of Esper! Under the guidance of our fishing guru, Matt, both Liz and myself caught a fish each within the space of 24 hours. Of course we frequently pull up a cage full of tiddlers and live-bait with our lobster pot but, according to our guru, “that’s not fishing, that’s just being lazy”. Click on the link to read about this very exciting moment…
First Official Fish Caught Off Esper Read Post »
Introducing a new series on followtheboat: A Day In The Life. In this new category we take one day and break it down for you, hour by hour, offering a lighthearted view on what it’s like to spend 24 hours aboard Esper. In our first essay we examine an average day at anchor in Turkey, from dragging anchors and evil clerics to woodland creatures and smelly poo.
Oh, and if you’re using Internet Explorer 6, we’ve finally got round to fixing a display errors in the website – of course you should have upgraded or migrated to Firefox by now 😉
A Day In The Life At Anchor In Turkey Read Post »
For posterity and insurance purposes, and also to help over Tinker Traveller owners, we publish here a load of images of our new cover, made of Sunbrella.
Tinker Traveller Cover Read Post »
In this, the last of our photography features of our winter home town, we feature the ‘Old Boys Of Fethiye’.
Photographing The Old Boys Of Fethiye Read Post »
Some of our readers have never been sailing before, whilst others have been cruising for so long they’ve forgotten what it was like the first time the sails catch the wind and that boat heels over to an unnervingly impossible angle.
So what’s it like to go sailing for the first time? And what’s it like to go sailing in a country many thousands of miles from the comfort of your home when you are afflicted with panic attacks, a phobia of flying and sea sickness?
We continue our features on Fethiye: littered with great photographs our guest blogger, Tim, offers you a truly honest and philosophical account of a land-lubber’s impressions of sailing, Fethiye and the effects of Diazepam.
Experience the panic setting in here:
http://www.followtheboat.com/index.php/2009/04/14/more-than-an-experience-a-conquest/
Sailing: A Panic-ridden, Land-lubber’s Experience Read Post »
Fethiye is very definitely a ‘working’ town, despite its attraction for both tourists and yotties alike. There is an abundance of restaurants and cafes if you’re just wanting to relax or dine out. If you’re working on your boat or your house then you are spoiled for choice when it comes to shops, suppliers and repairs.
I’ve tried to capture this sense of work with a little photography project I’ve titled ‘Fethiye At Work’.
Shopping, Eating & Working In Fethiye Read Post »
In this feature we take a light-hearted look at shopping in Turkey. We examine the customs, the expectations and the heartache. Somewhere in the article are a few tips, but don’t take it too seriously.
Shopping In Turkey: Tips & Observations Read Post »
This article explains briefly how our Sunbrella sun awning works for our ketch rigged boat. Whilst it may not provide a complete solution for other boats we are publishing this article in the hope that it assists other boat owners in designing their own awning.
Sun Awning Design For A Boat Read Post »
In the next few articles we’ll be featuring some photographs, video clips, maps and personal experiences of our current home Fethiye, offering something for all our friends and family to enjoy. This article, however, is very definitely for the serious liveaboard: visit any online sailing forum and there is one subject that will rouse more furious debate than any other subject known to man, beast or Poseidon: anchors. The simple anchor is the one thing on our boat we need to trust more than anything else (except perhaps our vessel’s ability to keep water out) so it is little wonder grown men pull each others’ hair out when arguing which anchor is best.
We had a bit of cash to spend on an anchor last year and, after pulling some hair, we opted for a new generation Rocna. We promised its designer, Peter Smith, to return an unambiguous account of our experience with his design. He said explicitly “be honest”. You know us, Peter, a spade’s a spade…
Raving About Our Rocna Read Post »
It is with great sadness that we announce the tragic death of Christer Klingwall, owner and skipper of ‘Lady Jessie’, who took his own life last Monday, 20th April.
We would like to pay our respects to our sailing buddy by posting up some pictures and thoughts on followtheboat, which featured Christer in our last video clip. Mayke, Christer’s ex-wife with whom he remained close, said ‘Christer would love the idea of a tribute’. This article, then, will be a continually updated and amended page dedicated to a great sailor. If you would like to add your own comment, thought or photograph then please either use the comments form at the end of the article or email us.
Christer Klingwall of ‘Lady Jessie’: A Tribute Read Post »
Many of us are familiar with Google Earth. It’s good fun zooming in and out of the Grand Canyon, getting a bird’s eye view of your childhood house or playing with the built-in flight simulator. Surely there is more to it than this though? In this essay I’ve attempted to provide some pointers, resources and links for the yottie to consider when using Google Earth onboard. It’s probably of little interest to you non-boaty people out there, unless you like playing with Google Earth and all the possible extra data-layers it offers. [Please note this is the last article we’ll be sending out before changing web host company in preparation for our satellite phone blog updates. We’ll be offline in April before returning online with a faster, improved service.]
Google Earth & GPS For Cruisers & Boat Owners Read Post »
Pubs, beer and good paintbrushes vs good food, space and great climate. Which would you prefer? My extended trip back to the UK has been a real eye-opener but I frequently caught myself saying things like ‘it’s not like that in Turkey’. I can’t help it. I’ve made Turkey my temporary home but I’ve just spent a month back at my parents, in the bedroom I grew up in, and I quickly became British again. Now I’m returning to Turkey and I can’t help but compare and contrast. It’s an interesting exercise, but which is better? Turkey or England?
