The Ship’s Log covers journeys undertaken by sail or canal boat, and includes general posts not covered by the Travel category.
Introduction to our Turkish Road Trip Welcome to the land of tractors and silver-domed mosques. The south Aegean and western Anatolia region is a beautifully rustic area in south west Turkey that hosts some of the most magnificent Roman sights […]
A Turkish Road Trip! Read Post »
Gwen is a first generation Swedish American, though she does now claim to be Canadian: “Since Bush came to power I refuse to be acknowledged as an American. I worked in the foreign service on hardship programmes and trained in Washington before being posted to West Africa. A great experience marred only by the eleven obligatory injections. Despite majoring in a variety of subjects for 16 years I never actually got a degree so officially I wasn’t allowed to become an officer in the foreign service, but I’d built up so much experience they made me an officer anyway”.
When one meets a self-confessed moody old crook who was infamously known as ‘The Bitch of Smithfield’, who hung out with rogues like Drinking John down the meat market, was courting a bank robber and has set light to more cottages and cornfields than I care to count, one imagines getting the imposing Gina to drop her guard to be a bit of a challenge.
Over the Spring of 2008 I decided to take some portraits of the people associated with sailing here in Marmaris, Turkey. Of the 100 or so original portraits a few stood out as being quite striking, so I produced this little montage.
Portrait of a Sailor Read Post »
“I was a nun for many years and Pedro was a priest”, explains Isabel with that angelic smile. “We were
both on a trip to Rome to see the Pope, which is how we met. When we returned to Spain we cast off our robes and decided to go sailing instead”. Just like that? “Yes. We shocked both the church and our families by getting married. Within a month we bought ‘Issotta’, a Dufor 40, and invited our parents to see our future home. Fortunately they loved it and with their blessing we set sail the next day”.
This scoop was just too good to be true: I thought the singing nun was a sixties pop legend, not a bright young sailor from Spain.
Isabel and Pedro of ‘Issotta’ Read Post »
In our short sailing life we’ve had the pleasure of taking non-sailors with us on day trips and weekend anchorages. It’s always great seeing the expressions on their faces as the gib is unfurled and the boat heals over! Our visa run to Rhodes was a little different, however, as we took on board some experienced sailors and a sailing virgin. In this post we get to hear from that virgin first hand!
Cruising Chute & Mizzen Stay Sail Read Post »
I’m not sure if five beers at the bar with one of the Porthole editors counts as a ‘management meeting’ but I was getting a bit worried I’d been shirking my responsibilities as a journalist. With just two days before the print deadline I’d still not spoken to my proposed interviewee and I was thinking up excuses as to why pages eight and nine were going to be blank. Then in walks this beautiful French woman with an air of sophistication.
Sylvaine of ‘Apis II’ Read Post »
“It’s a real eye-opener”, commented Astrid. “Another time one of our girls used to get up at four in the morning to get the milk in off the door-step. When I told her she didn’t need to do this she explained that her mother had taught her to steal milk from people’s doorsteps. She was three.” Sadly another of their foster children got into a fight in an underground station and was knocked to the tracks and killed. “Of course that was very sad”, says Astrid, “as he’d only left our care a week before.
The Simm Family of ‘Storm Dodger’ Read Post »
I only have one page to document the many, many things Susann does! From chartering to exporting generators, from motorbikes to oriental dancing, Susann takes multi-tasking to the extreme. After interviewing her I now understand why some people have 27 hour clocks by their bed. This girl does it all……..
When I worked on the tugs in Portugal my job was to provision the galleys, but I was also tasked with reminding the Portuguese ladies that the Brits were in town, so I would frequently recce the girly bars. Somehow I earned the nickname ‘Shagga’ by the Portuguese bar maids.
John of ‘Chagazee’ Read Post »
What a strange bunch of crew! There’s the usual suspects with the family and Tac, who all came out from May – October. They need no introduction as they’ve all been out before, but some info on the others:
Finally, after weeks of preparing his boat for a solo voyage down the Red Sea and into the Indian Ocean at a difficult time of the year, Sam recruited a new crew member! Poppy, of s/y ‘Free’, agreed to join Sam for the majority of the journey. Poppy writes beautifully and contributes to the progress log, as well as helping Sam through a difficult journey. As I write this they have passed through the Suez Canal and already sent a number of updates and pictures
The People’s Navy – What Happened Next Read Post »
Under the 30-year rule documents from the FCO show us all the facts, and oh dear me, how those documents reveal Britain’s jaded and cynical viewpoint of the world. Those 1960s Sir Humphreys** describe the islanders as “mere Tarzans and Men Fridays” with “little aptitude for anything except growing coconuts”. They wrote that “there will be no indigenous population except seagulls”. The deportations would be “ordered and timed to attract the least attention”. They connived with the Americans to label the islanders as “migrant contract labourers” with no right of abode – even though their families had lived there for generations.
About The Chagossians Read Post »
By the end of the weekend the grand total raised was $1500, which went to the Turkish national charity, Ozel Olimyatlar, which helps young people with learning disabilities to take part in organised Olympic sports (see the yellow box for more information on the charity). Proof that whilst we swan around in our expensive yachts, living an enviable and carefree lifestyle, some of us can still show a bit of humility and compassion.
Winter Charity Pool Tournament Read Post »
So a chance meeting with one man and his boat changed everything. It changed our future plans as sailors. It created a crossroads at which we would normally have gone one way, but have chosen to go the other. You know what I mean: one of those rare occasions which you look back on as being a significant moment in your life.
