Podcasts

Did you know we’ve been recording podcasts since 2010? You can subscribe to them via the usual channels like Spotify and Apple, but you can listen to them all here too!

The Convergence Zone

The Convergence Zone. A place where the unforgiving seas force lesser men to give up and go home. This podcast begins with us leaving Freedom Bay and looking at problems on other boats in the rally. It ends, however, in Marsa Dudo with an analysis of a problem we encounter ourselves. This was a grueling hundred mile trip that should have been completed in 24 hours. It took much, much longer. Along the way Esper finds herself in a critical situation.

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Avoiding Pirates

This podcast is an insight into a very important skipper’s meeting, held on board Mistral, the boat belonging to rally organiser Lo Brust. You’ll hear the lapping dinghies and gentle breeze in the background for authenticity. This is a very important meeting as we discuss the convoy sailing tactics.

This is a very important meeting as we discuss the convoy sailing tactics.

What I love about this podcast is the relaxed attitude we take to motoring into a few headwinds and the expectation of an easy motor sail to Marsa Dudo, 100 miles away.

Also listen out for the blase comment about the military not causing us any problems further down the coast. Needless to say we were kicked out of two anchorages by smiling Eritrean navy personnel.

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Medicine Man

We leave Massawa and head to an anchorage called Ras Corali, 30 miles away. From hereon in, the direction of our progress becomes problematic. How do we head south east without motoring directly into wind?

And should we move at all when half the rally is going down with a mysterious illness? Still, we should be grateful we have the available medicines on board to cope with a fever, some people aren’t so lucky.

This podcast captures a few yotties discussing passage plans in between diving under the boat to scrape the prop and giving the locals some much needed medicine.

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Birds, Baboons And Buses

We spent some time in Massawa and we took in a trip to the Eritrean capital, Asmara, which is based above the clouds in the cool mountains. We didn’t take the podcast recorder with us as we were concentrating on photographs, but in this podcast we recount both the trip up the mountains and the city itself, and laugh at Ian of Rhumb Do, who froze in his seat when a curious primate decided to stick his head through the bus window.

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Africa Africa Africa!

In our last podcast we visited a place called Khor Nawarat, which was our last stop in Sudan. Having finally learned how to use our wind pilot we make the next 180 miles under sail alone and find ourselves in Massawa, the port town of Eritrea. Despite being the second poorest country in the world Eritrea is clean, friendly and relaxing, and Massawa a welcome return to some kind of civilisation, including bars that serve local cheap beer! We spent some time in Massawa and managed to wrangle not just a trip to the mountainous capital, Asmara, but get invited to the Fenkle party, which was a celebration of the country’s independence twenty years ago.

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Bigger Fish To Fry

In our last podcast we had just entered Sudan, where we discovered an idyllic anchorage and met Duygu The Dugong. We reluctantly left this spot a couple of days later and continued sotuhwards on to our next Sudanese marsa, Inkeifel. Expect plenty of fish, the perfect barbie-on-a-beach, a mangrove swamp and a possible sighting of Ursula Andress, though I suspect that last bit is all in Jamie’s mind.

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Duygu The Dugong

In this latest podcast we finally cross the boarder of Egypt and pass in to Sudan, one of the poorest and most war-torn countries on this planet. For us, however, its poor economy is made up for by the very rich beauty of nature. The anchorage of Marob is our first taste of ‘real’ Africa and within 24 hours we have run-ins with turtles, ospreys, camels and, get this, a dugong!

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Ships That Pass In The Night

“Ships that pass in the night” is a great nautical term that has passed into everyday English parlance. In this podcast we go back to its original context and pass not just another ship in the night but a strange, alien-like object too. Under the cover of darkness identifying what these things are is a great game that whiles away the night watches.

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Electronics And Fishing

It’s been a while since we gave you a progress update; for the last few weeks you’ve been hearing from some of the Vasco Da Gama participants and getting to know the different people taking part in the rally that takes us 4,500 miles from Turkey to India. There’s been a reason for this staggered narrative though: we’re passing through some of the most dangerous waters in the world. Piracy has been a growing concern in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. British sailing couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler of the sailing boat ‘Lyn Rival’, previous Vasco Da Gama rally participants, are still being held hostage in Somalia at the time of publication.

There’s been a reason for this staggered narrative though: we’re passing through some of the most dangerous waters in the world. Piracy has been a growing concern in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. British sailing couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler of the sailing boat ‘Lyn Rival’, previous Vasco Da Gama rally participants, are still being held hostage in Somalia at the time of publication. The threat of piracy is very, very real so we are avoiding publishing our exact whereabouts, hence the automated, scheduled podcasts. But now we can continue with the adventure and we get back to our progress on the water…

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Moody Time

When you meet Colin and Trish you quickly realise that they are a double act and talking to the two of them together is both interesting and entertaining. We board their own boat, called ‘Moody Time’ (the boat is manufactured by the British boat builder, Moody) and learn more about this couple from ‘God’s own country’, Lancashire.

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Meet The Liveaboard Boats

This is a followtheboat podcast first: in response to an email from a podcast listener we’ve taken on board his comments and produced a programme for him! Robert Newton of North Yorkshire emailed us the following: “I am listening to all your podcast’s – good work! I would be interested to hear the boat types and sizes that you are cruising in the company of. I aspire to become a cruiser.”

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Wanderlust

This is a ‘Through The Porthole’ profile of a solo sailor, Ian of ‘Rhumb Do’. Since the age of 16 Ian’s wanderlust has seen him in over 80 countries, and the lust to wander continues. He is the rally’s only solo sailor.

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The Net From Luli

The last update we gave you had us stuck in an anchorage waiting for southerlies to blow through whilst we repaired the damage on a rudder on a boat that had hit coral. Phew! Now that the winds have blown through and returned to the usual northerlies we may resume our progress southwards. This is something that we discuss on The Net.

The Net is a kind of interactive VHF radio show held on a certain channel every morning. This is a recording of one such show where we discuss our tactics for entering Sudan and Eritrea. You’ll also hear some positive words from Anthony of ‘Divanty’. Definitely worth a listen…

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They’re Still Dreamin’

Meet Dan and Mary, a gregarious couple from the Great Lakes. Whilst their boat is called Still Dreamin’ they certainly have their feet firmly on the ground. This is a fascinating podcast profile of the two Americans who are taking part in the Vasco Da Gama rally. I think I only asked one question in the 20 minute interview!

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Woofers And Tweeters

Pat and Tony are country people at heart and it’s always a joy to talk to them about various aspects of nature as we travel towards India. In this brief podcast recorded on a windy day we board ‘Full Flight’ and learn about their time back in the South Downs in the UK. Dog lead and binoculars at the ready…

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