Our sailing channel became a regular part of followtheboat five years ago when we posted episode number one, Langkawi to the Butangs. That was just after we completed the mammoth task of refitting (maybe ‘rebuilding’ is a better adjective), SY Esper, our Oyster 435, in Thailand.
But we have been sailing together for a lot longer than that. We cast off the lines (or to be more exact, climbed up the ladder in a boat yard) to begin full-time cruising back in 2006. In this celebration of the 200th episode, we remember how it all started with some old images and footage. And we pick out some highlights from the past five years.
We began liveaboard life in Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean before sailing through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea and Pirate Alley in 2010. A couple of years after a hair-raising passage to India when we sailed through the Gulf of Aden (probably the most dangerous place in the world to marine traffic at the time), we crossed the Indian Ocean to arrive in Malaysia, then to Thailand and Indonesia.
There are way too many places over the past five years to highlight here, so if you have time on your hands take a look through our Youtube playlist of every episode from the beginning. Hopefully you will see some improvement in our cinematography and editing skills.
The Anambas, Mentawais and many of Thailand’s beautiful islands stand out. Krakatoa, of course, is etched into our memories. The culture, food, geography and wildlife of these places has astounded and moved us. The different (but ‘same same’) ways of thinking in south-east Asia have taught us there isn’t just one way of looking at the world; we’ve often had to reassess the western values which we trailed along with us from Europe.
But it is the people, the motley assortment of friends we have picked up along the way, who have left the biggest impact: cruisers like ourselves; professional crew; ex-pats in paradise; and, most cherished of all, the local people with whom we’ve shared life, laughs, tears and beers.
“Your wife or mother can’t tell has the manners of street walker, classless is the best word. where did you find her drunk on a floor in Bangkok” – Doug Mooney
Every now and again the comments we receive online have been odd, funny or less than complimentary. Apparently, it is not a good idea to be seen if you are female and over the age of 21. In the video we have a giggle reading out some of our favourites. Most are pretty rude, but with our new found way of looking at the world we only find them funny now. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Here’s a link to the full video, which has some great sailing clips, lots of Millie shots and several iterations of Jamie’s beard and Liz’s hair (don’t forget to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE on YouTube, it really helps us A LOT):
As always, thanks for coming along for the ride.
Peace, fair winds and stay safe
Liz, Jamie and Millie xxx
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