The Backwaters Of Alleppey In Kerala

• video clips

Apparently, according to some ‘Bucket Lists’, the backwaters of Kerala are a must-see before dying. Indeed, the National Geographic Traveller places the backwaters in the ‘top 50 destinations of a lifetime’. Having now ticked this off my own bucket list I can honestly say I agree with the sentiment. This log entry counts as a proper log entry, what with it being a two-day trip on a boat, so in old school style I’ve put together a words-and-pictures account of this most incredible place, which includes video clips and a link to Google Earth so you can put it all in perspective.

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Folding PortaBote – Our New Indestructible Tender On Video

• video clips

Boating is about pleasure but if there is one thing that gets me down it’s having to repair yet another puncture in my dinghy. The coral beaches of Eritrea gave our Tinker a real thrashing and quite frankly I got fed up with lugging this huge weight on and off Esper every time we wanted to go ashore. Liz and I decided, therefore, to treat ourselves to an unsinkable, indestructible, lightweight, folding Portabote. It stows like a surfboard, commissions in minutes and is fast! Check out the first of two reviews of this boat, including a video clip of the assembly. Worth every penny? Quite possibly. Strangest looking thing on our boat? Very definitely…

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Divanty Has Left The Building

• Log

On an overcast and mildly blustery New Year’s morning there were tears on the pontoon as Antony and Davina of s/y ‘Divanty’ left for the Maldives. Not including Lo of ‘Mistral’, who leads another Vasco Da Gama rally back up the Red Sea, this now leaves just Roam II and Esper from the original gang of adventurers who left Turkey in November 2009.

It is a strange feeling and a little sad too, what with spending the last few months having a giggle with the Divanty crew, but we’re happy that they’ve slipped their lines with some favourable winds and are heading somewhere new and exciting.

Good luck, Ants and Div.

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Christmas At The Taj

• Log

Not really for the general public but a few shots of our Christmas Day, which was spent at the Taj Palace Hotel, Wilingdon Island, Cochin.

Liz and I were joined by our friends Mike and Gabi, who were effectively on their honeymoon, and the usual suspects of Terry and Fiona of Roam II and Ants and Div of Divanty.

It is a real pleasure to be eating turkey, brussel sprouts and stuffing whilst supping on a nice glass of Chianti, in India where all of these things are hard to find!

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A Festive Message From The Esper Gang

• Log

Christmas is a’ coming and the nuns are out in force. Yep, you can tell it’s the festive season here in Cochin because the ladies in grey habits are running amok in the Christmas decoration shops. Clearly believing they have the blessing of The Lord Jesus Christ these little old ladies barge their way through the masses, desperate to purchase the most gaudy of decorations. There’s definitely some perverse pecking order going on in this predominantly Catholic part of India. Using their elbows as weapons these sinister old birds have complete disregard for the poor local children unfortunate enough to walk into their paths.

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A Bookworm’s Christmas Present – The Kindle

• Log

The problem with Liz is that she devours books. It’s a problem because a boat can only store so many paper-backs, which is compounded by the fact that many novels circulating within the book-swapping fraternity have a tendency to fall into the ‘holiday pulp-fiction’ category. Our Liz wants a bit more from her reading so a couple of months ago I bought her a Kindle. “That’s not one of those e-book readers, is it?”, she snorted when I suggested the idea to her. Up until this year my attitude towards these devices had been the same. Why would anyone want to move from the reassuring, tangible sensation of a page-turning paperback to an electronic screen? Well, I’ll give you ten reasons why this Kindle has Liz hooked. Thinking of buying an i-pad? Read this first…

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Jamie Is Awarded LRPS Distinction

• Log

I am proud to announce that Jamie was awarded his Licentiateship at the Royal Photographic Society on Saturday and can now put the letters LRPS after his name. He is thrilled that all the hard work and studying he has put in over the last six months has paid off.

Encouraged by a win in the Times newspaper for best travel photograph earlier in the summer he hesitantly put his images onto the appraisal gallery of Amateur Photographer. Some of the senior members of the AP forum suggested he work towards membership of the RPS and it was their words of wisdom and constructive criticism that lead Jamie to assess his own work with a more informed eye.

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The Chandlers Are Free – So Where Does This Leave Us?

• observation

What fantastic news that the Chandlers have been freed after 388 days of captivity by pirates in Somalia. Our thoughts go out to their family and friends. The last year must have been very difficult so now it is time to celebrate their freedom and give them time to recuperate from what must have been a harrowing ordeal. But what now? Where does this leave the rest of us? Has paying the ransom actually made the situation worse?

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Royal Photographic Society’s Licentiateship Distinction

• Photography

This weekend I was awarded the Royal Photographic Society’s Licentiateship distinction. It is the first of three distinctions that recognises the creative and technical skill of the photographer.

Ten images are displayed and must work individually as well as together to create a cohesive presentation. I concentrated on portraits of course! The images are designed to be hung in a certain order.

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Polaroid Pogo Printer: £20 & No Ink Required?

• Log

A colour printer for £20 that fits into your pocket and doesn’t require any ink? No, I didn’t believe it either but I have stumbled upon a palm-sized printer made by Polaroid that puts the fun back into digital photography. This product has been around for a couple of years now but the price has dropped so much it seems silly not to buy one. In this quick summary I take a look at the pros and the cons of this fun Christmas gadget. To give the review more gravitas we’ve introduced a new rating system and there’s also a quick video clip too!

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Audley End In Autumn

• Photography

My favourite season is captured here in just five photographs, taken on one of my favourite walks around my home town of Saffron Walden. This is Audley End, the mansion and gardens to the west of Walden, captured on a bright but chilly October Sunday morning. They’re actually hand-held HDR images, which helps accentuate those wonderful autumnal colours.

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Stellarium: Free Astronomy Software For Kids & Sailors

• Boat Maintenance & Skills

The kids are on half-term and the nights are drawing in. What free entertainment could be better than teaching them the stars? As a boat-owner with just a passing interest in astronomy I’ve reviewed a great piece of free software called Stellarium. It’s really easy to use and is perfect for both kids entertainment and playing around with in the cockpit at night.

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Hollywood Beckons: Our TV Interview

• press

Just before we left India Liz and I were interviewed by MarineBiz TV, a global television channel which has been putting together a series of programmes called ‘Sailor’s Diary’. In it each member of the Vasco Da Gama Rally was interviewed and asked about their backgrounds, experience and life at sea. We’ve managed to get hold of a copy and reproduce it here. Do please let us know if television really does put on 10lbs because I’m sure I look slimmer than I feel 😉

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