Wandlebury: An Autumnal Walk

Wandlebury is a country park in Cambridgeshire covering 110 acres and is a treat for anyone with a love of the English countryside. What with autumn being my fave season my trip back to the UK was rewarded with some photographic opportunities when Liz and I went for a wander in Wandlebury with my family on Sunday. In this set I hope to capture the essence of autumn. The slide-show only lasts a minute so I hope you get a quick moment to enjoy these shots.

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Turkey to India Video: A Geography Lesson For Kids

We have put together this educational video for children aged between 5-10 but at 50 Liz was just as entertained, so we hope everyone gets something out of it.

Using Google Earth we have animated the course that we took on the rally from Turkey to India. It starts off with a few clips of the rally boats to give children an idea of what a boat looks like when it is sailing but the main part of this clip is an explanation of each country visited and where they are in relation to the UK.

We put this together to accompany the podcast we’ll be publishing in October for Nancy Lake’s class at Wybunbury Delves Primary School. Nancy’s class, who have asked us a whole range of questions about what it’s like to live on a boat, is aged between 10-11 but the commentary on this video clip is more suited to 4-7 year olds.

We hope you enjoy it. It was great fun to put together and we look forward to reading your comments.

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Back To School Round-Up: Kids Projects & Trading Secrets

Got kids? Facebook this week has been awash with proud parents posting up pics of their kids in their new school uniform, compete with descriptions of teary eyes… and that’s just the adults. Liz and I have got into the new term spirit too: followtheboat is involved in a school project which might be of interest to any parent out there with young children. Some educational audio and visual treats coming soon. Also we might just be contravening some international act with our surreptitious recording of the Royal Navy trading secrets with us in Oman. That’s our exclusive podcast that comes out today. Oh and Liz got shortlisted for another writing comp but we said we wouldn’t bore you with those announcements any more 😉 Anyway, it’s all in the link below.

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What Do 7 Metre Waves Look Like…

So what do 7m waves look like from the inside of a cruise ship? I’ve put together three video clips in this post. In the first we see the effect of a storm on a cruise ship’s passengers, crew and gear. This CCTV clip was taken from a cruise ship that hit 50 knots winds off New Zealand and makes for scary viewing! The second clip gives you a bird’s eye view of a rolling cruise ship, and the third is a small clip taken from the bridge of a commercial vessel enduring some sci-fi looking waves. Anyone booked their cruise this year?

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Boo Hoo! India Is So Expensive!

I had one of the most ridiculous conversations with two yachties last week. The couple were complaining that India was really expensive. Incredulous I responded by arguing that food here is so cheap one can eat out at a restaurant for a quid. Quite frankly these Moaning Myrtles really get on my wick. Ready for a rant?

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Frui Awards FTB Portrait Competition

Those who have been to Turkey may well know this lady… Frui, the creative learning holiday specialist, has awarded followtheboat winner of the August Photography competition. It is held monthly and the theme changes each time. This month’s theme was Portrait and my winning shot features a picture I took in Kekova Roads, Turkey, of an old lady. When I tried to take this shot the lady indicated that she was too old for the camera, saying her face was ‘broken’. I beg to differ; it’s one of the most interesting close-up portraits I’ve taken. Check the link for a peek…

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Dreamy Goan Bus Stop Pic Shortlisted For Telegraph

We’ve yet to publish our blog on our trip to Goa. We spent a few weeks there and Jamie took a lot of pictures which he is still editing. On one trip we stopped off at a tiny village near Shri Mangesh and took a picture of the busy bus-stop. The Telegraph’s Big Picture editor clearly liked it enough to shortlist it for this week’s competition. It’s a wonderful, dreamy HDR (high dynamic range) photograph that captures the late afternoon ambiance of that part of the world.

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A Virgin Flight From India

Now that I’ve secured a cat-sitter for Millie, I can start thinking about my return home. I have to renew my visa, you see, so today begins my search for a flight. At the same time Liz has clocked up a bank of air miles with her old business airline, Virgin, so if push comes to shove I could always use these to get back from Mumbai to the UK.

If, however, my experience will be anything like the famous Virgin Customer Complaints letter I think I’ll be looking for alternatives. Some of you may remember this one doing the rounds last year; it is now heralded as the greatest customer complaints letter ever written. It’s quite apt that it’s Virgin and that the flight concerned was from Mumbai to Heathrow, exactly the same flight I’ll be looking for. For those who missed it or have forgotten just how amusing the letter was we reproduce it here in all its glory, complete with photographic evidence:

Dear Mr Branson
REF: Mumbai to Heathrow 7th December 2008

I love the Virgin brand, I really do which is why I continue to use it despite a series of unfortunate incidents over the last few years. This latest incident takes the biscuit.

Ironically, by the end of the flight I would have gladly paid over a thousand rupees for a single biscuit following the culinary journey of hell I was subjected to at the hands of your corporation.

Look at this Richard. Just look at it…

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Followtheboat Published In ‘Sailing Today’

The first of four articles by followtheboat appears in September’s edition of ‘Sailing Today’, which is available in the shops today! This is the first story that covers the Vasco da Gama rally from Turkey to India. It was written by myself and is accompanied by Jamie’s photographs.

Of course we are very excited about this! It’s a six-page feature and will be rolled out over four editions. This one covers the first part of the rally from Turkey to Egypt. Take a look at the link for more info…

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Water Maker: Purchase, Installation & Usage Considerations

A water maker is an expensive and difficult purchase with more than the cost to be considered. In this essay we discuss the decision-making process involved in a water maker purchase. Also we examine thoughts on installation and we provide an insight into how it is used on board. We conclude with some related issues and pros and cons. We hope that this helps anyone looking to purchase a watermaker for their boat and we encourage watermaker owners to add their own comments at the bottom of the page.

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I Have Wet Pants

You’ll be pleased to know I own about 15 pairs of underpants. That’s enough to avoid doing any washing for two weeks, four if I turn them inside out. Being the new-age man that I am I do my own washing, which is a pain in the ass since it has to be done by hand. Since the marina refuses to provide any kind of laundry service I have to undertake this task regularly.

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