Who Said Port Said Is Rubbish?

• observation

Liz and I then wandered around town taking snaps and racing the ATM machines to get money. Having failed to withdraw cash from these machines in the last couple of days we were told that we had not been using the machines correctly. The trick is to be as quick as possible in pressing the buttons. Procrastinate for a split second and the machine will display a random message like “main server offline”, “unable to process your request” or “no spare cash left in Egypt”. Weird.

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Get Me An English Wife

• Log

The internet cafe was nothing special but the guy in charge was. He was as camp as a lace doily and so it was with complete disbelief that I found myself in a conversation about finding him an English girl to marry! I am serious, this guy genuinely believed that I could call up an English girl who would be willing to fly over and marry him!

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Stop Asking For Presents!

• Log

Today is arrival day. Our predicted landfall is 1600 and I’m writing this as we motor across flat calm water towards Port Said, so we’ll see if my ETA is correct. Although we can’t see land the depth is only 20 metres, and we’ve passed a couple of oil rigs and been overtaken by a huge cargo ship. With the hazy sun the entire experience reminds me of the east coast of the UK. On a good day. Instead of familiar Turkish banter the VHF is now choca with angry-sounding Arabic fishermen.

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Drains, Damn Traveller and Dorado!

• Log

With these two rather important features broken we were getting a bit tetchy. Our bodies hadn’t adjusted to the night watches and we were still motoring. As the second day aboard came to a close, the entire sky bathed in a dreamy pink as the sun dipped its head, I decided to go for a nap. This was shortly broken by Liz banging on the hatch, shouting something urgent.

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Knickers To You

• Log

After refueling and stowing all the crap we’ve bought over the last few months, we left Marmaris Bay one last time. ‘Roam II’ were just ahead and behind us were ‘Stormdodger’ and ‘Rhumb Do’. The four of us would make the first part of this journey as our own little flotilla with the aim of meeting up with the Vasco Da Gama rally proper in Port Said, Egypt.

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Leaving The Black Hole Of Marmaris

• Log

A week ago, when we were supposed to have left for Egypt but couldn’t because of the weather, we were ready to leave. A week later we have a clear window, it’s the night before our departure and I’m running around like a loon, cursing that I need more time. Why the hell didn’t I do an engine check a week before, rather than at the 11th hour when the shops are closing and my electrician is halfway to Istanbul and therefore unable to replace my broken alternator smart charger?

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Weather Hampers Our Start Of Vasco Da Gama Rally

• Log

Ourselves and ‘Roam II’ were due to leave Turkey today with the aim of hitting Rhodes to fuel and provision, meet up with ‘Storm Dodger’ and ‘Rhumb Do’ and then head off SE on Friday to meet the Vasco Da Gama rally in Port Said, Egypt. Hmmmm. Have you seen the weather lately? I’ve animated a grib file (weather information) for your perusal to prove my point. In an unexpected turnaround of weather for this time of year the south of the Aegean is being hit with some vicious northerlies. Normally these die out by the time they hit the same latitude as Cyprus but these winds are whipping right across the eastern Med and across Port Said. I wonder how many leaving drinks we can get away with…

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Long Range Wi-Fi On A Boat: EnGenius 2610

• Boat Maintenance & Skills

The EnGenius 2610 is a magic box that provides a wired internet connection for the ship’s computer. The basic principle is that it is mounted at the top of the mast, or as high as possible, and it sees available wifi networks for your onboard computer to connect to… and if you’re not a yottie or interested in setting up a long-range wifi connection then you’ve probably fallen asleep already! The article for the yottie-geeks only…

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Constable Country

• Log

Constable had good reason to dedicate his life to the striking cloudy skyscapes of Suffolk. Two hundred years later and I’m re-discovering one of England’s finest seaside counties; not with oils this time but with my trusty Canon. The irony of the moody skies I captured, however, was that I had returned to England under my own dark cloud. There was but a whisper of a silver lining and the foreboding weather on the day we visited Woodbridge was about as symbolic as it could get.

This log entry is quite a departure from the usual followtheboat blog: it’s a pictorial account of my time away from Esper, not on it. The shots of the boats on the River Deben maintain some kind of nautical theme, and since we’ve just uploaded our ten thousandth image to the website it’s a good excuse to show off some wonderful photographs. This is England’s fair countryside at its best, captured in my favourite season.

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The Fertile and Picturesque Island of Samos

• Log

I have just had the sail of my life: I covered 73 miles in 13 hours in 25 knots of wind, passing eight Greek islands along the way. In all that time I passed just four other sailing boats in the glorious late summer sun. Sadly this was the end of my personal Greek odyssey. I am now back in Marmaris Yacht Marina (yuck) preparing to return to the UK. Permit me, then, to conclude my Greek log with my stay in Samos, which is mainly a bunch of photographs for your viewing pleasure (they’re so much easier to digest than words). The last of our summer log entries will culminate in Matt’s account of his visit with Candice, boasting some cracking photographs, but more on that next week. In the meantime I’ve adopted (nicked) Matt’s black border technique for a new-look image presentation. Enjoy.

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The Square On The Hypotenuse

• Log

As we left the island of Arki we were seen off by a pod of dolphins, some so big I thought perhaps they were pilot whales. They weren’t but they looked very big and very old too (two with lots of battle scars). It was quite fitting to be seen off by them, as if they were rewarding us with these favourable winds after the last week of motoring everywhere.

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I Feel So Reel!

• Log

I was very disappointed to read some of the comments you lot made about my dad’s efforts to line-fish off the back of the boat. You have to remember that whilst they look small to you, they are in fact a complete meal for a cat like me, so when he starts getting so good he pulls in not one, not two but three fish, one after the other, you have to admire his success. My dad’s great, I love him!

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A-OK in Arki

• Log

Our harmonious tranquil was interrupted by a very apologetic local who had rowed over to politely ask me to move. “Why?” I asked. “Because the water boat is coming to fill up our tanks. I have no water on my island”. In case you were wondering how all these little islands manage for water, there’s your answer. “So why do I have to move, where’s he going to dock?”. “Right there” said my new friend, pointing to the world’s smallest concrete jetty just a few metres away.

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Monastery Schmonastery

• Log

Not quite the polar opposite of Lipsi, but a busy island all the same. Welcome to Patmos, a pretty looking island with some of the best views in the Aegean. The anchorage was sheltered, with a couple of tavernas ashore offering some tender octopus salad and tsatsiki that makes you feel like the whole of Greece is partying in your mouth!

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