Since we last spoke to you, we’ve sailed hundreds of miles to Lombok in Indonesia. It’s been incredible, incomparable and, at times, impossible. The podcasts are BACK! And we want your questions, answers and comments.
Can You Drink Rainwater? Read Post »
Apart from the deep joy of discovering that our engine has seized, it feels like some kind of nautical episode of ‘Back to the Future’ here on SY Esper
Our regular Sailing Log Diary on YouTube–which out of necessity runs a few months behind real time–shows Jamie sailing alone in Thailand with Liz back in the UK looking after her ailing mum. And yet, right now, Liz has just returned from her >second visit home to tend to Dottie while Jamie has been solo-sailing in Thailand.
In the words of Shirley Bassey and the Propellerheads , “…it’s all just a little bit of history repeating…”
Engine seized! Sailing in paradise… Read Post »
[S02E4] Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu. This podcast is a car journey that starts off badly and turns into a nightmare. It begins with a crash and ends with us getting lost in the middle of the Western Ghat mountain range. Along the way we discover a new breakfast and meet lots of people wearing green and orange.
[S02E02] Lonely Planet has this down as a must-do before you die, and having spent a couple of days on the backwaters of Allepey, we concur. This is a bird-watchers and fish-eaters paradise. We take a gentle motor through the backwaters, viewing sunken rice fields and people-watching the locals as they go about their business on the famous river banks of Kerala.
The Backwaters of Allepey Read Post »
[S02E01] Finally, after a year’s absence! Welcome to the brand new followtheboat podcasts! In this first episode we take a nice, gentle stroll around Fort Cochin, the area in Kochi where the European adventurers settled after opening up trade routes between Asia and Europe. It’s a typically warm day so Liz hides under the shade of the tree-lined avenues, forever surrounded by the cawing of crows.
The Crows Of Fort Cochin Read Post »
This is the last podcast from our first series, but don’t worry, we return summer 2011. This podcast started off as an exclusive interview with Lo Brust, the organiser of the Vasco Da Gama rally. Recorded a few months ago before the Chandlers were released by their Somali pirate captors Jamie and Lo disucss piracy, sailing tactics and whether there will ever be another Vasco Da Gama rally. That interview concludes with a catch-up, the day before Lo left Cochin marina last week with the fifth Vasco Da Gama rally.
A Very Special Podcast Read Post »
Once again Jamie gets confused as to what day it is in this podcast, but a sharp knock by a fishing boat against Esper’s hull soon brings him back to the real world.
It seems we are not the only boat to suffer damage, however, as other vessels on the rally have their own problems. Still, let’s not let this mar the celebration of a wonderful crossing of the Arabian Sea. Eight days and 960 miles later Mumbai’s hazy skyline makes herself known to a tired but elated Vasco Da Gama Rally.
An Indian Welcome Read Post »
In our penultimate Arabian Sea crossing podcast Jamie decides to erect something very big that scares Liz. Meanwhile back at Wynbury Delves Primary School the kids send the Esper gang a message. It feels great to know that we’ve done something good, especially after a day of no wind, sunburn and cursing.
Spinnaker Sensation Read Post »
Coinciding with the Chandler’s release from Somalia by pirates this week we return to the high seas, now entering the middle of the Arabian Sea. We are in the same area the Chandlers were two years ago.
What was a great sail is now turning into a bit of a nightmare with steering problems and no wind. And then there are the freaks on the VHF radio…
Banana Port Control Read Post »
The second of our two-part podcast is here. This is the primary school project we’ve been working on with Nance Lake of Wybunbury Delves Primary School in Cheshire. The children are reading Kensuke’s Kingdom and wanted to learn about life at sea so they send us recordings of them asking us questions. This week we discuss the weather, getting lost and what the worst thing that’s ever happened to us.
Primary School Question Time Part 2 Read Post »
[Explicit] Offensive, rude and quite un-PC. Whatever happened to those two lovely young chaps who joined the rally in Egypt? After 3,000 miles something changed and we ended up with potty-mouthed drunken sailors. In this podcast Terry of Roam II takes on the challenge of interviewing Robbie and Cillian, two chaps who met after cycling across Europe and joined the rally in the Red Sea. Not for children or the faint-hearted.
Drunken Vagrants [Explicit] Read Post »
On the 24th March this year we published on followtheboat.com a transcript of the communication between a NATO warship and a vessel that was being boarded by pirates. It makes for harrowing reading. In this podcast we capture the warship relaying the unfortunate news to a neighbouring Omani warship. We also catch the Net, which is the rally’s daily VHF forum, and listen to the implications of this attack.
A Vessel Is Pirated Read Post »
