About Follow The Boat

Jamie: Follow The Boat is a constantly growing documentary of every nautical mile we have ever sailed. However, it is more than just a log.

The web site started as a number of essays written by myself as I began my sailing career a few years ago. They were compiled by my brother, Tim, who put them together as a website for friends and family to visit in order to keep up to date with my adventures as I progressed from the UK, across the Atlantic, to the Caribbean. As I emailed Tim my accounts, along with accompanying photographs, so the website grew.

After I met Liz in Antigua and our plans for a future life at sea evolved, so did the website. Liz also became a contributor and the website was revamped in order to account for our adventures on our own boat, Esper, an Oyster 435.

At present FTB not only documents funny stories and observations, it contains a photographic gallery, an interactive chart of Esper's progress and other places we have visited, a chat forum and all the other things one might expect from a website seeking to entertain and amuse. It is still written in lay-man's terms in order to appeal to a wider audience. We are not yachting snobs and don't dwell too long on angle of wind vs sea state vs sail trim because, quite frankly, unless you were there it's pretty boring to read about (although battling through a Force 10 could make an interesting read). FTB aims to take the mystery out of what can seem quite a daunting leisure activity. It's not daunting at all - it's great fun and everyone should have an opportunity to sail.

As we make our final preparations to become live-aboards, FTB has undergone another revamp. The aim now is not only to publish our stories and photographs, but also to educate. We will do this by writing papers on all things nautical as and when they happen. This is really an exercise in educating ourselves in the new skills we'll need to learn in order to make the most of life on the water, but if we can pass on any information and skills to budding sailors out there, then we would like to share our (limited) knowledge.

In the meantime please feel free to browse and share our experiences with us.