Followtheboat Portabote Test

About Jamie

Been a liveaboard since 2005, spending first few years living in Turkey. Started sailing a few years before when I joined my father on his retirement present we got for him: a sailing course across the North Sea! Been writing about every single trip, both on sea and on land, since that day. Take photography seriously but miss my decks.

Latest Posts

Worse Things Happen At Sea

A close-up of our track (click to enlarge). This screen shot shows a distance of approx four miles and shows what happened over a four hour period.

I’ve jumped out of aeroplanes, mountain-biked the world’s most dangerous roads, surfed following seas at 15 knots, and hit storms off Africa that had crew throwing up, but nothing could have prepared me for the four days of hell Liz and I just endured. You see it wasn’t the weather itself that terrified us, it was the situation we found ourselves in after the first squall hit. We entered the Twilight Zone, and for four days got trapped in an increasingly desperate situation.

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Hauling Out In Gulf Craft

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The Maldivian island of Thilafushi was infamously documented in the BBC series Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve. Venturing onto this island Reeve was pictured gagging as he made his way around the huge burning rubbish tip where refuse is constantly smouldering. Reeve spent most of his time swallowing flies on his visit here. Would our visit to Thilafushi be any different?

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A Bad Case Of The Pox

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A week in a boat yard is never much fun, and after hauling Esper our misery was compounded by the discovery of some serious osmosis (water ingress). The joy of sailing the idyllic Maldives went out the window, at least for a few hours, as we inspected the water blisters covering many parts of the hull. Experts reassure us that osmosis isn’t as bad as people believe, but when you see the pictures of our rudder you might think twice before agreeing with them.

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All Hail The Hero

After returning from a coffee we found a group of lads looking over the harbour wall, waves smashing up the side. There, in the water completely submerged, were our dinghies, barely afloat. Even the outboard was underwater!

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Dining On The Cheap

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Boating can be an expensive lifestyle, but yachties are notorious for taking advantage of anything with the price tag of ‘cheap’ and ‘free’. In this little piece I estimate we saved ourselves over $700 today. One hundred and fifty dollars just to visit an island, I ask you!

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Our Own Private Hideaway

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Island Hideaway is paradise on earth. There, I’ve said it. What was supposed to be a quick two-day stop-over turned into a five day mini-break as Liz and I indulged ourselves in the seven-star luxury facilities at Island Hideaway. This is a resort island, with villas ranging between $500 and $3,500 a night, and where the most expensive Burgundy sits smartly on the menu at $13,500 a bottle. Want a taste? Check out this little video clip…

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The Beaches of Uligamu (Photo Slideshow)

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Having dropped anchor in Uligamu, after a frustrating four-day crossing from Cochin, India, we put our worries to one side with a wander along the desolate beach of the Maldive’s most northern (but one) island. This is a little photography slide-show for your entertainment. Just click on the image below to begin and don’t forget you can view it in full-screen mode to get that “I’m-really-there!” sensation!

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From India To The Maldives

Finally, after three years, Esper slips her lines. Photograph by Gladwin Oh

Saying goodbye to friends is hard enough. Saying goodbye to friends we’ll probably never see again had me choked. It caught me by surprise but as I hugged Gladwin, my Indian brother, I was lost for words and my eyes welled up. The pontoon at Kochi marina was a hotch-potch of our close friends, our Indian ‘family’ and the marina staff. They all waved us off as Esper slipped her lines and it was at that moment it struck me exactly how much I would miss India. Surely a passage to the Maldives was just the tonic we needed. If only!

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The Complete Guide For Liveaboards In South India

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Everything you ever wanted to know about living aboard in south India, including visas, checking in and our, Kochi Marina and resources around Cochin town. Includes a Google map for reference.

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Good Days, Bad Days – It’s All Relative

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Boat ownership is a mix of ups and downs. Today was a really crappy day for us but rather than getting depressed about it we should look to others and their small victories. Take Gladwin, for example, our Indian friend who couldn’t swim. Check out this inspirational video clip when life throws you those little obstacles…

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Black Dog – A Real Indian Scotch Whisky?

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One frustrating aspect of living in India is the lack of decent booze. Rum is in abundance, but it can be quite sweet; wine is available with just three labels worth talking about, but their flavour does not justify the price; and as for the whisky… The only way I can describe Indian whisky is ‘caramalised fire-water’.

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Millie The Cat In The News

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Yesterday we were visited by a camera crew. Apparently, in our absence over the summer, they ran a story on Nazer, the man who looks after our cat, Millie, whilst we were back in the UK. Yesterday they returned for a follow-up story, so you should see us all in the news very soon – if you live in Kerala, that is! Below is the original story that ran some time this summer. I’m pleased to say those awful blue tarps are now off as we busy ourselves for our departure to the Maldives early next year.

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Rogan Art – The Kathri Suma Family of Gujarat

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The Kathri Suma family of Gujarat is the only family using this technique of cloth decoration. It is unique to this one village. In this clip you’ll see my photographs and some video of the family at work. The black scarf at the end of the clip is a present we bought for a friend who helped out organising my photography courses. Thank you, Karen!

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Winner of The Guardian’s Monthly Travel Photography Competition

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My Christmas came early this year. I’m chuffed to announce that I won October’s Guardian ‘Been There’ travel photography competition! The theme was ‘Weather’ and I submitted an image of school girls splashing their way through a monsoon puddle.

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Portrait of a Blacksmith

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Portrait of a Blacksmith – taken in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

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MyWanderlust Picture of the Week

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I was pretty stoked to get my Bedouin shot chosen by Lyn Hughes as her photo of the week on the MyWanderlust website. Lyn is owner/editor of the independent travel magazine and recently visited Jordan herself, so perhaps my shot brought back a few memories for her!

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FTB Wins Wanderlust’s Blog Of The Week

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This week followtheboat.com was awarded Wanderlust’s Blog Of The Week. This prestigious award recognises quality travel blogging from around the world and puts us forward to the Travel Blog of the Year award, which will be announced next February at the London Destinations Show.

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Blue City Back Streets

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[Jodhpur, Rajasthan] In this week’s podcast we’re going to get lost in the back streets of Jodhpur town itself. There are plenty of sounds to take in here, with the noise of market traders selling their wares. But first, a refreshing drink…

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Blue City Fort

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The Mehrangarh Fort, one of the lagest forts in India, sits over 120meters above the city, surrounded by huge thick walls. Inside are a number of palaces and courtyards, the foundations of which date back to 1459, although most of what we see today dates from the period of Jaswant Singh – 1638 to 1678. Entry to the fort is through a series of seven gates, again built and installed over different periods. These have been offset so as to avoid being charged at by armoured elephants.

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Sambhali Trust – An Interview With Govind Rathore – Pt 2

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[S02E19] This is the second part of our podcast interview with Govind Rathore who set up and runs the Sambhali Trust, a non-profit, grass-roots charitable organisation based in Jodhpur, the Blue City of Rajasthan. In this episode we continue to chat with Govind on the rooftop of his homestay, Durag Niwas, and we take in two of the empowerment centres that help women who come from troubled backgrounds.

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Sambhali Trust – An Interview With Govind Rathore – Pt 1

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[S02E18] A couple of kilometres outside the centre of Jodhpur, Govind Rathore and his family run the Durag Niwas homestay, but that’s not their main interest. In 2007 Govind set up the Sambhali Trust, an NGO that helps women from the lowest castes in India escape their lives of hardship and empowers them with the skills necessary to operate their own businesses. Many of these women only speak a local dialect and don’t understand Hindi, so they learn to read, write and speak Hindi and English. They are also taught sewing and farming skills. The work Govind and the Trust is doing is so important, having helped over 600 women in its five year existance, that we are dedicating two podcast episodes to our time with the Sambhali Trust.

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Taj Mahal & Her Baby Sister

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[S02E17] The Taj was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, and the whole complex was completed in 1653. It is a mausoleum using Persian, Turkish and Indian styles of architecture. The building needs no introduction, it’s one of the most visited tourist sites in the world. If you decide to go there, do what we did and get up really early!

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Snobs In Fatehpur Sikri

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[S02E16] Fatehpur Sikri consists of two areas: The huge Jama Masjid, the second largest mosque in India, and the Palace of Akbar. For a short while Akbar made Fatehpur Sikri the capital of his empire. He spent 15 years building the mosque, the palace, harems, courts, water features and other buildings and drew his influences from Persia. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is not to be missed, but if you can’t make it, then listen to this week’s podcast to get a great idea of what the fuss is all about.

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Agra Fort

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[S02E15] In this podcast we take our first train trip. We learn of a king who locked his own father up until his death, the same man who built the Taj Mahal. We’re in Agra, home to the world’s most famous building.

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Jantar Mantar

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[S02E14] If ever the sculptor Anish Kapoor received inspiration it must surely be from this ancient astronomy site, now a UNESCO World Heritage Centre. We admire the contours and angles of these intriguing objects before wandering round the impressive Amber Fort.

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A Special Birthday Video Clip

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I know some of you simply don’t have the time or the energy to read all our stories, so as a special birthday treat I’ve pulled out all the stops and created an exclusive animated version of Liz’s tale, ‘Murder on the Kolkata Express’. Some of you may have read this brilliant short story already but wait till you get a load of this, this is quite unique. It’s a lot of fun too.

Happy birthday, Liz!

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Brutality In The Pink City

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[S02E13] Captured in this podcast some proof that police brutality still exists in India. Thank god the officer wasn’t carrying any of the weapons we saw in the City Palace.

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Somali women escape to the gym

Somali women escape to the gym After years of war, Somalia’s women escape to the gym {lang: ‘en-GB’}

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Backstreets Of Jaipur

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[S02E12] Over the next few weeks we do the Golden Triangle, a hectic and touristic rite of passage. To ease ourselves into this trip we start with a gentle wander round the cool backstreets of Jaipur, the Pink City.

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VIDEO: Need to know: Somalia’s future

VIDEO: Need to know: Somalia’s future BBC Swahili’s Kevin Mwachiro explains what could be in store for Somalia as the country enters a new phase. {lang: ‘en-GB’}

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