http://www.followtheboat.com Tales (not just) from the high seas Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:30:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/05/29/mumbai-a-photographic-feast/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/05/29/mumbai-a-photographic-feast/#comments Sat, 29 May 2010 04:30:03 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=19977 Liz and I have always romanticised with the idea of sailing into a city. Sydney and Vancouver are two such examples but we never thought we'd get a thrill from sailing into Mumbai, the state capital of the Maharashtra region of central India. This truly is a cosmopolitan city and if you have never been then don't even begin to conjure up preconceptions of this place, they'll come nowhere near to the real thing! Mumbai is an assault on the senses; it very quickly became one of my fave cities ever visited, proof of which are the many photographs featured in this extravaganza of a blog post. We have photographs galore! In a departure to the usual 'inline' photographs that illustrate my narrative, I have instead put together some slide-shows: the images are bigger and there are more of them! Prepare to be dazzled...]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/05/29/mumbai-a-photographic-feast/feed/ 7 http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/05/14/welcome-to-india-t-bone-anyone/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/05/14/welcome-to-india-t-bone-anyone/#comments Fri, 14 May 2010 12:40:30 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=19915 Imagine our pride at having sailed over 4,000 miles, unassisted, without incident and without a scratch to Esper. I haven't mentioned that our autopilot packed up early on in the Gulf of Aden, so many of the last 2,000 miles were hand-steered. That's bloody hard work in case you didn't know. Imagine, then, our horror when approaching the Indian coast, after our incident-free 4,000 miles, we were t-boned by the stupid dumb-ass Indian Navy! ]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/05/14/welcome-to-india-t-bone-anyone/feed/ 10 http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/04/12/traveling-4000-miles-for-this/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/04/12/traveling-4000-miles-for-this/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 02:56:46 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=19890 You understand why we are doing this whole trip, don't you? We've left the rat-race and are off to discover new places. Places that inspire and excite. Really we are looking for that perfect idyllic sea where no man can be seen for miles around. So imagine sailing 4,000 miles, only to discover this...]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/04/12/traveling-4000-miles-for-this/feed/ 10 http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/03/19/costing-oman-and-a-leg/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/03/19/costing-oman-and-a-leg/#comments Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:21:46 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=19799 Where the women are forced to wear black and their presence is absent from the streets. Welcome to Oman, a country that lives indoors in air conditioned buildings and drives around in air conditioned cars. Welcome to Oman, an expensive country boasting the most incredible beaches yet desperately lacking in soul. Read what I really think of this strange country...]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/03/19/costing-oman-and-a-leg/feed/ 6 http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/03/11/pirate-alley-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/03/11/pirate-alley-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:45:58 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=19772 Collisions, fishing nets, narrow escapes, exhaustion, arguments and tantrums. And that was just the first day! Sailing in convoy with fourteen other boats through the most dangerous waters in the world is enough to turn any sane man into a quivering wreck, excuse the pun. For some of us more conscientious sailors the Pirate Alley convoy was a living hell!]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/03/11/pirate-alley-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly/feed/ 11 http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/22/marina-wadieldome/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/22/marina-wadieldome/#comments Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:59:48 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=18715 Once off the boat one then had to contend with the comedy pontoon, something taken straight out of the Fun House! Remember the moving staircase right by the Hall of Mirrors? That was our pontoon! As one walked down the pontoon so it tipped and dipped from side to side, and then there were the warps (lines) tied to the large motor boats that one had to climb over, further complicating the trip ashore.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/22/marina-wadieldome/feed/ 1 http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/20/the-day-we-sat-in-a-minibus/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/20/the-day-we-sat-in-a-minibus/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:53:10 +0000 Liz http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=18698 A little of the hocus pocus rubbed off and we struck it lucky by being taken up by a local, who showed us the best place to view the whole monastery and then wangled us an entry. It was too late to see inside the church and the museum (most annoying) so Jamie and I bought lots of postcards of all the beautiful objects we missed and had a cup of tea. We did manage a walk round the impressive grounds and buildings, which was an experience.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/20/the-day-we-sat-in-a-minibus/feed/ 5 http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/18/i-spoke-too-soon/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/18/i-spoke-too-soon/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:50:04 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=18655 In my email round-up yesterday I joked about our pilot not turning up. Well guess what? It is now 07:30, two and a half hours after we were supposed to have departed, and he's still not here. Oh, everyone else has gone, it's just 'Rhumb Do' and 'Esper' left on the bloody dock because they couldn't get enough pilots. Our departure date has been set to 10:00 instead. Hmmmm...]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/18/i-spoke-too-soon/feed/ 6 http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/13/downtown-cairo/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/13/downtown-cairo/#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:08:43 +0000 Liz http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=18597 So, you've just paid a small fortune to enter the the Royal Mummy room at the Egyptian Museum, where you are asked to be quiet and not take photos. Your camera has been left outside the museum in a secure place because you are not allowed to bring it in. What do you do? You take out your phone and flash away at these ancient mummified people, who are kept at carefully regulated moisture, temperature and lighting levels to stop them decomposing. You are an idiot.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/13/downtown-cairo/feed/ 1 http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/11/ungrateful-suez-canal-pilots/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/11/ungrateful-suez-canal-pilots/#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:12:20 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=18577 He ripped open the parcel, threw aside the t-shirt, scattered the other goods across the deck and tore open the envelope containing the money. The next half an hour was spent listening to this whinging, ungrateful shit complain about his present.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/11/ungrateful-suez-canal-pilots/feed/ 4