http://www.followtheboat.com Tales (not just) from the high seas Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:30:12 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/08/stop-asking-for-presents/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/08/stop-asking-for-presents/#comments Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:48:12 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=18503 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. ]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/11/08/stop-asking-for-presents/feed/ 6 http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/04/22/the-yin-and-yang-of-sailing/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/04/22/the-yin-and-yang-of-sailing/#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:46:30 +0000 Tim http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=4959 This of course puts us into emergency mode and the wind soon catches Esper and as the motors off without even so much as an apologetic glance back over his shoulder, we are left trying to steady our boat. We soon find ourselves sideways onto the pontoon, engine on with no wheel to steer ourselves away.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2009/04/22/the-yin-and-yang-of-sailing/feed/ 1 http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/09/25/a-tale-of-two-hassans/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/09/25/a-tale-of-two-hassans/#comments Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:03:17 +0000 Liz http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=3957 We decided to head next door to Hassan's, where we were looking forward to meeting the owner. Oh boy, did we meet the owner. I'm not sure if he had got out of bed the wrong side, if he'd just had some terrible news, or if he'd taken an instant dislike to us but he was the most unpleasant man we have met in Turkey. The exchange went something like this...]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/09/25/a-tale-of-two-hassans/feed/ 1 http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/08/21/on-an-island/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/08/21/on-an-island/#comments Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:48:33 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=3748 Other people are just a-holes though, like this tw@t of a French ar$e who screamed and shouted at us whilst hopping about from one foot to the other. After safely anchoring well away from him I spent the next hour raising my arms at him in a “so what's your problem?” kind of way. ]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/08/21/on-an-island/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/08/15/can-someone-please-turn-the-oven-down/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/08/15/can-someone-please-turn-the-oven-down/#comments Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:39:34 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=4078 We've been chilling out in some beautiful places though, taking in Kas, Kastelorizon, Kalkan and other places beginning with 'K', with plenty of pics to accompany stories of ancient Lycian tombs and angry French cons.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/08/15/can-someone-please-turn-the-oven-down/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/08/08/getting-creative-on-gemiler-island/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/08/08/getting-creative-on-gemiler-island/#comments Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:52:17 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=3714 Actually, when I say busy I mean really busy. For an anchorage in the middle of nowhere there are rather a lot of vessels churning up this otherwise idyllic anchorage. Nothing bad, mind, apart from the twat on a jet-ski who needed a smack round the face...]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/08/08/getting-creative-on-gemiler-island/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/05/31/escape-from-eternity/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/05/31/escape-from-eternity/#comments Sat, 31 May 2008 15:45:45 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=3524 My last weekend, however, was marred somewhat by a couple of idiots I met in the bar on Friday. New boat owners hailing from Essex and London they had nothing good to say about the sailing community. Or Turks for that matter. I sat and listened as they slagged off Turkish workers for being lazy, and yotties who help each other only for personal gain. Eh?]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/05/31/escape-from-eternity/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/05/18/ancient-valletta-sushi/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/05/18/ancient-valletta-sushi/#comments Sat, 17 May 2008 23:42:08 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=4023 Not only do the Maltese siesta for most of the day, Malta completely shuts down on a Sunday so they can spend seventeen hours in church worshipping some bird in a blue dress. This was the perfect opportunity to drive into Valletta and wander the ancient streets, though it was made a little frustrating what with every tourist site being closed for the day!]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2008/05/18/ancient-valletta-sushi/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/27/everything-just-went-horribly-wrong/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/27/everything-just-went-horribly-wrong/#comments Fri, 27 Aug 2004 15:32:14 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=311 As we approached the Essex coast we ran out of fuel. Well, we didn't run out of fuel, the second tank wasn't feeding fuel to the engine for some reason. With this in mind the skipper wasn't happy sailing all the way back to Burnham with no diesel so we made a detour up the Orwell with the aim of pulling in to Levington to refuel. It was closer and the wind was in our favour. Or so we thought. Are you ready for this?]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/27/everything-just-went-horribly-wrong/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/07/07/brits-abroad-vs-belgian-toffs/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/07/07/brits-abroad-vs-belgian-toffs/#comments Wed, 07 Jul 2004 14:31:54 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=491 A rather amusing incident occurred today. Due to an administrative cock up with the marina the English power-boat users next to us had been directed to someone else's berth. That someone else was a rather snotty-nosed Belgian couple in a very expensive yacht who decided to turn up later that morning.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/07/07/brits-abroad-vs-belgian-toffs/feed/ 0