Although we lead a transient life we do like to stay in touch with our friends (hence the whole point of this website). Please feel free to leave us a comment using the form at the bottom of the page. You can also subscribe to our email alerts (just enter your email address and hit ‘send’) or our RSS news feed (click here). If you are unsure what these are or how to subscribe, use the links on the right for more info!
- Michael Hearn
wrote:
"BY the way did you know she has a sister ship. Barnacle was originally a Flush deck but Ron had BB modified with a cabin. A second BB was built to original specs and Her name is Seiko. We met her in Moorea, I have pics of her as well. Cheers MIke..."
See the post "One-Off Sparkman & Stephens Admirals Cup" - Michael Hearn
wrote:
"Didn't think i would get a response , so this a nice surprise! If you would like to see some pic's of Barnacle, when it our turn, i have some on my facebook page. Just look my name up, Michael Hearn. will make those pics public for now. We nick named her Fat Albert,..."
See the post "One-Off Sparkman & Stephens Admirals Cup" - Jamie
wrote:
"How fantastic to hear from you, Michael. We are thrilled that this brought back so many memories for you. I will be contacting John and Linda, the current owners, shortly to tell them about your comments. They have been looking after BB very well. They are experienced sailors who love BB. She's not a difficult..."
See the post "One-Off Sparkman & Stephens Admirals Cup"

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Lovely to see your website. Hope you have a wonderful Birthday Jamie wherever you are – all down hill from now on!
Your bastard cousins would send birthday greetings if they were not so lazy.
Love ‘Nuncle John
Hey, Happy Birthday, Jamie – enjoy your 40th – we missed you at mine. Looks like the two of you are having an amazing time – stay safe – and keep away from Vietnam – that Gary Glitter beard could get you into trouble… Lots of love Neesh xx
Hi Cuz, we hope you have a greta 40th birthday. Take care and loads of love to both you and Liz.
Lots of love “The Duttons” xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Happy birthday Jamie! Hope you’re doing well.
Happy birthday you old giffer,
hope you find one eyed willy’s treasure!
lots and lots of love to all from the welsh furlongs
xx
Happy Birthday Jim-Jam you old silver back! Sounds as though you’re having an absolutely fantastic time. I wish you lots of luck in this difficult stage of your travels. Give Liz a big kiss from me. Lots of love from us all.
HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY jAMIE
BELIEVE ME I LOVE BEING 40 ( WELL 41 NOW ) YOU WILL LOVE IT TOO !!
LIVE LONG AND PROSPER MY FRIEND, LIVE LONG AND PROSPER
LISA WATERFIELD (FROM THE O.E.G) XXXXXX
Captain Furlong, Happy Birthday! Hope you, Liz and Millie are all doing well are managing your 24hr pirate outlook watch okay!
Much love and wishing you safe harbour!
Ethan, Lily & Tess
‘appy fortieef birfday Jaymee – you gay. ‘ope u n liz are ‘aving a guddun wif the pirates. laterss xxx
Jamie,
happy 40th – not quite sure where the last 20 years have gone – although you’ve done a great job in documenting your last few! Have a great day and I look fwd to reading about the rest if your adventures
Best birthday wishes from Alli and the kids too
Al
Gaymie,
Happy 40th captain pugwash!!
How the hell are you? When are you visiting me in New Zealand?
Baby Max was born a week and a half ago, big bonnie lad, 9lb 12oz.
Are you on skype and facebook still?
Cheers Jeff
Wow! What can I say but ‘Wow’! After opening so many bday cards whilst at sea in Pirate Alley, to which I sent a little audio ‘thank you’ file, I then get to an internet connection to find so many birthday wishes. I am so stoked! Thank you, thank you, thank you all. I will try my best to send personal emails to you all. Thank you!
I love your interviews. Are you perhaps interested in being interviewed yourselves?
http://interviewwithacruiser.blogspot.com/
Cheers, Livia
Hi Liz & Jaime,
We don’t know each other but we have a lot in common.
My husband, Matt, and I are in full preparations for throwing off the bowlines in pursuit of our own dream of cruising about the world within the next year.
It’s encouraging to see other young, successful cruisers out there living this dream. We admire your drive, creativity, tenacity, and resourcefulness along this journey and are learning from your experiences. Thank you for sharing them!
Would you mind if we listed your site as “other cruisers we follow” on our site?
Fair winds,
Christie and Matt Butcher of s/v Kaleo
Absolutely no problem. In fact you can add your own blog details in our ‘Contact’ section too. May we just wish you ‘fair winds and calm seas’ and don’t delay, get sailing today! It was the best decision of our lives. Have fun!
Hi Jamie and Liz
Just a quick mail from fellow 435 ketch owners. Our boat is still without sails but these should be on in the next 6 weeks. As it is at the moment we can use the genoa and cruising chute for trips up the Orwell but no more. May be we will cross paths so we will keep a look out for other reasonably priced Oysters!
Dear Liz, Thank you for your reassuring message.Graham’s Dad and Mum
Hello Strangers
Thank you so much for keeping the website updated and all the photos are great to see. It really gives you a feel of what you are seeing and make me know what mum and dad (Divanty) are telling me about.
Have a fab time
Love Sarah
Wow! I just found your pod cast, I started at #1 and have gotten up to 13 in just a few days. It has been a real treat. We are working towards a goal of long term sailing with our two girls, another 18 months or so until we can get away for a few years. I have really enjoyed the verity of styles in the recordings, especially the recordings done on passages including the radio nets.
Thank you for the time you spend working on these, and for releasing them for all of us to share,
Bryan
Hi, Millie, I am SOCKE, remember me? Did your parents treat you well during your long journey towards India? Did they find proper catfood at Massawa or other places for you? Reading your parents various interesting articles, especially your Dad seems to be interested only in finding places with cheap and good beer… How was long-distance-sailing for you? When my parents are sailing I hide in my cabin and prefer to sleep, getting up and out only to complain when it takes to long. I myself am not to well at the moment, have been hit by a car/bike a week ago at Symi. My right paw hurts, but Carmen has got me medicine from the vet in Marmaris. Has been sent to Bozburun for me by today. Hope, it helps. Lots of love
Jamie, every time I leave a message it gets deleted? hope your well
By the way: Have been inspired by Millies Log – so SOCKE has got her own log right now – she deserves it. You might not be able to read German, but see the fotos. Lots of love
Carmen, Peter and SOCKE who is getter by the minute – almost her own self again. But we had been really frightened as she was in so much pain for almost a week.
Hi Guys. Salala is the greatest of spots is it. I stayed about a week there on my way back from Thailand. The only good thing, except the weather was the ex-pat club sold Stella, quite a treat after 10 days from the Maldives on a dry boat! When we were down there we decided to avoid the convoy and head of on our own, sticking directly in the middle of the channel. It was a bit disconcerting to see a rib heading straight towards us at dusk, but fortunately it whizzed straight past us and carried on towards Oman.
Life in sunny Newton Ferrers is the same as ever, still too cold, but warming up a bit.
Any news from Chris, needless to say he hasn’t been in touch, and I’ve lost his number, so if you get the opportunity, can you email me his details. Trust all is well, and you’re both still enjoying life afloat. I’m still very jealous!
All the best
Rex
Hello beer monster.
If you ever sale up the cam make your way to The Blue in Cambridge. You’re on to something big can i buy shares?!>/
This message makes sense in my world!
Hello,
please can u tell Roger or Astrid from Sturm Dodger
that a lot of people are waiting for a massage .No one of the famaly ore frinds now if there still o.k. Please just tell them to send a massag e that there o.k.
They are all fit and well and are living on the next pontoon, we see them daily. If you haven’t got an email address for any of them let me know.
Congrats on the Times competition. Could you say Hi to my Dad who you are moored next to in the Marina in Kochi right now( white beard)in steel hulled yacht he has just finished building
Hi Paul – I just bumped into your ma to forward on your wishes. Sounds like you’re a keen photographer yourself. What’s this all about the National Geographic, eh? Good stuff!
Liz and Jamie
Have been an avid listener since Podcast 1 just about a year ago. Generally I have always enjoyed the these but I think the last one (08/10/10) let your editorial decision-making and content quality down.
I have no doubt that for all those involved it was a great hoot and a hair-down letting release for all of yourselves, however for the listener it was not so amusing – basically just not funny. Yes there was a warning, I could have chosen not to listen but I am not bothered about restricting matter on PC issues or because of swearing – for what it is worth I am a similar age bracket to you and have normally held similar views to those you have expressed. It was not the language or views particularly that I found offensive.
I admit that I have never written before to congratulate you on the general quality of your travelogue/blogs and I feel a little cheap sending a gripe but having spent my professional life involved in marketing and the media I know how much public relationship damage can be wrecked by poor editorial decisions.
Perhaps now that your personal blogging and Podcasting have become far more popular to the wider general public, maybe you need a more focused way to talk to, amuse and inform just friends and loved ones away from the ears of the rest of us.
I know that if this mail brings a response from you, it will be robust and advise me to sling my hook, get my entertainment elsewhere (I have seen some of Jamie’s work on the forums) and perhaps edit out this from your comments page. All of this is your right because, after all, I have chosen to follow and be entertained in your gift. But we do have a value being one of your statistics helping click-throughs, etc. I also know that there will be a raft of readers and mates leaping to your defense and telling me I am a crusty old fuddy-duddy
I just think that you might like to know that even an avid fan can be offended – whatever the warning. Listen to the Podcast again and really reflect about whether or not the content is of any interest or amusement at all to anonymous listeners with no connection to the crews on board or their mates in the pub.
But please, keep up with the good work.
Cheers
Ian
Trouble is, like Abraham Lincoln we can’t please all of the people all of the time, I’m just grateful we have pleased you some of the time.
I take your point, and we did wonder whether it was suitable to put the post up, but in the end this is our log, our life, and sometimes it’s not very pretty. So here it is, warts ‘n all.
Thanks for caring.
Hi Ian,
I’m not going to tell you to sling your hook and neither do I think our friends and family will jump to our defence for publishing last week’s podcast. In fact I think the case you make is perfectly valid and as a listener to our podcasts I can only apologise if you took offence. However as Liz has said this is a documentary of our life at sea and this podcast is one small part of it.
Unfortunately we have no idea what our podcast listeners want or expect from our broadcasts as we don’t hear from them directly. I download many podcasts myself but never communicate with the creators, so perhaps we should encourage more communication from our listeners to better understand what it is they like and don’t like. We appreciate that you have bothered to get in touch and have taken your comments on board.
I am happy to say that the normal podcast schedule will resume this week so please do keep tuning in and let us know when we are doing it right and when we are doing it wrong.
Cheers,
Jamie
By the way: Have been inspired by Millies Log – so SOCKE has got her own log right now – she deserves it. You might not be able to read German, but see the fotos. Lots of love
Carmen, Peter and SOCKE who is getter by the minute – almost her own self again. But we had been really frightened as she was in so much pain for almost a week.
Thanks for your brilliant second podcast. It has been such a special time in class to settle down on Friday morning, get comfortable and tune in. The children have thoroughly enjoyed it and it has promted much discussion. We have all learnt masses from your answers and I can’t tell you how engaged the children have been. After today’s installment, we went out on to the playground to measure out the size of Esper. We were a little taken aback. It is so much bigger than we anticipated. I so hope Michael Morpurgo responds to my email. It would be lovely to be able to add a comment from him after all your hard work. There may be a few more questions to follow but we promise not to overdo it!! I would like to send emmense gratitude. You have been so kind, made a lot of children very happy and enhanced our project more than you may realise. Nancy
Thanks for your brilliant second podcast. It has been such a special time in class to settle down on Friday morning, get comfortable and tune in. The children have thoroughly enjoyed it and it has promted much discussion. We have all learnt masses from your answers and I can’t tell you how engaged the children have been. After today’s installment, we went out on to the playground to measure out the size of Esper. We were a little taken aback. It is so much bigger than we anticipated. I so hope Michael Morpurgo responds to my email. It would be lovely to be able to add a comment from him after all your hard work. There may be a few more questions to follow but we promise not to overdo it!! I would like to send immense gratitude. You have been so kind, made a lot of children very happy and enhanced our project more than you may realise. Nancy
Jamie this is Josh Neicho from Letters at the Evening Standard. I was interested in your post on the Chandlers today from your perspective as a sailing enthusiast. I would be very interested if you might consider responding to our coverage and could pass on the same request to people commenting on your piece – please let me know if you might be able to.
Josh Neicho
Evening Standard Letters
joshua.neicho@standard.co.uk
020 7938 7596
Hi, I really enjoy your podcasts. Your latest podcast (11/26) is completely broken though. You will understand if you listen to it. The audio jumps back and plays the previous several seconds many times. It’s like a broken record effect. It gets really bad after minute nine or so. Other than that I love the podcast.
Thanks,
-Nathan
Hi Nathan. This problem is due to poor internet connection in India. We have re-posted the podcast and I trust you received my email letting you know that this has now been resolved. Thanks for letting us know about it. Normal service has resumed!
Jamie, Liz and Millie (who looks very cute indeed in her tinsley attire!),
Festive greetings from the Wybunbury 30! We hope you have a brilliant Christmas and that 2011 is a sailing dream.
(I personally hope you have no more trouble from those naughty nuns!!!!).
Best wishes.
Nance and class (oh and Wolfie and Charlie who are more than a little disgruntled to have been left out of earlier missives!).
Liz and Jamie I have been following you on the web and via podcast for almost 6 months now. I have been thinking and working my own dream to live the cursing life. As part of that and a place to get to know more people with the same dream I have started my own Blog. My Blog is a work in progress as I hop you can relate to. It would be nice if you and some of your friends can stop by in the future. The URL is http://rockchalktheboat.com/.
Thanks
Dave
Hi Liz & Jamie, Have just visited your website after quite a long break, having been following Brother Ian’s events on ‘Rhumbdo’. Your site seems to be growing.!!!
and you have stayed in India for quite some time now – are you intending going further East.? I am in touch with Ian by email but cannot get a phone connection for some reason. Also, do you have an email address/web address for Storm Dodger – Roger and Astrid have been helping Ian sort out some problems with the boat and I would like to thank them directly. Wishing you well in whatever you go on to do. Clive.
Hi Jamie & Liz,
Great new site just love the speed at which you can navigate it. Great photos as usual and wonderful words.
Tale care
Mr D
Hi Jamie & Liz,
I have recently found your blog and have really loved reading about all your antics while at sea. We too are trying hard to sell up and go cruising with our cat, Buster, you have really inspired us to get on and go, it is great to see that it can be done and that life does not crash around your ears when you leave the confines of “The Real world!” As has been said by so many, when we mention our plans. Thanks Again Joss
Dear Joss – thank you for those kind words, we’re really glad we can provide just a little bit of inspiration. The only thing I can tell you for definite is that you will not regret the move to live aboard your boat. We have never looked back. Good luck with the plans, fair winds and hope to catch you on the high seas one day.
Hey, just looking at all the places you have visited and saw that you have been to Rye, our home town, and where our boat will be moored when we eventually sell the house. So maybe we will bump into each other one day. Take care.
Yes, my home is in Rye. In fact I will be staying there, on and off, over the summer. Good luck with the venture.
Hi Jamie and Liz
Love the look of the website. Its the best yet. Very Readable fonts pictures look great.
Have just got the latest Oyster mag, your boat looks like the one we sold 13 years ago, we sold it to a Turkish man, it was called Bona Verba then. Can you look up your records and see if this is correct. If this is our old boat it is lovely to see her, we enjoyed her very very much and hope the new owners are too.
Yes! The very same. Your Turkish buyer sold her to us — he’d renamed her ‘Dersu Uzala’, which was far too much of a mouthful, hence ‘Esper’.
I tried to contact you through Oyster at the time of buying, but with no luck. It’s lovely to hear from you now. If you have any stories or photos etc, do get in touch with us, we’d love to hear more. I’ll pm my email address.
Jamie,
I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions about a post you did in 2005 that talked about the BTM 1?
Regards
Matthew – a new owner of a boat with a BTM 1 thats not doing what I thought!
Of course, Matthew. If you post your question up in the comments section of that particular article we can share the information.
Jamie – thanks but Google finally helped me get the answer anyway. Matthew
Liz hi!
Glad we could finally get in touch with each other. I was and am really inspired by your blog and how you both met and decided to change your life for the better.
I am trying to do something similar to you: document my life in Greece through my blog and hopefully get a good enough following so that one day, people might want to read my book (we live in hope that I finish it – but I’m not giving up my day job) ;0)
Feel free to contact me by email so that we can bash out some ideas about a possible online community.
I should mention I joined an Arts Council scheme whereby I am assigned a mentor to help me through the writing process then it’s read by a ‘Reader’ to see if its possible a literary company will be interested.
Let’s ‘virtually’ hook up!
Beccs
Hi Beccs,
I’m so glad to hear from you. Jamie is going to work out a way of setting up a ‘writing forum’ for me. It will be private, only readable by those involved. I’ll be in contact by email separately.
Cheers
Liz
Thanks for ur interest.Unfortunately I will be at kolkata by Dec 2011 only bcoz as of now I am at Bangalore.So if u could tell me how long r u going to stay in kolkata will be ok for me.U will have varieties of lodging there based on ur budget.Best to stay in the central city itself for ease of access to everywhere.Places of interest within city would be Howrah Bridge,Vidyasagar Setu,Varieties of River Ghats where u can enjoy the sunrise/sunset,Street walking,Victoria Memorial,National Museum,Alipore Zoo,Science City,Birla Planetorium.Outside city places would be Sunderban Forest(Famous forRoyal Bengal Tigers),Digha(Seashore),Shantiniketan(Famous for Rabindranath Tagore),Belurmath,Dakhshineshwar(Famous for Goddess Kali),Kalighat(Famous for Goddess Kali) & many more……
By the way my email id is vijaykhaitan@gmail.com so u can drop a mail anytime for any queries.
Hi Jamie and Liz,
David and I have really enjoyed listening to your podcasts, but we are now close to the end, we were wondering if you were planning on recording any more? It would be great if you could.
Best Wishes
Joss
Hi Joss, thanks for getting in touch and letting us know how much you enjoy the podcasts. As it happens we probably have another year’s worth of episodes waiting to be edited, which cover our travels on land in India. Recently Liz and I have dedicated much of our time to writing and photography, but it is my intention to start putting together Series Two over the next few weeks, so watch this space!
Beautiful site man. Colors, pictures, etc. Everything is cool ! (sorry for my english, i’m french :s)
Your English is better than my French, thanks for the kind words.
Jamie
Can’t be doing with Faceboook, Twitter and the like….too old ! Just wanted to say how much I enjoy your travelogues. For me, your image of the Bolgatty Girl is really special – amazing eyes which draw you into the picture.
Pete
Hi Pete – how nice to hear from you. I’m putting together a website of all my best stuff, which I’ll email you about when it goes live. No need for Facebook, Twitter and the like
I really must get round to my ARPS too, so I’ll be calling you for some tips!
Hi Liz and Jamie! Great website! We are currently in Malaysia and are considering spending much of the next year moored in the Kochi area, however, to date we have been unable to locate an email or phone number for the new Kochi Marina. If you have any contact info we would greatly appreciate it. thx so much. Sheri
Hi Sheri, I’ve passed your details to the manager here and emailed you separately. I hope you make it to Kochi, its a lovely place and India has so much to offer a traveller.
Jamie,
When or if you have the time is it possible to e mail me.
We too are getting a good few hits on our website but I would like to ask you some questions.
Regards
Mark
(Nostrodamus on the forums)