People

This large section covers a number of favourite followtheboat categories, including meeting new people, strange people we meet, our Through The Porthole interviews, the recent A Day In The Life series and all the crew we've ever sailed with.

The Day I Almost Bought A Goatherder’s Son

By Jamie | Published April 14, 2011

Today I had an encounter I will never forget. Meet Chella Duri, a goatherder from Tamil Nadu, working in the neighbouring state of Kerala. He earns as much in a month as we spend on an evening out, but I’m not asking for your pity, just a few moments to listen to what he had to say when he heard that I was a rich westerner living on a boat in Cochin…

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meeting new people

Kids Of Kerala Are Certified!

By Jamie | Published February 1, 2011

A few weeks ago I received an invite to attend the Kerala Watersports Sailing Organisation Certificate Awards. I’d already met Captain Jolly Thomas who is the man responsible for teaching young children how to sail their little, second-hand Optimist dinghies. In a country that has no real sailing heritage and with next to no funds Jolly has achieved the near-impossible by creating a small but successful sailing club for children. Set up as a charitable organisation the least I could do was attend the ceremony and maybe invite a couple of other western sailors to join me. Terry of ‘Roam II’ and Brian and Maureen of ‘Suryana’ came along to give their support.

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meeting new people

You Are Invited To A Bonkers Wedding

By Jamie | Published January 24, 2011

I’ve no idea who Romit and Rupashi are but I was at their Hindu wedding nonetheless. This was a fantastical event with much noise, colour and many people. Here is my pictorial account of the special occasion: more photos, less words.

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meeting new people

HMS Chatham: Big Brother Is Watching Us

By Jamie | Published March 24, 2010

Meet Big Brother, watching our every move since Egypt!

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meeting new people

The People Of Sudan

By Jamie | Published January 28, 2010

Suakin has to be seen to be believed. It is one reason why I took so many photographs of both people and buildings. Along the dusty road from the anchorage and old city lies the market, and behind the market, the residential area. The market is surrounded by wooden buildings that look more at home in The House of Fun, such is the angle at which they sit. It is the residential area, however, that really shocks. More buildings made of any scrap of cardboard, metal or wood have been cobbled together to provide some kind of shelter from the sun.

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meeting new people

Welcome To The Culture Shock

By Jamie | Published January 27, 2010

My first escapade into a Sudanese town was rather rewarding, at least from a photographic point of view. I’d been warned that the Sudanese do not like having their photograph taken and wandering around this battered old town with my massive Canon lens attached to my expensive camera certainly raised some eyebrows, not least from anyone in uniform. I’d already been ticked off by a local man for attempting to take pictures of the local fishing boats on this atmospherically cloudy afternoon.

photography

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meeting new people

Well, Hush My Mouth!

By Jamie | Published November 18, 2009

Our pilot, whose name I never bothered to learn

Only this morning I was hopping about on the empty promenade of Ismalia marina, having been left behind by the rally. We’d been woken up at 5am only to be told that our pilot wouldn’t be turning up till ten. After our last experience of that ungrateful arse of a pilot Liz and I had said that whoever came on-board as our pilot for the second day would not get any more than $10 baksheesh. A kick in the bollocks would also be offered if any objection was raised over the sum of our present.

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meeting new people

The Gem Of The Suez Canal

By Jamie | Published November 12, 2009

The rest of my commentary of this fine town will be done by picture. I have to say I was bowled over by the local people’s willingness to be photographed! Only three people declined their portrait being taken and a couple of people tapped me on the shoulder and told me off (one for photographing his cycle shop!), but the rest of Ismalia were queuing up! Young lads jumped in front of each other, young parents grabbed their children and market traders picked up fruit and offered it to the camera.

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meeting new people

Bribing The Wrong Person

By Jamie | Published November 11, 2009

A very angry Arabic marina manager started shouting in a way that only an angry Arabic-speaking official person can do. The pilot boat had to catch us up in order to drop off our pilot, Moussa, which is Egyptian for Moses. Biblical this man was not…

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meeting new people rants

Get Me An English Wife

By Jamie | Published November 9, 2009

The internet cafe was nothing special but the guy in charge was. He was as camp as a lace doily and so it was with complete disbelief that I found myself in a conversation about finding him an English girl to marry! I am serious, this guy genuinely believed that I could call up an English girl who would be willing to fly over and marry him!

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strange people

The Holtz Family of s/y ‘Tiger’

By Jamie | Published October 23, 2009

This, our first official followtheboat podcast, is an interview with a young south African family half way through a sailing circumnavigation. They’ve visited a staggering 30 counties in 3 years but their trip has been put on hold as they attend to a dismasting hiccup! As if that’s not enough, Ronnelle has returned to their home in America for three months, leaving dad Neil to look after Emille, 7, and Pete, 5. There’ll be hell to pay if that mast isn’t up when she returns in the new year!

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meeting new people podcast through the porthole

One Giant Bleat For Mankind

By Jamie | Published July 27, 2009

Emborios is a tiny hamlet with just a couple of restaurants who provide mooring buoys for yotties. Yep, you guessed it, another task as yet not undertaken single-handed. I think I performed it admirably, even if I say so myself, especially after tying up and watching a another boat make a real pig’s ear of it all: lost boat hooks, screaming skipper, trembling wife, usual story.

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strange people

A Day In The Life: On The Hard

By Jamie | Published July 12, 2009

The first thing we do when we get hauled out the water is to farm our mussel bed.

Anyway…this “Day in the Life” is based upon our time on the hard in the sweltering 30°+ heat of June at Marti Marina. For you non-yotties being on the hard means propping ones boat up on big sticks and climbing up and down a 10ft ladder in order to get on and off the boat.

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a day in the life boat maintenance

Catch #3: Carangidae/Pompano

By Jamie | Published July 7, 2009

Started fishing at 5 this morning, about the time the cicadas started. The anchorage is a stunning setting, especially at that time in the morning. I put some coffee on and chucked some crumbs out the back. Not much action for a bit until I attracted the attention of just three fish. In all the time at this anchorage (two nights) these are the only fish I’ve seen.

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fishing strange people

From South Africa To Turkey

By Siobhan | Published July 4, 2009

It’s perhaps not surprising that my best holiday so far was the result of a series of coincidences and good fortune. Even now, parts of it feel like a dream. How likely is it that your boss in South Africa tells you that you’re being sent to a conference in Istanbul and that – taking a chance because you know your friends are sort of crazy – when you email friends in London to say you’re going to be in Turkey for a few days, do they want to join you, they come back immediately to say that they’d love to.

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meeting new people

Discovering The Village of Orhanye

By Matt | Published June 26, 2009

Much later Jamie impressed not just our immediate party but everyone at poolside by performing a series of beautifully executed complex dives. I think this one was a reverse back somersault with triple pike from memory [which wasn’t too good by then].

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meeting new people

An Old Friend Comes To Town

By Matt | Published June 25, 2009

The weather has broken, Marmaris is surrounded by storm clouds and its dreary foreboding is compounded by the fact I’m packing to return to the UK; so let’s step back in time to sunnier days when Matt and Candice came out to visit. We took in some of Turkey’s finest coast line and Greece’s jewel, Simi. This log is written by Matt, who’s comedy prose is accompanied by some fantastic photographs. It concludes with an entry by Siobhan, who came all the way from South Africa to visit us for a couple of days! We are honoured.

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meeting new people

A Day In The Life: At Anchor In Turkey

By Jamie | Published June 21, 2009

Introducing a new series on followtheboat: A Day In The Life. In this new category we take one day and break it down for you, hour by hour, offering a lighthearted view on what it’s like to spend 24 hours aboard Esper. In our first essay we examine an average day at anchor in Turkey, from dragging anchors and evil clerics to woodland creatures and smelly poo.

Oh, and if you’re using Internet Explorer 6, we’ve finally got round to fixing a display errors in the website – of course you should have upgraded or migrated to Firefox by now

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a day in the life

Photographing The Old Boys Of Fethiye

By Jamie | Published May 29, 2009

In this, the last of our photography features of our winter home town, we feature the ‘Old Boys Of Fethiye’. This little project happened by accident. I was just cycling around, minding my own business, when I came across this cafe full of old boys. When I asked the waiter if it was ok to take some snaps of the old men playing board games he said not only was this ok, but it was expected. Boy could these guys pull some poses! Possibly my fave photography project to date.

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meeting new people observation

Christer Klingwall of ‘Lady Jessie’: A Tribute

By Jamie | Published April 26, 2009

It is with great sadness that we announce the tragic death of Christer Klingwall, owner and skipper of ‘Lady Jessie’, who took his own life last Monday, 20th April.

We would like to pay our respects to our sailing buddy by posting up some pictures and thoughts on followtheboat, which featured Christer in our last video clip. Mayke, Christer’s ex-wife with whom he remained close, said ‘Christer would love the idea of a tribute’. This article, then, will be a continually updated and amended page dedicated to a great sailor. If you would like to add your own comment, thought or photograph then please either use the comments form at the end of the article or email us.

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meeting new people observation

Goat-Milking, Wellington-Wearing Local Girls

By Tim | Published April 21, 2009

Once again, the sweet farmer’s daughter comes running down to us and apologises that dinner will not be ready for a while as she is milking the cow and off she runs. Though we don’t hear said cow, as we play our game of Rumicub, we are surrounded by bleating goats, hooting owls, braying donkeys, jumping fish and crowing cockerels – life on this island is actually quite noisy!

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meeting new people strange people

Tasty Tortoises & Magical Langoistines. No, Hold On…

By Tim | Published April 17, 2009

I only see him move once, and this was to pass us the bill. He limps his huge mass towards us and smiles through toad-like eyes. I imagine he is probably very good friend with James Bond, he seems to know everybody and things seemed to work around him to his satisfaction – whether this is down to wealth, culture or bloody hard work, I do not know, what I do know is it looks like a good life.

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meeting new people observation

Friendly Locals – And That’s Just The Dogs!

By Tim | Published April 16, 2009

Short of trudging through somebody’s garden, we decide to descend, only to be stopped by two traditionally dressed women who insist on giving us directions. It turns out that a set of steps which were guarded by a charming black Labrador were in fact the correct route and we soon find ourselves onwards and upwards. Even the dogs here are friendly.

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meeting new people observation

Ilkin of Delta Marina, Northern Cyprus

By Jamie | Published September 6, 2008

Captain Ilkin Kalibcioglu of Delta Marina, Girne, Cyprus<br>Source: Liz Cleere

It’s an exciting time for the manager of Delta Marina, who has doubled its berths to 80 in the last few years. With the borders between northern and southern Cyprus now open, hope for relaxation of trade restrictions and loosening of prohibited areas, the cruising scene is set to expand very quickly. “The Minister of Trade [who, incidentally, spoke at the rally reception we attended] has stated that tourism is Northern Cyprus’s number one priority. Key to this is sailing, which is one reason why they are building a new marina up the coast from us”.

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meeting new people through the porthole

The Kuzey Kibris Rally

By Jamie | Published August 29, 2008

The first night of the rally was pirate-themed, hence the eye-shadow. Somewhere in my tiny brain I thought perhaps I bore a vague resemblance to Johnny Depp in ‘Pirates…’, but then I do have to keep reminding myself that he’s not a fat ****, so I just ended up looking like a gay English lout.

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meeting new people

Finike, Turkey to Girne, Northern Cyprus

By Jamie | Published August 28, 2008

I’m not entirely sure why this happened: when the depth is over 100m the gauge normally just shows ‘—m’. I’ve never seen it show a reading like that before and I can only assume it was a shoal of fish, or one big fish, attracted by the sound of the boat’s chugging, monotone engine. Either that or a Turkish submarine was f***ing with us.

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meeting new people video clips

Getting Creative On Gemiler Island

By Jamie | Published August 8, 2008

Gemiler Island is littered with Lycian antiquities

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…

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rucks strange people

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

By Millie The Cat | Published July 19, 2008

Maybe I should have hidden on this boat instead?

Eventually we stopped somewhere and I heard strangers banging around and talking. I made myself very small indeed and tried to hide. I didn’t know what to do. Inevitably someone found me, a very smiley, kind lady with red hair. But I didn’t know her; I wanted my Mum.

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cat a log strange people

Banu of Yacht Plaza Hotel, Fethiye, Turkey

By Jamie | Published July 3, 2008

Banu and Batu’s progress has not been without its problems, however. Despite running their family business now for over 20 years they have had some run-ins with the local marina next door, who have only been here for five years. When Banu told me of the bribes Ece Marina have been offering her in order to close her down, I was disgusted.

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meeting new people through the porthole

Pot Luck

By Jamie | Published July 1, 2008

When I think of the organisation this would take back at home (babysitters, traffic, setting Sky+ to record missed programmes etc) this was an impressive effort by all involved. For us there were some new friends made, some familiar faces we’d never spoken to, familiar boat names we’d never actually met, and some old friends too.

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meeting new people

Tales (not just) from the high seas

People