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A Sad End: Quest Killed By Somali Hostages
Today all four crew of sailing yacht ‘Quest’ were killed. Apparently the US Navy ‘responded to gunfire’ aboard Quest off the coast of Oman, which it had been shadowing since the boat was taken on Friday. Our thoughts go out to Scott and Jean’s family and friends. They were here just a few weeks ago in Cochin Marina, India.
There is already much debate on the sailing forums as to what actually happened and what will happen next. Only time will tell. One wonders if we will ever get to the bottom of what really occured aboard that ill-fated yacht. In the meantime I have removed my previous scrutiny of passage planning into the Indian Ocean out of respect.
The fact remains that this is a sad day for liveaboard sailors around the world, a sad day for our freedom and a sad day for the worsening situation both on the waters of the Indian Ocean and in Somalia.
End Of The Line
After over a year of podcasts documenting the Vasco Da Gama rally this is the final one that sees Emma, Katy, Liz and Jamie safely arrive at their final destination. Not without the odd storm, however.
I Think I’m Goan Be Sick
This podcast is not to be listened to whilst eating. You’ve no doubt heard that travelling in India can be plagued by cases of Delhi Belly and this week neither Katy nor Jamie escaped its wrath. This is a step-by-step account of a rather hilarious day that was only funny for the observers.
Bikinis and Raybans
There’s nothing I like better than sailing with a bunch of girls in bikinis – what man wouldn’t, eh? In this weeks episode we’re joined by Liz’s old friends, Emma and Katy. They very nearly didn’t make it though…
An Indian Welcome
Once again Jamie gets confused as to what day it is in this podcast, but a sharp knock by a fishing boat against Esper’s hull soon brings him back to the real world.
It seems we are not the only boat to suffer damage, however, as other vessels on the rally have their own problems. Still, let’s not let this mar the celebration of a wonderful crossing of the Arabian Sea. Eight days and 960 miles later Mumbai’s hazy skyline makes herself known to a tired but elated Vasco Da Gama Rally.
Spinnaker Sensation
In our penultimate Arabian Sea crossing podcast Jamie decides to erect something very big that scares Liz. Meanwhile back at Wynbury Delves Primary School the kids send the Esper gang a message. It feels great to know that we’ve done something good, especially after a day of no wind, sunburn and cursing.
Cast Aside The Technology
Broken steering, hurting backs, sweaty cupboards and incessant chat on the VHF enough to drive the calmest person up the wall. Sometimes it’s best to just turn off the VHF, stop looking at the chart plotter and put to one side all the stuff that interferes with what sailing is really all about.
Banana Port Control
Coinciding with the Chandler’s release from Somalia by pirates this week we return to the high seas, now entering the middle of the Arabian Sea. We are in the same area the Chandlers were two years ago.
What was a great sail is now turning into a bit of a nightmare with steering problems and no wind. And then there are the freaks on the VHF radio…
Drunken Vagrants
Offensive, rude and quite un-PC. Whatever happened to those two lovely young chaps who joined the rally in Egypt? After 3,000 miles something changed and we ended up with potty-mouthed drunken sailors. In this podcast Terry of Roam II takes on the challenge of interviewing Robbie and Cillian, two chaps who met after cycling across Europe and joined the rally in the Red Sea. Not for children or the faint-hearted.
Hallucinations
Hallucinations. We spent some weeks in Salalah and almost went stir crazy. The long wait for Indian visas and administrative red tape meant we were stuck in a country that was too expensive to explore. The only thing that saved us from going mad were the beautiful beaches and the nearby Oasis Bar.
After weeks of waiting we had the usual captain’s meeting, and with Indian visas secured, were ready to leave. Sadly our agent Mohammed let us down at the last minute, with some unprofessional behaviour and some surprise additional costs added to our already huge mooring fees. We were glad to leave.
Turkey to India Video: A Geography Lesson For Kids
We have put together this educational video for children aged between 5-10 but at 50 Liz was just as entertained, so we hope everyone gets something out of it.
Using Google Earth we have animated the course that we took on the rally from Turkey to India. It starts off with a few clips of the rally boats to give children an idea of what a boat looks like when it is sailing but the main part of this clip is an explanation of each country visited and where they are in relation to the UK.
We put this together to accompany the podcast we’ll be publishing in October for Nancy Lake’s class at Wybunbury Delves Primary School. Nancy’s class, who have asked us a whole range of questions about what it’s like to live on a boat, is aged between 10-11 but the commentary on this video clip is more suited to 4-7 year olds.
We hope you enjoy it. It was great fun to put together and we look forward to reading your comments.
A Vessel Is Pirated
On the 24th March this year we published on followtheboat.com a transcript of the communication between a NATO warship and a vessel that was being boarded by pirates. It makes for harrowing reading. In this podcast we capture the warship relaying the unfortunate news to a neighbouring Omani warship. We also catch the Net, which is the rally’s daily VHF forum, and listen to the implications of this attack.
Pirate Alley: They Think It’s All Over…
The home-run! At least that’s what we believe before we get to Salalah. More on that in a later episode but in the meantime we make the most of our last part of the official Pirate Alley stretch and amuse ourselves by tuning in to the VHF. The freaks really come out at night you know.