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/2004/08/27/leaking-boat-start-bailing/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/27/leaking-boat-start-bailing/#comments Fri, 27 Aug 2004 14:57:08 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=288 We left Ijmuiden and got about 5 nm out when I spotted a 'water-issue' in the aft cabin. When I say 'water-issue' I mean there were gallons of water coming in from somewhere. The skipper and I got to and started bailing as the others turned the boat around. We must have done at least 10 full bucket loads and we got back to the marina on the sea side of the lock. After confirming that there wasn't a fatal leak (we decided it was a build-up of rainwater from the last week) we headed back to sea again, but the winds of 30kn and F6-7 made the crossing a little uncomfortable.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/27/leaking-boat-start-bailing/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/25/chickens/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/25/chickens/#comments Wed, 25 Aug 2004 14:19:43 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=272 More rain. We dropped the ladies off right by the station in Amsterdam who bottled the crossing back to the UK. The forecast was anything up to a Force 7 so it was hardly surprising they took the easy route back, but that's not what sailing is all about! Instead the rest of us waited in Ijmuiden for the bad weather to pass. De ja vu from a year ago!]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/25/chickens/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/24/264/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/24/264/#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2004 14:02:00 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=264 Rain, rain and rain. Thunderstorms and lightning. This appears to be the weather for this trip. Enkhuizen boasts a fascinating museum and model village. Unfortunately all the museum plaques are in Dutch but the village is amazing. When I say model village I don’t mean Legoland. Each building is genuinely ancient, moved from a random [...]]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/24/264/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/23/theories-on-the-dutch/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/23/theories-on-the-dutch/#comments Mon, 23 Aug 2004 09:39:55 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=254 I came up with a great theory today. If you've ever noticed the Dutch are a very tall race. This is because they cycle big bikes, which stretch their legs. Also because they live below sea level they are always having to stretch themselves to see over the dykes. That's why they're so tall. All that stretching. ]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/23/theories-on-the-dutch/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/21/sounding-the-hoorn/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/21/sounding-the-hoorn/#comments Sat, 21 Aug 2004 12:54:16 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=246 After fuelling up we picked up a strong northerly on the Ijsselmeer with winds of well over 20kn. This gave us a beam reach with a speed of over 7knots, enabling us to overtake pretty much every sailing vessel in our path. We toasted this achievement in the evening with a fantastic dinner in Hoorn, served by a beautiful waitress. Puns on the name of the town have been withheld.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/21/sounding-the-hoorn/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/20/an-action-packed-day/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/20/an-action-packed-day/#comments Fri, 20 Aug 2004 12:39:26 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=227 After leaving our yachthaven in Aalsmeer, not forgetting to give the middle finger to the hairy, cigar-chomping Dutch twat who told the skipper off for borrowing a hose (that wasn't even his), we headed towards Amsterdam. Of course this involved negotiating a number of bridges which meant either approaching very slowly and hovering backwards and forwards until the bridge opened, or, more sensibly, tying up to the posts provided on the side of the canal.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/20/an-action-packed-day/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/19/netherlands-middle-earth/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/19/netherlands-middle-earth/#comments Thu, 19 Aug 2004 11:42:41 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=214 Early next morning the eldest crew member (let's call him Dave) and myself went in to town to do some shopping and get chatting to some very friendly Dutch girls behind the fruit and veg counter, quipping that we'd sailed a long way to sample their melons (you had to be there). Dave was getting a little over-excited at their friendly demeanour so we pushed on back to the boat]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/19/netherlands-middle-earth/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/18/breaker-come-in-rubber-duck/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/18/breaker-come-in-rubber-duck/#comments Wed, 18 Aug 2004 11:19:51 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=192 With strong gusting winds we found getting out of the pillared berth a real test of lateral thinking. If you imagine the boat tied bow-to, but with three 10ft high wooden pillars down each side of the boat, we were continually blown side on to one set of pillars. With some very careful manoeuvring and pushing against the pillars from all sides we eventually managed to reverse our way out of the mooring back into the main canal - straight into the path of an oncoming barge one way and a container ship the other! Quick! Slam that motor into forwards and get the hell out!]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/18/breaker-come-in-rubber-duck/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/17/coronation-street-spam/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/17/coronation-street-spam/#comments Tue, 17 Aug 2004 10:28:48 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=172 We arrived at the Hoek of Holland early Tuesday morning but we still had a long way to go down the Nieuwe Waterweg. This is Blade Runner on water. It is pure industrial mayhem with many commercial ships chugging up and down the water way. Thumbs up to the Dutch for utilising their waterways properly. ]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/17/coronation-street-spam/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/16/hip-hoperation/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/16/hip-hoperation/#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2004 10:09:35 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=160 Unfortunately I was made to sleep in the saloon, which was odd since there was a spare bunk at the back of the boat. It didn't really bother me until I realised I hadn't brought any sleeping gear with me! Ooops - school boy error. The one pain in the ass feature with the drop keel is the big column that sticks up in the middle of the saloon - the drop keel. And when I say pain the ass I mean it. The first time I eased myself down the steps backwards into the saloon I dropped straight onto the steel column, smashing my coccyx. Another school boy error!]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2004/08/16/hip-hoperation/feed/ 0