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Tag Archives: vhf
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.
Gourmet Sailing
We’re now fully into the Arabian Sea and not shopped for weeks yet Liz still manages to pull off a culinary delight in the galley. It is the perfect meal for a perfect day’s sailing, having left the wind pilot to do all the steering. THIS is the kind of sailing we love!
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.
Pirate Alley: Told Off In Mukala
Pirate Alley: In last week’s podcast there was drama after drama, with boats being towed, colliding vessels, more fishing nets and some even taking on water. The next day, feeling that we deserved a rest from this stress, a number of boats, Esper included, decided to break rank, make the most of the favourable winds, turn the engine off and go for a well-deserved sail. Unbeknown to us we had chosen THE most dangerous stretch of water in which to have our fun. Only a week previously there had been a pirate attack in the exact spot we hoisted sail. Only one person was aware of this, though, and boy did he have something to say about it when we dragged ourselves into Mukala.
Pirate Alley: Rhumb Do, Rhumb Don’t
This week’s podcast is our 40th episode! It finds us caught up in fishing nets again, slap bang in the centre of pirate alley. In last week’s episode Lo Brust, the rally leader aboard his boat Mistral, had successfully thrown a line to Jean-Claud and Marlene aboard Anthea. Anthea is now being towed by Mistral. It didn’t take long for another two boats to run into trouble… as well as each other. Patience is a commodity that can run out. Hope you enjoy this week’s drama, and don’t forget we provide a direct download link if you don’t use iTunes.
Welcome to India: T-bone Anyone?
Imagine our pride at having sailed over 4,000 miles, unassisted, without incident and without a scratch to Esper. I haven’t mentioned that our autopilot packed up early on in the Gulf of Aden, so many of the last 2,000 miles were hand-steered. That’s bloody hard work in case you didn’t know. Imagine, then, our horror when approaching the Indian coast, after our incident-free 4,000 miles, we were t-boned by the stupid dumb-ass Indian Navy!
The Net From Luli
The last update we gave you had us stuck in an anchorage waiting for southerlies to blow through whilst we repaired the damage on a rudder on a boat that had hit coral. Phew! Now that the winds have blown through and returned to the usual northerlies we may resume our progress southwards. This is something that we discuss on The Net.
The Net is a kind of interactive VHF radio show held on a certain channel every morning. This is a recording of one such show where we discuss our tactics for entering Sudan and Eritrea. You’ll also hear some positive words from Anthony of ‘Divanty’. Definitely worth a listen…
Filipino Monkey
We spent the first hour listening to the VHF, which was a real education. Having done most of my night-sailing around the UK and then across empty oceans, it was a new thing to learn about Philipino Monkeys. For those who don’t k now, all vessels should have their VHF radio on stand-by on the international channel 16. It’s used as a hailing channel and for emergencies but it can be open to abuse.
Running A Dead Ship
Another miserable day on the weather front (the second in a row with no sun), giving us a grim backdrop for the bad news: the batteries had stopped charging and neither the skipper nor the first mate had any idea why this was so. Ocean Indies is, after all, a new boat. This situation meant we now had to run what is called a ‘dead ship’, i.e. no electricity.
Playing In The Shipping Lane
The weather continued to amaze us as the sun set in the west and a huge orange moon rose in the east. On the one side was the Kentish coast and on the other Dunkirk, with huge great ships lit up dotted around in-between. We celebrated with a Thai red curry (cooked by yours truly) and ate it outside watching the sunset before us.