If you’ve got this far in the blog it’s no secret that we finally left the marina after many months of lockdown. Our second anchorage had us tucked up in a tiny bay, protected from some nasty SW squalls. When they subsided we took our kayaks out for some exploration Click here for full post: […] More
As we were adjusting to life without Millie, the Cruising Cartoonist, Sarah Steenland, sent us this super cartoon. It really cheered us up! In her Facebook post she said: The cruising community has lost another legend this month – Millie the amazing ocean cat from Followtheboat will live on Click here for full post: https://followtheboat.com/the-amazing-adventures-of-millie-the-ocean-cat/ […] More
We’re preparing to leave the marina after 5 months of staring at the walls. Does this mean we can we actually go sailing? At least we get to have some fun on the dinghy with a 2.5nm hike across open water to a nearby national park. It’s our first taste Click here for full post: […] More
Are you a sailboat snob? Do you think any vessel without a sail is a stinkpot? We talk to the captain of a Princess 88′ superyacht, Island Princess, whose heart still lies with sailboats. He explains how he started in the Sea Cadets and eventually became the skipper of a Click here for full post: […] More
Goodbye Millie, our beloved sailing cat, best friend and loyal crew member. From a kitten in Turkey to a veteran sea cat in Malaysia, Millie has sailed for 13 years and for thousands of miles. Across oceans, in storms, dodging pirates, crossing continents. Fishing all the way, our beautiful boat Click here for full post: […] More
In 2013, SY Esper was in pretty bad shape when we arrived in Malaysia. After three years without moving in the brackish water of Kerala, a knockdown off the Maldives and a lively crossing of the Indian Ocean, her equipment needed replacing and she leaked like a sieve. We had Click here for full post: […] More
Wow, this was a long one, we had so much to talk about! We didn’t have space to add in the budget, what ifs, questions, comments and hindsights after five years. But don’t worry, all that will be in Part 4… Even after all this time, it is amazing how Click here for full post: […] More
We frequently post up high-res photographs for our FTBMates to download as a desktop, screen-saver or to print out. This is another photo we re-edited, which was taken early one morning in the northern part of Phang Nga, south Thailand. I’ve just set it as my desktop and it looks Click here for full post: […] More
Our 200th episode comes out today! It’s a retrospective of our time aboard Esper but includes some of our travel experiences off the boat too. It makes for some fun viewing so we hope you enjoy it. In this video episode, I wanted to include some overlays for our time Click here for full post: […] More
Our sailing channel became a regular part of followtheboat five years ago when we posted episode number one, Langkawi to the Butangs. That was just after we completed the mammoth task of refitting (maybe ‘rebuilding’ is a better adjective), SY Esper, our Oyster 435, in Thailand. <img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-46974" class="size-large wp-image-46974" Click here for full post: […] More
Yesterday, we administered the first of three chemo therapy tablets (one every three days). When we tried this a couple of months ago she had a violent seizure, but Gillian (Millie’s vet) thinks this was more likely to be an adverse reaction to the opiate she was taking at the Click here for full post: […] More
This week we cover the nail-biting task of re-stepping the masts. But before that we had to get all the deck fittings back in place, a task Jamie undertook himself with the help of one special carpenter, Ton. And we cover the preparation and painting of Esper’s deck and topsides. Click here for full post: […] More