Boat Radio

Carolyn Shearlock is the creator of The Boat Galley - a website with hundreds of no-nonsense, practical tips for making your boat life better. She has many years of experience buying and living aboard boats and this is part three of her step-by-step guide to making your boating dreams come true. In this edition of the programme, she explains what you need to do when you reach the stage of actually going out to view potential purchases.

You may not have heard his name but you will likely have seen his work. Artist Peter Kent has been drawing and painting London's River Thames for five decades. Michael John joined him at his Thameside home, nestled among some of London's most iconic buildings, and they took a walk in the footsteps of Nelson and countless other famous characters from seafaring history.

Rick Page and Jasna Tuta have written the ultimate guide to escaping the rat race. Get Real, Get Gone is subtitled, 'How to become a modern sea gypsy and sail away forever', and that is exactly what Rick and Jasna have done, living aboard Calypso, their Hans Christian/Union 36. They are warm, witty, intelligent people and Get Real, Get Gone comes highly recommended by no less than Tom Cunliffe, who says: "Don't even think of buying a boat until you have read this book".

Matt Rutherford and his crew are based in the Arctic Circle, where they gather data for NASA and The Smithsonian. This week, Matt dodges icebergs, prepares the crew for a polar bear attack and installs scientific instruments in some of the most remote places on Earth.

Best-selling author Anna Nicholas chats to Shirley about her new book, A Chorus of Cockerels as well as rescuing chickens, her next project - a crime thriller - and her life in the Sóller valley.

Every day Abby Barrows takes delivery of water - sea water samples - collected in locations all over the world. Abby runs the Global Microplastics Initiative for Adventure Science (adventurescience.org) so she spends a great deal of her time filtering those sea water samples and then examining, identifying and catalogueing what she finds. She's one of many passionate people who've dedicated their lives to fixing the damage we're doing to the oceans.

Six years ago, Laura Presley was a fitness instructor. Now she and husband Nathan run charters aboard a luxury Leopard 58 catamaran based in the British Virgin Islands. Hear the inspiring story of how Laura and Nathan quit the rat race and followed their dreams.

Shirley Roberts visits the places and meets the people who make Boat Radio's home port such a special place to be. In this edition, Shirley shares an enormous gin and tonic with Maria, karaoke singer extraordinaire and owner of the wonderful Es Mirall bar, from which you can see the entire port: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Es-Mirall/131282050295008

Each week Brandon Huebner presents a new chapter in his chronological history of humanity’s relationship with the sea. The Maritime History Programme is a narrative look at the development of boat and sail technology, trade, exploration, economics, and the links between the ocean and the development of society and culture throughout history. In this second episode, we meet the successors of the Ubaid people, the Sumerians. After the Sumerians came on the scene, their civilization experienced what can legitimately be called an urban revolution, and we'll see the driving factors behind the rise of cities and the emergence of more defined social structures. With social structure came a ruling class, and we'll also see how these rulers contributed to the rise of trade in the Persian Gulf. As we round out the episode, we'll consider the archaeological evidence from the early dynastic period and see what it can tell us about boating and the extent of trade in pre-Akkadian Sumer.

Dr John Ross of Praxes Telemed+ explains what to do if one of your crew members or guests suffers a violent and potentially fatal allergic reaction at sea.

Documentary Sense the Wind tells the remarkable story of four blind racing sailors and their battles to make the finals of the Blind Sailing World Championships in Japan. Mike McDowall talks to one of those sailors - Matt Chao - and to director Christine Knowlton about this remarkable four-year film project. Hear Matt crush political correctness, laugh in the face of adversity and explain his desire to fly a plane. Plus, of course, learn how a blind sailor really does 'sense the wind'.

Lorraine Escher lives with husband, Rick, and their four children aboard a St Francis 50 catamaran, SV Aphrodite. Here she talks to James Finlayson about quitting the rat race, home-schooling and parking in paradise.

Chris Stewart is best known for his hugely successful book, Driving Over Lemons, in which he explains how he and wife Ana came to be owners of a small farm in southern Spain, on the wrong side of the river, without electricity and with the former owner still in residence. The former Genesis drummer has since written four other best-sellers, one of which - Three Ways To Capsize a Boat - tells the story of how he came to be skipper of a Cornish crabber in the Aegean Sea. In this edition of The Wheelhouse, Chris explains how the crabber caught fire and how he ran it into a jetty on the isle of Spetses. He also chats about his crossing of the North Atlantic, in the footsteps, or wake, of Leif Eriksson, and in the company of no less than Tom Cunliffe.

Carolyn Shearlock runs The Boat Galley - one of the leading online resources for boating tips. This is part two of her step-by-step guide to buying a boat. Here she talks about how to arrive at your list of priorities and how best to search online.

Self-styled 'plankton pundit' Doctor Richard Kirby introduces the Secchi Disk Programme - a worldwide study of plankton. It's a citizen science project with participants all over the globe. And you can get involved - for only a tiny amount of money and very little effort, you can help save the planet. The magnificent Susie Goodall - yachtswoman, 2018 Golden Globe Race entrant and friend of Boat Radio - is already gathering data for this terrific project. Go on! Download this podcast and find out how you too can help.

Matt Rutherford and his crew gather data for NASA and The Smithsonian, working in extreme conditions in the Arctic Circle. In this episode, Matt explains what modifications he has made to his boat and suggests how you can prepare your own vessel for a voyage into harsh Arctic conditions.

Intrepid Canadians Dr Michael Orr and Kristy Bryson are exploring the islands of Southeast Asia on board a luxurious classic schooner. Here they tell Mike McDowall all about their amazing adventures, including a journey to the fabled heart-shaped lagoon.

Shirley Roberts sends Mike McDowall on a guided tour of Scottish fishing boat Bonnie Lass in the company of Captain Pete Lucas of www.bonnielasscharters.com.

Earliest prehistory reveals mankind’s innate connection to the sea; from boats of woven reed in Egypt, to Homer’s black ships of the Trojan War, down to the naval battles of Greece, Rome, and every civilization since. Brandon Huebner presents the history, archaeology, and literature that connect us with our past on the sea. In this first episode, we'll journey to ancient Mesopotamia and meet the Ubaid people, the first people to settle southern Mesopotamia. We'll see how the Ubaid people overcame the environment by instituting complex irrigations systems tied to the might rivers Tigris and Euphrates. We'll also see how the Ubaid people used reeds, their most abundant natural resource, to build a wide range of useful items, including houses and boats. We'll meet some modern-day descendants of the Ubaid people and see how their way of life can inform our understanding of the past. Join Brandon on a voyage down through the ages and witness the development of sailing, trade, and much more.

Teresa Carey regularly speaks in public with the aim of inspiring people to realise their potential and she really does practice what she preaches. She writes the blog Sailing Simplicity about her life afloat, she runs the sailing school Morse Alpha with husband Ben Eriksen, she is a co-founder of the marine conservation organisation Hello Ocean, and she has turned to film-making with the award winning documentary One Simple Question, which charts a voyage to the Arctic in search of an iceberg. Details of all her work can be found on her website: teresacarey.com In The Wheelhouse she tells James Finlayson what inspires her and what prompted her to quit the rat race and pursue her dreams of sailing.