5 Cool Boat Trips From My Travels

As I prepare for another boat trip on this crazy journey, it seems a good time to write about 5 cool boat trips down the years. I’ve crossed borders on boats and done some crazy lunatic boat journeys to random remote islands and countries. I often travelled without incentive or purpose, I travelled because I loved it and I also love being at sea. It’s magical. I spent 2 years working at sea as well, so I constantly try and incorporate boat trips into my journeys.

You might have read how I worked on the Condor Ferries and Wightlink ferries before, they were great times. Those who own their own yachts are obviously at a huge advantage, but I prefer to use public and private boats to cross rivers and seas along the way rather than save up for that dream yacht. There’s also a cool company that lets people donate boats, a great initiative – some of these boats have been converted and used in quirky ways or unusual routes. But this list is just a good memory of 5 cool trips I did at sea, starting of course with the obvious one – Antarctica!

1.Argentina to Antarctica
I still rave on about my Antarctica trip from 2010. It was 5 years ago that I lived out my travel dream by visiting 7 continents and 50 countries by the age of 30.

I set sail on the epic MS Expedition vessel as we sailed out of Argentina along the Beagle Channel and across the dreaded Drake Passage to the magical island of Barrientos. Barrientos is one of the Aitcho Islands and was totally tremendous.

2.Dili to Atauro Island, East Timor
I thought I’d include a few of the less popular boat journeys on this list so the trip out to Atauro Island in East Timor has to make the list. You can read the full story of my journey to Atauro Island.

3.Portaferry to Strangford, Northern Ireland
There are a few boat journeys on my travels that remind me of home. The first boat journeys I ever went on were from Northern Ireland to Blackpool, to Scotland and possibly to the Isle of Man (though I don’t remember it). However, the internal ferry service between Strangford and Portaferry is excellent. I also love the Liverpool to Belfast service.

4.Guernsey to Sark, Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are magical and I toured them extensively in 2009 while working for Condor Ferries. I loved the tranquility of Herm Island, but the journey to Sark was the most memorable, as on arrival, a tractor took us up the hill.

I also wrote about the top sights of Sark. The Channel Islands are one of the most under-estimated places in Europe. Most backpackers, and country counters tend to skip them, and they miss out big time.

5.Vidoy to Fugloy, Faroe Islands
My most recent boat journey was from the lonely village of Hvannasund on Vidoy Island out to Hattarvik on Fugloy.

This is often known as the post boat route. Some parts of the Faroe Islands are really remote and off the scale, so boat is the only way to do it. One of the Faroe Islands, Mykines has a population of just 12.

I have big plans to visit some more islands soon, having been rejected entry to the Kingdom of Elleore and the Principality of Sealand. Here are some of my other favourite boat journeys:

• Brazil to French Guyana border
• French Guyana to Suriname border
• Suriname to Guyana border
• Uruguay to Argentina border
• Belize to Honduras border
• Victoria to Tasmania by ferry in Australia
• Hong Kong to Zhuhai, China
• Hong Kong to Macau
• Cebu to Tagbilaran in The Philippines
• Labuan in Malaysia to Serasa in Brunei

I have also toured the fjords of Norway by boat, crossed from Estonia to Finland and been on manys a slow boat through China and countless other boat tours but as ever I haven’t yet written about them! Here are a few of my videos from my boat travels: