ICEBEAR & ISBJORN are headed back to sea! Both boats are re-united in the USVI while their crews fly down from stateside for the COVID-19 escape passage north. This is the real deal - we will be looking at the weather for the boats in real-time, speaking with their skippers Kristen & Sean, and working out the plan for departure as early as June 7 or 8. Join us to learn how we do it.
"A ship and a star to sail her by..."
Join Andy Schell, Mia Karlsson & August Sandberg for a fun, insightful, and philosophical discussion on celestial navigation. This livestream will be a primer on navigating by the sun & stars, whetting your appetite for the real thing. We'll spend 90 minutes or so discussing some historical aspects of celestial nav. and why it's still relevant - especially to the romantics out there - in the GPS age. You'll learn the foundations of celestial, and why, with the right teacher, it's surprisingly intuitive to learn. Later in May, we'll be hosting a full-blown, multi-day online celestial workshop to really dive into it, and this will serve as an excellent preview. No prior knowledge of celestial needed, only an interest and a bit of romance!
Join ICEBEAR skipper Andy Schell and a few of the 59 North team for an in-depth, foundational discussion on offshore weather patterns, forecasting, routing & tech. This session will serve as a primer of what's to come in the forthcoming 'Offshore Weather' series, and will focus on a general offshore weather discussion, based around the North Atlantic basin. We'll look at the big picture - what the large-scale weather phenomenon are that drive local conditions in the various places we sail, and how we make 'go/no-go' decisions on picking departure dates for various passages. We'll talk about how we do things at 59º North, the weather sources we use, how our professional weather routers at WRI Inc. fit in with their service, and why we plan our big-picture seasons the way we do. No prior knowledge of weather required.
Whitbread sailor & friend of 59 North Rick Tomlinson and his son James will join Andy in a livestream ‘behind the lens.’ After an introductory interview with Rick & Andy, Rick will go behind the scenes on a dozen or so of his favorite and most iconic photos he’s captured offshore, including a couple gems from his time sailing with us on ISBJORN in Iceland. He’ll tell the backstory of how he ‘got the shot,’ and share some nerdy tips on camera equipment, exposure settings, and offshore film photography in the Whitbread era. An appropriate preview for our upcoming OGR participation!
James Austrums is 59º North's official 'Ship's Photographer', and has sailed several thousand miles on both ISBJORN & ICEBEAR, from 80º North in the High Arctic to the Outer Hebrides in Scotland and south to the balmy tradewinds of the Caribbean. James, August & Andy will take a look at some of our favorite images James has captured with 59º North since 2017, tell the stories behind them and talk a little about the technical aspects of capturing the shots.
Having worked as a professional rigger on some of the most avant-garde boats afloat, Isbjørn Mate Liz Karamavros has caught a glimpse of what the future holds for cruising rigging. Joined by Isbjørn Skipper August Sandberg, Liz will talk about her experiences with synthetic rigging, her life as a pro rigger, and give you plenty of tips and tricks for your boat.
