Interview
Laura Parent
Nikki Henderson // Winning The Race To Alaska

Nikki Henderson is no stranger to the 59N family. She’s a skipper, a podcaster, master of the Quarterdeck and a dear friend in the community. But when she signs off from these watches, she doesn’t quit. You likely know that she’s been on heaps of other seafaring adventures, including skippering the famed Whitbread machine, Maiden; the Clipper Round the World Race; and her first attempt at the Race To Alaska with Team Sail Like a Girl. I sat down to talk with Nikki about her second, most recent attempt at the R2AK, its challenges, and what made this one such a successful campaign in what I think is one of the greatest adventure races on earth. Guest-Hosted by Ben Doerr.

Nikki Henderson // Winning The Race To Alaska
Interview
Laura Parent
#404: How to be a Sailing Parent w/ Andy, ...

Navigating the challenges of parenthood whilst also maintaining an atypical lifestyle — be that of a sailor, adventurer, or anything that doesn’t involve a 9-5 desk job — has been a consistent theme of this podcast. Now the tables have turned. Andy, Mia and August are raising their two boys whilst running a business and working as professional sailors themselves. Hoping to be a parent myself one day, I took the opportunity to put them on the spot to discuss what has surprised them about parenthood, what they wish they had known before taking the plunge, and what advice they have for anyone else dreaming of a similar future.

#404: How to be a Sailing Parent w/ Andy, August and Mia
Interview
Laura Parent
#403: Pam Wall // Reminiscing on a Life at Sea

Pam Wall returns to the podcast, live from her living room in Ft. Lauderdale. Andy sat down to talk to Pam about the treasure trove of memories in her house, how she stays happy and inspirational despite the tragedy of losing her husband and daughter too soon, the relationship she has with her son, how she stays fit at nearly 80, and lots lots more.

#403: Pam Wall // Reminiscing on a Life at Sea
Interview
Laura Parent
#402: Celeste Pomerantz // To Svalbard in ...

Celeste Pomerantz wasn't a sailor until she signed up for a sail & ski trip out of Tromsø, Norway, that was headed north in search of un-skied peaks in Svalbard. The boat was called SOFIE, and was owned and skippered by friend of 59º North, Mats Grimsaeth. I discovered Celeste in the ski film Wavy 2 about the adventure and immediately reached out to her. We talked about sailing in the Arctic, her upbringing in the mountains of western British Columbia, similarities between big mountain skiing and offshore sailing, managing fear, 'imposter syndrome' and her studies in renewable energy.

#402: Celeste Pomerantz // To Svalbard in Search of Un-skied Couloirs
Interview
Laura Parent
#401: Terje Andre Pedersen // Sailing in the ...

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole and the North Pole, but his greatest achievement may have been leading the first successful crossing of the Northwest Passage in 1906. Terje Andre Pedersen grew up inspired by Amundsen's great stories of exploration. He has followed his own dreams, and is soon to set sail towards the Northwest Passage in Amundsen's wake with a ship made of wood and a crew made of iron.

#401: Terje Andre Pedersen // Sailing in the Wake of Amundsen

Arctic

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#369: Øyvind Nilssen & Jon Amtrup // Arctic Sailing Round Table

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#369: Øyvind Nilssen & Jon Amtrup // Arctic Sailing Round Table

#369: What happens when you put three of the saltiest, Norwegian, high latitude sailors on the same boat? They record a podcast, of course! August and Emma were joined by Oyvind Nilssen and Jon Amtrup on ISBJØRN in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Oyvind runs Duen Experience, running charters in Arctic Norway. Jon is an author and sailor, and has literally written the books on sailing in Norway and the high latitudes. Jon has also been skippering ISBJØRN this past summer.

The four of us discuss what's unique about sailing in the high latitudes and the Arctic, from ice to polar bears to weather forecasting. We filmed this episode (thanks James Austrums!) and you can find that video on The QUARTERDECK.

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BONUS: SV DELOS // The Making of the 80º North Film Series

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BONUS: SV DELOS // The Making of the 80º North Film Series

Senor Brady & Alex Blue of SV DELOS join Andy for a look back at how the 80º NORTH: SAILING ON TOP OF THE WORLD film series was created. We reflect on some of our favorite memories from Svalbard, including polar bear encounters, beluga whale songs, glaciers, walrus & much more! Then Brady & Blue describe the painstaking process of sifting through 4 terabytes of raw footage to edit together four, 30-minute episodes. They even reveal the untold story of the day of lost footage from a crashed hard drive! In total it took over two years of post-production and 2,000 hours of labor, but it was a labor of love and we can't be more proud of the result! If you haven't watched yet, go to 80northseries.com, pay what you think is fair, grab a beer and enjoy the ride!

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238: Erik de Jong // Arctic Ocean Project

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238: Erik de Jong // Arctic Ocean Project

#238. Friend of the podcast Erik de Jong joins the show for the 4th time. Originally from Holland and trained as a naval architect, Erik eventually built his own steel boat, Bagheera, in his backyard and sailed her to Nova Scotia, where he relocated. Erik spent winters designing ships and summers sailing to Greenland. He’s since completed the Northwest Passage and relocated himself and Bagheera to Alaska, where he now runs expedition charters and scientific voyages in the North. Erik & I spoke about his most recent ‘Arctic Mission’ expedition alongside adventurer Pen Hadow to sail north into the Arctic Ocean to research climate change and sea ice retreat.

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234: Maik Brotzmann // Living & Sailing in Iceland

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#234. Maik Brotzmann has been a friend of the podcast now for a few years, having joined Mia & I in Annapolis two years back to attend one of our Celestial workshops. He grew up in East Germany and lived through the fall of the Berlin wall, before later moving to Iceland to pursue his career on the waterfront. Maik is educated as a metrologist, but his interests are wide-ranging, from weather forecasting and routing to yacht design and naval architecture to sustainable marine tourism. We caught up with Maik on his own turf in Isafjordur where we stayed at his humble quarters, as he calls them, before joining Aurora Arktika for the ski & sail adventure we did in March. Find Maik online at haf-strand.com.

New sponsors this week!

Presented by:

 
 

Rutgerson Yacht Equipment

Rutgerson is a world leading manufacturer of yacht fittings. The company was founded in the 70’s by the Swedish sailor and engineer Göran Rutgerson. Today they are represented in more than 30 countries, but all their products are still designed and produced in their home town Marstrand on the Swedish west coast.

Check out their story and products on Rutgerson.se

Show Notes:

Also supported by:

 
 
 
 

Support the Show - Contribute

On The Wind is the evolution of 59º North, and is, quite simply, long-form conversations with sailors from around the world. 'On the Wind' Sailing Podcast is informal chats with people from around the world of sailing - tall ship captains, Cape Horners, sailing authors, Volvo Ocean Race skippers, yacht designers, family cruisers, Arctic adventurers and more. Our aim is to define what creates success in the sailing world and figure out how to accomplish dreams on the high seas. 

Click here to donate directly to us, or here to subscribe with Patreon. 

So that's the gist of it - the more cash money we have coming in, the better the show will be going out. Read About the Podcast for more details about the show and where your money actually goes.

 
 
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RECYCLED: Bob Shepton // Arctic Legend & Round the World Sailor

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RECYCLED: Bob Shepton // Arctic Legend & Round the World Sailor

#224 / #173 Recycled. The Reverend Bob Shepton, now 81, got his start shortly after WWII as a climbing instructor in the British Armed Forces, where he used the outdoors to teach leadership & scripture. He didn’t start sailing until much later in life, but got real serious about it real quickly. I sat down with him at the Southampton Boat Show to talk religion, spirituality, his early days as a climber, losing his boat during an Arctic winter, his 15 Atlantic crossings, meeting the Wild Bunch, and the story behind the film series ‘Vertical Sailing Greenland.’ The music in this episode is courtesy of the Wild Bunch. This episode is sponsored by Forbes Horton Yachts. Visit forbesyachts.com. Bob Shepton might not be a household name in the US, but he certainly is in the UK. He was honored as ‘Yachtsman of the Year' in 2014, which may sound irrelevant until you realize the winners in 2013 & 2015 - that would be Sir Ben Ainslie & Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. Good company indeed. Anyway, Bob is one of the most accomplished and yet most humble sailors I’ve ever met. My interview with him was like sitting down with your favorite grandfather and hearing him tell old stories. We could have talked for hours, and Bob seemed to enjoy every second of it. Before you listen to this episode, take five minutes and watch Episode 2 of Vertical Sailing Greenland - you'll find it in the show notes below. That film is what initially inspired me to reach out to Bob, and he tells the behind-the-scenes story of it at length about halfway through our chat.

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210: Skip Novak // Expedition Sailing, Whitbread Race & Old School Navigation

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210: Skip Novak // Expedition Sailing, Whitbread Race & Old School Navigation

210: Skip Novak is a leader in the expedition sailing world, and his Pelagic expeditions based in Patagonia are world-class, and a huge inspiration to our business at 59 North with Isbjorn. Skip & Andy spoke about his career in the Whitbread Race, growing up in Chicago, building an expedition business, sailing with Magnus Olsson and much more.

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195: Jon Amtrup // Explore North

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195: Jon Amtrup // Explore North

#195. Jon Amtrup is a Norwegian sailor who spends a large portion of his time above the Arctic Circle. In fact, when I spoke to him back in January at the Oslo Central Train Station, he had just returned from Tromso after a winter sailing expedition with a group of Russians who wanted to see the northern lights! So Jon’s pretty hard-core to say the least. He’s also an avid single-handed sailor, and is helping another Norwegian sailor put together a campaign for next year’s Golden Globe Race. Jon & I spoke at length about his career and his & our future Arctic plans.

Contact Jon at explorenorth.no.

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173: Bob Shepton

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173: Bob Shepton

#173. The Reverend Bob Shepton, now 81, got his start shortly after WWII as a climbing instructor in the British Armed Forces, where he used the outdoors to teach leadership & scripture. He didn’t start sailing until much later in life, but got real serious about it real quickly. I sat down with him at the Southampton Boat Show to talk religion, spirituality, his early days as a climber, losing his boat during an Arctic winter, his 15 Atlantic crossings, meeting the Wild Bunch, and the story behind the film series ‘Vertical Sailing Greenland.’

The music in this episode is courtesy of the Wild Bunch.

This episode is sponsored by Forbes Horton Yachts. Visit forbesyachts.com.

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28: Erik de Jong #2

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28: Erik de Jong #2

Erik de Jong was one of Andy's favorite guests on the podcast, and spoke at length on Episode 15. This one is a bit shorter. Andy & Erik talked via Skype last Saturday, the day before Erik was set to depart Halifax bound for Greenland in his custom steel 50-footer Bagheera, which Erik designed and built himself (he's a professional ship designer, so he can do that sort of thing!). Andy & Erik discuss how the very cool story of Erik delivering some sculptures to an art Student in Nuuk, Greenland came about after the last podcast episode was released. So as I type, Erik is en route to Nuuk, with a cargo of artwork, on a very cool mission! He'll continue sailing north this summer on his Arctic expeditions (still some crew spots left!). Check out bagheera-sailing.com to follow his progress and book a bunk! Thanks again to Erik for joining the show.

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15: Erik de Jong

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15: Erik de Jong

Erik de Jong designed and built his own 52' steel boat for Arctic expeditions. It's called 'Bagheera', and you can go sailing with him! Erik was super cool to talk to - he and I have a lot in common, having grown up sailing with our dads. Erik has always known he's wanted to design boats since he was a little kid, and followed that dream.