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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nikki Henderson & Andy Schell host a panel of sailors at the 2022 Annapolis Sailboat Show to talk about the essence of seam'nship and what offshore sailing is all about, from technical issues to facing fear and philosophical ambitions. Panelists include Matt Rutherford, Ryan Ellison, Emma Garschagen, Phil Gutowski, Kristen Berry & Pam Wall.
Don't miss this year's Seam'nship Workshop at the 2023 Annapolis Sailboat Show in October. Register now at 59-north.com/seamnship.
BONUS. Matt Rutherford has been on the podcast more than anyone else in our 230+ episodes, and his stories are always epic. What follows is a presentation Matt did in Toronto in January at the boat show there about his Around the America’s voyage on the 27’ Albin Vega ‘St Brendan.’ Matt’s told this story before on the podcast, but he’s so damn good at it that I never tire of listening to it, and you can always learn something new from him. I’m also playing this as a bonus episode this week because Matt just launched his own podcast - aptly titled ‘Single-Handed’ - so I encourage you to check that out for more of his incredible adventures. And be sure to check out Matt’s updated oceanresearchproject.org website.
#216. Brion Toss, the Master himself, joins Andy Schell at Cruiser's University 2017 in Annapolis for a seminar on offshore yacht rigging. Click here for the slides from today's episode.
As I record this, Isbjorn is stuck in medieval Visby, on the island of Gotland smack in the center of the Baltic. We’ve only made it about 100 miles south of Stockholm, on this our 11th and LAST passage of 2017, due to horrendous weather. Recent guests the Veber family reported gusts over 50 knots in their homeport of Falsterbo, on the Swedish southwest coast about 200 miles from here and on our route. So we’re sitting tight. What follows is a roundtable meeting recorded about 6 weeks ago with Isbjorn’s crew from our PREVIOUS passage, when we were similarly stuck in Marstrand, waiting out a gale. If you want to learn more about offshore weather forecasting, head over to morganscloud.com, where right now there is a series of detailed articles coming out that John Harries & I wrote.
Crossing the Atlantic is at the top of my mind at the moment - by the time you hear this, we’ll be at-sea, en route to Bermuda, the first leg of what will be my 3rd, Mia’s 4th trans-Atlantic passage. I recorded this seminar about our two previous trans-Atlantic experiences the Toronto Boat Show in 2016. Mia & I discuss weather routing, seasonal route options and best practices, and call on our friends David & Isabelle, who completed an Atlantic Circle on their Hunter 42 ‘Morning Haze’. To follow along with the slides, go to the show notes page at 59-north.com/podcast.
Today’s episode is a recording I made of my seminar on Heavy Weather Sailing I gave at last weekends Ocean Sailing Seminar, hosted by World Cruising Club in Annapolis. While I’m lucky not to have too many gnarly heavy-weather sea stories of my own, I’ve studied the subject for years and enjoying talking about it theoretically. What follows is a discussion on what I feel are the ‘best practices’ for handling heavy weather, of course brought to life by a few of my own sea stories. Follow along with slides from the presentation at 59-north.com/heavyweather.
In this episode, recorded at the WCC Ocean Sailing Seminar weekend in March, Chuck discusses the technical aspects of building and maintaining ocean-going cruising sails. It’s the second or third time he’s spoken at our events, and his talk is yearly surveyed as a favorite among seminar attendees. Chuck talks about design and construction characteristics; downwind sail choices; three-reef versus storm trysail setups; storm jibs; gennakers and Code 0 sails; and much more.
Andy discusses his way of getting and interpreting weather forecasts offshore, and why he thinks people tend to overanalyze it to the detriment of their enjoyment of ocean sailing. This is apart educational, part rant, and part just what works for Andy & Mia. What works for you when it comes to offshore weather?
Welcome back! This week is a seminar Andy recorded at the Cruiser's University in Annapolis during the Spring Sailboat Show. People talk endlessly about preparing their boats to go offshore, but what about their brains? Andy spends over an hour going through the stages of a voyage, from preparation through to landfall, and discusses the common anxieties, what to expect, and how to keep it all in perspective. Enjoy!
I had some fun with this one. We recorded this at the Caribbean 1500 start in Portsmouth, VA back in November (and frankly, I'd forgotten I had the file, or I'd have posted it sooner!). It's my seminar on crossing the Gulf Stream, as told to the 2013 Carib1500 skippers.
