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.
Happy Holidays! Check out a sneak peak of our NEW podcast 'Sailing Stories: Tale from the high seas told week by week.' Season one is hosted by Lee Cumberland, narrated by Duncan Hood & features the audio rendition of the book 'Brave or Stupid,' the story of two Swedes who sailed around the world on a whim & a handshake. The show will officially launch in early 2017. Stay tuned!
#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.
I’ve called a lot of people ‘legendary’ on the podcast, but Don Street truly fits the bill. Now deep into his 80s, he’s seen & done it all. He’s been instrumental in creating modern cruising as we know it. Street pioneered cruising the Caribbean on his engineless yawl Iolaire, and to this day continues updating charts of the region. He helped design the Caribbean’s first charter yacht, the CSY 44 and was ousted from Grenada during the US invasion. And the list goes on. Don told me these stories & many more in person a few years back.
The legendary yacht designer German Frers…He earned his chops working for S&S under Olin Stephens himself, but it was only through a chance meeting that he got to sketch his first namesake yacht. Frers’ one-off designs quickly began attracting the best production builders like Swan & Hallberg-Rassy, who hired him to design their bluewater cruising boats, and some of the most iconic super yachts ever built came off of his drawing board. I spoke to German on Skype from his office in Argentina about all this & much more.
Magnus Rassy is one of my favorite characters in sailing. He’s the CEO of Hallberg-Rassy and one of the most enthusiastic people in the sport. When I asked him how the new HR44 came to be, and why they needed a new model at all, his answer was pure Magnus. The man has a twinkle in his eye when he talks about his boats and it was a joy to catch up with him for a second podcast interview, again recorded onboard the flagship HR 64 at their yard in Sweden, a year after our first.
Ben Doerr is living the dream in the Pacific Northwest. A thirty-something husband, father & sailor, Ben didn’t wait until retirement to chase his dreams. He recently refit a classic John Alden-designed Pearson Countess ketch, and sails her out of Bainbridge Island, off the coast near Seattle, running day-trips and longer adventure charters along that beautiful coastline. Ben & I hit it off immediately, and chatted at length about his sailing career, life as a dad, his ‘real’ career as a musician, building and running a sailing business, & lots more.
In 2012 Matt Rutherford became the first person to sail solo and nonstop around the America’s via the Northwest Passage and Cape Horn on his 27-foot Albin Vega ‘St Brendan.’ He’s completed some truly remarkable voyages since, including a Pacific crossing in a daysailor, a 7,000-mile plastic research voyage in the Atlantic, and two expeditions to far northern Greenland. This recycled chat is from 2011, before Matt even began his audacious journey round the Americas, and offers some insight into his remarkable personality.
Ryan Breymaier is a badass. He’s one of the few American sailors into short-handed ocean racing & won the double-handed New York to Barcelona race as co-skipper of Hugo Boss (a story Chris Museler told way back on episode #30). Ryan was in France when I spoke to him, working with Team Safran on preparing for the next Vendee Globe. We talked about his early years racing at St. Mary’s, how he got to France, what sailing on a 100-foot trimaran is like, and how to manages to balance his lifestyle with his young family.
Annie Dike is a reformed lawyer-turned-sailor - that is, she left the profession in her early 30s to pursue a more passionate life. Her and her partner Philip sail a Niagara 35 on the west coast of Florida, and they recently crossed the Atlantic to France on a high-tech Catamaran. Annie & I discussed how she left the lawyer world behind, what the Atlantic crossing was like for a first-time ocean sailor, her various movie projects, her friendship with Pam Wall & her passion for helping others pursue the cruising lifestyle.
Weather Routing Inc. provides all of the forecasting for the passages Mia & I run aboard Isbjorn. I consult with them to plan the best departure window before a passage, and once offshore can get updates on-demand when I feel I need them. Jeremy Davis & Amanda Delaney, meteorologists for WRI, came by Isbjorn during last week’s Annapolis Boat Show to talk weather, namely, Hurricane Matthew, which we spent the majority of the episode discussing.
Kari Finstad is a 30-something Norwegian sailor and yoga instructor. Kari recently purchased and refit a 32-foot Wauquiez Centurion - one of my favorite boats, and comparable to the legendary Contessa 32 - and spends most of her time above the Arctic Circle. We talked about her yoga travels to India & the east, her winter on BjornOya in the Arctic working at the meteorology station, refitting the Wauquiez, her cat companion, baking bread, making kombucha & much more.
"I got a job in Durban, as captain of a ship, running up & down the east coast. And that’s when Chichester went past on his voyage around the world and I began to think about it. I got home, and I saw him come in, saw him come up the Thames, and I thought, ‘There’s one thing left to do - go around without stopping.’" -Sir Robin
Moxie Marlinspike is a legend in tech. As a programmer, he literally wrote the code that enables everyday encryption. He’s friendly with Edward Snowden and was recently feature in WIRED magazine. Moxie, though, is a sailor at heart. I worked together with him at Broadreach way back in 2008. We caught up to talk about his unique sailing philosophy, his movie ‘HOLD FAST’ & his rise in the tech world.
“As soon as your crew feel that you are frightened or that you are out of your comfort zone, that’s where things go downhill quickly. My major concern was a wave hitting us on the beam. The seas were certainly more than ten meters, and if a wave hit us on the beam, it could definitely do damage or roll the boat.” -John Neal.
Brian Porter was on the build team for the record-breaking supermaxi ‘Comanche,’ and continues to work on owner’s Jim & Kristy Clark’s shore crew. He came on the podcast to talk about his boat-building beginnings, getting a dream job building Comanche, working alongside pro sailors Ken Red, Stan Honey & Jimmy Spithill, Comanche’s recent trans-Atlantic record, the America’s Cup and much more.
Today I can finally announce one of them. The episode that follows is the audio version of this week’s ‘On the Wind,’ which in its original form is actually a film, directed by Thierry Humeau and shot in Pam Wall’s backyard in Ft. Lauderdale back in April. This is the first of what will become a sort of special addition to the podcast when Thierry and I have time to film & produce it.
Finally, my full-length essay on sailing to Cuba. This one is for the dreamers, filled with descriptions of what it’s like at marina Hemingway, chasing signs of Che, Fidel and the Cuban revolution, drinking daquaries at La Floridita, sipping Havana Club rum, smoking cigars, driving around in old cars and everything else that defines the Cuban experience.
Episode 157 is John Harries, the founder of morganscloud.com, AKA ‘Attainable Adventure Cruising,’ and in my opinion the foremost authority on safe and simple ocean sailing boats & equipment. He’s an accomplished high latitudes sailor with over 150,000 miles under his keel. Mia and I met him for a round 2 on the podcast in Lunenburg, where he dinghied out to Isbjorn for an in-person chat.
We discussed sailing in the Arctic, Isbjorn's original owner Warren Browne, who John sailed with, Skip Novak, batteries for offshore cruising boats, the Adventure 40 project, podcasting and media in general and much, much more.
