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.
Andy spoke with master rigger Brion Toss from Bermuda several years back about the art and science of a proper rope whipping. It was originally for an article in Yachting World, but we've repurposed it into another Essay Friday episode. Brion is set to come on the podcast soon for a full-on interview, but in the meantime, enjoy his philosophy on rope whippings and learn a thing or two this week!
John Franta is the brains behind Colligo Marine and their synthetic rigging products. Andy met John in 2009 at the Annapolis Sailboat Show and has been friends with him since. Arcturus was the first monohull that we know of that crossed an ocean with Colligo Dux synthetic rigging, and John and Andy have been working together on promoting synthetic rigging for cruising boats since their first meeting. They discuss the business behind Colligo and how John transitioned from a corporate job as an engineer at GM, to a start-up founder with Colligo. He's an inventor and a businessperson, and that combination is truly inspiring. Sklp to about minute 22 if you want to get right into the technical aspects of synthetic versus wire rigging. Check out Colligo on colligomarine.com.
Mario Vittone is a Navy vet and retired USCG rescue swimmer with a resume that will blow your mind. Andy got in touch with him via a mutual friend, and had an interesting chat about his experience in helo rescues at sea, cold water immersion, safety offshore and more. They discussed the recent Cheeki Rafiki search, the sinking of the Bounty and how Mario's career has recently transitioned from on-the-scene rescue ops to consultancy work and a successful writing career. Mario writes regularly on gCaptain.com and for various industry magazines and publications. Check out his own website at mariovittone.com. Enjoy episode 41!
Andy sits down in person with one of his best friends in Oslo, Norway to reminisce about sailing across the North Atlantic. Clint, a non-sailor, joined Andy & Mia in Halifax for the cruise up the Canadian Maritimes and across the pond to Ireland, a 23-day passage, and the first time Clint was at sea. In between jokes and fun memories, Clint comes up with some great pearls of wisdom for anybody looking to cross an ocean, but might not know what to expect. He's honest, funny and sincere about how the experience changed his life for the better.
John has been in charge of media for the past three editions of the race, and reprised his role in 2014. Then he jumped aboard the McCurdy & Rhodes designed 'Selkie' and sailed back to Newport! John and Andy Skyped, Andy in Sweden, John in NYC, and they chatted for almost an hour about John's career as a writer, what it was like to sail in the '72 Bermuda Race and infamous '79 Fastnet Race, his motivations for writing about sailing and specifically safety at sea, and what he fears offshore. Enjoy!
Andreas Hanakamp! For the sailors out there, Andreas is a former Olympic sailor and the skipper of Team Russia in the 09/08 Volvo Ocean Race. And he's awesome! Andy first met him in the 2011 ARC rally, and got a chance to sit down with him this year over a coffee in St. Lucia. Beyond sailing, Andreas is just overall a super inspiring dude - he climbs mountains, runs marathons, skis in the backcountry and just generally takes full advantage of life. It was a privilege for Andy to have had the chance to hang out with him for a couple days in St. Lucia. Thanks Andreas!
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.
Ben & Teresa Carey Return! Andy spoke with Ben & Teresa from his couch in Lancaster PA. No, they were not on the couch - they were in Maine! In a sweet little cafe while their new boat was anchored offshore! And that’s much of what this episode is about - their new-to-them Norseman 447, how they decided on buying it, what it was like getting down to Panama (the country!) to bring her home, and the adventures they had along the way.
You might not recognize their names, but Jean-Charles & Antoine have been at the top of the multihull game for some time, and I had the chance to chat with them in Bermuda during the ARC Europe stopover. Both guys are French through and through (and I love their accents), and the French are nuts about multihulls. They were commercial mariners and fisherman, respectively, but got invited to join the crew of Geronimo, a 110-foot trimaran that was purpose built to break all the speed-sailing records in the early 2000's.
Paul & Sheryl Shard are well known to many sailors for their Distant Shores TV series and DVD collection. They've been sailing for over 25 years on three boats now, and Andy sat down to Skype with them and talk about it! A very sailorly episode, this one was recorded in Bermuda (where Andy was), while the Shard's were aboard their Southerly 49 in Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas, actually anchored out! They talked about how they got into sailing, how they built their first boat from a bare hull, started cruising and documenting their trips on video (film back in the day), and how that has all evolved into a career! Buy their DVDs right on 59-north.com.
Magnus Olsson was on the Two Inspired Guys podcast a while back, and I'm relaunching this episode now on 59º North. I interviewed Magnus in downtown Stockholm, at the 'Sprit Museet' (Alcohol Museum) on Djurgården. Our boat Arcturus was tied up in the harbor there after we'd sailed her across the North Sea. Magnus and his partner Vica cycled down to the harbor and had coffee with us on Arcturus before he and I did the podcast. It was initially about an article I wrote for Yachting World on code sails, but turned into a discussion on sailing in general Magnus was truly larger than life, which comes through in this episode, and it was with great sadness that the sailing world learned of his passing last summer in Lanzarote, where he was training with Team SCA, the all-female entry in the next Volvo Ocean Race. I only knew him for short time, but it was a privilege. Thanks for the memories - and the podcast! - Magnus.
Big thanks to our returning sponsor Weems & Plath! Listen here to get the promo code for 30% off on their website, weems-plath.com. Episode 23 is Patrick Shaughnessy, President of Farr Yacht Design. Andy spoke to Patrick in his office in Annapolis, Maryland, where he grew up sailing and worked his way up from the 'basement' of the famous design office to the top dog.
Ashley Rogers is an old friend of mine from my Broadreach days, when I worked out of St. Martin on liveaboard sail-and dive-training expeditions. Ashley was a SCUBA instructor and we got to know each other at Broadreach's 'Pad' during the 2009 summer. Though she was living and teaching diving aboard sailing boats - and actually sailing between isalnds and dive sites - she hated it! Originally from Guatemala, Ashley now lives in New Zealand and spoke to me via Skype about how she got into sailing after reading the classic book 'Dove' by Robin Lee Graham, and decided she wanted to give it a go.
This is the first of several sailing podcasts that I'll be transferring over from my old show, Two Inspired Guys. Andy sat down in person with Andreas Hanakamp in St. Lucia during the finish of the ARC Rally in 2012. Andreas and his crew aboard the Akalaria 40 (Class 40) Vaquita had just lapped the fleet, sailing the course in a remarkable 11 days and beating their nearest rival - a Swan 80 no less - by almost 24 hours.
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.
John Harries of Attainable Adventure Cruising chatted with Andy to announce news of the 'Adventure 40' ocean sailing yacht.
Any Atlantic crossing is as much a test of boats and gear as it is a test of mental fortitude, and the 2013 ARC was no exception. There was fickle weather in the first half, followed by strong squalls and relentless tradewinds over the past week, pushing boats and gear to the limit. Yachts are arriving into Rodney Bay Marina in various states of disrepair. I walked the docks today to get an idea of what crews are repairing, how it happened, and what they might have done in hindsight to prevent it.
Photo courtesy Tim Wright of Photoaction - shows Pollux finishing under jury rig.
