Interview

193: Webb Chiles RECYCLED

193: Webb Chiles RECYCLED

193. Greetings from Bermuda, where we recently made landfall on Isbjorn! This week’s recycled episode features Webb Chiles, certainly one of the most adventurous small boat sailors in recent memory, if not one of the greatest. He’s been around the world several times, cross the Pacific in an open boat, nearly drowned when he fell overboard off Florida and on and on. He’s written several books about his adventures over the years, and indeed continues to make new adventures. I spoke to him a few years back about his exploits, why he pursues them, how he handles fear, what motivates him towards his sailing goals and more. 

192: Susie Goodall // Golden Globe 2018

192: Susie Goodall // Golden Globe 2018

Susie Goodall is a badass. Mia & I met her in Antigua in February after she’d just completed a solo trans-Atlantic crossing in her Rustler 36. At just 26, she is the first woman to enter next year’s Gold Globe Race, essentially a reenactment of the famous race that Sir Robin Knox-Johnston won in 1968, establishing nonstop solo ocean racing. Susie was prepping for the return voyage to England when we spoke, which will fulfill the races qualifying passage requirement. Despite her youth, she’s an accomplished sailor, having worked as a skipper with Rubicon 3 in the Arctic and has sailed thousands of offshore miles. Follow Susie’s adventures at susiegoodall.com. 

191: Kristoffer Appelquist

191: Kristoffer Appelquist

Kristoffer Applequist is kind of a big deal in Sweden. One of the countries premier comedians, Kristoffer is also a sailor, and a longtime fan of the podcast. He reached out to me a while back, and we’ve since become friends. Mia & I visited his beautiful house in the Sunne, in central Sweden, to talk to Kristoffer about his comedy background & his sailing ambitions. Since this conversation, his sailing goals have seriously ratcheted up - he recently bought a Hallberg-Rassy Monsun 31, and has even bigger cruising plans. Follow him on Instagram @appelstoffe.

189: Clint Wells RECYCLED

189: Clint Wells RECYCLED

Clint Wells is one of my best friends, and Isbjorn’s first mate when Mia can’t make a passage. He was there when I first met Mia in New Zealand, and he sailed across the Atlantic with us on Arcturus back in 2011. Clint is NOT a sailor - or at least wasn’t, until joining us. I spoke to him a few years back about our Atlantic crossing together and the challenges he faced - both physically, and even more so mentally - as a new-to-sailing crew member stuck on a 35-foot boat for 23 days in the North Atlantic. For those of you new to ocean sailing, Clint has some words of wisdom. 

188: Hammarberg Family Circumnavigation

188: Hammarberg Family Circumnavigation

#188: Linda Hammarberg & her husband Ludvig recently returned to Sweden after a multi-year circumnavigation with their two young kids, Otto & Lovis, onboard ‘Mary af Roverhamn,’ their Joshua-type steel ketch. During parts of the voyage they were followed by a film crew from Swedish television for the show ‘Familjar pa Aventyr’ - which basically translates to ‘Families on Adventure.’ The Hammarberg’s are typically Swedish, in that they're very humble, and yet very accomplished sailors. Mia & I spoke to them in their shoreside home in Marstrand in January about their adventures sailing around the world and the struggles they had on returning home. Follow their continuing adventures on symary.com.

187: Matt Rutherford Charts Greenland

187: Matt Rutherford Charts Greenland

#187. Matt Rutherford is a longtime friend of the podcast and founder of the Ocean Research Project. Matt became famous, of course, for his legendary Solo the America’s voyage, during which he sailed a 27’ Albin Vega around both American continents. In our latest chat, recorded in Sweden back in January, Matt recalls the summer of 2016 in Greenland, where he & his partner Nicole piloted their research schooner Ault into the uncharted waters of the far north, nearly coming to grief in a wild Arctic storm and subsequently being rescued by the Danish Navy. Matt is one of the best storytellers we’ve had on the show, so I just let him go to town again in this one, and he doesn’t disappoint. Follow Matt’s ongoing adventures at oceanresearchproject.org.

185: Tom Harkin RECYCLED

185: Tom Harkin RECYCLED

Retired Senator Tom Harkin & I recorded this ‘recycled’ episode at his house in Hope Town, in the Bahamas, almost two years ago now. Tom was a career senator, but this episode is nothing about politics. Rather, it’s about Tom’s incredible, unbelievable life story. He was a fighter pilot during Vietnam and became one of the few people ever to eject from a jet and survive to tell the tale. He also tells his insane story about building a wooden trimaran in Japan and having it’s Westerbeke engine shipped over on an aircraft carrier. Sailing has been the ‘red thread’ that has tied together Tom’s life story. This is my all-time favorite interview, so even if you’ve heard it before, it’s worth another listen. 

184: Olly Cotterell // Clipper Race

184: Olly Cotterell // Clipper Race

Olly Cotterell is one of the youngest Clipper Race skippers ever, sailing to a podium position in the 2013-2014 edition of the RTW race onboard OneDLL. He currently skipper’s the prototype, foiling racing yacht ‘Maverick,’ which recently won her class in the RORC Trans-Atlantic Race. Olly & I have a connection in that we’ve both worked for Broadreach. We met up to record this episode in person in Antigua, ahead of the Caribbean 600. Olly has an amazing story that includes growing up on a sailboat in Bermuda, working up the ranks as an RYA instructor, surfing at 35 knots in the Southern Ocean in the Clipper Race and much more.

183: Chris Museler Returns

183: Chris Museler Returns

Chris Museler, NY Times journalist & sailor extraordinaire, has been a longtime friend of the podcast since the early days, and he’s back yet again for another catch-up. Chris has a remarkable journalism career and is one of the few people who get to write about sailing for the NY Times. He crossed the Atlantic onboard Hugo Boss as an onboard journalist with recent podcast guest Ryan Breymaier, sails in most of the major ocean races, and cruises his own cold-molded schooner Magic out of New England. Chris & I chatted in January about his new boat, composting toilets, the Cruising Club of America, inspiring young people to go sailing, and more.

182: Alan Block // Sailing Anarchy

182: Alan Block // Sailing Anarchy

Alan Block, aka Mr. Clean, is one of the driving forces behind the hugely popular - and sometimes controversial - Sailing Anarchy website. He’s a staple on the racing scene, traveling far and wide to cover events from the Volvo to the Vendee and lots in between. Alan’s story is a fascinating and circuitous one, and during our 90-minute conversation, we covered the whole thing, from his early days as a lawyer, to his dreams to set off sailing, and ultimately to his serendipitous opportunity to work with Sailing Anarchy. Alan is also the founder and host of the Sailing Anarchy podcast, free on iTunes.

181: Yves Gelinas RECYCLED

181: Yves Gelinas RECYCLED

RECYCLED: Yves Gelinas is a French-Canadian single-handed sailor and inventor of the Cape Horn wind vane, the simplest, most robust, and most elegant solution for self-steering on an offshore cruising boat. Yves invented and perfected the gear while circumnavigating nonstop via the Great Capes in his beloved Alberg 30 Jean du Sud in the 80s. During that voyage, he filmed Around the World with Jean du Sud, which quickly came to be considered the greatest sailing movie ever made. Yves still builds the Cape Horn units himself from his workshop in Quebec & still sails Jean du Sud, most recently voyaging to Martinique in 2015.

180: Magnus Ormestad // Husky Podcast

180: Magnus Ormestad // Husky Podcast

Today’s episode is slightly different. Magnus Ormestad is the host of my favorite Swedish podcast, called ‘Husky,’ where he interviews folks into outdoor sports & adventure. Magnus & I met a few years ago over coffee in a bike shop in Stockholm and became quick friends. We recorded in Sweden in January - it was a back-and-forth talk between two people used to ‘hosting’, with him interviewing me a bit and vice versa. But this episode is really more about what ties together outdoor adventure pursuits - how people find the passion and motivation to pursue their dreams, in any environment. Be sure to check out Husky’s English-language episodes on iTunes.

179: Martin Hasselov

179: Martin Hasselov

Presented by Weems & Plath. Martin Hasselov is a sailor and PHD scientist based on the beautiful West Coast - which the locals call the ‘best coast’ - of Sweden. Martin has a lifelong love for the sea which started as a small boy fishing in his families rowboats. After college he built a steel ketch from a bare hull to explore further afield. Now armed with a PHD in marine science, Martin recently bought an ex-BT Challenge yacht - a steel 67-footer designed for a southern ocean circumnavigation the ‘wrong way round’ - and uses it as an educational platform for promoting marine science locally, and exploring the world’s oceans further afield.

178: Rick Tomlinson

178: Rick Tomlinson

#178. Presented by Weems & Plath. Rick Tomlinson is one of yachting’s most accomplished photographers. What I didn’t know before we met, was how accomplished he is as a sailor. Rick was a crew member on four consecutive Whitbread Races, and literally invented the modern concept of onboard reporter. Back in his day, Rick was an integral member of the sailing crew - he took photos onboard as a hobby, on his off-watches, and even developed film in the galley sink offshore! Mia and I traveled to Rick’s beautiful studio in Cowes on the Isle of Wight last September to chat about his career.

177: Lin & Larry Pardey RECYCLED

177: Lin & Larry Pardey RECYCLED

#177. Presented by Weems & Plath. Lin & Larry Pardey need no introduction. They’re cruising legends, inspiring generations of sailors to ‘go small, go simple, and go now.’ I first discovered them through books I found in my parent’s basement - indeed it was the Pardey’s that primarly inspired my mom and dad to first set off on their 32’ sloop for a winter in the Bahamas in 1979. Mia and I read their books in detail when preparing Arcturus for the Atlantic crossing we made in 2011. What follows is a ‘recycled’ chat about their cruising careers that I had with Lin & Larry back in 2013, when the podcast first started. 

176: SV Delos

176: SV Delos

#176. Presented by Weems & Plath. SV Delos' videos have become an internet sensation. After leaving Seattle in 2009, Brian, who later met Karin in new Zealand, and his brother Brady have been sailing the world and filming their adventures. Almost by accident they've become the most popular sailing videos on YouTube and it's become their primary source of income. Andy & Mia met them in Stockholm for the podcast.

175: Sailing Totem

175: Sailing Totem

#175. Presented by Weems & Plath. Behan & Jamie Gifford set off from Seattle Washington in Totem, their Stevens 47 sloop, in 2008. They’ve been sailing the world ever since, raising their three kids aboard the boat while crossing oceans, exploring landfalls and meeting interesting people along the way. Mia & I were invited aboard while Totem was in Annapolis last fall and had an enlightening conversation with the whole family about how they got inspired to go cruising, how the ‘identify’ themselves, where they call home, and what’s in store for their future cruising plans.

174: Nigel Calder

174: Nigel Calder

Presented by Weems & Plath. Nigel Calder is universally recognized as the guru of yacht systems. His hardcover tomes grace the bookshelves of yachts the world over. On Isbjorn, his are some of my most referenced books. But while many of you will know Nigel for his writing, I’d bet that few know his background. I didn’t. He came aboard Isbjorn during the Annapolis Sailboat Show last October and told me his backstory, which included living in a commune in the UK, years working on oil rigs in the Gulf, building pipe bombs in his parents back yard and much, much more. 

173: Bob Shepton

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.

172: Recycled: Don Street 2013

172: Recycled: Don Street 2013

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.