Cap’n Fatty Goodlander pretty much needs no introduction. He & his wife Carolyn have circumnavigated the globe a full three times, setting an example along the way of how to do it safely & on the cheap. Fatty’s brand of storytelling is legendary - he’s an editor-at-large in Cruising World magazine, and has appeared in basically every sailing publication there was over the past 30 years. He even had a radio show published on NPR. Mia & I met Fatty & Carolyn in Tortola this past spring and sat down in the cozy aft cabin of their boat ‘Ganesh’ to record a meandering and highly entertaining interview with perhaps the most entertaining sailor of all.
202: Johnny Owens & Paul Rogan // Ireland to Iceland
#202: Johnny Owens & Paul Rogan are 2/6th of the ‘Ireland to Iceland 2017’ crew whom we met on the docks in the faraway fishing town of Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides. Their gang of merry sailors were on an adventure to the Arctic in a 40-foot steel ketch, Johnny’s father as captain, making music as they want in the pubs along the way. We invited them to Isbjorn to share their story of adventure and creativity. Their expedition is designed to raise funds and awareness for Good2Talk Westmeath, a Mullingar, Ireland-based charity who provide Suicide Prevention, Counselling and Psychotherapy service. Go to facebook.com/irelandtoiceland2017 to follow their adventures.
201: Brion Toss RECYCLED
#201: Brion Toss is a certified Master Rigger and author of the bible on the subject, The Rigger’s Apprentice. I’ve long admired Brion and first got to meet him in 2008 at the Annapolis Sailboat Show, right before I became a rigger’s apprentice myself. I’ve managed to keep in touch with him over the years (and of course have a copy of his book aboard Isbjorn), and finally we’re teaming up to host a hands-on rigging seminar weekend in Annapolis this coming October, 2017. This is a recycled version of a lengthy and informative chat I had with Brion back in 2014 on all things yacht rigging.
200: Mia Karlsson
It’s been a long-time coming, but Mia Karlsson is FINALLY on the podcast! Mia is my wife, of course, and while we don’t share a last name, we share just about everything else! Mia tongue-in-cheek promised to be the 200th episode on the show, long before she ever thought I’d make it this far, so I called her bluff! We recorded a long & rambling chat just before setting out across the Atlantic while Isbjorn was anchored in St. Croix. As I record this intro, we’ve made it to Sweden and Mia has completed her 4th Atlantic crossing, one more than me, which she’s quick to point out. We talked about Mia’s history as a competitive swimmer, growing up in the Swedish countryside, traveling, and of course how she’s come to love the sailing lifestyle.
199: RAN Sailing // Malin & Johan
#199. If you don’t know Johan & Malin of RAN Sailing, go check them out on YouTube right away. They’re a wonderful young Swedish couple on a long-distance voyage in their aluminum sloop ‘RAN’. After months of trading emails, we finally got to meet up with them in Tortola and we hit it off immediately! Mia & I spent three days with Malin & Johan hanging out in Trellis Bay, sharing stories, cooking food and playing Jenga (which was even featured in episode 53 of their YouTube show!). Mia makes a rare appearance this week on the podcast for a four-way chat about their sailing adventures, including Johan’s previous trip to Antarctica & South Georgia Island, their departure from Sweden in the middle of winter & their show!
198: Etienne Giroire TV Show
#198. Special thanks to Thierry Humeau & Telecam Films for directing & producing the TV version of today's podcast with Etienne Giroire. Thierry flew to Florida in April 2016 to film a TV-adaptation of the podcast at Etienne's eponymous shop, ATN Inc. in Ft. Lauderdale. This is the audio-only version of that - to see the full-length film version, go to youtube.com/59northsailing.
197: Ted & Claudia Family RECYCLED
Today’s recycled episode is a family affair, with Ted & Claudia Reshetiloff and their kids Max & Anya. Ted & Claudia sailed their Wauquiez Amphitrite ketch from Annapolis to the BVI several years ago, and have never gone home! They’ve setup base camp on Tortola where they live aboard the boat, work locally and send the kids to local school in the islands. Since this podcast first aired, they’ve even sold their house back in Annapolis, so they’re fully committed to cruising now! We recorded this chat onboard their boat in Tortola back in 2014. You’ll also hear Mia & Paul Exner in the background!
196: Andy's Dad! // Dennis Schell
#196. Dennis Schell is affectionately & jokingly known to all my sailing friends as simply ‘Andy’s Dad’. I have him to thank for my sailing career, and for inspiring me to start my own business. Dad raised me as a sailor & taught me everything I know. We recorded this chat aboard Isbjorn in Trellis Bay, BVI, shortly before we both sailed - he on Sojourner, us on Isbjorn - north to Bermuda. We covered the gamut of my dad’s sailing career, from his days sailing sunfish on Blue Marsh Lake, to his working at a Ft. Lauderdale boatyard, building and marketing his own sailboat, the ‘Salt 19,’ his first ocean passage in a 50-knot gale off Cape Hatteras and tons more!
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.
194: Dr Andrew Merrie // Radical Ocean Futures
194. Dr. Andrew Merrie is not a sailor, per se, but is indeed a vocal advocate for the world’s ocean’s. An expat Kiwi living in Stockholm, he works for the Stockholm Resilience Center, a non-profit, independent research institute specializing in sustainable development and environmental issues. We’re releasing this week’s show early because Andrew is launching his latest research project ‘Radical Ocean Futures’ this weekend at the UN Ocean’s Conference in New York City, June 5-9. Andrew & I talk about his background, growing up in New Zealand, his move to Sweden and his ocean’s project, which is part art, part science and part science fiction. You can see his work at radicaloceanfutures.earth.
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
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
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
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: 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 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
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
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
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
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.