Interview
Laura Parent
Nikki Henderson // Winning The Race To Alaska

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.

Nikki Henderson // Winning The Race To Alaska
Interview
Laura Parent
#404: How to be a Sailing Parent w/ Andy, ...

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.

#404: How to be a Sailing Parent w/ Andy, August and Mia
Interview
Laura Parent
#403: Pam Wall // Reminiscing on a Life at Sea

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.

#403: Pam Wall // Reminiscing on a Life at Sea
Interview
Laura Parent
#402: Celeste Pomerantz // To Svalbard in ...

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.

#402: Celeste Pomerantz // To Svalbard in Search of Un-skied Couloirs
Interview
Laura Parent
#401: Terje Andre Pedersen // Sailing in the ...

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.

#401: Terje Andre Pedersen // Sailing in the Wake of Amundsen

100: Who the Hell is Paul Exner!?

100: Who the Hell is Paul Exner!?

Episode #100 is Paul Exner & I on the road talking business. It occurred to me shortly after releasing Paul’s first interview with Victor Hempel that a lot of my listeners might not know who the hell this Paul Exner guy was. So we re-hash some of Paul’s sailing experience, focusing on his technical knowledge of the sport. Ultimately though we ended up talking more about the new business than anything else. This is a very honest episode - we talk about the conflict of using the podcast as an advertising platform, how to price offshore passage trips, what it’s like emotionally starting your own business and lots more.

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99: Gary Jobson

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99: Gary Jobson

Episode #99 is legendary America’s Cup sailor and local Annapolitan Gary Jobson. Gary told stories of growing up in New Jersey sailing dinghies, sailing with Ted Turner and winning the 1977 America’s Cup, commentating for ESPN, winning two Emmy wards, watching the foiling catamaran’s at AC34, his thoughts on AC35 in Bermuda and lots more!

Want to go ocean sailing? Book a berth on Isbjorn, our Swan 48, on 59-north.com/offshore.

98: Senator Tom Harkin

98: Senator Tom Harkin

Retired Senator Tom Harkin invited me and my dad to his house in Hope Town, Bahamas, a place he’s been going to since the 70s to escape the rat race in DC, and which he’ll spend a lot more time at now in retirement. We took the ferry over and had lunch with Tom and his wife Ruth on the dock overlooking the sea of Abaco and Tom’s new sailboat, a 26’ lifting keel Seaward. We recorded the podcast on the deck behind Tom’s house, overlooking the Atlantic ocean. My dad was there as well, listening in the background. Tom’s got an amazing life story, a lot of which includes his love of sailing. We discussed his younger days in the Navy ROTC, how he became a fighter pilot, what it’s like to takeoff and land from the deck of an aircraft carrier, how he built a trimaran in Japan, how he survived ejecting from a fighter plane on a training mission gone wrong, and much more. This is a good one, so listen up! 

97: Offshore Passage Debrief

97: Offshore Passage Debrief

At about 0200 in the morning last Wednesday, after we’d tied the dock lines up in Little Creek VA, I got out the recorder and we debriefed the passage north on Sojourner from Marsh Harbor to Annapolis. The crew were myself, my dad, and Les and Jim, two podcast fans who’d signed up for the expedition online! The trip was ideal sailing - broad reaching under a full moon for most of the way, and warm, dry and comfortable (at least until we got back into colder water on the Bay). Aside from one night, that is. Early Easter Sunday morning we experienced a violent frontal passage, with 50-knot initial gusts and sustained winds overnight in the 30-40 knot range. Easily the strongest weather I’d encountered in my offshore career, and a hell of an experience for Les and Jim who’d never been offshore before. So we talked about it. Here's the tape.

96: Outfitting Your Boat for Offshore Sailing

96: Outfitting Your Boat for Offshore Sailing

Live from World Cruising Club's Ocean Sailing Seminar weekend in Annapolis. Andy spends 90 minutes discussing boat types and how to prioritize outfitting your boat for deep ocean sailing. He emphasizes that basically ANY boat can complete an ocean passage when properly outfitted and with a properly trained crew. But sometimes it's nice to have a few luxuries, and Andy talks about how to prioritize adding equipment.

95: Forbes Horton

95: Forbes Horton

Despite the intro, this is not the first Thursday episode…but it is another business-oriented episode, kind of a hybrid actually. Andy sat down with Forbes Horton of his namesake Yacht Sales brokerage in his office in Annapolis. Forbes’ firm, thanks to Lloyd Cooper, put together the deal to buy Isbjorn, the Swan 48 we talked about previously. Andy has known Forbes for a while - they talk about how they met, how he got into sailing and his own adventures in a Tartan 34c, the brokerage business in general, and how the deal came together with Isbjorn! 

94: Victor Hempel

94: Victor Hempel

Paul Exner talks to single-handed sailor Victor Hempel aboard Paul's boat 'Solstice' in Tortola. Paul and Andy also announce their partnership between 59º North & Modern Geographic to offer sailing expeditions aboard the Swan 48 'Isbjorn' and Paul's Cape George 31 'Solstice.'

Paul will be regularly co-hosting '59º North' during the normal Tuesday releases. What do you think of the new co-host?

92: Introducing 'Isbjorn'

92: Introducing 'Isbjorn'

This is the beginning of the story of how Mia and I came to own a 1972 Swan 48, hull no. 2, which we've named Isbjorn. I'll follow this up with regular podcast and blog updates on how the business is developing and how the refit is going, in real time, as we embark on the next stage of our sailing careers. 

HUGE thanks to Lisa Jodensvi for drawing the amazing polar bear logo! This is just a first draft, but I had to share it! The final version is coming soon...

89: Drew Hardesty

89: Drew Hardesty

This one is for the sailors who are also skiers - Drew Hardesty is a forecaster with the Utah Avalanche Center. How does he relate to sailing? Drew is the definition of an outdoorsman, and the wilderness envrionment that is the backcountry in the mountains of Utah is strikingly similar, philosophically, to the wilderness that is the high seas, and both are blessed and cursed with the same adventure and the same problems.

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86: Liza Copeland

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86: Liza Copeland

Andy sat down in person with Liza Copeland at the Toronto Boat Show not too long ago. In fact, they shared a booth alongside Paul & Sheryl Shard, who were all part of the seminar program at the show. Liza has sold an astounding number of her books, all about the cruising lifestyle, which has made her a household name in the sailing world. She first circumnavigated with her young family aboard a production Beneteau, and has since sailed over 100,000 miles in that boat, called 'Bagheera.'

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85: Eric Forsyth

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85: Eric Forsyth

Eric Forsyth, legendary ocean voyager with over 300,000 sea miles and whose visited both Antarctica & Spitsbergen on his Westsail 42, joins the podcast! Andy and Eric chat about his days in the 1950s flying the first fighter jets with the Royal Air Force, how Eric got into sailing, navigating on Celestial only in the Newport-Bermuda Race in the 1970s and what it's like to endure a 75-knot gale in the Southern Ocean.

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84: Webb Chiles

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84: Webb Chiles

You may not have heard too much about Webb, and that's kind of by design. Webb is an artist as much as he is a sailor (read his work at inthepresentsea.com), and he's about as pure as they come in the sailing world. He's been around the world a full five times, and set a myriad of records, including first American to sail solo around Cape Horn, and fastest aorund the world alone, beating Sir Francis Chichester's record in the 1970s (which has of course since been demolished). 

82: Kamau Iandiataiyero

82: Kamau Iandiataiyero

Listen now. Kamau is not your average sailor. He's not average anything - at 6'7", he found production boats literally don't fit him. But they don't fit his personality either, which you'll soon discover in this very cool episode with a very inspiring dude. We talked about Kamau's project, how he got into sailing, how he took the leap to desing his own boat and more.