#216. Brion Toss, the Master himself, joins Andy Schell at Cruiser's University 2017 in Annapolis for a seminar on offshore yacht rigging. Click here for the slides from today's episode.
216: Brion Toss & Andy Schell // Rigging Seminar
215: Gary Adams // Clipper Race Crew, Oban Marina Scotland
Gary Adams is the new owner of Oban Marina, in Scotland, which we visited on Isbjorn in June. He's also a former Clipper Race crewmember, who sailed with our friend - and podcast #184 guest - Ollie Cotterell. Gary & Andy sat down on the island of Kerrera to talk about Gary's sailing & business background, his Clipper Race experience and what it's like owning a marina.
214: Brittany Meyers // Windtraveler
#214. Brittany Meyers is the author of Windtraveler, the hugely popular blog about her experience transitioning from 'land to sea to the tropics with three.' She's an accomplished sailor, a mom, an adventurer, and now, after sadly losing her beloved boat 'Legato' to Hurricane Irma, a philanthropist. She tells her story to Andy this week on the podcast.
213: Andy Jamieson // Sea Gypsies Movie
Andy Jamieson joined the crew of Infinity, a 120-foot hand-built schooner, on a voyage towards Antarctica. The adventures that ensued were filmed and recently released as 'Sea Gypsies: The Far Side of the World,' easily one of the best sailing movies we've seen. Go to seagypsiesmovie.com to watch for yourself.
212: Sara Hastreiter RECYCLED
#212. RECYCLED. Sara Hastreiter sailed in the previous Volvo Ocean Race aboard the all-women Team SCA, skippered by Dee Caffari. Sara's off mountaineer for this year's event, set to sail on October 22. But Dee Caffari is heading up the mixed-crew team on 'Turn the Tide on Plastic,' so you know who I'll be rooting for this year! Mia & I met and sailed with Sara in NYC a few years back, and I had a chance to talk to her on Skype immediately following the last Volvo.
211: Hank Schmitt // Caribbean Hurricane Relief
#211. Hank & Andy sat down at the Annapolis Sailboat Show to discuss the ongoing relief efforts in the Caribbean due to Hurricane's Irma & Maria. The successive storms destroyed two of Hank's favorite islands - St. Martin & Dominica - also the places he calls home aboard 'Avocation' during the winter sailing season. Hank discusses his focused effort to help the people of those islands rebuild, and how YOU can help.
210: Skip Novak // Expedition Sailing, Whitbread Race & Old School Navigation
210: Skip Novak is a leader in the expedition sailing world, and his Pelagic expeditions based in Patagonia are world-class, and a huge inspiration to our business at 59 North with Isbjorn. Skip & Andy spoke about his career in the Whitbread Race, growing up in Chicago, building an expedition business, sailing with Magnus Olsson and much more.
209: Sailing Stories Season 2 Preview // Jean du Sud & the Magick Byrd
So, today’s episode with Yves’ Gelinas’ ‘Jean du Sud & the Magick Byrd.’ I have to give you some background on this - Yves has been a hero of mine since first meeting him way back in 2008 and installing his genius Cape Horn wind vane self-steering on Arcturus. He’s also been a hero more recently to Lee Cumberland, the Sailing Stories’ host & also proud owner of a Cape Horn on Satori, his Tayana 37. Lee & I were discussing ideas for Season 2 of SS last spring, and Yves name popped up. He agreed to do it almost immediately, and Season 2 was born.
208: Offshore Weather // Isbjorn Crew Roundtable Chat
As I record this, Isbjorn is stuck in medieval Visby, on the island of Gotland smack in the center of the Baltic. We’ve only made it about 100 miles south of Stockholm, on this our 11th and LAST passage of 2017, due to horrendous weather. Recent guests the Veber family reported gusts over 50 knots in their homeport of Falsterbo, on the Swedish southwest coast about 200 miles from here and on our route. So we’re sitting tight. What follows is a roundtable meeting recorded about 6 weeks ago with Isbjorn’s crew from our PREVIOUS passage, when we were similarly stuck in Marstrand, waiting out a gale. If you want to learn more about offshore weather forecasting, head over to morganscloud.com, where right now there is a series of detailed articles coming out that John Harries & I wrote.
207: Jake Albano // Young People & Sailing
207. Jake Albano, who’s still in his 20s, is a longtime friend of mine and has been an integral part of sailing Isbjorn and managing the cruising rallies I used to be involved with. I first met Jake at the ARC Europe rally in 2014 when he was sailing aboard Persistent Lady, the dramatic story of which you’ll hear in the episode. Jake then sailed with me as mate on our first ‘test’ trip for our business model on Serenity, a Shannon 43 ketch we were loaned before we bought Isbjorn, and he’s sailed with us since on many occasions. Jake & I recorded this conversation at-sea aboard Isbjorn in the Azores earlier this summer, and we talk about how he got into sailing as a young person, and his tips for other young people on following in his tracks.
206: Veber Family // Family Cruising Atlantic Circle
#206. Mia & I met the Veber’s in Horta in the Azores back in may, where the family of four had just completed their return Atlantic crossing in their 30’ “Anna Lisa.” The Veber’s had set out from Sweden the year before towards the Caribbean, and after a winter cruising & exploring the Caribbean, were headed home. We invited the whole gang aboard Isbjorn, including the kids Trulls & Mathilda, where we talked about sailing as a family, leaving home, friends and school, the challenges of living on a small boat peacefully, what it was like to be filmed on the Swedish TV-show ‘Familjer pa Aventyr’ and how they felt about returning home.
205: Bruce Schwab RECYCLED // Vendee Globe
205: Bruce Scwab is the first American sailor to complete the legendary Vendee Globe race. Bruce grew up in northern California and started sailing with his dad a young age, eventually working at a rig shop for many years where he honed his as a solo racing sailor, winning the first event he ever entered. Bruce now lives in Maine and specializes in outfitting cruising boats with alternative energy sources and is on the forefront of marine energy technology. I’m running this recycled chat today ahead of another chat I have planned with Bruce in October about the more technical side of outfitting & managing onboard energy systems. Find Bruce online at oceanplanetenergy.com.
204: Randall Reeves // Figure 8 Voyage
#204. Randall Reeves is about to embark on an ambitious passage he's dubbed the ‘Figure 8 Voyage,’ in October. With a 43’ aluminum boat and only his thoughts to accompany him, he's hoping to complete a circumnavigation of both the America’s & Antarctica, alone. Inspired by historic explorers and modern sailors like Matt Rutherford, Randall’s is a personal challenge. I spoke to him back in April, while we we’re still in St. Croix, about his sailing past, his preparation & his goals for the trip. Follow Randall & support the adventure at figure8voyage.com.
203: Fatty Goodlander // 3x Circumnavigator & Writer
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!
