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.
#247. Mia Karlsson is honored to be the FIRST guest on the new Mermaid Tales podcast, featuring tales of women who are connected in some way to the ocean, hosted by Breezy Mulligan. Here’s a rare opportunity to hear Mia on the podcast, talking about her sailing history! Subscribe to Mermaid Tales wherever you get your podcasts!
#130 RECYCLED. John Kretschmer has long been a hero of mine, and has become a friend and mentor over the past 10+ years. John runs offshore adventure sailing passages on his Kaufman 47 QUETZAL (the inspiration for our own business), is a former delivery skipper and a renowned author of several books, including his latest ‘Sailing to the Edge of Time,’ which will release in November. Andy spoke to John back in 2016.
#246. Lee & Rachel Cumberland are two of Mia and my best friends, and this episode has been a long time coming. Together, Lee & Rachel, in their late-twenties, bought and refit a Tayana 37, quit their jobs and sailed off to Panama. We recorded the podcast at their house, which Lee built with his own two hands, over a glass of wine late in the evening. The conversation traces their story from dream to reality, including all the scary bits, and for the first time ever publicly, I finally got them to share their story of a terrible storm in the Bahamas that led them to deliberately beach their beloved boat Satori. Any of you young folks out there who need inspiration to follow your sailing dreams, this one is for you.
Website: beautifulcrazyhappiness.com
Instagram: @beautifulcrazyhappiness
On The Wind is the evolution of 59º North, and is, quite simply, long-form conversations with sailors from around the world. 'On the Wind' Sailing Podcast is informal chats with people from around the world of sailing - tall ship captains, Cape Horners, sailing authors, Volvo Ocean Race skippers, yacht designers, family cruisers, Arctic adventurers and more. Our aim is to define what creates success in the sailing world and figure out how to accomplish dreams on the high seas.
So that's the gist of it - the more cash money we have coming in, the better the show will be going out. Read About the Podcast for more details about the show and where your money actually goes.
#245. Matt Rutherford's been a longtime friend of the podcast and has been on the show more than any other guest. For this episode, Matt & I talked about Arctic sailing - I got to tease him for sailing farther north than he ever has! - we talked about the Golden Globe race, death, fear, anxiety, kids, his latest trip to the Northwest Passage, climate change, Shackleton, and more. It was a wide-ranging and meandering conversation, and Matt, like usual, always has something compelling to say, so listen up. Follow Matt and his Ocean Research Project on oceanresearchproject.org, and don't miss Matt's own podcast called "Single-Handed."
#244. Pete Goss became a hero in the 1996 Vendee Globe for rescuing fellow competitor Raphael Dinelli in a survival storm in the Southern Ocean. Pete tells this story and many others from onboard his new Garcia Exploration 45 at the Annapolis Sailboat Show. This one's an all-timer, so pay attention!
#243. James Aiken is a filmmaker and single-handed sailor that Mia & I met in Ireland after our passage south from Iceland. At the dock in Bangor, James saw our 59 North flag and as a fan of the show, came over to say hi. Coincidentally, five minutes earlier I'd been admiring this beautiful dark-blue boat at the other end of the dock, which turned our to be James' OAKEN YARN, a classic Tradewinds 33. Thus began a week-long interaction with James that included chasing him down under spinnaker in the Irish Sea and sailing less than a boat-length apart outside Dublin as we filmed each other. Check out James' incredible work on jamesaiken.co.
#242: Fredrik Molin is another 30-something out sailing the world on his own terms. We've met several like-minded young people this summer in the Arctic, and it's super inspiring to me to know they're out there - we just gotta look in the colder places apparently. After building a successful career as a sommolier and chef, opening and later selling his own restaurant in Bergen, Fredrik needed a new challenge…
#241. Longtime friend of the podcast and ISBJORN'S racing skipper Paul Exner speaks to Andy from opposite sides of the world to talk about living through Hurricane Irma, sailing Solstice to Hawaii, relocating his family, and the challenges that lie ahead with his Modern Geographic expedition business.
Chief Brody from JAWS was right - we ARE gonna need a bigger boat! Introducing 'ICE BEAR,' our German Frers-designed Swan 59, and 59 North's 2nd boat. Andy tells the whole story.
#240. Mike Beemer is the department chair of the Marine Technology program at Skagit College in Anacortes, Washington. Mike & I were initially introduced by John & Amanda Neal from Mahina Expeditions, who work with Mike on some of their offshore cruising seminars. After trying to connect for over a year, Mike & I finally got to chat about his career.
#239. Sigurdur Jonsson is the captain of and brains behind ‘Aurora Arktika,’ the adventure charter business based out of Isafjordur in Iceland. Mia & I had the privilege of joining Siggi and his crew for their first ski & sail trip of the season in early March, exploring the West Fjords aboard his new boat ‘Arktika,’ hiking up the adjacent mountains and skiing down to the sea…
#178 RECYCLED. 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.
#238. Friend of the podcast Erik de Jong joins the show for the 4th time. Originally from Holland and trained as a naval architect, Erik eventually built his own steel boat, Bagheera, in his backyard and sailed her to Nova Scotia, where he relocated. Erik spent winters designing ships and summers sailing to Greenland. He’s since completed the Northwest Passage and relocated himself and Bagheera to Alaska, where he now runs expedition charters and scientific voyages in the North. Erik & I spoke about his most recent ‘Arctic Mission’ expedition alongside adventurer Pen Hadow to sail north into the Arctic Ocean to research climate change and sea ice retreat.
#237. Brandon Wright is the founder of BRNKL, a Vancouver-based tech startup focused on remote monitoring systems for boats. Brandon & I originally connected on Instagram and immediately hit it off. His sailing, tech & entrepreneurial background ticks all the boxes of my own personal interests, so it was a blast talking to and learning from Brandon about how he got his fledgling business off the ground.
#236. Legendary yacht designer Bob Perry is widely considered as the greatest cruising boat designer of his era, creating some of the most iconic boats of the last several decades including the Valiant 40, Tayana 37 & more. Despite growing up in the midwest and far from the ocean, Bob always knew he’d become a designer. He has somewhat of a hippy past, playing in rock bands in the early days while basically talking his way into the industry as an apprentice when he was in his 20s. He’s worked alongside some of the greats, and obviously has carved a niche out for himself. This was a long, wide-ranging and really fun conversation I had with Bob about his career, his favorite designs, life after losing his son, and more.
On The Wind is the evolution of 59º North, and is, quite simply, long-form conversations with sailors from around the world. 'On the Wind' Sailing Podcast is informal chats with people from around the world of sailing - tall ship captains, Cape Horners, sailing authors, Volvo Ocean Race skippers, yacht designers, family cruisers, Arctic adventurers and more. Our aim is to define what creates success in the sailing world and figure out how to accomplish dreams on the high seas.
So that's the gist of it - the more cash money we have coming in, the better the show will be going out. Read About the Podcast for more details about the show and where your money actually goes.
#235. Sara Hastreiter is of course one of the members of Team SCA, the all-female crew in the previous edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. Sara was on the podcast back in 2015, immediately following that Volvo to talk about how she went from horseback riding in Wyoming to sailing in one of the world’s premier ocean races. I got to speak with her again in March about what it felt like to be left off the Volvo race this time, her mountaineering expeditions in the Himalayas and her ‘Seven Seas, Seven Summits’ project, speaking at the Explorer’s Club in New York, continuing to race on multihulls around the world, and her goals to inspire young people to follow their dreams.
On The Wind is the evolution of 59º North, and is, quite simply, long-form conversations with sailors from around the world. 'On the Wind' Sailing Podcast is informal chats with people from around the world of sailing - tall ship captains, Cape Horners, sailing authors, Volvo Ocean Race skippers, yacht designers, family cruisers, Arctic adventurers and more. Our aim is to define what creates success in the sailing world and figure out how to accomplish dreams on the high seas.
So that's the gist of it - the more cash money we have coming in, the better the show will be going out. Read About the Podcast for more details about the show and where your money actually goes.
#234. Maik Brotzmann has been a friend of the podcast now for a few years, having joined Mia & I in Annapolis two years back to attend one of our Celestial workshops. He grew up in East Germany and lived through the fall of the Berlin wall, before later moving to Iceland to pursue his career on the waterfront. Maik is educated as a metrologist, but his interests are wide-ranging, from weather forecasting and routing to yacht design and naval architecture to sustainable marine tourism. We caught up with Maik on his own turf in Isafjordur where we stayed at his humble quarters, as he calls them, before joining Aurora Arktika for the ski & sail adventure we did in March. Find Maik online at haf-strand.com.
New sponsors this week!
Rutgerson is a world leading manufacturer of yacht fittings. The company was founded in the 70’s by the Swedish sailor and engineer Göran Rutgerson. Today they are represented in more than 30 countries, but all their products are still designed and produced in their home town Marstrand on the Swedish west coast.
On The Wind is the evolution of 59º North, and is, quite simply, long-form conversations with sailors from around the world. 'On the Wind' Sailing Podcast is informal chats with people from around the world of sailing - tall ship captains, Cape Horners, sailing authors, Volvo Ocean Race skippers, yacht designers, family cruisers, Arctic adventurers and more. Our aim is to define what creates success in the sailing world and figure out how to accomplish dreams on the high seas.
So that's the gist of it - the more cash money we have coming in, the better the show will be going out. Read About the Podcast for more details about the show and where your money actually goes.
#233. Nat Philbrick is the author of ‘In the Heart of the Sea,’ the famous story of the whaling ship Essex, which sunk in the Pacific after being attacked by an angry sperm whale. This true-life story became the inspiration for Herman Melville’s classic ‘Moby Dick’, and at the time, was one of the most well-know sea stories. Nat’s book, which recounted the true story from the perspective of the ship’s cabin boy, went on to become a Hollywood movie of the same name. Nat’s also a sailor, and actually lives on Nantucket, the whaling capital of the world in the 1700’s. I chatted with Nat about his career as a sailor and writer back in February.
#232. Paul & Sheryl Shard of course have the popular TV series Distant Shores, and for 25 years have been sailing the world on their boats of the same name and documenting their travels. Mia & I met them again in Toronto in January where they were excitedly awaiting the launch of their latest boat, a new Southerly 48. We sat down with them between seminars to talk about the design process, how Southerly are now owned by Discovery Yachts in the UK, what they wanted in their new design, and about how they’re getting ready and planning for the next phase of their cruising life by sailing trans-Atlantic and getting ready for the Pacific!
Website: https://distantshores.ca/
Facebook: Facebook.com/distantshorestv
Twitter: Twitter.com/distantshorestv
Instagram: Instagram.com/distantshorestv
Youtube: YouTube.com/distantshores1
Left: Paul at launch of Distant Shores III. The Shards worked with the design team on this first Southerly built by Discovery Yachts. Right: Sunset rainbow at beginning of commissioning at Hythe Marina.
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On The Wind is the evolution of 59º North, and is, quite simply, long-form conversations with sailors from around the world. 'On the Wind' Sailing Podcast is informal chats with people from around the world of sailing - tall ship captains, Cape Horners, sailing authors, Volvo Ocean Race skippers, yacht designers, family cruisers, Arctic adventurers and more. Our aim is to define what creates success in the sailing world and figure out how to accomplish dreams on the high seas.
So that's the gist of it - the more cash money we have coming in, the better the show will be going out. Read About the Podcast for more details about the show and where your money actually goes.
#9. Andy talks about Isbjorn's big refit and the 70-mile shakedown cruise he and Mia did up the west coast of Sweden. Special thanks to Helly Hansen for inviting us to their event; and to Isbjorn crewmember Karl for composing and performing the music motifs on this week's show. Our 2020 Passage Calendar is now live! Go to 59-north.com/2020 to sail with us in the Atlantic.
Click here for the text article with photos & videos of Isbjorn's refit.
