$3,000 // 500 miles // 7 days.
This passage is now fully crewed. Email mia@59-north.com to get on the waitlist!
Join us for a week of downwind Caribbean Trade Wind sailing on the new Swan 59 ICE BEAR! It's MUCH easier going from south to north in the Eastern Caribbean, as we discovered in 2016, beating our brains out trying to get east against the trades!
We'll start the passage in St. George's, Grenada, where crew will meet the boat at Port Louis Marina just a few minutes walk from the Carenage waterfont area in town. Grenada is a must-visit island, so we recommend flying in early and doing some exploration on your own before you come to the boat. From there we'll sail north, broad-reaching towards St. Croix where we'll re-enter American waters and explore the former Danish colony before finishing the trip in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
This is the first-ever passage aboard the bigger boat! Exciting times at 59 North!
The Route
Note: this is a map from 2016 - the trip will follow this route, but end in San Juan.
Emma is 59º North’s Chief Mate. She joined the 59º North team in 2019 after graduating from Kenyon College where she studied environmental science. Emma has logged over 25,000 ocean miles in the past three years. She has crossed the Atlantic twice, and recently sailed up to 80° North on ISBJØRN in Svalbard. Emma has also sailed as a student and deckhand on tall ships, worked on traditional wooden boats, driven launch boats, and recently skippered a Broadreach voyage with high schoolers in the Caribbean.
Alex’ experiences vary from light high performance racing yachts to big heavy expedition yachts. Alex started sailing at the young age of 4 and he's been hooked to the Ocean ever since, either sailing or surfing.
He has accumulated over 115,000 nautical miles over the past years as a professional sailor, racing all over the world as part of a team in the Clipper Round the World race, working on an expedition yacht in the Arctic Circle and doing a variety of deliveries.
Erik grew up on the west coast of Sweden – never far from boats and sailing. Both sailboat racing and cruising have always been a big part of his life. Being a professional meteorologist Erik has been involved in several major sailing events and races across the globe including the America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race, Vendée Globe and many more. As a sailor Erik races and competes in the exciting Figaro Class in France. He joins us in 2023 as a relief skipper on FALKEN.
Jon Amtrup is a Norwegian sailor, captain, author, and Arctic explorer. Of his sailing accomplishments, Jon has sailed the entire coast of Norway several times in both winter and summer, circumnavigated Svalbard, crossed the Atlantic, explored Greenland, crossed the North Sea many times, and raced in several national and international double-handed and single-handed regattas. Jon runs his own business consulting with high latitude sailing expeditions on planning, weather, and routing assistance. A member of the The Explorers Club, Jon is the author of several maritime books. Encouraged by Andy, he also hosts his own sailing podcast in Norway. Jon skippered ISBJØRN in the high latitudes in 2022, and returns for more in 2023.
Ben Soofer is a sailor and an outdoor educator. Ben first joined the 59 North team in 2018 (making him the very first addition to the team!) as the resident "Public Relations & Media Guru" while attending the University of Denver. Ben grew up sailing on the sandy banks of the Neuse River in North Carolina but was convinced that his destiny lay in the professional world. After Andy invited him to step aboard for a passage south, everything changed.
Andy started 59 North with Mia back in 2013 with the idea to share his passion for offshore sailing with like-minded people. He’s sailed 100,000+ miles offshore, crossed the Atlantic 7 times, skippered ISBJORN to 80º North in Svalbard & FALKEN to Greenland & Iceland.
Mia grew up in the countryside in Sweden a non-sailor until meeting Andy in New Zealand in 2006. Her first sailing trip was aboard SOUTHERN ENDURANCE, a 28-foot charter boat in the Marlboro Sounds on NZ’s South Island. Since then she’s sailed over 50,000 miles offshore, crossed the Atlantic 7 times (on 4 different boats), & sailed ISBJORN to 80º North.
Laura grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with an insatiable wanderlust and the influence of the ocean, boats and waterways of her hometown. Her father’s career as a Port Everglades Pilot gave her early exposure to working on the water and a love for the culture of the sea. Her first boat job was on a tourist boat at age 17 when she started to realize that working on boats could be her ticket to see the world.
After serving a year in the army as an Arctic Jaeger on the Norwegian-Russian border, he started film studies in Bergen. While studying film production, August renovated an old Baltic 37, and then proceeded to circumnavigate the Atlantic with her after he got his degree. August became a dad in 2021 and lives with his son Amund and his partner Karolina in the fjords outside of Bergen, Norway.
Chris has been working professionally on yachts ever since completing his Yachtmaster in 2009. Having logged more than 165,000 nautical miles since, Chris has sailed and raced all around the world on a variety of yachts from small, modern Cape31s to big classic 50m schooners.
During the 2017-18 Clipper Round The World Race Chris skippered the Chinese entry Qingdao and his team achieved a 3rd overall. After the Clipper Race Chris spent two years in the high latitudes skippering Skip Novak's sailing expedition yacht Pelagic Australis. Chris skippered ICEBEAR in 2022 and is returning in 2023 to skipper FALKEN.