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.
Lee and Andy have been friends since 2012 when Lee first started doing deliveries and long before the business started. Since then, Lee has helped out in all aspects of 59º North, but most recently has been dubbed ‘ship’s engineer’ for his work on the big boat ICEBEAR in the Caribbean. Lee sailed on ISBJORN with us in the 2019 Caribbean 600 race, and with his wife Rachel, owns a Tayana 37 called SATORI, on which they sailed to the Panama Canal and back. Lee is also a producer for the On the Wind podcast.
Dennis has sailed many thousands of bluewater miles and stands in for Andy when he can't (like when he got appendicitis offshore!). Dennis is also super-supportive of the whole charade, and Andy & Mia use his basement as temporary storage when they're home. Dad has crossed the Atlantic and sailed with us in Sweden, Iceland Newfoundland, the Caribbean and everywhere else!
