Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell

Sailing from the Bahamas to San Andres, and San Andres to Bocas del Toro, Panama, clearing customs in Panama and the fees, Bocas Town, Bastimentos, surfing, freediving, ciguatera, Red Frog Beach

I love when episodes are full of laughter, and this one is the fullest! While we are not laughing, we talk about sailing in The Netherlands, crashing into the Queen's boat, sailing in the Mediterranean, choosing a steel boat, falling in love with a heavy steel boat, losing the headstay while under sail, Isla Mujeres, using an ATN Mastclimber, siglehanding and why we love it, making decisions when...

I met Rick at Isla San Andres, Colombia, while on my way to Panama. We talk about his sailing background, his previous boats, how he made the decision to sail away from terrestrial life, how he chose and negotiated for Sophisticated Lady, how he made her self-sufficient and comfortable, air conditioning, lithium batteries, solar power, his electric galley, surviving Hurricane Iota while at anchor,...

Sailing in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, crime and piracy hotspots in the Caribbean, sailing upwind in 75 knots, losing steering offshore, Haitian pirates, heaving-to, trailing warps, paying bribes, Caribbean culture, the San Blas Islands, Kuna culture, a swimming thief in Cartagena

I met Andreas at San Andres, Colombia. He is a very knowledgeable sailor with many stories and a fine catamaran - a Lagoon 45. we talk about sailing in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, his boat and its electronics, anchoring, heavy weather, and much more.

Peter is an Irish sailor who has been, for the last five years, preparing his boat, Waxwing, a Rival 41, for a solo nonstop circumnavigation via the Southern Ocean and the five great capes. We talk about his preparations, foul weather gear, his heavy weather strategy, safety gear, provisioning, wildlife, and sailing in general.

Landrail Point, Crooked Island, sailing to Great Inagua, sleeping as a singlehander, some recent lessons learned, another shark, Man O War Bay, Great Inagua, clearing out at Matthew Town, future plans

Sailing to Eleuthera from the Berry Islands, Hatchet Bay, surfing, capsizing the dinghy, sailing out of Hatchet Bay, Sailing from Eleuthera to Cat Island, spearing a big mutton snapper, a tiger shark comes to the boat, sailing from Cat Island to Long Cay, surfing again, spearing a tiger grouper, future sailing plans

This episode is a second interview with Dr. Vonderheide, during which he describes a gale in the Gulf Stream and his first offshore passage, at the beginning of which he had no sailing experience.

Carl is a bike messenger from New York City, sailing, now on his fourth sailboat, in The Bahamas. He has many interesting and unique stories from a perspective that many of us are unfamiliar with, such as living in New York on a sailboat in the winter, losing the mast at the beginning of a passage, being "rescued" when rescue was not desired, seeing a missile launch from the water at night, and sa...

crossing the Gulf Stream in 25 knots North, nearly drowning while clearing a net off the rudder, petting wild dolphin while underway, electronics, communicating with ships, running aground in The Bahamas and nearly sinking, whale strike, Bermuda Triangle incident, remora attack, sailing alone offshore, letting go of fear and just being, spritualism, meditation, abandoning dualistic thinking

I met this friendly couple in Great Harbor Cay, The Bahamas, where we were both waiting out some weather. I anchored in front of their grey steel Bruce Roberts 53 and was pleased to meet such a fun couple. Andy, like myself, is an ex-performing musician turned sober sailor. We discuss building a steel boat, sailing in the north, dressing for the cold, tenacity, lessons learned, safety, escaping co...

Surfing Egg Reef, sailing to Harbor Island, spearfishing at Man Island, sailing back to Egg Island, rowing through Current Cut, sailing to Great Harbor Cay

This is my second interview with the sailing couple Erick and Jenny VanMalssen.  We discuss the cruising life, freediving, spearfishing, surfing from a sailboat, lessens learned while living aboard, and various locations in The Bahamas.

My second update from The Bahamas in the Southern Abacos, then Eleuthera. I also discuss encountering five large ships at sea, all at once, using the AIS in this situation, and communicating with ships. I also included a long post about this subject that I took from a Facebook post, as it was full of very useful information.

Bahamas covid requirements for sailors, my passage to The Bahamas and my first two weeks here, anchorages, spearfishing, surfing, and future plans

Brian created Pelagic Autopilots in effort to make a better tiller pilot for his use in solo offshore racing in the San Francisco Bay area, including the Transpac. Many offshore sailors consider the Pelagic to be the best tillerpilot on the market, and it is the only one that incorporates a rate gyro. He has since developed a unit for wheel-steered boats as well. We discuss offshore racing, the Tr...

Marco Nannini is the organizer of the Global Solo Challenge, an around-the-world solo sailing event in production sailboats, set to take place in 2023. Unlike the Golden Globe, this is not a "retro" race, and thus will allow the use of any technology. Marco is also a very accomplished offshore racer. He took 1st place in the 2009 OSTAR in the IRC3 class, 2nd in the Round Britain and Ireland 2010,...

Elliott Smith, whom you might remember from episode 7, is entering the 2022 Golden Globe Race. We talk about dealing with the cold, shopping for a boat, sailing alone, Moitessier's inspiration, preparing for the big race, personal strengths and weaknesses, and love of the ocean. "The right moment is always in front of you to start making steps in the right direction."

This episode is just me, talking about my new book, "Chasing the Nomadic Dream," the six-month refit of Windflower that is just now complete, short discussions of the other four books I've published, and the coming journey to Panama.

Pat Lawless is an Irish Fisherman and Cabinetmaker, and has entered the Golden Globe Race. We discuss his boat, a Saga Saltram, sailing in the North Atlantic, his preparations for the race, love of the ocean, sailing around the other Cape Horn, and north atlantic wildlife.

Guy deBoer hopes to become the first American to win a singlehanded, non-stop, around-the-world sailing race. We discuss his aspirations, his preparations, his training, and his boat, Spirit , a Tashiba 36, which he will sail in the 2022 Golden Globe Race.

Gaurav Shinde is entered in the 2022 Golden Globe Race, a solo, nonstop circumnavigation race that allows only pre-1968 technology in full-keel production cruising boats designed before 1988. Gaurav will be racing in a Baba 35, Good Hope . He is the youngest entrant, and the only person of color in the race. Gaurav was born in India and lives in Canada. He has logged over 20,000 nautical miles of...

Jaye tells us about sailing as crew on El Galeon , a replica of a Spanish Galeon. She and her husband Dan sailed on El Galeon twice from Florida north to Nova Scotia, into the St Lawrence River, and into the great lakes. We also talk a bit about their liveaboard sailboat, Cinderella , a CSY 33.

While in The Bahamas this year, I was on a mission to meet other sailors. My strategy was to row over to boats I liked and say hello. SV Hellacious stood out and called my name. She is an aluminum Dudley Dix 43 with red trim, a hard dodger, and a cutter rig. It turns out that Brian built her, and she is a beauty. We talk about Hellacious, as well as the learning process that building such a boat e...