Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell

This is part two of my conversation with marine electrical engineer Owen Murphy. We talk about meeting John Kretschmer, the influence of electrical systems and electronics on sailboat value, wiring diagrams, the risks of modern high-output systems, fuses, what electricity is, amps, electrical fields, panconsciousness, sailing in the South Pacific, sailing into an atoll, a tiger-shark story, grey s...

Owen Murphy is an ABYC certified marine electrical engineer and technician who offers both onsite and remote electrical system consulting, maintenance and installation. He sails a Pacific Seacraft 34 and is currently in Fiji.  Owen answers questions from Patrons about their electrical systems. These include charging an AGM starter battery with LiFePo4 house batteries, saving weight on race yachts...

Deborah Hammett began sailing later in life and is the author of the book "Young Salt at Sixty." She sails a Jenneau Sun Odyssey 36 out of Martha's Vineyard, Mass. We talk about Martha's Vineyard, seeing your hometown from the water, scaling down, what inspired her to become a sailor, The Bahamas, riding out a storm in Georgetown at anchor, anchors, the Dominican Republic, her boat, unexpected dif...

Chris and Shona have been sailing around the world on a Leopard 46 catamaran with their four children. They started in Australia on a monohull and sailed up to the islands in the South Pacific. They then bought a catamaran in Mexico, went through the Panama Canal, up to Nova Scotia, and around the Caribbean, back through the canal, across the Pacific, through SE Asia, and to the Seychelles, where...

Saare Yachts is a German company that builds quality, semi-custom yachts which are made in Estonia in the yard that formerly built Finngulf Yachts.  In the intro, I discuss the new 5X-more expensive Bahamas cruising permits and new fees, as well as the strikes in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Niels and I talk about sailing in the Baltic Sea, sailing angles, history of the boatyard, building the hulls, v...

Filip Kotodziej is the skipper of SV Selma of SailCamp Expeditions, running high-latitued charters. He recently visited Isla de los Estados - an island off the souther tip of Argentina few people have visited.  We talk about isla de los Estados, anchoring and anchorages, katabatic winds, currents and tides, charts and navigating, the boat Selma - a custom steel ketch, features of the boat that mak...

Richard and Jude sold everything and bought a Jenneau Sun Odyssey 410 in 2022. Unable to get the boat delivered to Australia in a timely manner, they decided to take the boat in France and start their sailing lives by cruising the Mediterranean.  We talk about crusing the Mediterranean, the boat, dual helms, anchoring, lights and a collision while at anchor, favorite places, cultures, food, making...

Matt Woodside is entered in the 2026 Golden Globe Race (GGR). His boat is a Cape George 36 and he lives in Portland, Oregon.  We talk about getting into sailing, the Sea of Cortez, Mexico, the GGR, simplifying the boat, refitting her, replacing the mast, reefing, heavy-weather strategies, heaving-to, towing drogues, using a storm trysail, his unique jury rig, abandoning ship, books, serving as a F...

Diana Vega grew up on the Isle of Wight sailing in the Solent. She will be the First Mate with Guy Waites on Team Unicef UK in the 2025-2026 Clipper Round the World Race. We talk about crew dynamics, a transatlantic on an Outremer catamaran, refitting a steel boat, installing a synthetic teak deck, heaving-to in the Bay of Biscay, the Clipper Race, the role of the first mate, training for the Clip...

Barry Perrins recently crossed his wake completing a 9-year circumnavigation aboard steel Van de Stadt.  We talk about his boat, the pros and cons of steel boats, his route, New Zealand, crocodiles in Australia, friendly people, Vanuatu, whale sharks, dancing with manta rays, anchors, lessons learned, nature, profound revelations, and more.  Links and photos are on the shownotes page Support the s...

Mike Price sails and races in Hawaii and owns Hyde Sails Hawaii. We talk about sailing in Hawaii, sailmaking, things sailors need to know about sails, when you need new sails, how to choose between different cruising and racing sails, triradial vs cross-cut sails, different materials, spinnakers, asym. vs. sym., top-down furlers, sail trim, interpreting telltales, maintaining sail shape when rolle...

Brent bought Stargazer, an Endurance 35 six years ago in Vancouver and has since been restoring and rebuilding her. She has been almost completely rebuilt and now looks like a work of art. She can be seen on Instagram @storyofstargazer . We talk about the restoration process and get into the details of wood, joints, fiberglass, sanding, varnish, paint, woodworking, the decision to buy an old boat...

Melanie Neale grew up on sailboats and has always lived the sailing and cruising life. She's been a yachtbroker for ten years and now owns Sunshine Cruising Yachts based in St. Augustine, Florida. I met Melanie years ago when I was looking for my first boat, and we've stayed in touch. We talk about boats Melanie likes, the Caliber 40 LRC, Island Packets, the Nicholson 31, the right size boat to si...

Istvan Kopar took 4th place in the 2018 Golden Globe Race - and was one of only five finishers. Next year on the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, he will be attempting to be the first person to sail from the USA solo nonstop westbound around the world via the three great capes and he will be doing it at the same time as the GGR 2026 boats will be going the other way around the wo...

Mark Synnott is a  New York Times bestselling author, a pioneering big wall first ascensionist and one of the most prolific exploratory climbers of his generation. Always seeking new adventures, in 2022 he sailed through the Northwest Passage while searching for the grave of and attempting to solve the mystery of what happened to legendary nineteenth-century explorer Sir John Franklin and his ship...

Ulrika retired, sold her house, and bought a 1995 Island Packet 40. She has just started what she plans to be a long and casual circumnavigation. She was in Guyamas Mexico when I interviewed her. We talk about her boat, sailing from BC to Mexico, The Sea of Cortez, sailing singlehanded and with crew, Mexico, water, how the Island Packet performs, whisker poles, her previous boat - an Atkins Ingrid...

The Last Voyage of Asteria is Tapio Lehtinen's latest book, co-written by Paul Trammell, and documents Tapio's 2022 Golden Globe Race, during which his boat, Asteria, sank while 460 nm SE of South Africa. In this episode, I read from the book, including the beginning and also the chapter titled "Lessons Learned," which disusses what Tapio learned from the sinking and from entering the life raft, a...

Ronnie Simpson is a 40-year-old professional racing sailor from the United States of America who aims to sail in the 2027 Global Solo Challenge race. Recently, Ronnie was the skipper of the Open 50 Shipyard Brewing which competed in the first-ever Global Solo Challenge in 2023-24. Sailing in a strong third place for most of the race, Ronnie unfortunately dismasted off of Argentina in February 2024...

Robert Perry is one of the most prolific, sucessful, and iconic sailboat designers of the modern age. He is known for designing the Valiant 40, Tayana 37, Tashiba 36, Baba 35, and many many more. His knowledge of sailboats is extensive to the point of making him a national treasure.  We talk about older crusing boats ideal for beginning cruisiers, ie: good boats for beginning offshore sailors, CCA...

Fraser Flight was born and raised in Zimbabwe, where he up on a tobacco farm. He started sailing as a young boy on a lake alongside giraffes and rhinos. He progressed to competetive internationl dinghy racing as a child and offshore racing as an adult. He earned a Master of Yachts license, has logged over 80,000 miles on sailing and motor yachts, and has crossed the Atlantic 15 times. He is now en...

Brian Hathaway has been sailing around the world, mostly solo, on his Hunter 44. He recently sailed from St Helena to Recife, Brazil.  We talk about Recife, Brazil, St Helena, sailing downwind with twin headsails, customs, anchoring, singlehanding, pirates, self defense, crime, diving on a shipwreck in St Helena, and much more. Shownotes are here Support the show thought Patreon  

Mike Smith is a South African living in Australia and is building a wooden Suhali replica (the boat Robin Knox-Johnston sailed in the 1968 Golden Globe Race), in order to compete in the 2026 GGR.  We talk about his sailing history, growing up and sailing on the coast of South Africa, his boat-building history, creating the CNC plan for the boat, building the boat, watertight crash boxes, the cost...

Daniel Turner is entered in the Mini Globe Race, sailing Immortal Game , his mini 5.80, which he built. He started racing small boats in Australia when he was six years old. He moved from Holdfast trainers to the 125 and Pacer classes, and raced on his father's Farr 30 and grandfather's Adams 12. Daniel spent four years in the Australian Army as a Combat Engineer and Combat Fitness Trainer and rep...

Bill and JoAnne Harris are the Ocean Cruising Club Port Officers for the Bay Islands of Honduras (Roatan, Guanaja, Utila, Cayos Cochinos, and the Swan Islands. They sail SV Ultra, a trimaran, often spending hurricane season in Rio Dulce, Guatemala, and the rest of the year in the Bay Islands. We talk about Rio Dulce, crossing the bar on the way in, being an OCC Port Officer, the Bay Islands, spear...

Captain Mark Sinclair was born in Manchester, UK, and emigrated to Australia in 1960. He served 20 years in the Royal Australian Navy up to the rank of Commander. During his extensive sea time he served in a tanker, icebreaker, minesweeper, destroyers and numerous hydrographic ships and aircraft. He navigated 4 ships and commanded 3 ships. He has sailed extensively all his life, and in 2018 partic...