Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell

Erick and Jenny had just arrived in Fiji when I spoke with them, after having spent a year in French Polynesia. I interviewed the sepparately and asked the same questions, then editied it so you can hear their different, or similar, responses. We talk about favorite places, pleasant and difficult passages, favorite diving experiences, wildlife, sharks, things they did right and wrong, cultural exp...

Tom and Chris are two sailors from the UK who developed SailTies, a free app that makes it easy to record all your sailing experience in one place. The app keeps a digital record of all your voyages, certificates, crew, vessels, and clubs. We talk about their sailing experiences, chartering in the Med, sailing around Sicily, the SailTies app, and more.  Find the app and get a discount on the plus...

Kyle Davis, aka Captain Ky the Seaglass Guy, was in the San Blas islands in Panama when he came down with dengue fever. He ended up in a bad situation in a prison-like hospital and had to escape. Kyle is a sailor and a sea-glass hunter, and has also been know to catch crocodiles by hand. We also talk about fishing, sailing from Panama to Cartagena, zarpes, the consequences (or not) of not clearing...

Grant Headifen is the founder and Global Director of Education of NauticEd, a modern sailing education organization that provides online sailing courses, a global network of sailing schools, and virtual-reality sail training.  In addition to sailing education, we talk about the force of wind and why it quadruples when wind speed doubles, a different formula for the amount of chain rode per depth,...

Jack Patton sails an electric Passport 42, and was sailing to Hawaii when we spoke. He is also the owner of Poerflow Marine, which makes electric-motor systems for sailboats. We talk about sailing an electric boat, the conversion from diesel, the cost comparison between repowering with diesel vs electric, cooling systems, regeneration, the Ecostar propeller, easy and difficult boats to convert, an...

Timo and Jo bought NV, a 66' IMOCA ex-Vendee Globe sailboat and converted her into a family cruiser, without sacrificing performance. The draft is still 4.5m and the mast 100'. NV was originally designed, built & raced by famous Hungarian sailor Nándor Fa. He competed in her in the 1992 Vendée Globe finishing 5th, becoming the first non-frenchman to finish. When I spoke with Timo and Jo, they were...

Skip Novak is a lifetime offshore sailor, veteran of four Whitbread Round the World and other races, and owner of Pelagic Expeditions. He recently published the boat "On Sailing." We talk about the book, learning to sail, Kirsten Neuschafer, combining sailing and climbing, design aspects of proper bluewater cruising boats, deck layout on Skip's boats, rigging for heavy weather, heaving-to, drogues...

Keith and Becca bought a Pearson 424 that needed a refit, and when the time came to repower, they found an inexpensive electric motor and made a quick decision to build an electri-motor system. They eventually sailed off from Texas to the Caribbean, worked their way upwind to the Windward Islands, then to the Azores, where they were when I talked to them. They've been sailing and living aboard for...

Tanguy de Lamotte is a French sailor and naval architect, and veteran of many offshore races, including the two Vendeé Globes and several Transats. He is also part of Vita Power, a company that makes electric boats. We talk about electric boats and their environmental advantages, the Vita Power boats, sailing IMOCA boats, foiling, cruising, and more. Shownotes are at https://www.paultrammell.com/p...

Simon Curwen recently skippered Translated 9, a Swan 65, in the Ocean Globe Race, which was a re-creation of the 1973 Whitbread Round the World Race. The race consisted of 4 legs, from the UK to Cape Town, South Africa; to Aukland, New Zealand; to Punta del Este, Uruguay; and back to the UK.  Simon started as the navigator aboard Translated 9, and was the skipper for the last two legs. They had a...

  Carl Damm is a sailing instructor and owner of Damsel Marine, a yacht managment and maintenance consulting service. We talk about the basics of trimming sails, like using adjustable jib-sheet cars, the boom vang, the outhaul, halyard tension, asymetrical spinnakers, using a spinnaker net, downwind sailing, flying the main or not when on a deep broad reach, sailing wing-on-wing, etc. Carl has sai...

Gunnar Christensen is entered in the 2026 Golden Globe Race. We talk about his motivations, what he hopes to gain from the race, his competetiveness, preparing mentally and physically, singlehanding and being alone on the ocean, Tapio's book, The Whitbread, the Royal National Lifeboat Institute, sailing full-keeled vs fin-keeled boats, jacklines and tethers, preventers and boom brakes, using an um...

  Alan Fishbone lives on his Lord Nelson 35, currently in the British Virgin Islands. He sailed there from New York in December and encountered heavy weather, which we discuss. We also talk about living on a boat, solar power, Lord Nelson sailboats, heavy weather and sailplans, accidental jibes, the Bermuda Triangle, full-keel cutters, boom brakes, the British Virgin Islands, the Hydrovane, drivin...

Kirsten won the 2022 Golden Globe Race, and became the first woman to win a sailing race around the world by the three great capes, crewed or solo, and the first South African to win an around the world race. Kirsten sailed Minnehaha, a Cape George 36 in the race, which she refit over one year in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Before the race, she worked as a skipper with Skip Novak's Pelagic Exped...

Jerome Rand is the host of the podcast Sailing into Oblivion, and author of the book by the same name, describing his solo nonstop sail around the wolrd in Mighty Sparrow, his Westsail 32. This episode is not one of us interviewing the other, but rather a conversation between us. We talk about our boats, reefing, safety, the higher latitudes, cold and fog, wearing a tether or not, sharks, drowing,...

Heather Thomas skippered SV Maiden to victory in the 2023 Ocean Globe Race (OGR), and the crew became the first first all-female crew to win an around the world race. Heather was also the youngest skipper in the race, at 27 years old.  We talk about how she learned to sail and gain enough experience to be chosen to skipper Maiden in the OGR, preparing for the race, using a staysail and storm jib,...

Owen Murphy recently crossed the Panama Canal, then sailed to the Galapagos islands, and on to the Marquesas, solo, on his Pacific Seacraft 34. We talk about learning French, Polynesian tattoos, provisioning, cyclones, sailing from Panama to The Marquesas, siglehanding, Owen's Pacific Seacraft 34, spinnaker mishaps and lessons, going up the mast, gooseneck barnacles, climbing the mast at night, th...

Lutz Kohne is entered in the 2026 Golden Globe Race, and was part of the race organization in the 2022 GGR, taking satellite calls from the sailors and dealing with emergencies.  We talk about learning to sail, making mistakes, going offshore for the first time, losing the engine while docking, working with Don McIntyre in the 2022 Golden Globe Race and taking staellite calls from the competitors,...

Rob and his family, aka The Cruising Kiwis , bought their 43ft catamaran, Javelot, with minimal sailing experience to retrace the tragic sailing trip of Rob's eldest brother, Kerry, who was captured and executed by the Kmer Rouge in Cambodia in 1978. When we spoke, they were in the Maldives, having just visited Thailand, and making progress on their circumnavigation. We talk about catamaran sailin...

John spends his summers sailing in Puget Sound, and the winters in La Paz, Mexico. He is the owner, founder, and sailing director of Cruise-n-Learn Sailing International. We talk about learning to sail, La Paz, Mexico, live-aboard sail training, asymmetrical spinnakers, reefing, anchors, electronics, Starlink, heaters, the school-boat fleet in La Paz, catamarans, safety protocols, PFD's, jacklines...

After making a life for myself cruising, sailing offshore, and living aboard full time, I share tips and lessons I've learned along the way. I talk about ways to prepare for this lifestyle and how to enjoy it once out on the water, living in a sailboat. I also talk about sailing education, safety, getting used to the water, the importance of water sports, yoga and meditation, books, culture, freed...

Brian is a solo sailor on a Hughes 38, currently in Georgetown, The Bahamas. He supports his cruising by playing the guitar and singing, sometimes putting on dinghy concerts from his boat in the anchorage.  We talk about anchoring and the new mooring balls in Georgetown, sailing from Lake Huron to The Bahamas, sailing with a tiny fuel tank, losing a dinghy, the Dominican Republic, his boat, reefin...

Michael Brooks of Expedition Sailing has been taking clients on skiing and climbing expeditions from South America to Antarctica. We talk about sailing to Antarctica, picking the right weather window, steel boats, their maintenance, pros and cons; Michael's dream boat, running expeditions in Antarctica, Antarctica politics, anchoring/mooring in Antarctica, Ice and icebergs, dressing for the cold,...

Helen recently completed a four-year journey from the UK to New Zealand and visited 35 countries along the way. We talk about her boat, the journey, some of her favorite countries, The Gambia, sailing under the bridge on The Gambia River with only inches to spare, hippos, the people and culture, anchoring, her electrical and solar systems, and much more. Find the show notes and photos here

Tapio Lehtinen was in the port of Punta del Este, Uruguay, during the last stop of the Ocean Globe Race, a re-creation of the Whitbread Round the World Race, when we spoke. He was sailing on Galiana With Secure, a 1970 S&S 55 yawl with a young crew of Finnish sailors. We talk about the boat, sailing from the last stop in New Zeland to Uruguay, going around Cape Horn, birds of the Southern Ocean, o...