On the Wind Sailing

#BONUS Episode! Andy spends 25 minutes or so discussing the evolution of the isbjorn Sailing business, and in the bigger picture, the evolution of he and Mia's sailing 'career' in general over the past 8 years. This one is full of practical advice, so grab a pencil and take some notes! Or better yet, head over to 59-north.com/sailingpodcast and find this episode's show notes for the full transcrip...

#132 is Ken & Jen Kaye, the father-daughter duo who, alongside Jen's mom Ellen Kaye, run the Schooner Woodwind out of Annapolis, MD. This is a very special episode for me, as crewing on the Woodwind was my first stint as a paid sailor, and I worked a whole lot alongside Jen and Ken, who usually were out on the water skippering the boats. If you're a longtime listener to the show, you'll have heard...

#131 is Tucker Thompson, TV & Publich Host of the America's Cup , former America's Cup sailor himself and Annapolis, Maryland native. I met Tucker at the Annapolis Boat Show launch party in early October when we were introduced by a mutual friend. For the first time in Annapolis show history, the Auld Mug was on display, and was a highlight of the launch party, where guests were invited to pose fo...

#130. is John Kretschmer , one of my all-time heroes and a mentor of mine. John's motto is 'never lost, just hard to find,' and it's a pretty good summation of how it was tracking him down for the podcast. I finally got in touch with him over Skype, me in Annapolis and he at home in Ft Lauderdale getting ready for another passage on his boat Quetzal . John and I talked a bit about how he's inspire...

#129. is Mark Baummer, a Chesapeake Bay Pilot, one of the guys who will go out and take command of commercial ships when they enter the Bay from an ocean voyage. In this episode Mark and I talk about our trip together (Mia and I did a ride-along with Mark on a 750-foot coal ship), about how he got into the merchant marine in the first place, what it is a pilot actually does, how he became a pilot...

#128 was actually recorded at 59º North - which of course is the latitude of Stockholm, Swedden - in the offices of På Kryss , a popular Swedish sailing magazine, and my guest was Johan Bostrom. We talked about his sailing career, what the sailing culture is like in Sweden, how he single-handed his HR Monsoon 31 across the Atlantic from New York to Sweden and lots of other cross-cultural topics re...

#126 & 127 are parts one and two of World Cruising Club 's 2015 Ocean Sailing Forum. It's a panel discussion of all things ocean sailing. I moderated it, and our guests included Lee & Rachel Cumberland of Satori, their Tayana 37; Rick & Julie Palm of Archer, their Outremer 51 catamaran ; and Sheryl & Paul Shard of Distant Shores , their Southerly 49. Paul & Sheryl also have been making the popular...

#126 & 127 are parts one and two of World Cruising Club's 2015 Ocean Sailing Forum. It's a panel discussion of all things ocean sailing. I moderated it, and our guests included Lee & Rachel Cumberland of Satori, their Tayana 37; Rick & Julie Palm of Archer, their Outremer 51 catamaran; and Sheryl & Paul Shard of Distant Shores, their Southerly 49. Paul & Sheryl also have been making the popular TV...

#125. is Janne Larsson, Swedish electrician cum-circumnavigator. This is another episode I recorded at Hallberg-Rassy's Oppna Varv in August. Big thanks to podcast fan – and now guest of the show! – Nuno Antunes for introducing me to Janne. Janne is another dreamer, and another example of how to make dreams turn into reality. An electrician living in Helsingborg on Sweden's southwest coast, Janne...

#124 is Matt Rutherford (again). Matt and Nicole recently returned from another lengthy expedition, this one to the far northern reaches of Greenland in pursuit of scientific research. Matt & Nicole made it all the way to 78º North, further even than Nasa this summer, and helped chart one of the last areas on earth that's never been surveyed before. We talked about the expedition, the logistics of...

#123 starts out with a short story about the refit on Isbjorn . Andy reflects on the past three weeks and what he, Mia and a whole host of friends, old and new accomplished on the boat. There's still lots to do, but boy have we come a long way! The guest this week is Nuno Antunes. Nuno's from Portugal, but has lived in Sweden for over 20 years and has a fascinating personal story, including growin...

#122 is Ben & Teresa Carey (again!). Mia and Andy had a chance to watch their movie, 'One Simple Question' and Andy spoke to them about it for a bit (spolier alert - it's awesome!). We also talked a lot about their 'Hello Ocean' citizen-science research projects, what motivates them to work so hard in sailing, and what they're up to at the upcoming Annapolis Boat Show! Hello Ocean can be found at...

#121. Cameron Deyell is a musician based in Brooklyn by way of Auckland, New Zealand. Note the new intro music this week, a song called 'Hey Rose' by his band 'Streets of Laredo.' The full song plays at the conclusion of the episode. Cameron's also a sailor and traveler, and much of his solo music is informed by his sailing experience and sailing dreams. Cameron invited Andy to his Brooklyn studio...

#120 is Magnus Rassy. If the name sounds familiar, it should – Magnus is CEO of Hallberg-Rassy , builder of some of the finest cruising yachts in the world.  Orust island is legendary for producing sailing yachts, and in fact Magnus has an almost unbelieveable story to share about the history of this place.  Go to the show's website page at 59northpodcast.com to see some photos from the HR yard in...

#119. Going to the way-back machine for this week's show, re-releasing episode #10 of my old Two Inspired Guys show. This is Joe Reed, multi-time Caribbean 1500  sailor and NASA scientist, recorded in Tortola after the rally in 2012. For those of you who have listened to 59º North for a while now, you'll notice a BIG difference in this episode! I'm slightly embarrassed to even release this again,...

#118 is Matt Grant of Sailrite , makers of the Ultrafeed sewing machine and inspiration to thousands of DIY sailors around the world. Matt's father Jim started the company back in the 1960s, and he's followed in the family footsteps, taking the reigns after college and moving the business into the future. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Isbjorn, a classic Swan 48, at isbjornsai...

#117 is Simon Borjeson, a twenty-something Swedish sailor and athlete living in Norway and working as an engineer in the oil industry. I met Simon at the start of the ARC Europe  rally in Portsmouth, VA. He, along with three of his friends, were crewing onboard Euphoria, a brand-new Xc-42 that Simon's dad Len had recently bought. Simon discusses growing up and sailing with his family, what it's li...

#116 is one of the best yet! Yan Miles, captain of the tall ship 'Pride of Baltimore II' is full of stories, and boy can he tell them! Yan and Andy spoke from the captain's quarters onboard the 'Pride' itself, docked in Annapolis at City Dock. He has been involved with the 'Pride' since it's inception in the 1980s. Yan tells the story of how he got involved in sailing, worked his way up in the pri...

#115 is Sara Hastreiter, crewmember aboard Team SCA in the most recent Volvo Ocean Race . Sara's been featured in the NY Times, on NPR, in the Wall Street Journal and other places as her star has risen in the sailing world. She only got started in 2008 after moving from Wyoming to St. Croix, and getting work on charter boats and racing yachts in the Caribbean. It had always been a goal to reach th...

#114. Paul Exner speaks at the World Cruising Club's 'Ocean Sailing Seminar ' in Annapolis, MD in March on what it's like to sail offshore in strong conditions. Paul touches on heavy weather in theory and mixes in his own experiences from his varied career as an ocean sailing skipper. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy or Paul? Book a berth on 'Isbjorn,' our classic Swan 48, at 59-north.com/offsho...

#113. is an essay about the first passage of Andy & Mia's Swan 48 Isbjorn . They sailed to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, departing Annapolis on July 4, with Charly, Dan, John and Sean onboard as the inaugural crew. Andy talks about the passage and reflects a bit on how it all went down and what it felt like to reach this milestone. To see some photos of the trip, go to 59-north.com/passagelogs . Want to...

#112. is a Two Inspired Guys rerun with Pawel Motawa, a Polish sailor Andy met at the ARC Rally  a few years back. Pawel had a TV studio in Poland, and then bought his dream boat - a steel sloop - and has been spending the past several years sailing in Antarctica. The interview was recorded onboard his boat 'Malaika' in St. Lucia after he'd crossed the Atlantic from Europe. Want to go ocean sailin...

#111 is Miles Poor. Miles and his wife Anne run MRP Refits , both here in Annapolis and at their winter base in Nanny Cay, BVI. MRP specializes in project management on pretty fancy sailboats. Miles' main career was as a facial surgeon. We sat down on Miles' Tayana 55 in Annapolis, a boat he uses for MRP as his 'showroom' and discussed his very interesting history – he was born in Stockholm and we...

#110 is Duncan Hood, a long-time sailor and technically an Annapolis resident for more than two decades, but who's traveled the world teaching instructors how to teach sailing. Duncan works as an ASA instructor and years ago got asked to travel to China to help start a sailing school in the south, near the border with North Korea, and his story of that misadventure makes up a good chunk of the mid...

#109 is guest-hosted by Magnus Ormestad, of the hugely popular Swedish outdoor sports podcast 'Husky.'  I met Magnus in Stockholm in May. He had a chance to go to Iceland and stay aboard the Aurora Arktika , a 60-foot former Clipper RTW race boat. His interview with skipper 'Siggi' Jonsson had me spellbound – they spent a week sailing in the fjords of Iceland and skiing the surrounding mountain pe...