On the Wind Sailing

#56. Master Rigger Brion Toss is on the show today for Part 1 of a very long and enlightening conversation with one of Andy's heroes. Andy met Brion in 2009 at the Annapolis Sailboat Show, and their conversation was the deciding factor in outfitting Arcturus with synthetic rigging. Brion comes on the podcast to discuss his own history as a rigger and sailor. In Part 2, they discuss the more techni...

#55. Andy & Ryan Briggs talk with Baxter and Molly Gillispie, serious adventurers. John and Amanda Neal, previous guests on the show, got us in touch with the couple, and we're glad they did! Baxter is a professional BASE jumping and 'squirrel suit' instructor, and he and Molly met skydiving. Their both skiers and mountaineers, having live for a while in Utah. Baxter summited Everest a while back,...

#54. This week I read an essay I wrote for Broadreach's blog about how sailing brings you back to the world as it was meant to be for humans. It's more philosophical than practical, but hopefully is inspiring! What did you think?

#53. David & Isabelle share their classic story of a ten-year dream-turned-reality to take their kids cruising. A French-Canadian couple from Quebec, David & Isabelle describe how after a bad ATV accident, David had an epiphany in his hospital bed, and their dream began. Ten years, two daughters, and three boats later, and their realizing it, halfway through an Atlantic circuit that took them to t...

#52. Andy discusses how he and Mia stay fit and healthy onboard. From eating right and paying attention to ingredient labels, to why German beer is better for you, to how to create a workout around a deck of cards, Andy covers his own methods of keeping fit and healthy on Arcturus. Have your own ideas? Share them with us!

#51. Chris Museler is back for another inspiring chat with Andy. Last they talked, Chris had just returned from an Atlantic crossing aboard HUGO BOSS, covering the double-handed race as a media crew for the NY Times. Chris explains what's happening with all the video footage he took (it's very cool). They continued to chat about how he got into sailing journalism, the big-time sailing he's done co...

#49. *Rerun from Two Inspired Guys* John and Amanda Neal from Mahina Expedtions have been sailing heros of Andy's for a while now, and it was a real honor to have them on the show. Ryan was away for this one, but Ben Eriksen, creator of the One Simple Question movie (www.simplequestionmovie.com) joined Andy as a special guest co-host. They talked to John and Amanda about their sailing history, abo...

#48. This is the Voice of Experience piece I wrote for SAIL magazine back in 2013 about my experience losing an anchor on my first-ever charter as a 20-year-old in New Zealand. Without further ado, enjoy this weeks (embarassing) Essay Friday. What's some of your stupid mistakes onboard?

#47. Kristen Berry is one of the head trainers at J/World Annapolis sailing school. Andy chatted with him in early August about his racing and cruising career, his transition into professional sailing from managing political campaigns (you'd be surprised at the similarities), his thoughts on what racers can learn from cruisers (and vice versa) and how he creates successful trainig programs at J/Wo...

#46. Andy spoke with master rigger Brion Toss from Bermuda several years back about the art and science of a proper rope whipping. It was originally for an article in Yachting World, but we've repurposed it into another Essay Friday episode. Brion is set to come on the podcast soon for a full-on interview, but in the meantime, enjoy his philosophy on rope whippings and learn a thing or two this we...

#45. John Franta is the brains behind Colligo Marine and their synthetic rigging products. Andy met John in 2009 at the Annapolis Sailboat Show and has been friends with him since. Arcturus was the first monohull that we know of that crossed an ocean with Colligo Dux synthetic rigging, and John and Andy have been working together on promoting synthetic rigging for cruising boats since their first...

#44. Another 'Essay Friday' for you to think about! Andy's ideas on how to outfit the ocean sailing yacht based on the principles found within Nassim Taleb's classic book 'The Black Swan.' Andy talks about not the chances of a piece of gear failing onboard, but rather the consequences of that failure and how that should influence what you decide to fit, or not fit, on an oceangoing boat. What do y...

#43. Cary St. Onge took an ex-America's Cup training boat - an 80-foot maxi racer called 'Falcon', used for the 'Young America' team leading up to the 2000 AC - and converted it into his ideal notion of a fast cruising boat! Andy chatted with him on Skype from his home in Boulder, Colorado. He's outfitting the boat to sail in the Caribbean 1500 this coming fall, and is offering 10 crew berths onbo...

#42. This week's essay Friday is an excerpt from the Log of Arcturus, which I keep onboard the boat. Written by hand, as it's happening, the log is a diary of sorts about our travels. This was written in August of 2012, almost exactly two years ago, during the 3-day passage from Malmo on Sweden's southwest coast to Visby, on the island of Gotland. It's good timing, as starting after work today, we...

#41. Mario Vittone is a Navy vet and retired USCG rescue swimmer with a resume that will blow your mind. Andy got in touch with him via a mutual friend, and had an interesting chat about his experience in helo rescues at sea, cold water immersion, safety offshore and more. They discussed the recent Cheeki Rafiki search, the sinking of the Bounty and how Mario's career has recently transitioned fro...

#40. Essay Friday - What I learned in two Atlantic crossings. The first, of course was in 2011 aboard Arcturus, which I  discussed at length with Clint Wells in Tuesday's episode. The second, which I haven't written much about, was the following year, on Kinship, a Saga 43 that Mia and I skippered in ARC Europe, crossing the Atlantic via Bermuda-Azores-Portugal. Both were very different experience...

#39. Andy sits down in person with one of his best friends in Oslo, Norway to reminisce about sailing across the North Atlantic. Clint, a non-sailor, joined Andy & Mia in Halifax for the cruise up the Canadian Maritimes and across the pond to Ireland, a 23-day passage, and the first time Clint was at sea. In between jokes and fun memories, Clint comes up with some great pearls of wisdom for anybod...

#37. Regular guest & sailing legend Matt Rutherford is back on the podcast to discuss his recent landfall in Japan, climbing Mt. Fuji, making his own saki, what it's like to complete a 7,000-mile nonstop ocean crossing in a 30-foot daysailor, and why he's so determined to do what he says he's going to do! Matt & Nicole Trenholm were in Japan when they recorded this, their last day there before ret...

#Bonus. This one is a bit more serious than last week, and looks at some of the 'rules' of ocean sailing from the perspective of two events from last fall - the Caribbean 1500 rally, and the Salty Dawgs. You'll recall that six Salty Dawg boats issued distress calls last year, two of which were later rescued by the Coast Guard. The incident made national news, and was a hot button issue among the o...

#36. To anybody that's been near a sailboat, today's guest needs no introduction. John Rousmaniere is a legendary sailor/writer whose been in the thick of the sport for over 40 years. He's logged over 40,000 sailing miles, mostly offshore, raced at the highest levels of the sport, and written 15 books and counting on the subject. Andy met John at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club following the Newport-...

#35. Welcome! New concept this week borrowed from Tim Ferriss and his podcast , which I'm a huge fan of (check it out). Every Friday I'll be recording an essay of sorts - stories, opinions, ideas, Q&A if we can get some folks involved, that sort of thing. It'll be a nice compliment to the interviews I do with guests, which will be out earlier in the week. So enjoy this story of my first experience...

#34. Yves Gelinas of Cape Horn Marine Products was on the show last year, coming to us from his office on the Ottawa River in Quebec. Andy was in Sweden and Ryan in Pittsburgh, so it's the first three-country podcast! Yves is a wonderful guy, a solo sailor, artist, inventor and businessman who gave up a successful career in filmmaking to pursue his dreams of sailing. In 1983 he completed productio...

#32. Andreas Hanakamp! For the sailors out there, Andreas is a former Olympic sailor and the skipper of Team Russia in the 09/08 Volvo Ocean Race. And he's awesome! Andy first met him in the 2011 ARC rally, and got a chance to sit down with him this year over a coffee in St. Lucia. Beyond sailing, Andreas is just overall a super inspiring dude - he climbs mountains, runs marathons, skis in the bac...

#31. This is another lecture from Cruiser's University that Andy gave in April in Annapolis. Sorry for the not-perfect quality (he recorded it on his phone), but hopefully the content makes up for it! Andy discusses six common problems you might encounter offshore, and how to deal with them. Indeed, whether some of them are even worth losing sleep over! Of the six, only two are what Andy calls 'de...

#30. Andy and Chris met at the 2011 Caribbean 1500 when Chris was covering the rally. They caught up this morning on Skype and had a PHENOMENAL chat about Chris' experience onboard Hugo Boss in the recent New York - Barcelona IMOCA 60 race. It's the first time in history an outside journalist has been allowed onboard a shorthanded (double- or single-handed) to report objectively on what the crews...