The QUARTERDECK Sailing Podcast

The water system possibly works harder than anything else onboard - every day, every crew member will use it multiple times. And it keeps us alive too! So it's arguably the most important system to understand. We discuss how to properly maintain your water system (that's piping, tanks, filling hoses, filters, pumps and taps), how to trouble shoot common problems and then how to solve them. -- Join...

We're back! Nikki and August are kicking off a new round of Quarterdeck Podcast episodes with a discussion on fuel line issues.. Inspired by resent events aboard our Swan 48 Isbjørn. Fuel is toxic, flammable and expensive, and can cause some real headaches (hah) when it gets loose. How can you fix fuel line problems, or better yet, prevent them from happening in the first place? -- Join us on  The...

Last episode of 2023! Nikki & Andy discuss ways to make sail handling and your sail inventory optimal for short-handed crews (think 2-4 sailors on a passage). We discuss which sails you should consider having in your wardrobe and how to handle them at sea. This is the final episode of 2022 - we're back in late January or early February with more new shows about seam'nship! -- Join us on  The QUART...

Chef de cuisine (and 59 North Bosun!) Adam Browne joins the gang this week to talk galley optimization. Adam, in a prior life, worked for 15 years as a chef at chalets in the Alps, on superyachts, and indeed as 59 North mate. He, Nikki, Andy, Mia & Emma talk about how to best design a new galley, how to make the one you have work better, favorite tools in the boat's kitchen & more! -- Join us on ...

Happy Holidays! Nikki, Mia & Emma sit down by the fire to talk about Christmas. Specifically, what they're favorite Christmas presents for sailors are, to give, and to get! -- Join us on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's online platform  where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. First two weeks free! This podcast is recorded LIVE on video on the Quarterdeck, so members can watch the show as it happ...

Andy & Nikki dive deep on electrical systems and calculating electrical consumption. Specifically we are looking for answers to the following: How to calculate the draw of your domestic circuit onboard? How that relates to the required size of the domestic battery bank?  How to then decide what your charging regime should be? -- Join us on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's online platform  where we di...

Nikke Henderson & Andy Schell take a deep dive on anchors & anchoring systems (aka 'ground tackle'). Which anchor should I choose? How long should the chain be? What weight should I be looking for? What material should it be made of? Is bigger always better? These are just some of the questions we discuss, with the aim of taking some of the mystery out of this selection process.  -- Join us on  Th...

Nikki, Andy & Adam are live and in-person from Gosport, England, where Nikki leads a discussion on safety briefings. How to think about them, inshore versus offshore thoughts, how to make people take safety seriously (but not too seriously) and how we've done it onboard the 59 North boats, and how Nikki has leds them on racing boats, including the Clipper Round the World Race. -- Join us on  The Q...

Andy & Emma continue on last week's rig topic by discussing how to inspect your mast and rigging. We talk about timing of rig inspections - preparation, pre-departure, and at-sea - and what to look for at each stage of the inspection process. -- Join us on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's online platform  where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. First two weeks free! This podcast is recorded LIVE...

59 North Skipper Nikki Henderson is joined by Chief Mate Emma Garschagen to go deep on rig climbing for sailors. They discuss all the details you want to know about safely going aloft ashore and at sea, including proper equipment and techniques, what tools to carry aloft, how not to fall, how to overcome the fear of mast climbing, how to communicate with the deck crew, proper line handling and muc...

Emma talks to 59 North Bosun Adam Browne & his wife Laura (one of our graphic designers!) about their electrified Hallberg-Rassy 312 YELLOW MATILDA. Adam & Laura repowered with a fully-electric system from Finnish-made Ocean Volt, and Emma gets the full story on why they did it and how it's working out. -- Join us on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform  where we dive deep on the art...

Andy, Lee & Adam talk props on this week's episode. We discuss how to decide what to optimize for - sailing performance, motoring performance or efficiency - and then how the decisions kind of make themselves once you know the mission. -- Join us on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform  where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. First two weeks free! This podcast is recorded LIVE on...

Andy, Adam & Lee chat about the boat designs in the 2022 Golden Globe round-the-world race , which set off from France last week on Sept. 4. Though the rules are very strict in what boats qualify for the historic re-enactment type event, there remains quite a bit of variablity between them. We examine that variability, then talk about our favorite designs in the race, our favorite skippers, and wh...

Andy Schell & Nikki Henderson spend an hour talking about anchoring! This episode was prompted by a Quarterdeck article asking "Are Anchor Alarms Seamanlike?", which of course led us down the rabbit hole on seamanlike anchoring in general. We touch on all aspects of anchoring from gear selection to finding the best spots and share some of our best - and sketchiest - anchoring stories and what we l...

Nikki Henderson and 59 North's Bosun Adam Browne discuss the challenges of time management during an extensive refit, highlighting how we're handling it on FALKEN. -- Join us on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. First two weeks free! This podcast is recorded LIVE on video on the Quarterdeck, so members can watch the show as it happens, a...

Andy & Nikki talk about how they got to know each other and what Nikki's new full-time role will be with 59 North! -- Join us on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform  where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. First two weeks free! -- This podcast is recorded LIVE on the Quarterdeck, so members can watch the show as it happens, ask questions and suggest future topics.

Nikki, Andy, Mia and August are all together under the same roof in Bergen! And doing a LIVE podcast on ship's electronics and navigation systems! We are currently discussing how to set up the electronics on our new flagship FALKEN from scratch, and have many exciting things to figure out. -- Join us on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform  where we dive deep on the art of seamanship....

Our boats have many crucial and complex systems that needs to be inspected and maintained regularly, lest they rust or rot away. But our most important systems by far are made of meat and bone. What are the best ways to take care of your precious crew? -- Join us on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform  where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. First two weeks free! -- This podcast...

Andy & Emma discuss the current happenings onboard FALKEN during her refit in the UK. Andy traveled to Gosport, England last week to check in on the progress and make some key decisions in the FALKEN project. He recaps with Emma what's happened since the boat went into the shed, and spends a fair bit of time discussing the propane versus induction/electric cooking option that will be the foundatio...

This week, we will tackle an excellent question that we received from Quarterdeck member and Isbjørn crewmember Knut Nesheim: "What is the best way to build the skills needed for cruising?" Like many others, Knut is planning to sail off over the horizon in the near future, and is wondering how he should prepare himself. How much do you need to know before you set off on an ocean sabbatical, and wh...

This week, August is joined by Jon Amtrup, who is going to skipper ISBJØRN along with him to the Arctic this summer! They discuss the route, the destinations, and challenges. Jon is a great guy, a very accomplished sailor, and if you don't already know him, we recommend listening to Episode 195 of the "On the Wind" podcast, where Andy Interviewed Jon about his life and sailing career back in 2017....

These days, Andy and the 59 North team is pondering the sail plan and sail inventory for our new Farr 65 FALKEN, and is very excited to talk about it. Sails, balance, redundancy.. Let's all get together for a huge, virtual group hug and tumble down this rabbit hole together. -- Join us on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. First two weeks...

August and this week's special guest Ben Doerr are both big fans of the high latitudes and of winter sailing. Too many sailors wrap up and mothball their boats in the wintertime, missing out on fantastic cold weather sailing experiences. But it is not without its unique challenges. How different is cold weather sailing from a Caribbean charter, and how can we make the most of it? Learn how to stay...

Andy & Lee take over the helm this week to talk about battery technology. Last year Andy made the switch to Dakota Lithium on SPICA, his Norlin 34 in Sweden, and Lee just did the same on their VW Westphalia. FALKEN is about to get a MAJOR lithium upgrade with 2,000-aH of Lithionics batteries and two massive charging alternators putting out 900-amps of charging from the Beta 85T engine. Lee & Andy...

August is singlehanding for this episode, telling the story of when he experienced a forestay failure offshore on his Swan 48 Isbjørn. -- Join us on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. First two weeks free! -- This podcast is recorded Thursdays at 1900 UTC on the Quarterdeck, so members can watch the show live, ask questions and suggest fut...