The QUARTERDECK Sailing Podcast

Andy Schell and August Sandberg are joined by their good friend Ben Doerr from Sail Bainbridge for a discussion on old boat charms and ails! -- 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 sugge...

Emma Garschagen and August Sandberg discuss running backstays. What are they, and what do they do? How do they work, and why does some boats have them and some don't? Tips, tricks and sea stories included! -- 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 Quarter...

Professional sailing skippers Andy Schell and August Sandberg discuss sailing and seamanship, picking a new topic every week. This week, we're talking deck layout! Our favourite deck sailing gear, how you should position it, and how to balance comfort and efficiency. -- Join us on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. First two weeks free! --...

Professional sailing skippers Andy Schell and August Sandberg discuss sailing and seamanship, picking a new topic every week. This episode is all about helmsmanship. How do you keep your boat fast, trimmed and on course? -- 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...

Professional sailing skippers Andy Schell and August Sandberg discuss sailing and seamanship, picking a new topic every week. This week, we're talking winches! How to use them, how to size them and how to keep them happy. Haul away! -- 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...

First episode of this new podcast format as we launch Season 6! Professional sailing skippers Andy Schell and August Sandberg discuss sailing and seamanship, picking a new topic every week. And the first topic is: Charts! ..or are they called Maps? What are they and how do you use one? Paper? Digital? Mercator? Raster? We will set you straight.  -- Join us on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new onlin...

Emma Garschagen and ICEBEAR crew John B. debrief their recent  celestial navigation passage from Annapolis to Bermuda. -- Join the discussion on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform  where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. Open now, first two weeks free!

Andy & Mia explain how SPICA's new alternator caught on fire a few days ago during her electrical system refit. Oops. To watch the video and see Andy's beautiful whiteboard drawings, join us on The QUARTERDECK ! -- Join the discussion on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform  where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. Open now, first two weeks free!

Andy checks in with skipper August Sandberg halfway across the Atlantic and looks at the weather they've encountered thus far on their route towards the Azores, and the weather challenges that lie ahead! To see the weather files referenced and watch ISBJORN's route in real-time, join us on The QUARTERDECK ! -- Join the discussion on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform  where we dive...

Andy & ICEBEAR First Mate Emma Garschagen debrief the first passage of the 2021 season from Antigua to Bermuda! We recorded this from Bermuda the day after crew departed, so it was fresh in our minds. To see the outline we used for this and make your own template, join us on The QUARTERDECK ! -- Join the discussion on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform  where we dive deep on the art...

Nikki Henderson joins the Quarterdeck membership for a brief discussion on seamanship, followed by a Q&A. Members on the QDeck submitted their questions, which Nikki answered here! If you missed Nikki's interview with Andy for ON THE WIND, catch that here ! -- Join the discussion on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform  where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. Open now, first two...

Locally recorded audio from our Quarterdeck Seamanship Debrief with Bill Hutton and his harrowing rig failure & yacht abandonment story from episode #4. -- Join the discussion on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform  where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. Open now, first two weeks free!

Andy answers questions from The QUARTERDECK. Hydraulic rigging failures, where to buy paper charts, learning curves & luck, when to know if you're "ready" to go offshore & more! -- Join the discussion on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform  where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. Open now, first two weeks free!

Andy dips into the archives this week to read an essay titled AFTER 11,000 MILES that he wrote in 2016, but which was never published, about the changes he and Mia made and what they learned on ISBJORN after their first full season at sea. The essay is prophetic in some of its points! -- Join the discussion on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform  where we dive deep on the art of seam...

"But give me this glorious ocean life, this salt-sea life, this briny, foamy life, when the sea neighs and snorts and you breathe the very breathe that the great whales respire. Let me roll around the globe, let me rock upon the sea, let me race and pant out my life with an eternal breeze astern and an endless sea before me." -Richard Henry Dana, TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST. -- Join the discussion o...

August Sandberg interviews Bill Hutton about a terrifying offshore rig failure that ended in abandoning ship and a harrowing rescue by a cargo vessel. -- Join the discussion on  The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform  where we dive deep on the art of seamanship. Open now, first two weeks free!

Ben Doerr of Sail Bainbridge out in the Pacific Northwest, prompts us on a discussion about leadership, framed through gut instincts & fear. How do you recognize fear versus gut instincts? How do you convert that into actionable leadership? This was recorded LIVE on the QUARTERDECK. -- Join the discussion on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform where we dive deep on the art of seamansh...

Andy Schell & August Sandberg answer QUARTERDECK member Olwen's call for an in-depth look at self-steering systems. We discuss what makes a boat steer herself, from the purity of balancing sails and rudder, to electronic & hydraulic systems, to the classic, mechanical windvane self-steerers. We've got the technical details covered for sure, but don't worry, we've sprinkled plenty of our philosophy...

Bob Perry, legendary cruising & racing yacht designer, joins Andy Schell to discuss the concept of 'seaworthiness' and how it affects yacht design. Plus, what makes a boat seaworthy - the design, or the skipper? The QUARTERDECK Podcast is the evolution of HOW I THINK ABOUT SAILING. -- Join the discussion on The QUARTERDECK, 59º North's new online platform where we dive deep on the art of seamanshi...

Season 3, #11. Andy & Mia announce some life-changing news at the top, then reflect on a tumultuous 2019 leading up to the uncertainty of the present in 2020. Two boats, big challenges, lots of setbacks…but also, opportunities.

Season 3, #10. Andy & Mia reflect on their life-and-business-changing summer in the High Arctic in Svalbard from 2018. -- 59º North's 1st LIVE online session Tuesday April 14, 2020. Join us for a 'shakedown' test of new live software we're testing out in order to host more live events in the coming weeks during the COVID-19 lockdown. Register on 59-north.com/events. -- HOW I THINK ABOUT SAILING is...

Season 3, #9. In the time of the coronavirus, doing ANYTHING on a schedule right now feels rather quaint. Ironically, today's episode is a conversation with cruiser Doug Weibel about how we at 59 North plan to sail on a schedule. One day we'll get back to that! Wash your hands & HOLD FAST! -- Join Andy & Mia and friends in Annapolis this October for a weekend workshop on all things SEAMANSHIP. Sig...

Season 3, #8. New intro to an old recording. Andy & Mia start the show and reflect on what it's like ocean racing in the Caribbean 600. Then we play the audio documentary that Andy put together after ISBJORN's first crack at the race in 2016. We didn't finish, due to rudder problems, but we were hooked on racing! -- Join Andy & Mia and friends in Annapolis this October for a weekend workshop on al...

Season 3, #7. Almost exactly five years has passed since we bought ISBJORN, our beloved S&S Swan 48, which remains to this day as the foundation of 59 North. We go back in time today and hear Andy describe the story behind buying the boat and how it all came together. -- Join Andy & Mia and friends in Annapolis this October for a weekend workshop on all things SEAMANSHIP. Signup now at 59-north.co...

Season 3, #6. Andy & Mia reflect on the 2014 Newport to Bermuda Race, which they competed in a J/37. They discuss what they've learned from ocean RACERS that they've applied to their ocean CRUISING passages since 2014. -- Join us in October 2020 for a weekend workshop on SEAMANSHIP. Limited to 20 people. Sign-up now on 59-north.com/seamanship. HOW I THINK ABOUT SAILING is presented by Offshore Pas...