On The Wind Sailing

#285. Ryan Ellison & Sophie Darsy have become close friends of ours in the years since we first met them in Stockholm. Non-sailors initially, they bought a Beneteau 40 they named POLAR SEAL, and set out on a cruise of undetermined length, leaving Stockholm and sailing south, first to the Mediterranean and last year across the Atlantic. We met them in the Saintes and recorded onboard ICEBEAR. -- ON THE WIND is presented by Sailing Yacht Power Solutions - makers of the revolutionary power generation solution that eliminates the need for a separate generator and uses your current engine installation. Contact S/Y Power Solutions at Info@sypowers.com -- ON THE WIND is also supported by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928, And Chesapeake Sailmakers, Local Annapolis based sailmaker, and distributer of Elvstrom Sails. 

#284. Andy leads a roundtable discussion with all of 59º North's stakeholders (minus Mia), including Lee Cumberland, Ryan Finstad, Ryan Ellison & skipper August Sandberg. The gang talks about how COVID-19 is impacting our 2020 sailing season, how we're thinking about it, and strategies we are implementing to deal with it. Recorded March 15, 2020. -- ON THE WIND is presented by Sailing Yacht Power Solutions - makers of the revolutionary power generation solution that eliminates the need for a separate generator and uses your current engine installation. Contact S/Y Power Solutions at Info@sypowers.com -- ON THE WIND is also supported by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928, And Chesapeake Sailmakers, Local Annapolis based sailmaker, and distributer of Elvstrom Sails. 

#283: Bela Musits // 'The Unconventional Path' Bela Musits Hosts the podcast “the unconventional path” all about taking unconventional paths to build your career and business. Bela actually interviewed andy for his show and that episode aired last week.  they discuss the challenges and rewards of running an offshore sailing business. --- ON THE WIND is presented by Sailing Yacht Power Solutions - makers of the revolutionary power generation solution that eliminates the need for a separate generator and uses your current engine installation. Contact S/Y Power Solutions at Info@sypowers.com --- ON THE WIND is also supported by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928, And Chesapeake Sailmakers, Local Annapolis based sailmaker, and distributer of Elvstrom Sails. 

Andy discusses the Beta Engine refit he and Mia did on ARCTURUS in Sweden in 2013, with the help of their friend Micah. This is episode #5, season 3 of our other show, HOW I THINK ABOUT SAILING, which you can download and subscribe to for FREE anywhere you get your podcasts! -- Subscribe to How I Think About Sailing wherever you get your podcasts. Season 3 started in earnest on January 16, where Andy will look back over the last decade and see how his thoughts on sailing have evolved and what he's learned from his mistakes.

Andy & Mia record from the cockpit of ICEBEAR in Antigua with not one but two MAJOR announcements. Hold on to your hats, it’s Season 3 of ‘How I Think About Sailing!’ (Happy New Year!) -- Subscribe to How I Think About Sailing wherever you get your podcasts. Season 3 starts in earnest on January 16, where Andy will look back over the last decade and see how his thoughts on sailing have evolved and what he's learned from his mistakes.

#282. Liz Wardley is the current skipper of MAIDEN, the famous Whitbread yacht which saw the first all-girl crew complete the round-the-world race in 1989. Liz has never NOT been a professional racing skipper. Getting her first taste of sailing at age 13 on a Hobie cat, she was instantly hooked. At 15, she convinced her parents to let her drop out of school, and by 18 she was racing in the Sydney-Hobart race. Since then she’s done 3 Volvo Ocean Race’s and is aiming for another in next year’s event. Currently she’s working closely with MAIDEN founder Tracy Edwards to fulfill the goals of The MAIDEN Factor as they sail around the world with an all-girl crew. -- Celestial Nav workshop in Annapolis, Feb 1 & 2, 2020 at Eastport Yacht Club! Go to 59-north.com/celestial for details & to signup. -- Sail on ICEBEAR in the Caribbean in 2020! New passages added in the Leeward & Windward Islands. Go to 59-north.com/2020-caribe to sign on! -- ON THE WIND is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautic

#281 (#251 Re-Issue). Rachel Slade is the acclaimed author of INTO THE RAGING SEA, the riveting and heartbreaking account of the loss of the American merchant ship EL FARO, with all hands, in hurricane Joaquin in 2015. We’re re-issuing this episode today ahead of the audio release of INTO THE RAGING SEA on Season 4 of Sailing Stories! Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and HOLD FAST!

#280. Back in 2018, the crew of SV DELOS joined Mia, James & I onboard ISBJORN for a 3-week adventure in the High Arctic. Needless to say, it was life-changing. Earlier this fall, we got to relive the adventure with Brian & Brady, who flew out to the Annapolis Sailboat Show to give a presentation on our trip, and show the first-ever screening of their '80 NORTH' film project to a USA audience. What follows is the audio of that presentation, which I hope you'll enjoy. -- Celestial Nav workshop in Annapolis, Feb 1 & 2, 2020 at Eastport Yacht Club! Go to 59-north.com/celestial for details & to signup. -- Sail on ICEBEAR in the Caribbean in 2020! New passages added in the Leeward & Windward Islands. Go to 59-north.com/2020-caribe to sign on! -- ON THE WIND is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928. Check out all their navigation tools, clocks, barometers and more at weems-plath.com. ON THE WIND is also supported by Offshore Passage Opportun

#279. Dee Caffari is perhaps the most accomplished sailor I've ever had on the show, and she's easily the most inspiring. Dee has sailed around the world a full 6 times, 3 of them solo and nonstop, and most recently as skipper of the Turn the Tide on Plastic Volvo campaign. There isn't much she hasn't done in racing, whether solo or crewed, as skipper or in another role, but I took away much deeper insights from our conversation on things like leadership, psychology and inspiration. Mia & I met Dee in England to hear her story. -- Celestial Nav workshop in Annapolis, Feb 1 & 2, 2020 at Eastport Yacht Club! Go to 59-north.com/celestial for details & to signup. -- Sail on ICEBEAR in the Caribbean in 2020! New passages added in the Leeward & Windward Islands. Go to 59-north.com/2020-caribe to sign on! -- ON THE WIND is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928. Check out all their navigation tools, clocks, barometers and more at weems-plath.com.

#278. Kass Schmitt is a solo sailor who has had a dream of completing the OSTAR Race, the original single-handed trans-Atlantic race, which back in the 1960's, began the solo racing scene we know today. Kass, unassuming and thoughtful, set out to make that dream a reality in 2017 on her cold-molded sloop ZEST, but was thwarted halfway across the Atlantic by an unusually strong early summer storm that swept through the fleet, forcing the abandonment of three boats and forcing her to retire. Kass & I sat down in London where she told me the tale.

#277. Sierra Groth & Billy Swezey are the inspiring couple behind Tula's Endless Summer. Their adventure started when Billy bought a dilapidated boat that had been abandoned in a New York boatyard and set about restoring her and meandering his way single-handed down the US East Coast. Billy met Sierra in Florida, and since then they, with their dog Jetty, have been inseparable, cruising the Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean in a variety of boats from the original TULA to a motor trawler named NEVERLAND, and now their ex-racing catamaran ADRENALINE. We spoke to Billy & Sierra onboard ICEBEAR at the recent Annapolis Sailboat Show. -- Sail on ICEBEAR in the Caribbean in 2020! THREE new passages added in the Leeward & Windward Islands. Go to 59-north.com/2020-caribe to sign on! -- ON THE WIND is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928. Check out all their navigation tools, clocks, barometers and more at weems-plath.com. ON THE WIND is also supported by

#276. Pip Hare is a lifelong professional sailor and a wonderfully inspiring person. Mia & I traveled to the south coast of England to meet Pip aboard her IMOCA 60 SUPER BIGOU, a 'recycled' Open 60 she is gearing up to campaign in the 2020 Vendee Globe Race. While we talked, her friends - including sailing speed record holder Paul Larsen - were on deck prepping the boat for upcoming Transat Jacque Vibre. Pip shared her life's sailing story, from growing up in small cruising boats to sailing a 'desk' with the RNLI, that ultimately led her back into a career on the ocean. -- Sail on ICEBEAR in the Caribbean in 2020! THREE new passages added in the Leeward & Windward Islands. Go to 59-north.com/2020-caribe to sign on! -- ON THE WIND is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928. Check out all their navigation tools, clocks, barometers and more at weems-plath.com. ON THE WIND is also supported by Offshore Passage Opportunities and BRNKL Systems Inc. Sign u

#275. The legendary Lin Pardey is back on ON THE WIND! Way back in 2013 when I first started the show, Lin & Larry Pardey were episode #2. Six years and 273 episodes later, and Lin is back, live in person this time, to give us an update on her life and cruising plans. Sadly, Larry is no longer able to travel. Lin recently published the 3rd edition of her beloved 'Self Sufficient Sailor' book, and she explains today why that classic sailing tome got a modern update. -- Sail on ICEBEAR in the Caribbean in 2020! THREE new passages added in the Leeward & Windward Islands. Go to 59-north.com/2020-caribe to sign on! -- ON THE WIND is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928. Check out all their navigation tools, clocks, barometers and more at weems-plath.com. ON THE WIND is also supported by Offshore Passage Opportunities and BRNKL Systems Inc. Sign up for Hank Schmitt's OPO membership at sailopo.com, and check out BRNKL's boat-monitoring hardware at brnkl

#274. Max Campbell left England shortly after his 20th birthday in a rebuilt 22-foot wooden sloop, bound for adventure. He set out, as many Europeans do, travelling for his gap year with no real plans and not a lot of money. When he friend jumped ship in Lisbon to follow his girlfriend, Max set his sights on a solo trans-Atlantic passage, aiming west for Grenada. When his diesel stove exploded, literally setting Max on fire, his passage changed dramatically, as did his outlook on the future. Max told us his story in London last week. -- Sail on ICEBEAR in the Caribbean in 2020! THREE new passages added in the Leeward & Windward Islands. Go to 59-north.com/2020-caribe to sign on! -- ON THE WIND is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928. Check out all their navigation tools, clocks, barometers and more at weems-plath.com. ON THE WIND is also supported by Offshore Passage Opportunities and BRNKL Systems Inc. Sign up for Hank Schmitt's OPO membership at sa

#273. Lars Ström is known as 'The Professor' of Nautor's Swan. Now 80 years old and retired, Lars worked at the famed Nautor boatyard in Finland for nearly his entire career, and indeed during the period in the 1970s when ISBJORN, our S&S Swan 48, was built, AND also in the 1990s when ICEBEAR, oru Frers Swan 59 was built. Over the years since we first bought ISBJORN Lars has been a wonderful help to us in learning the boat, as he is to almost any Swan owner who reaches out to him. Mia & I talked to him in Finland about his long and satisfying career.

Episode one of the new season of Sailing Stories, featuring the story of 59 North and SV Delos and their adventures aboard ISJORN in the High Arctic. Buy the second edition of the book at 59-north.com/80north.

Special teaser for the new season of Sailing Stories: 80º North, featuring Andy, Mia, Ship's Photographer James Austrums and the crew of SV Delos! Subscribe to Sailing Stories and stay tuned for Season 3, dropping September 26, 2019! Buy the softcover, 2nd edition copy of 80º North at 59-north.com/80north Join Andy, Mia, SV Delos' Brian & friends in Annapolis for a special two-hour HOW WE THINK ABOUT SAILING panel! Tickets still available at 59-north.com/boatshow

BONUS. Andy & his childhood friend Dane Miller sit down for a special episode of Dane’s ‘The Root’ podcast to talk about some of Andy’s religious experiences offshore. Subscribe to Dane's podcast 'The Root,' wherever you get your podcasts. View the video version on the Earth Fed Muscle YouTube page. Check out Garage Strength and Earth Fed Muscle, and stay tuned to find out how Dane, with Andy & Mia's feedback, is developing a fitness program for staying in shape on the boat.    

BONUS. Andy & Mia are interviewed by Ben Shaw for his Out the Gate Sailing podcast, recorded aboard ICEBEAR in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. 59-north.com/offshore

#272. Jeremy Davis, weather guru, comes on the show to debrief his passage from Lunenburg-Newfoundland on ICEBEAR. He shares what he learned as a forecaster, getting offshore for the first time. Sail south on ISBJORN in November. Check out 59-north.com/offshore to sign on. -- On the Wind is presented by Costa Sunglasses. And also supported by Offshore Passage Opportunities; and Sun Powered Yachts.