On The Wind Sailing

#103. The beautiful and charming Anna Vinnars, voice of the podcast, on the show today to talk about her epic cycling trip from South Africa to Sweden (yes, you read that correctly!). Co-hosted by Ryan Briggs, Andy's best friend. This is a re-run from one of the very first podcasts Andy ever did, back in the 'Two Inspired Guys' days. It's not so much about sailing, but it's all about adventure. You'll dig it. And you'll fall in love with Anna's voice like Andy did! Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Isbjorn, our Swan 48 at 59-north.com/offshore.

#102 is Mike Meer, a dear friend of mine and my former employer, who taught me everything I know about yacht rigging. It’s all about yacht rigging in the context of ocean sailing, in Mike’s witty, fun-loving style. He’s a cool guy, and he gets across complex rigging issues in a very understandable manner. The slides from Mike’s talk are available at this episode’s blog page on 59-north.com/sailingpodcast, so head there to follow along. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Isbjorn, our classic Swan 48, at 59-north.com/offshore.

#101. I had a nice little chat with Elodie at the dock after sailing with Team SCA on their TP52 in New York. Elodie is one of the crewmembers with the Volvo Ocean Race's Team SCA, the first all-female crew in 12 years in the race. This is a bit shorter than normal, but Elodie has promised to come back on the show for a longer chat after the Volvo, so look forward to that! For now, enjoy a few minutes with Elodie Mettraux of Team SCA! Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Isbjorn, our classic Swan 48, at 59-north.com/offshore.

#100 is Paul Exner & I on the road talking business. It occurred to me shortly after releasing Paul’s first interview with Victor Hempel that a lot of my listeners might not know who the hell this Paul Exner guy was. So we re-hash some of Paul’s sailing experience, focusing on his technical knowledge of the sport. Ultimately though we ended up talking more about the new business than anything else. This is a very honest episode - we talk about the conflict of using the podcast as an advertising platform, how to price offshore passage trips, what it’s like emotionally starting your own business and lots more. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Isbjorn, our classic Swan 48, at 59-north.com/offshore.

#99 is legendary America’s Cup sailor and local Annapolitan Gary Jobson. Gary told stories of growing up in New Jersey sailing dinghies, sailing with Ted Turner and winning the 1977 America’s Cup, commentating for ESPN, winning two Emmy wards, watching the foiling catamaran’s at AC34, his thoughts on AC35 in Bermuda and lots more! Want to go ocean sailing? Book a berth on Isbjorn, our Swan 48, on 59-north.com/offshore.

#98. Retired Senator Tom Harkin invited me and my dad to his house in Hope Town, Bahamas, a place he’s been going to since the 70s to escape the rat race in DC, and which he’ll spend a lot more time at now in retirement. We took the ferry over and had lunch with Tom and his wife Ruth on the dock overlooking the sea of Abaco and Tom’s new sailboat, a 26’ lifting keel Seaward. We recorded the podcast on the deck behind Tom’s house, overlooking the Atlantic ocean. My dad was there as well, listening in the background. Tom’s got an amazing life story, a lot of which includes his love of sailing. We discussed his younger days in the Navy ROTC, how he became a fighter pilot, what it’s like to takeoff and land from the deck of an aircraft carrier, how he built a trimaran in Japan, how he survived ejecting from a fighter plane on a training mission gone wrong, and much more. This is a good one, so listen up!  Come ocean sailing with Andy, like Tom did, on Isbjorn, our classic Swan 48. Book a trip at 59-north.com/offs

#97. At about 0200 in the morning last Wednesday, after we’d tied the dock lines up in Little Creek VA, I got out the recorder and we debriefed the passage north on Sojourner from Marsh Harbor to Annapolis. The crew were myself, my dad, and Les and Jim, two podcast fans who’d signed up for the expedition online! The trip was ideal sailing - broad reaching under a full moon for most of the way, and warm, dry and comfortable (at least until we got back into colder water on the Bay). Aside from one night, that is. Early Easter Sunday morning we experienced a violent frontal passage, with 50-knot initial gusts and sustained winds overnight in the 30-40 knot range. Easily the strongest weather I’d encountered in my offshore career, and a hell of an experience for Les and Jim who’d never been offshore before. So we talked about it. Here's the tape.

#96. Live from World Cruising Club's Ocean Sailing Seminar weekend in Annapolis. Andy spends 90 minutes discussing boat types and how to prioritize outfitting your boat for deep ocean sailing. He emphasizes that basically ANY boat can complete an ocean passage when properly outfitted and with a properly trained crew. But sometimes it's nice to have a few luxuries, and Andy talks about how to prioritize adding equipment. To follow along with the slides from this episode, go to 59-north.com/sailingpodcast and click on this episode.   This episode was sponsored by Forbes Horton Yacht Sales in Annapolis. Need a bluewater boat? Have one to sell? Talk to Forbes - Andy's new Swan 48 came through Forbes' office. Visit forbesyachts.com. This episode was also supported by World Cruising Club, the world's most popular offshore sailing rallies.    Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Isbjorn, our S&S Swan 48, at 59-north.com/offshore.

#95. Despite the intro, this is not the first Thursday episode…but it is another business-oriented episode, kind of a hybrid actually. Andy sat down with Forbes Horton of his namesake Yacht Sales brokerage in his office in Annapolis. Forbes’ firm, thanks to Lloyd Cooper, put together the deal to buy Isbjorn, the Swan 48 we talked about previously. Andy has known Forbes for a while - they talk about how they met, how he got into sailing and his own adventures in a Tartan 34c, the brokerage business in general, and how the deal came together with Isbjorn!    Need a good bluewater sailboat? Go to forbesyachts.com and get in touch with Forbes and Lloyd. They’re the best in the business.    Want to go on an ocean sailing expedition? Head on over to 59-north.com/sailingpassages to book a berth on the Swan 48 ‘Isbjorn.’ We’re heading to the Caribbean for 2016, Europe in the spring!

#94. Paul Exner talks to single-handed sailor Victor Hempel aboard Paul's boat 'Solstice' in Tortola. Paul and Andy also announce their partnership between 59º North & Modern Geographic to offer sailing expeditions aboard the Swan 48 'Isbjorn' and Paul's 'Solstice.' Paul will be regularly co-hosting '59º North' during the normal Tuesday releases. What do you think of the new co-host? Want to go ocean sailing with Andy or Paul? Book a berth on the Swan 48 'Isbjorn' or the Cape George 31 'Solstice' at 59-north.com and moderngeographic.com.

#93. You know that intro music you love from the podcast? It's Blaggards! Andy spoke with lead singer and co-founder of the band, Patrick Devlin just in time for St. Paddy's Day. Patrick's story is a classic one of following your passion into a passable career, and he's had remarkable success with it. Patrick talks about not drinking, starting a band, U2, growing up in Ireland, sadness in his family, touring and playing all-day shows on St. Paddy's Day! Check out Blaggards music at blaggards.com or on Facebook.com/blaggards.

#92. Buying a bigger boat and using it to take people across oceans has long been a dream of mine. I can’t pinpoint when exactly this happened, but it was probably in the mid-2000s when I was working on the schooner Woodwind in Annapolis. That was the first time I realized that it might be possible to have a career not in sailing, but as a sailor.  So at Christmastime I did a yachtworld.com search, just for fun. I typed in ‘Swan’, set the length to 40-50 feet, and capped the price at $150,000.00. Mia and I had been able to save a fair amount of money over the past couple of years, to the tune of about $35,000.00, and this was a number I thought we might be able to afford. --- This is the beginning of the story of how Mia and I came to own a 1972 Swan 48, hull no. 2, which we've named Isbjorn. I'll follow this up with regular podcast and blog updates on how the business is developing and how the refit is going, in real time, as we embark on the next stage of our sailing careers. Wish me luck! Read on for the t

#91. Andy's seminar about sailing to Europe and back from the 2015 Toronto Boat Show in January. Recorded in front of a live audience! Episode includes Q&A at the end, tips on weather routing, northern versus southern routes to Europe, and how to get back! Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on at 59-north.com/events.

#90. This week's episode features another LIVE lecture from the Toronto International Boat Show about sailing offshore to the Bahamas! The tried and true route is down the ICW from the Chesapeake. But that takes weeks! Which ic great if you have the time to meander and enjoy the nice towns along the way. But if you're really keen to get to the islands and enjoy that time there, there's a much faster way, and it's in the ocean. In five days from Norfolk or Beaufort, you can be sipping rum and laying back in the Abacos! The focus of today's episode is getting over the fear and trepidation of going offshore in general, and then planning specifically for a Bahamas-bound passage. What weather to expect, where to make landfall, etc. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth at 59-north.com.

#89. This one is for the sailors who are also skiers - Drew Hardesty is a forecaster with the Utah Avalanche Center. How does he relate to sailing? Drew is the definition of an outdoorsman, and the wilderness envrionment that is the backcountry in the mountains of Utah is strikingly similar, philosophically, to the wilderness that is the high seas, and both are blessed and cursed with the same adventure and the same problems. Drew and Andy discuss his career as a rescue-climber and backcountry avalanche forecaster, as well as Drew's ideas on how to manage the influx of people into the backcountry, how those same problems plague the ocean sailing community, his hopes and fears to the future of backcountry use, and what he thinks we can do about it. Reach out to Drew to join his backcountry outreach program on drew [at] utahavalanchecenter [dot] org, or check out avalanche.org for more information.  Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on 59-north.com/events.

#88. Franz Amussen, host of the 'Sailing the Med' podcast, joins Andy to discuss his namesake podcast. They recorded over Skype, Andy in Toronto for the boat show there, Franz in his home in Salt Lake City.  This is the first part of a two-part episode, and is mostly Franz interviewing Andy about his own sailing career, cruising in the Baltic, Swedish customs and other fun stuff. Towards the end the tables are turned and Franz is the one answering questions, but they ran out of time before getting too far into it. Stay tuned for a Part 2 coming up soon! Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on at 59-north.com.

#87. Andy spoke with Brenda of the schooner Mahdee, which is currently berthed in California. Brenda and her husband David got inspired to go sailing in their college years while on a cycling trip around Lake Superior. Eating from a camp stove, they looked at a sailboat on the lake and thought, 'that's how we ought to travel!' Years went by, and Brenda and David traveled all over the world following his career as a Navy Pilot while Brenda picked up Engineering jobs. Finally, in 2006, their dream came true when they bought and begant the lengthy restoration of the classic 1931 schooner Mahdee. Since launch, they've cruised the west coast as far as Alaska, and are full-time liveaboards, having sold everything ashore to follow their dream. Check out Mahdee's transformation on blog.mahdee.com. Their latest project is Bootstrap Adventure (bootstrapadventure.com), where they're attempting to create a marketplace for outdoor adventurers to buy and sell gear, knowledge and experience. Want to go ocean sailing with An

#86. Andy sat down in person with Liza Copeland at the Toronto Boat Show not too long ago. In fact, they shared a booth alongside Paul & Sheryl Shard, who were all part of the seminar program at the show. Liza has sold an astounding number of her books, all about the cruising lifestyle, which has made her a household name in the sailing world. She first circumnavigated with her young family aboard a production Beneteau, and has since sailed over 100,000 miles in that boat, called 'Bagheera.' Andy & Liza discussed how she got into cruising and what it's like saiing around the world with a family! This is truly an inspiring episode for anyone thinking of sailing with kids (Andy met her son at the show, who's now a successful airline pilot - and still a sailor!).  You can find Liza's books online at aboutcruising.com. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth for the Canadian Maritimes this summer and the Caribbean 1500 next fall at 59-north.com/events.

#85. Eric Forsyth, legendary ocean voyager with over 300,000 sea miles and whose visited both Antarctica & Spitsbergen on his Westsail 42, joins the podcast! Andy and Eric chat about his days in the 1950s flying the first fighter jets with the Royal Air Force, how Eric got into sailing, navigating on Celestial only in the Newport-Bermuda Race in the 1970s and what it's like to endure a 75-knot gale in the Southern Ocean. Eric is a very humble man with extraordinary achievements beneath his keel, and bumps along the road in his life. "I have no regrets," he says about it all. Eric's now going on 83, and is planning on going back to Fiona this spring to sail, well, who knows where. Thanks to Eric for this inspiring conversation! Read all about Eric and his travels on yachtfiona.com. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Sojourner, Serenity or a soon-to-be-announced Swan at 59-north.com/events.

#84. Webb Chiles is a sailing legend.  Andy and he spoke about his sailing philiosophy, what it's like to survive for 26-hours floating in the ocean, rounding the Horn and whether or not religion plays a role in sailing (yep, it's deep).  You may not have heard too much about Webb, and that's kind of by design. Webb is an artist as much as he is a sailor (read his work at inthepresentsea.com), and he's about as pure as they come in the sailing world. He's been around the world a full five times, and set a myriad of records, including first American to sail solo around Cape Horn, and fastest aorund the world alone, beating Sir Francis Chichester's record in the 1970s (which has of course since been demolished).  In his 70s now, Webb is about to embark on his sixth circumnaviagation, this time in a 24-foot light-displacement day-racer, which he's been sailing for a while (luxurious compared to his lap of the globe in an 18-foot open yawl). Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Sojourner at 59-nort