When I got the opportunity to interview Pam Bitterman I jumped at the chance and not just because she has been a teacher of maritime history and seamanship but because she sailed on a tall ship for many years. About 3 decades after being a sailor, and as she raised her family she decided to write about her experiences and that is what we are talking about today – about a tall ship named Sofia, which sank off New Zealand’s North Island in February 1982

Sailing to the far horizon

Interviews and stories with real people about cruising and sailing

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Episode 67 of The Sailing Podcast is a conversation with Topher Cochrane and Ross Gerber about the making of the  ‘Chasing Bubbles’ movie. Chasing Bubbles is about the circumnavigation by...

Chasing Bubbles Movie

This episode is a Bonus Episode of The Sailing Podcast with Linus Wilson of Slow Boat Sailing. After talking to Linus in the last episode of the podcast, Episode 64,...

Bonus episode with Chapter 1 of Slow Boat to the Bahamas

During the interview we hear how Bill sailed with his son, Joe, to Huelva, Spain to participate in the Jimmy Cornell Americas 500 regatta. The regatta followed Columbus exact route to the new world.

This reminded me of a great audio book I downloaded from Audible.com called “Columbus: The Four voyages”.

If you enjoy listening to sailing podcasts I am sure you would also enjoy listening to this book which is an account of Christopher Columbus’s journey in 1492 across the Atlantic.

Audible offers a free 30 day trial, which includes being able to download one audiobook for free so if you haven’t tried out their service you can get access to a trial of Audible by using my link – just go to thesailingpodcast.com/free and this will take you to the Audible Trial sign-up page, where, if you sign up for a monthly gold plan, you get the first month free.

The sailing podcast continues with Bill telling us about his other sailing journeys. In 1994-1995 Bill circumnavigated South America. Heading across the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal, then down the coast of Peru and Argentina to Magellan. He tried to round Cape Horn but gale force winds prevented it. Bill and his crew got to within 6 miles of Cape Horn but had to retreat into the Straits of Magellan. Once through here they then sailed up the coast of Argentina to Brazil and returned to San Juan.

In 1996 - 1997 Bill circumnavigated Western Europe. First they sailed to Amsterdam and took the mast down before heading up the Isomer, then continued heading up the Rhine to Mainz. From there they headed across the Mein to the Mein-Donau set of locks that raised the yacht 400 meters into the Danube. This allowed them to then cruise down through Austria, Romania, Bulgaria and the Kosovo region just 2 years after the war. Bill's yacht was one of the first pleasure boats to make the trip. They arrived in Istanbul then headed back down the Mediterranean, then crossed the Atlantic back to San Juan.

In 2000 Bill took off to sail to Scandinavia to visit an old college buddy. They made a half dozen stops up to Maine then did Nova Scotia into Hallifax. Bill left with two old buddies. He took the first watch at 5 am and told the crew to stay in the sack as the way out of Hallifax is long. About 15 miles later the crew got up (about 9am), had breakfast and by 11am a weary Bill tired gave the helm to the crew, telling him to stay in 5o feet of water. Bill stayed with him for a while and chewed him out when he moved into shallow water.

Finally they were out of the harbor and heading out to sea when Bill hit the sack. A while later he was awakened with a hard thump. Bill ran up and his buddy was in a daze. The engine was still full ahead and he had fallen asleep and the boat turned into the shore. They tried every trick in the book to get off the rocks but the tide was dropping. Three hours later the keel cracked the hull open and the boat filled with water. A day later the boat was high and dry. They tried to salvage a few items from the wreck with the assistance of the locals.

Bill got back to San Juan and a week later he received an email from a buddy in Caracas, Venezuela. "Bill, I heard you lost your boat. I'm leaving Venesuela. I want you to accept my yacht as a gift". Bill was thinking how this was his third shipwreck. Surely, like baseball, three strikes and you are out! Bill had wanted to toss the hat in - But then, how could he say say no...

In 2001 he went to Venezuela, picked up the boat and sailed it back. The boat was a true WWII relic. Made of German black iron Uboat steel by Hein Garbers. Gargers had worked as a spy for the Doenitz by taking German spies to Argentina from South Africa in his 35 foot sailboat. After the war he got hold of German U-boat steel and built 9 boat in 1948/49 - and this was one.


Tall but true tales of sailing with Bill Butler

Episode 61 of The Sailing Podcast is with Marc and Jen of www.loveatfirstsail.com. They took a 2 year sabbatical with their 3 children to go cruising and experience living aboard....

Love at first sail

Episode 60 of The Sailing Podcast is with Carolyn Shearlock of www.theboatgalley.com. Carolyn agreed to do a Q & A podcast, answering questions that listeners had emailed in over the past couple of weeks.
Carolyn and her husband Dave have spent many years cruising on their monohull Que Tal, a Tayana 37' and are currently in Florida getting ready to head off again on their new boat, a Gemini 105M catamaran.
During the interview we hear Carolyn answer questions about:
	•	Storing food when you have limited refrigeration
	•	How to store your fresh fruit and vegetables aboard
	•	Cooking fish and advice on pressure cookers
 The Boat Galley
Carolyn has collected all her resources at www.theboatgalley.com. If there are questions you had that we were unable to cover in the podcast head to theboatgalley.com and use the search bar, in the top right hand corner, to see if there is an article on your topic.
There is also the Boat Galley Cookbook available on Amazon. Many listeners, who submitted questions, praised the cookbook as a must-have for cruising sailors.
Marc Konesco from www.loveatfirstsail.com says 'Carolyn's book was a great reference for us and we got lots of information from her for our trip'.
Kelly from www.sailingchance.com says, 'I love the Boat Galley! Carolyn has been so incredibly helpful along my personal cruising and sailing journey'.
You can stay in contact with Carolyn at the following places:
Facebook - facebook.com/theboatgalley 
Instagram - instagram.com/theboatgalley 
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Some of the questions covered in the episode were:
Q - How to preserve food with limited refrigeration?
A - The trick is to make the best use of the refrigerator space you do have, by learning what doesn't need to be refrigerated and other items that don't need to be refrigerated until open, etc.
Q - From Ron A - who was a guest on the Medsailor podcast 
How can you store items like eggs, cheese and butter without refrigeration?
A - Look for UHT (long life) milk to store in the boat. There are some great substitutes such as Nestle NIDO￼powdered milk and many options for people who don't like milk, such as soy milk or rice milk out there.
Q - Oceantrader and Bruce had asked about storing and preserving eggs.
A - The only trick is that you need to get eggs that haven't been refrigerated – and in the US, it can be very hard to find them! Maybe look for a local farmer's market or find someone who raises their own chickens!
Q - What is the best way to store various vegetables for long distance sailing?
A - Most fruits and vegetables can be kept anywhere from a few days to a month or longer without refrigeration. It begins when you buy the items: best if it's never been refrigerated and no bruises or blemishes
Q - Matt had asked - I have heard of people removing labels of cans, spraying produce with vinegar to avoid pests. Do you do this?
A - I dunk all the produce in a vinegar and water rinse when I first bring it aboard. I fill a good sized pot with a gallon or so of water, and then add maybe a quarter cup – 50 ml or so – of white vinegar. Swish things around well to get dirt and bugs off, then lay it out to dry. The vinegar also helps to prolong the life of the fruit and veggies – particularly soft foods like berries. Just make sure it's 100% dry before putting it away – this is really key for not having rotting food
Q - Anne had asked 'which types of vegetable/fruit can be kept together, and which should be separated for slower ripening and flavor encroachment?'
A -Some foods have to be kept away from others and some need special care:
	•	Citrus: wrap in foil
	•	Onions and garlic – keep in dark but not with potatoes (potatoes sprout)
	•	Potatoes – in dark
	•	Tomatoes if unripe, keep in dark place; if ripe,

Sailing to the far horizon

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