Gaurav Shinde lives and sails on Lake Ontario in Toronto, Canada. He was entered in the 2022 GGR with "Good Hope," his Baba 35, but injured his shoulder on the way to France and had to drop out of the race.

His need for adventure was cultivated by his late grandfather at a very early age, starting with climbing and hiking in the Western Ghats of India. Gaurav was introduced to sailing at the Sea Cadet Corps Training Ship Jawahar and found what he was born to do. After winning several offshore sailing championships in India, Gaurav decided to take on the challenge of the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race in 2013-14. He sailed on the Mission Performance team and was part of the team in their highest finishing position in the race.

We talk about recovering from his shoulder injury that kept him out of the 2022 GGR, sailing in Bombay, racing on Lake Ontario, dealing with a broken jib halyard in a storm, making important decisions, adventure, what works on Lake Ontario, converting hisboat back to a family cruising yacht from a GGR boat, varnishing, sailing in India, his plans to sail to India, helping frineds get miles, the route from Toronto to India, the beauty of a forgiving boat, electronics, Starlink, the 2026 GGR and the skippers, dream boats, he tells the story of how he injured his shoulder before the 2022 GGR, finding the silver lining behind injuries, and more.

James sails a Wharram catamaran with two free-standing masts side-by-side and Chinese junk rigged. I met him in Bocas del Toro, Panama, and later in San Blas, in 2023. When I interviewed him, he was in Madeira.

We talk about San Blas (Guna Yala) Panama, the jungle, leaving Panama without clearing out, arriving in Colombia without a zarpe from Panama, rescuing a friend, sailing from Panama to Colombia, squalls, Islas de Rosario, the boat Banemalo - a Wharram Tiki 46, what a Wharram is, tarred nylon line, sailing a junk rig, sailing the boat on different points of sail, tacking angle, the difficulty of sailing upwind in the boat, Cartagena, trading goods, meeting people, sailing north from Colombia, Jamaica, breaking a batten, Port Antonio - Jamaica, the Windward Passage, the Ragged Islands, running aground, the family of Wharram owners, building a doghouse on the deck, cooking without gas, Bermuda, the Azores, Galicia, Spain, extending his EU visa, Porto, Potrugal, a storm in the anchorage, dragging anchor, Madeira, almost losing the boat in a flood on a river, and more.

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Matt Rutherford set off from Aasiaat, Greenland June 25th in effort to circumnavigate the Arctic Ocean solo, nonstop, and unassisted in a Valiant 42 ketch. If he succeeds, he will be the first solo sailor to have done it in one season. Matt has been on the show twice before, and is still the only person to have circumnavigated the Americas solo and nonstop.

We talk about Greenland and Assiat, the port, the people, his route around the Arctic, maximizing the motoring range of a sailboat, wind conditions in the Arctic summer, diesel engines, sleep, currents and ice, the Valiant 42, Baffin Bay, ice and fog, icebergs vs pack ice, fiberglass boats in the ice, ice trends in the Arctic, Russia and their territorial waters, Starlink, Irridium, ice charts, the spirit of exploration, storms in the Arctic, the importance of friends, dragging anchor, williwaws, and more.

photos and links are on the podcast shownotes page

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shop for boats at https://sailboatsforsale.com/

get remote electrical help at https://www.meridian-marine-electrical.com/

sail California/Hawaii with shearwater sailing

Ollie Bergquist recently sailed his Contessa 32 from California to Hawaii solo and plans to continue on around the world.

We talk about Hawaii, arriving at a city after a long passage alone, learning to sail, preparing for the journey, learning on a Laser, YouTube favorites, books, the Contessa 32, the Dufour Arpege, the 1979 Fastnet, Fiji, California, sailing offshore for the first time, sailing from British Columbia to California, learning the Hydrovane, developing the confidence to pull the trigger and buy a boat and take her on a long journey as a novice, sleeping while offshore, autopilots, electronics, safety, seasickness, loneliness and solitude, Starlink, making videos during a passage, Matt Rutherford and his coming attempt to cirumnavigate the Arctic, the cold, fishing, taking on water, dolphins, catching a buoy on the Hydrovane, expectations, making landfall, heaving-to, destinations, dream boat, perfect moments offshore, freedom, and more.

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Jillian Feberwee, Nick Tait, William Edelman, and Michael Youngling sailed with Tapio Lehtinen aboard Galiana, his 1972 Swan 55 yawl from Antigua to Nassau, The Bahamas.

We talk about what everyone hoped to get out of the passage, Galiana and other sailboats, sailing with and learning from Tapio, highlights of the passage, fishing, hand steering, seasickness and getting over it, sailing downwind at 9 knots, preparing for the trip in Antigua, cooking in the galley, difficult situations, comparing Galiana to other boats, sails, the Swan's companionway, sail trim, swimming in deep water, reefing, working with and getting along with a crew, a Spanish ghost, not having cell service, goals, singlehanding, dream boat, wildlife, and more.

Photos and links are on the podcast shownotes page

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If you are interested in sailing on Galiana in her upcoming passages, email paulwtrammell at hotmail.com and put sailing in the subject line

Ertan Beskardes is a lifelong sailor entered in the 2026 Golden Gobe Race. He recently completed the Mini Globe Race, in which he circumnavigated in a 19' Class Globe 5.80 sailboat. He started both the 2018 and 2022 Golden Globe Races, but retired in each. His GGR boat is a Rustler 36, formerly Matmut, Jean Luc Van Den Heede's winning boat form the 2018 GGR. He also sails a Jenneau Sun Odyssey 33.

We talk about the difficulty of being suddenly disconnected from all communication with family in the Golden Globe Race, learing through experience, an electrical fire, the Mini Globe Race, Starlink, beautiful moments, getting into harbors with inadequate motors, the new one-way broadcast-only Starlink in the coming GGR, cameraderie in the MGR, buying Matmut, propellers, windvanes, single-line reefing, his qualifying passage, a transmission coupling problem, sailing by compass vs chartplotter, heavy weather, running with a storm under bare poles, comparing the MGR and the GGR, what makes the suffering worthwhile, his love for boats unsuitable for the job, and more.

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In this episode, I talk about Tapio Lehtinen's recent Bahamas trip and lessons we can take from it, using Google Maps to find coordinates of anchorages or dive spots and transfering them to Navionics, I read select passages from Bernard Moitessier's "A Sea Vagabond's World" and discuss them, including why it is advantageous to learn to sail in a dinghy, learning to sail offshore, anchoring, chain vs rope, snubbers, secondary anchors, things to do before heading out to sea, getting to know your boat, making landfall, sailing without a schedule, weighing anchor, using clouds to forecast weather, hurricanes and signs they are coming, maneuvering out of a hurricane and avoiding the eye, heaving-to, a GGR announcement, and how I broke my foot.

Links are on the podcast shownotes page

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Will Sofrin is a lifelong sailor and the author of the book "USCGC Eagle: The Legacy of America's Tall Ship." The book tells the story of a German naval training ship seized at the end of World War II and transformed into the U.S. Coast Guard's flagship, training generations of officers. Rather than a conventional history, it is told through firsthand accounts from those who sailed her, with each chapter capturing a different decade of the ship's life, from her dramatic 1946 delivery to America, to Cold War voyages behind the Iron Curtain, to surviving a near-loss in a hurricane.

He is also the author of the book "All Hands on Deck," a memoir about sailing the tall ship Rose 5,000 miles from Rhode Island to California so she could become HMS Surprise in the feature film Master and Commander.

We talk about sailing a J-70, his book all hands on deck, sailing a tall ship, what all the crew did, maneuvering a tall ship, sails on a tall ship, climbing the mast of a tall ship, tall-ship sailors of old, the book "Two Years Before the Mast," sailing the tall ship Rose from Rhode Island to California for the movie Master and Commander, chain of command on a tall ship, a force 12 storm, going aloft in the storm, freeclimbing rigs, crew dynamics on Rose, sailing upwind in a tall ship, the motion of the boat, ballast on a tall ship, the ship's carpenter, the daily routine, tools, varnishing exterior teak on a sailboat - tips and best practice, his new book "USCG Eagle: The Legacy of America's Tall Ship," Will's dream boat, and more.

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Matt Steverson has been rebuilding an offshore racing sailboat and converting her into a fast family cruising liveaboard, and doing a fantastic job of it, which he and his wife Janneke document on their YouTube Channel . Duracell, the boat, was built and sailed by legendary American sailor, Mike Plant, who beat the American record for solo circumnavigation in the first Vendee Globe in 1989.

We talk about wiring, organization, Matt's electrical-system philosophy, batteries, the generator, the electric motor, appliances, having a child and adding him to the sailing plans, making a YouTube channel, the buffer battery, keeping up with advancements in electrical-system gear, inverters, grounding, induction stoves, preparing holes for through-bolts, water tanks and coatings for the inside, bladders, varnishing, building the new keel, and more.

Photos and links are on the podcast shownotes page

Support the show on Patreon

Browse or list sailboats at https://sailboatsforsale.com/

Sail to Hawaii with https://www.shearwatersailing.net/

Get electrical help at https://www.meridian-marine-electrical.com/

Carl Damm is the owner or Damsel Marine, a yacht management, maitenance, and consulting company. He is also a sailing instructor with ASA and Nautic Ed.

We talk about how to properly install and bed deck hardware, filling the bolt holes with epoxy, backing plates, sail trim, setting halyard tension, how to use a cunningham, setting proper leech tension, reading tell tales, moving jib cars, adjustable jib cars vs pin-stop vs twings with low-friction rings, why a sailor should carry a knife, mast bend, using the traveler, vang, and mainsheet, barber hauls, the proper way to set a whisker pole, the foreguy, afterguy, and pole lift, the staysail and when to use it, spinnakers, the boom topping lift, sail twist, when to reef, heeling, how to know when to reef a catamaran, whether or not you should learn to use a sextant, paper charts, essential electronics to have, radar, AIS, Damsel Marine, sailing instruction, keeping it simple, minimizing integration, and more.