On the Wind Sailing

#212. RECYCLED. Sara Hastreiter sailed in the previous Volvo Ocean Race aboard the all-women Team SCA, skippered by Dee Caffari. Sara's off mountaineer for this year's event, set to sail on October 22. But Dee Caffari is heading up the mixed-crew team on 'Turn the Tide on Plastic,' so you know who I'll be rooting for this year! Mia & I met and sailed with Sara in NYC a few years back, and I had a chance to talk to her on Skype immediately following the last Volvo.

#211. Hank & Andy sat down at the Annapolis Sailboat Show to discuss the ongoing relief efforts in the Caribbean due to Hurricane's Irma & Maria. The successive storms destroyed two of Hank's favorite islands - St. Martin & Dominica - also the places he calls home aboard 'Avocation' during the winter sailing season. Hank discusses his focused effort to help the people of those islands rebuild, and how YOU can help.

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On the Wind is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928. Don't miss their newly announced Crew Watcher Man Overboard system for smartphones. Visit weems-plath.com.

#210: Skip Novak is a leader in the expedition sailing world, and his Pelagic expeditions based in Patagonia are world-class, and a huge inspiration to our business at 59 North with Isbjorn. Skip & Andy spoke about his career in the Whitbread Race, growing up in Chicago, building an expedition business, sailing with Magnus Olsson and much more.

#209: SOOO, while we've been sailing around Sweden on Isbjorn, I've been working behind the scenes to finalize production on the first-ever published book by 59 North, Yves incredible 'Jean du Sud & the Magic Byrd,' a beautiful & philosophical book about Yves' journey to sail solo & nonstop around the world, written in a style I find very similar to the legendary Bernard Moitessier, a sailor I know Yves admired himself. Yves will be joining us at the Annapolis Sailboat Show next week for the duration, and we'll be selling a limited quantity of his book, signed by Yves himself who will be there for you to meet!

Which brings us back to today's episode, which is the first chapter of Yves' book, narrated by Yves himself. 'Jean du Sud & the Magick Byrd' will officially launch as Season 2 of Sailing Stories next Thursday, October 5, Day 1 of the Sailboat Show, and run weekly as usually through it's completion. The show is free to listeners, but we're again asking for donations if you like it - go to sailingstoriespodcast.com and just click the big blue FUND button.

Lee, Yves & I put a lot of love & a lot of work into this one and we really think you'll love it!

#208: As I record this, Isbjorn is stuck in medieval Visby, on the island of Gotland smack in the center of the Baltic. We've only made it about 100 miles south of Stockholm, on this our 11th and LAST passage of 2017, due to horrendous weather. Recent guests the Veber family reported gusts over 50 knots in their homeport of Falsterbo, on the Swedish southwest coast about 200 miles from here and on our route. So we're sitting tight. What follows is a roundtable meeting recorded about 6 weeks ago with Isbjorn's crew from our PREVIOUS passage, when we were similarly stuck in Marstrand, waiting out a gale. If you want to learn more about offshore weather forecasting, head over to morganscloud.com, where right now there is a series of detailed articles coming out that John Harries & I wrote.

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On the Wind is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928. weems-plath.com.

Sail offshore with Andy & Mia on Isbjorn, a Swan 48. Routes & dates at 59-north.com/offshore.

#207. Jake Albano, who's still in his 20s, is a longtime friend of mine and has been an integral part of sailing Isbjorn and managing the cruising rallies I used to be involved with. I first met Jake at the ARC Europe rally in 2014 when he was sailing aboard Persistent Lady, the dramatic story of which you'll hear in the episode. Jake then sailed with me as mate on our first 'test' trip for our business model on Serenity, a Shannon 43 ketch we were loaned before we bought Isbjorn, and he's sailed with us since on many occasions. Jake & I recorded this conversation at-sea aboard Isbjorn in the Azores earlier this summer, and we talk about how he got into sailing as a young person, and his tips for other young people on following in his tracks.

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On the Wind is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928. Visit weems-plath.com for their online catalog.

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Sail offshore with Andy & Mia on Isbjorn, their Swan 48. Visit 59-north.com/offshore for the routes & dates.

#206. Mia & I met the Veber's in Horta in the Azores back in may, where the family of four had just completed their return Atlantic crossing in their 30' "Anna Lisa." The Veber's had set out from Sweden the year before towards the Caribbean, and after a winter cruising & exploring the Caribbean, were headed home. We invited the whole gang aboard Isbjorn, including the kids Trulls & Mathilda, where we talked about sailing as a family, leaving home, friends and school, the challenges of living on a small boat peacefully, what it was like to be filmed on the Swedish TV-show 'Familjer pa Aventyr' and how they felt about returning home.

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On the Wind is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928. weems-plath.com.

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Come ocean sailing with Andy & Mia aboard the Swan 48 Isbjorn at 59-north.com/offshore.

#205. Bruce Scwab is the first American sailor to complete the legendary Vendee Globe race. Bruce grew up in northern California and started sailing with his dad a young age, eventually working at a rig shop for many years where he honed his as a solo racing sailor, winning the first event he ever entered. Bruce now lives in Maine and specializes in outfitting cruising boats with alternative energy sources and is on the forefront of marine energy technology. I'm running this recycled chat today ahead of another chat I have planned with Bruce in October about the more technical side of outfitting & managing onboard energy systems. Find Bruce online at oceanplanetenergy.com.

#204. Randall Reeves is about to embark on an ambitious passage he's dubbed the 'Figure 8 Voyage,' in October. With a 39' steel boat and only his thoughts to accompany him, he's hoping to complete a circumnavigation of both the America's & Antarctica, alone and nonstop. Inspired by historic explorers and modern sailors like Matt Rutherford, Randall's is a personal challenge. I spoke to him back in April, while we we're still in St. Croix, about his sailing past, his preparation & his goals for the trip. Follow Randall & support the adventure at figure8voyage.com.

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On the Wind is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928.

Sail offshore with Andy & Mia on a Swan 48. Check out our passage calendar at 59-north.com/offshore.

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On the Wind is also supported by Colligo Marine and Offshore Passage Opportunities.

#203. Cap'n Fatty Goodlander pretty much needs no introduction. He & his wife Carolyn have circumnavigated the globe a full three times, setting an example along the way of how to do it safely & on the cheap. Fatty's brand of storytelling is legendary - he's an editor-at-large in Cruising World magazine, and has appeared in basically every sailing publication there was over the past 30 years. He even had a radio show published on NPR. Mia & I met Fatty & Carolyn in Tortola this past spring and sat down in the cozy aft cabin of their boat 'Ganesh' to record a meandering and highly entertaining interview with perhaps the most entertaining sailor of all.

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On the Wind is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments.

The podcast is also supported by Colligo Marine & Offshore Passage Opportunities.

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Sail to the Arctic in 2018 on the Swan 48 Isbjorn! 59-north.com/offshore.