On the Wind Sailing

#115 is Sara Hastreiter, crewmember aboard Team SCA in the most recent Volvo Ocean Race. Sara's been featured in the NY Times, on NPR, in the Wall Street Journal and other places as her star has risen in the sailing world.

She only got started in 2008 after moving from Wyoming to St. Croix, and getting work on charter boats and racing yachts in the Caribbean. It had always been a goal to reach the pinnacle of the sport, and she did that with Team SCA. Sara and Andy discussed her career and what it's like ocean racing on a VO65 for over an hour, Sara speaking on Skype from her new home base in the UK.

Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Isbjorn, a classic Swan 48, at isbjornsailing.com.

#114. Paul Exner speaks at the World Cruising Club's 'Ocean Sailing Seminar' in Annapolis, MD in March on what it's like to sail offshore in strong conditions. Paul touches on heavy weather in theory and mixes in his own experiences from his varied career as an ocean sailing skipper.

Want to go ocean sailing with Andy or Paul? Book a berth on 'Isbjorn,' our classic Swan 48, at 59-north.com/offshore.

#113. is an essay about the first passage of Andy & Mia's Swan 48 Isbjorn. They sailed to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, departing Annapolis on July 4, with Charly, Dan, John and Sean onboard as the inaugural crew. Andy talks about the passage and reflects a bit on how it all went down and what it felt like to reach this milestone. To see some photos of the trip, go to 59-north.com/passagelogs.

Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Isbjorn, a classic Swan 48, at isbjornsailing.com.

#112. is a Two Inspired Guys rerun with Pawel Motawa, a Polish sailor Andy met at the ARC Rally a few years back. Pawel had a TV studio in Poland, and then bought his dream boat - a steel sloop - and has been spending the past several years sailing in Antarctica. The interview was recorded onboard his boat 'Malaika' in St. Lucia after he'd crossed the Atlantic from Europe.

Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Isbjorn, a classic Swan 48, at isbjornsailing.com.

#111 is Miles Poor. Miles and his wife Anne run MRP Refits, both here in Annapolis and at their winter base in Nanny Cay, BVI. MRP specializes in project management on pretty fancy sailboats. Miles' main career was as a facial surgeon. We sat down on Miles' Tayana 55 in Annapolis, a boat he uses for MRP as his 'showroom' and discussed his very interesting history – he was born in Stockholm and went to boarding school in Switzerland, learning to sail on Lake Geneva – and then delve into some ocean sailing stuff.

Book your next passage with Isbjorn, our classic Swan 48, at 59-north.com/offshore.

#110 is Duncan Hood, a long-time sailor and technically an Annapolis resident for more than two decades, but who's traveled the world teaching instructors how to teach sailing.

Duncan works as an ASA instructor and years ago got asked to travel to China to help start a sailing school in the south, near the border with North Korea, and his story of that misadventure makes up a good chunk of the middle of this episode. It's a riveting tale!

Come ocean sailing with Andy & Mia on Isbjorn, their classic Swan 48 at 59-north.com/offshore.

#109 is guest-hosted by Magnus Ormestad, of the hugely popular Swedish outdoor sports podcast 'Husky.' I met Magnus in Stockholm in May. He had a chance to go to Iceland and stay aboard the Aurora Arktika, a 60-foot former Clipper RTW race boat. His interview with skipper 'Siggi' Jonsson had me spellbound – they spent a week sailing in the fjords of Iceland and skiing the surrounding mountain peaks. Magnus agreed to let me air his chat with Siggi on my show, so here it is! Be sure to check out the Husky Podcast at huskypodcast.com, and visit 59northpodcast.com for more links and videos on ski-sailing in Iceland!

Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Isbjorn, a classic Swan 48, at isbjornsailing.com.

#108 is a followup to the very popular blog post I wrote last week about our too-close encounter with a Navy ship en route from Bermuda to NYC. Douglas MacDonald, owner of the HR43 we were sailing, comes on the show to discuss what happened from his perspective. He's very humble about the experience, and wants to provide his insight on how you can avoid this kind of thing yourself. If you haven't read the article, click here.

Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Isbjorn, a classic Swan 48, at isbjornsailing.com.

#107. Paul Exner sits down with Brian Duff in Tortola. Brian's old friends with both Paul & Andy. Brian started Southbound Rigging in Annapolis, MD a few years back, where Andy first started working as a rigger in 2009. Brian sold the shop to Mike Meer (who's been on the podcast!) and sailed his Westsail 32 south to the BVI to start a new life as a boat broker.

Paul of course lives in the BVI, and soon became friends with Brian. They chat on this episode about Brian's work as a boat broker, his life as a rigger, how he moved south from Annapolis and his new venture as a restaurant owner at The Island Last Resort in Trellis Bay. If you're ever cruising in the BVI, stop in and have a drink!

Want to go ocean sailing with Andy or Paul? Book a berth on Isbjorn, our Swan 48 at 59-north.com/offshore, or on Paul's Solstice, a Cape George 31 at moderngeographic.com.

#106. Hank and Andy go back several years, having continually bumped into each other in various landfalls around the US and Caribbean. Those of us who work in sailing full-time are few and far between, so it's a small world. Andy sat down with Hank in Bermuda during the ARC Europe stopover and chatted for almost an hour and a half! Hank talked about his career working on offshore oil rigs, how he got into racing as a teenager (and lived a sailing bums life in the 70s), & how he started OPO and the NARC Rally.

Towards the second half of the episode, Hank discusses candidly some scary stuff - the loss of a crew member in the NARC Rally in 2010, and the abandonment of the Alpha catamaran during an ill-fated delivery last January. It's an inspiring look at one of the biggest names in the American offshore cruising business.

Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth Isbjorn, our Swan 48, at 59-north.com/offshore.