Out The Gate Sailing

Pam Wall has encouraged and inspired so many individuals and families to find joy from sailing and cruising. She has spent decades sharing her knowledge through lectures, boat show seminars, and of course podcasts like this. Pam first took off cruising with her husband Andy Wall aboard their 30-ft sloop Carronade. Later, with children, they cruised aboard the 39-ft sloop Kandarik. While I’ve never met Pam in persons, she’s been friends with my parents for years and my father, Sid Shaw, met Andy Wall in Tahiti in the 60s.

Isabel Lardner has sailed many miles on tall ships, something I’ve always dreamed of doing. She share stories of her time at sea and describes what it’s like sailing these special ships.

Mary SwiftSwan is the founder of Afterguard Sailing in Oakland. Afterguard is only one of the three sailing schools she’s founded. She began teaching sailing in 1984, became the very first woman ASA instructor/evaluator, and has literally written the book on ASA instruction - helping write the ASA curriculum for the 101 and 103 courses.

Ryan May run’s his charter business, May on the Bay, out of Sausalito aboard his Catalina 34. A U.S. Coast Guard Captain, Ryan has logged over 25,000 offshore nautical miles since learning to sail as a kid in Toronto - visiting nearly 40 countries by sail. Ryan and I met because our kids went to the same school in San Francisco and quickly bonded over our similar sailing experience. Book a sail with Ryan at www.MayOnTheBay.com.

Leigh Hunt is President and CEO of Modern Sailing school and club. Modern has been introducing people to sailing on SF Bay since 1983. In 2014, Leigh, decided to make his passion for sailing into a business - leaving a career in product management to purchase Modern from the previous owner. Recently Modern has expanded their operations, taking over the space in the Berkeley Marine Center that used to be OCSC.

Hank George, of Blue Heron Battery, is an engineer who has a background working in the nuclear industry. Designing his own components, he was cruising with lithium power over a decade ago, years before most people. And he’s helped many other boaters do the same. In addition to his expertise, what has impressed me with Hank as I’ve gotten to know him over the past months is the clear way he’s able to explain complex topics with generosity and patience.

Years ago, Jim Hancock conceived of a hands-on, interactive learning center that would inspire a passion for sailing and science by delighting people through play and discovery. Jim and I talked about the Sailing Science Center four years ago when he was on the podcast. Since then the center has come a long way. They’re up and running with regular programing and an army of volunteers. In fact, this coming weekend on June 24, you can catch up with Jim and see and play with Sailing Science Center exhibits at the Oakland Yacht Club’s Summer Solstice event.

The Race to Alaska is a wonderful race in which boats of all shapes and sizes head north from Port Townsend, Washington and end up in Ketchikan Alaska, 750 miles away. The only rules are no engines and no outside support. Satchel Douglas has done the race twice before - and joined me on Episode 9 of the show to talk about his effort as part of Team Shut Up and Drive. This time he joins me to talk about his latest attempt at the race aboard a wing foil! His story of how he qualified for the first leg of the race across the straits of Juan de Fuca is an adventure in itself. The first leg just started on Monday June 5.

When Jason Brown started asking around about the possibility of freediving in San Francisco Bay people told him it was impossible. But my friend Jason has never been one to let impossible stand in his way. Together with his buddy John Prins he’s pioneered freediving just inside the Golden Gate in water that’s cold, dark, and frequented by massively strong currents. Not only has he attracted the attention of the press - with a recent front page article in the San Francisco Chronicle - but he’s attracted the attention of the world’s preeminent free diver - Alexey Molchanov who recently joined Jason here in the Bay.

At 10-years-old, Malcolm Morgan fell into boat maintenance when his family bought at Hobie Cat dealership after having sailed exactly once. He quickly took to doing electrical work and over the past 50 years has built up an expertise that is nearly unparalleled. Malcom works as a yacht broker for Oceanic Yachts and runs a marine electrical business, Malcolm Morgan Marine In our conversation, he shares his thoughts on proper grounding, lightning protection, lithium batteries and more.