The Bonnie Boat Sailing Podcast

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

Ben and Teresa Carey of Morse Alpha Expeditions have been professional sailors and educators for their entire adult lives. From schooners and open boats in Maine, to singlehanding their respective boats up and down the East Coast, to their current business of coastal and offshore sail training, Teresa and Ben have varied and deep sailing experience which they kindly share in this podcast. We talk about knot-nerdery, the characteristics of a good leader, boat selection, and much more. Morse Alpha can be found online at http://morsealpha.com/

An abyssal journey through inner space. 

A retrospective of the past year's interviews.

John Herlig fixed up his 50 year old Rawson 30 “Ave Del Mar” and took her sailing down the ICW, across to the Bahamas, and then off the beaten path a bit, visiting Haiti and Jamaica before returning to Florida. We speak about his thoughts on John Vigor’s “black box” of seamanship theory, nautical superstitions and the allure of travel. John had a podcast on “Boat Radio,” released a few under his own flag, and has an upcoming podcast called "Seabird" that will be released through Cuento.co He can found online at avedelmar.com More recently, having to return home to work, he stored “Ave” on the hard in Green Turtle Key in the Bahamas where she was standing when Hurricane Dorian made landfall. 

Sean D'Epagnier has been sailing the world aboard his engine-less Bristol 27 "Alexandra" for the 8 years. Heading west from California and Mexico, he crossed the Pacific, the Indian, and the Atlantic Oceans with many fabled landfalls along the way. He is also the creator of Pypilot- an open source marine autopilot designed to make autopilots more affordable, modular, and collaborative in the spirit of OpenCPN, a project he is also involved in. 

Breena and Spencer Litzenberger have been sailing on both coasts for the past 6 or 7 years aboard a number of different boats- they’ve sailed in the pacific northwest aboard a plywood trimaran, through the Bahamas aboard a few different vessels, and up from Gueatemala to Florida aboard an old steel Bruce Roberts Spray. They also host a hilarious podcast called Litzenberger’s Sailing Podcast where they talk about about buying and selling boats, the realities of living aboard, and their adventures under sail. For this episode they turned the tables on yours truly, so head check out their podcast for the first half of this conversation. They also have a TouTube channel called "Sailing with the Litzenbers," and they are currently trying to sell off all their worldly possessions to try and get into their next boat. Check it out eh?

Today's episode features Jeffery and Margaret of the Tayana 37 “Bear.” I met Jeffery while we were both crewing, on separate boats, in the Caribbean 1500 in 2016. He and Margaret have been cruising New England during the summers and this past year took off from the Chesapeake offshore to the Virgin Islands. They share their experience in getting the boat ready, some reflections on the appeal and allure of living and travelling aboard a sailboat, and some anecdotes from some of the many places they’ve visited. 

Jason Jernigan recently completed a loop of the Delmarva peninsula aboard his Alberg 30 as a shakedown in preparation for an upcoming global circumnavigation. We discuss his approach for sailing solo, the preparations he is making to the boat and his gear, and he offers insight and reflections on his sailing experiences past and present. Jason can be found online on Facebook at Jason's Sailing Adventures.

No interview today, just some reflections on an interesting character observed on the water and a quick retrospection on the past year of podcasts.