This one is a little racing heavy but then there are some pretty interesting races going on!  I take a quick look at the Vendee Leaders, the capsize of the Americas Cup boat 'Patriot' and the weather situation facing the 'Edmund De Rothschild' Maxi Trimaran currently fighting for the Jules Verne Trophy.  

With the news comes the views, and this week I discuss things as far afield as Elon Musk's Starlink and the Artic Vortex threatening to freeze Nova Scotia this week.

So, Sit Down, Clip on & Listen in for another hour of of the every-day* Mariner Podcast.

(*ish)

If you have any questions or requests you would like to share, please send them to [email protected] 

If you recognize that creating this content requires hours of effort and you would like to help support for the equivalent of 25 cents per episode please visit my Patreon Site and select the $2 per month option.

If you are looking to develop your seamanship skills and take your sailing knowledge & safety to a more advanced level I run an On-Line Seamanship Training Program which gives you access to four 30 minute videos each month that deep-dive into a broad range of subjects from Ropework to Naval Architecture, Electronic Navigation, Sail Trim, Composite Repair. The lessons come out once a week and the minimum commitment to have access to all of them is $20 per month.

If you want to get out on the water on a race, regatta or training voyage you can book any number of trips in the Caribbean, American North East, Europe and even Transatlantic trips; year round with Spartan Ocean Racing & Training

Cheers,

CSM

It's Official!  The (Lead Acid) battery is dead. 

This episode let me take you for a wander around my thought processes as I come to the realization that Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries need not be a dream anymore.

Finally, prices have now dropped to a point where pretty decent, reliable units are available on the market that will bring me all the advantages of the LiFePO4 batteries: such as lighter weight, longer life, more useable capacity and higher charging rates; without blowing the budget. 

If you have any questions you would like to share, please send them to [email protected] 

If you recognize that creating this content requires hours of effort and you would like to help support for the equivalent of 25 cents per episode please visit my Patreon Site and select the $2 per month option.

If you are looking to develop your seamanship skills and take your sailing knowledge & safety to a more advanced level I run an On-Line Seamanship Training Program which gives you access to four 30 minute videos each month that deep-dive into a broad range of subjects from Ropework to Naval Architecture, Electronic Navigation, Sail Trim, Composite Repair. The lessons come out once a week and the minimum commitment to have access to all of them is $20 per month.

If you want to get out on the water on a race, regatta or training voyage you can book any number of trips in the Caribbean, American North East, Europe and even Transatlantic trips; year round with Spartan Ocean Racing & Training

Cheers,

CSM

In this episode I continue reading Capt. Joshua Slocum's excellent narrative of his solo circumnavigation of the world in 1895. This week Slocum is rounding Cape Horn, but between tremendous storms that drive the Spray back again and again plus dealing with the threat of piracy from the local people - he certainly has his work cut out for him!

I conclude the reading of these chapters as always with some commentary on the material, this week I am able to share some of my own experiences of Cape Horn that only reinforce the well earned reputation of this infamous place.

If you have any questions you would like answering please send them to [email protected] 

If you recognize that creating this content requires hours of effort and you would like to help support for the equivalent of 25 cents per episode please visit my Patreon Site and select the $2 per month option.

If you are looking to develop your seamanship skills and take your sailing knowledge & safety to a more advanced level I run an On-Line Seamanship Training Program which gives you access to four 30 minute videos each month that deep-dive into a broad range of subjects from Ropework to Naval Architecture, Electronic Navigation, Sail Trim, Composite Repair. The lessons come out once a week and the minimum commitment to have access to all of them is $20 per month.

If you want to get out on the water on a race, regatta or training voyage you can book any number of trips in the Caribbean, American North East, Europe and even Transatlantic trips; year round with Spartan Ocean Racing & Training

Cheers,

CSM

As the second wave of Covid 19 starts to be felt in territories across Asia, Europe and the Americas the building problem of millions of people facing prolonged isolation and social insulation starts to be felt as well.

Mental health and the long term effects of going without normal human contact has well understood and well researched ramifications but is this being forgotten about as promises of vaccines and the end of lockdown circulate? With months to go in this pandemic in any reasonable forecast, now is the time to double-down on our awareness of the effects of the Covid restrictions on ourselves and others.

If you have any questions you would like answering please send them to [email protected] 

If you recognize that creating this content requires hours of effort and you would like to help support for the equivalent of 25 cents per episode please visit my Patreon Site and select the $2 per month option.

If you are looking to develop your seamanship skills and take your sailing knowledge & safety to a more advanced level I run an On-Line Seamanship Training Program which gives you access to four 30 minute videos each month that deep-dive into a broad range of subjects from Ropework to Naval Architecture, Electronic Navigation, Sail Trim, Composite Repair. The lessons come out once a week and the minimum commitment to have access to all of them is $20 per month.

If you want to get out on the water on a race, regatta or training voyage you can book any number of trips in the Caribbean, American North East, Europe and even Transatlantic trips; year round with Spartan Ocean Racing & Training

Cheers,

CSM

It's 2021 and it's time to get the Mariner underway!

In this episode I discuss the future of the podcast and take a look at the news from the Vendee Globe.  I also discuss the Ocean Globe Race in 2023, Spartan's itinerary for 2021 and my Westabout the world record attempt which i hope will now go ahead in November! 

There is lots to tell and my goodness don't I pack it all in this time! Warning!  This may be the episode where you select '0.75% playback speed' as I fairly rattle along!! ;)

If you have any questions you would like answering please send them to [email protected] 

If you recognize that creating this content requires hours of effort and you would like to help support for the equivalent of 25 cents per episode please visit my Patreon Site and select the $2 per month option.

If you are looking to develop your seamanship skills and take your sailing knowledge & safety to a more advanced level I run an On-Line Seamanship Training Program which gives you access to four 30 minute videos each month that deep-dive into a broad range of subjects from Ropework to Naval Architecture, Electronic Navigation, Sail Trim, Composite Repair. The lessons come out once a week and the minimum commitment to have access to all of them is $20 per month.

If you want to get out on the water on a race, regatta or training voyage you can book any number of trips in the Caribbean, American North East, Europe and even Transatlantic trips; year round with Spartan Ocean Racing & Training

Cheers,

CSM

This episode I reading and discussing chapters 5 & 6 of 'Sailing Alone Around the World' by Captain Joshua Slocum

In the commentary I take time to share my experience of sailing the same route that Slocum follows in this section of the book and unpack the vocabulary, technical details and what it feels like to engage in some of the exploits Slocum shares with us.

If you have any questions you would like answering please send them to [email protected] 

If you recognize that creating this content requires hours of effort and you would like to help support for the equivalent of 25 cents per episode please visit my Patreon Site and select the $2 per month option.

If you are looking to develop your seamanship skills and take your sailing knowledge & safety to a more advanced level I run an On-Line Seamanship Training Program which gives you access to four 30 minute videos each month that deep-dive into a broad range of subjects from Ropework to Naval Architecture, Electronic Navigation, Sail Trim, Composite Repair. The lessons come out once a week and the minimum commitment to have access to all of them is $20 per month.

If you want to get out on the water on a race, regatta or training voyage you can book any number of trips in the Caribbean, American North East, Europe and even Transatlantic trips; year round with Spartan Ocean Racing & Training

Cheers,

CSM

This episode presents some very important and thought provoking information that I would advise all listeners to research on their own so they can confirm the facts presented and make changes, if necessary to their life on and off the boat. 

What subject could cause me to be so somber and serious? Storm tactics? Immigration laws?

No, this week I am talking about sleep. The importance of sleep is a weirdly absent convention amongst sailors who above all travelers and sports people expose themselves repeatedly and needlessly to the dangers of sleep deprivation.  This is mainly due to the fact that we are,  on the whole- hugely uneducated about this critical subject.

So, clip on, sit down & listen in; it's time to learn why the foolish old line, 'Sleep when you're dead' is mortally unwise and darkly ironic advice.

If you have any questions you would like to share, please send them to [email protected] 

If you recognize that creating this content requires hours of effort and you would like to help support for the equivalent of 25 cents per episode please visit my Patreon Site and select the $2 per month option.

If you are looking to develop your seamanship skills and take your sailing knowledge & safety to a more advanced level I run an On-Line Seamanship Training Program which gives you access to four 30 minute videos each month that deep-dive into a broad range of subjects from Ropework to Naval Architecture, Electronic Navigation, Sail Trim, Composite Repair. The lessons come out once a week and the minimum commitment to have access to all of them is $20 per month.

If you want to get out on the water on a race, regatta or training voyage you can book any number of trips in the Caribbean, American North East, Europe and even Transatlantic trips; year round with Spartan Ocean Racing & Training

Cheers,

CSM

Questions & Tangents is the weekly episode  where I answer listener questions, tell you about the news in my own sailing and generally ramble on about all things maritime for an 1hr!  This episode I talk about foils on the Vendee boats - pros and cons, sea-sickness and how to combat it, the Ocean Globe Race and the new North Atlantic loop that Spartan is doing in the summer of 2021 - which I am really looking forward to and much more!  Join me if you would rather be at sea!

If you have any questions you would like answering please send them to [email protected] 

If you recognize that creating this content requires hours of effort and you would like to help support for the equivalent of 25 cents per episode please visit my Patreon Site and select the $2 per month option.

If you are looking to develop your seamanship skills and take your sailing knowledge & safety to a more advanced level I run an On-Line Seamanship Training Program which gives you access to four 30 minute videos each month that deep-dive into a broad range of subjects from Ropework to Naval Architecture, Electronic Navigation, Sail Trim, Composite Repair. The lessons come out once a week and the minimum commitment to have access to all of them is $20 per month.

If you want to get out on the water on a race, regatta or training voyage you can book any number of trips in the Caribbean, American North East, Europe and even Transatlantic trips; year round with Spartan Ocean Racing & Training

Cheers,

CSM

This episode I interview Philip Bachmann a sailor I have completed many miles of offshore sailing with. He talks about his time learning to be a boatbuilder and the adventures it has led him to including getting to grips with being a skipper on his own boat and learning how advanced 19th century yacht design was.

If you have any questions you would like answering please send them to [email protected] 

If you recognize that creating this content requires hours of effort and you would like to help support for the equivalent of 25 cents per episode please visit my Patreon Site and select the $2 per month option.

If you are looking to develop your seamanship skills and take your sailing knowledge & safety to a more advanced level I run an On-Line Seamanship Training Program which gives you access to four 30 minute videos each month that deep-dive into a broad range of subjects from Ropework to Naval Architecture, Electronic Navigation, Sail Trim, Composite Repair. The lessons come out once a week and the minimum commitment to have access to all of them is $20 per month.

If you want to get out on the water on a race, regatta or training voyage you can book any number of trips in the Caribbean, American North East, Europe and even Transatlantic trips; year round with Spartan Ocean Racing & Training

Cheers,

CSM

This episode I reading and discussing chapters 3 & 4 of 'Sailing Alone Around the World' by Captain Joshua Slocum

In the commentary you will join me as I go down to my own round the world race boat, to discuss some things about this part of the book that are very close to my heart. I can only hope, once more, that I do that old Nova Scotian shellback some justice and help bring his incredible story to life for another generation of sailors. 

If you have any questions you would like answering please send them to [email protected] 

If you recognize that creating this content requires hours of effort and you would like to help support for the equivalent of 25 cents per episode please visit my Patreon Site and select the $2 per month option.

If you are looking to develop your seamanship skills and take your sailing knowledge & safety to a more advanced level I run an On-Line Seamanship Training Program which gives you access to four 30 minute videos each month that deep-dive into a broad range of subjects from Ropework to Naval Architecture, Electronic Navigation, Sail Trim, Composite Repair. The lessons come out once a week and the minimum commitment to have access to all of them is $20 per month.

If you want to get out on the water on a race, regatta or training voyage you can book any number of trips in the Caribbean, American North East, Europe and even Transatlantic trips; year round with Spartan Ocean Racing & Training

Cheers,

CSM