The Sailing Rode

In this episode, we interview Harriett and TL Linskey who run a non-profit that brings books to schools and students in the Caribbean.  They cruise through the islands yearly on their 46 ft. catamaran and during the interview Harriett shares stories from their cruising history that goes back to the 1980's when they cruised their self-built Bristol Channel Cutter from Mexico to Japan.  We also have a great discussion about their move from monohulls to a catamaran.

Intro Chat

• We have had a busy summer with sailing cruising trips to Dunnedin and Tarpon Springs, the Adult Summer Games event on Lake Toho, Cocoa Beach and Labor Day weekend at Ponce inlet / Disappearing Island, met some young sailor buying boats for very low cost and living on the water. And couple with 38ft meadowlark w/ lee boards, 8 1/2ft beam and draft 1 ½ ft. designed by Herreshoff. 
• It is that time of year when the northerners have to pull and winterize the boats. Bummer. We are finally getting some boat projects done – waxed our blue hull, using a new ceramic coating – Hydro Silex It was really easy to apply and we will see how it performs to keep the oxidation from coming back.  We also replaced our fuel filter that was leaking.  Replacing the fuel lines and tank pickups is next.
• My canoe build is almost done, but the final steps seem hardest to keep moving. Just need to install the seats, paint and varnish.  It is a Michael Storer Quick Canoe.  
• We have a trip planned to visit Salt Lake City, Utah in Mid-October and drive up to Jackson Hole Wyoming, maybe Yellowstone national park in Montana, then back down to Park City, Utah.  Let us know if any listeners live in that area and want to meet.

Interview

Please join us in supporting a great cause to help the students get great books in the beautiful Caribbean Islands. 

http://www.handsacrossthesea.net/

The ASA / Hands Across the Sea Sweepstakes - win a one-week, four-person bareboat charter in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Tobago Cays courtesy of ASA Affiliate Horizon Yacht Charters. Or you could win a luxurious seven-night stay for four (two rooms) at The Verandah Resort & Spa in Antigua or at the St. James’s Club, Morgan Bay, St. Lucia, courtesy of Elite Island Resorts.

Here are the bios for Harriett and TL Linskey:

Harriet Linskey

Executive Director • Hands Co-Founder

Harriet's responsibilities include developing relationships in the Eastern Caribbean, fundraising, overseeing the CLASS program, setting up the logistics infrastructure, managing finances and working with donors, recipients, volunteers and board members. She is a trained secondary education teacher with five years of experience teaching English, Journalism, and Art History in New Zealand and Japan. At a rural secondary school in New Zealand, Harriet led the refurbishment of a dismal library and saw firsthand how the addition of new and relevant books can inspire all levels of readers. Before co-founding Hands Across the Sea, Harriet was for 18 years a marketing and sales executive. Harriet has a B. A. from Yale and a Diploma of Teaching from the Auckland College of Education, New Zealand.

Tom "T.L." Linskey

Marketing Director • Hands Co-Founder

Tom Linskey uses his 30 years of writing, editing, and photography experience to design and update the Hands website and create print and video materials for Hands. Back in 1986 T.L. built his own sailboat and sailed it, with Harriet, from California to Mexico, the South Pacific, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. T.L. also raced sailboats; he was a three-time world champion crewman in the Olympic 470 class and a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Yachting team.

 

Sailing & Cruising News

• to be updated

Product of the Week

We use this gel pad at the helm as a comfortable seat when we are cruising for hours at a time.  It helps improve the comfort or any cushion and the gel does not soak up water.

Sojoy iGelComfort Gel Seat Cushion  

Amazon Store

Please use our Amazon Affiliate links below for anything you buy on Amazon or look at over 90 items we have in our TSR Recommended Gear section on the website.  We use all the items on our boat and include notes of why we like them.  We also added over 40 sailing and cruising books we recommend.  You pay the same low Amazon price and we get a small commission.

USA Amazon Store Canada Amazon Store UK Amazon Store France Amazon Store Germany Amazon Store Spain Amazon Store Italy Amazon Store

Please help us Support Podcast

We need your help to spread the word about the Podcast.  Please share the podcast with your sailing & cruising friends and ask them to subscribe on iTunes, stitcher, or Google Play Music.  You can send them these links:

iPhone iTunes link Android Stitcher link Google Play Music link

It also helps when you share the podcast links on social media and sailing forums.

• Please like or follow us on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  We will follow you too!
• Remember to tag your Instagram sailing related pictures with #thesailingrode
• Send us your feedback on the show and any show topic ideas to [email protected]

Patreon

If you enjoy the podcast, you can support us on our Patreon site and get some special rewards. Check it out at this link:

https://www.patreon.com/TheSailingRode

How it works:  Patreon is designed for you to support your favorite content creators.  You can support our podcast creations by signing up for various levels of support.  You can set a maximum monthly amount so if we release a lot of podcasts in one month, you still only pay your maximum amount.  In return, you get some rewards for your support.  It is kind of like giving us a tip or buying us a drink after a good show.

Thanks for listening and all your support!  We wish you fair winds and hope to see you on the water soon.

–  Steve & Brandy

The Sailing Rode / The Sailing Road

In this episode, we interview Ruth and Garrett from the Salt and Tar YouTube channel where they have spent the last three years building a traditional 35 foot gaff rigged ketch.

 

• Brandy is growing her fitness and nutrition business. We are working on a new website but if you are interested in a great program for eating better and staying in shape contact her at [email protected] or [email protected]

Just saw an article that says only 23% of the people in the United States get the recommended amount of exercise to stay healthy. It's the end of June and if you said this was the year you were going to get in shape and you have not got that habit started yet , then get started this week.

Interview

I have been watching Ruth and Garrett from the Salt & Tar YouTube channel for about the last six months.  They are on the third year of building their own 35' traditional wood gaff rigged ketch.  This will be their sixth boat and the are still in their 20's.  We talk about how they have been able to buy fixer upper boats, do the work, and sell them for a profit to build up to their current boat.

You can see the design a Button #2 by George Buehler here.

 

Here are the links to:

The Salt and Tar YouTube channel

Buehler's Backyard Boatbuilding for the 21st Century

 

Sailing & Cruising News

• to be updated

Product of the Week

We recently upgraded the queen size foam mattress on our boat and it is awesome.  The mattress was recommended by some friends who bought it on Amazon for the boat and it is super comfy.  We have had several trips with the new mattress and we get a great nights sleep.

Best Mattress 6" Memory Foam Mattress

Amazon Prime Video of the Week

Great free sailing movies if you are an Amazon Prime Member

We talked about the 1968 Golden Globe Race,  the first solo non-stop around the world sailing race, in the sailing news.  Deep Water is a documentary of that race and it is a great story.

Link to Deep Water on Amazon Video

Amazon Store

Please use our Amazon Affiliate links below for anything you buy on Amazon or look at over 90 items we have in our TSR Recommended Gear section on the website.  We use all the items on our boat and include notes of why we like them.  We also added over 40 sailing and cruising books we recommend.  You pay the same low Amazon price and we get a small commission.

USA Amazon Store Canada Amazon Store UK Amazon Store France Amazon Store Germany Amazon Store Spain Amazon Store Italy Amazon Store

Please help us Support Podcast

We need your help to spread the word about the Podcast.  Please share the podcast with your sailing & cruising friends and ask them to subscribe on iTunes, stitcher, or Google Play Music.  You can send them these links:

iPhone iTunes link Android Stitcher link Google Play Music link

It also helps when you share the podcast links on social media and sailing forums.

• Please like or follow us on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  We will follow you too!
• Remember to tag your Instagram sailing related pictures with #thesailingrode
• Send us your feedback on the show and any show topic ideas to [email protected]

Patreon

If you enjoy the podcast, you can support us on our Patreon site and get some special rewards. Check it out at this link:

https://www.patreon.com/TheSailingRode

How it works:  Patreon is designed for you to support your favorite content creators.  You can support our podcast creations by signing up for various levels of support.  You can set a maximum monthly amount so if we release a lot of podcasts in one month, you still only pay your maximum amount.  In return, you get some rewards for your support.  It is kind of like giving us a tip or buying us a drink after a good show.

Thanks for listening and all your support!  We wish you fair winds and hope to see you on the water soon.

–  Steve & Brandy

The Sailing Rode / The Sailing Road

In this episode, we interview Sarah Steenland, The Cruising Cartoonist and her kids as they cruise Southeast Asia.   We have some more sailing / cruising news and our featured product will help make sure you never have to worry about expired signal flares.

Intro Chat

We have we been? Last show was after hurricane Irma last September.   As much as we wanted to get some shows out, we have been too busy with other activities.  We have done a couple boat trips, Cocoa beach area, St. Johns river trip over new years weekend. Gasparilla pirate weekend in Indian Rocks Beach.  Steve even built a cannon for the boat! No wonder we don't put out podcasts!

Steve took over two additional areas at work so he is spending a lot of time in Atlanta and Nashville.

And we have been busy with non-boat travel with trips to the Smoky Mountains, Nashville and Las Vegas

We have an upcoming trip to the Abacos in the Bahamas, Marsh Harbour and Hope Town / Elbow Cay

Steve re-started work on his sailing canoe and we hope to be sailing it before year end.

Brandy receive great news on her leukemia and we are praying that she will be off her medication by the end of the year and truly cancer free!

Brandy started a new health and fitness business.  If you are interested in a great workout and nutrition program then send her a note at [email protected]

Our Amazon store is being rebuilt. Check it out at the link in the menu at the top of our site.  Let us know if it works better for you and if you have any products your recommend for us to include.

Sarah Steenland - The Cruising Cartoonist

Sarah and her family are cruising Southeast Asia in their boat Sea Monkey

Check out all her  Coconut Telegraph cruising cartoons and really cool website here.

Get all the latest updates on the family's cruising adventures and their environmental projects on Sydney and Indy's Sea Monkey Broadcasting News!

Sailing & Cruising News

• to be updated soon

 

Product of the Week

Never worry about expired flares again with the Weems and Plath LED Flare.

 

Amazon Store

Please use our Amazon Affiliate links below for anything you buy on Amazon or look at over 90 items we have in our TSR Amazon store.  We use all the items on our boat and include notes of why we like them.  We also added over 40 sailing and cruising books we recommend.  You pay the same low Amazon price and we get a small commission.

USA Amazon Store Canada Amazon Store UK Amazon Store France Amazon Store Germany Amazon Store Spain Amazon Store Italy Amazon Store

Please help us Support Podcast

We need your help to spread the word about the Podcast.  Please share the podcast with your sailing & cruising friends and ask them to subscribe on iTunes, stitcher, or Google Play Music.  You can send them these links:

iPhone iTunes link Android Stitcher link Google Play Music link

It also helps when you share the podcast links on social media and sailing forums.

• Please like or follow us on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  We will follow you too!
• Remember to tag your Instagram sailing related pictures with #thesailingrode
• Send us your feedback on the show and any show topic ideas to [email protected]

Patreon

If you enjoy the podcast, you can support us on our Patreon site and get some special rewards. Check it out at this link:

https://www.patreon.com/TheSailingRode

How it works:  Patreon is designed for you to support your favorite content creators.  You can support our podcast creations by signing up for various levels of support.  You can set a maximum monthly amount so if we release a lot of podcasts in one month, you still only pay your maximum amount.  In return, you get some rewards for your support.  It is kind of like giving us a tip or buying us a drink after a good show.

Thanks for listening and all your support!  We wish you fair winds and hope to see you on the water soon.

–  Steve & Brandy

The Sailing Rode / The Sailing Road

In this episode we talk about our experience during hurricane Irma.  The remnants of the eye went right over our house around 2:30am on 9/11/17.

The British Virgin Islands were hit hard by the hurricane and they need your help.  We donated to a fund started by Scott and Brittney Meyers from the Windtraveler blog.  Every dollar raised goes to help the local community.   Please give something, even small amounts help.  https://www.youcaring.com/bviimmediaterelief-943806 

Scott and Brittney along with their friends and co-business partners Peter and Jody from the Where the Coconuts Grow blog, lost their boat homes and the catamarans the owned for their day charter business in the BVI.   Please take a moment to send them a message of support on their blogs or Facebook.  They are providing great support to the BVI community in the midst of them losing everything they own.

We were lucky not to have any damage to our home or the boat. 

See our blog post here for all the pictures

Featured Producs

We used a lot of products from the boat to help us during the hurricane.  Being a cruising sailor really helps prepare you for living off the grid!  Here are the products that helped us.

Headlamp (Batttery-Cheap)

Headlamp (Rechargable)

Breathable Rain Jacket

Honda EU2000i Generator

LED Worklights

Stanley Spotlight

Coleman Solar Shower

Coleman Camp Stove

5000BTU Air Conditioner

Amazon Store

Please use our Amazon Affiliate links below for anything you buy on Amazon or look at over 90 items we have in our TSR Amazon store.  We use all the items on our boat and include notes of why we like them.  We also added over 40 sailing and cruising books we recommend.  You pay the same low Amazon price and we get a small commission.

USA Amazon Store Canada Amazon Store UK Amazon Store France Amazon Store Germany Amazon Store Spain Amazon Store Italy Amazon Store

Please help us Support Podcast

We need your help to spread the word about the Podcast.  Please share the podcast with your sailing & cruising friends and ask them to subscribe on iTunes, stitcher, or Google Play Music.  You can send them these links:

iPhone iTunes link Android Stitcher link Google Play Music link

In this episode, we cover our week long trip sailing the middle Florida Keys from Marathon to the Content Keys.  We have some more sailing / cruising news and our featured product will help you deal with smells from the head.

Intro Chat

• We had such great plans to get some more shows out this summer, but work and other responsibilities continue to eat up our time.  Steve has been dealing with lots of rental property challenges, good for future cruising kitty, but these hands on investments take a lot of time. Hopefully, we will be good for a while after September 1st and we can go somewhere on the boat for the labor day holiday weekend.
• We have been able to get out on two trips since our last podcast.  We spent a weekend in West Palm Beach that we will cover in a future show and we joined all our friends at a local lake event called Adult Summer Games, check out the video here of the 2016 event.
• Steve has been working on lots of boat projects, we got behind from buying and setting up the house.  Most of the work in standard maintenance like changing the gear and motor oil in our Honda 50 outboard.  
• We did have a mildew problem on the boat that is likely due to the new location at the house.  It is up against our shed and the circulation is not as good as it was in storage.  We also discovered a leak in the deck fitting for the mast light attachment and replaced the fitting, so hopefully we fixed it.  Since our MacGregor 26M has a deck stepped mast , we plug the mast light into a deck fitting and the old one that came with the boat was missing the cap.  We cleaned the inside of the boat with vinegar and placed a fan that runs continually.

Cruising the Middle Florida Keys

• We left on Saturday 10/29 and trailered the boat from Orlando down to Homestead, FL.  The drive drown to Marathon is about 350 miles from Orlando, so we decided to stay at a Southern Comfort RV Resort in Homestead to break up the trip.   We had never taken the boat to a campground and it was a fun stop.  They have a Tiki Bar in the campground and we went to their Halloween party that night.
• On Sunday, stopped at the Lorelei Cabana Bar to meet  up with some listeners, Stefan and Andrea.  That afternoon we launched from a private boat ramp off on Avenue I off Coco Plum in the Key Colony area.    It was storming, so we anchored nearby in Coco Plum bay.
• Monday the weather cleared up but it was still blowing 15-20kn.  We headed eight miles down to Boot Key Harbor.   We entered through Sisters Creek.   We grabbed a mooring ball from the Marathon City Marina for $22 a night.
• Tuesday morning we rowed a few boats over and met with with Carolyn Shearlock from the Boat Galley cookbook and website.   Her and her husband Dave live on a Gemini 105 catamaran and it was great to chat with them about the cruising life.
• Tuesday afternoon we had a great sail 12 miles to Bahia Honda State Park.  We planned to anchor between the bridges just south of the park but it was rolly so we went into their harbor and tied up to the seawall for the night.  $2/ft includes water and electric.   We also used their outdoor showers to rinse off.   The only other boat in the harbor was another trailer sailor, a West Rite Potter 19 owned by Don and Carmen who end up living just twenty minutes from us near Orlando.  We met up for a couple drinks sitting their cockpit that night. 
• Wednesday morning we dropped the mast to get under the US1 bridge and motored 4 miles to Little Pine key.   We anchored just offshore and had a great day relaxing the sun and snorkeling around the boat.  
• Thursday we sailed over to the Content Keys,  it is a shallow area everywhere except the channel, but the water is beautiful.  
• It was too shallow to anchor at the Content Keys so we moved over Crane Key for the night.
• Friday we started to head back to Marathon.  We sailed the 12 miles down through the Niles channel between Summerland Key and Ramrod Key.  We also stopped at a great snorkeling spot off Newfound Harbor Key.  They have several mooring balls on the reef.
• We decided to grab a slip in Marathon so we could sit see around town.  We found a spot at Burdines Marina for $3.50/ft  They have nice facilities and a great restaurant on site.
• We spent Saturday and Sunday touring Marathon's site, Tiki Bars and live music.  We had a great tour at the Turtle Hospital.   Great meals, drinks and music at Castaways, Porkys Bayside, Sunset Grill (drinks in the pool!), Faro Blanco Resort (Fancy!), and the Brass Monkey (not so fancy, but great live late night music by Freddie Dye and his band.
• Monday we motored back to the ramp into the wind through really rough seas and made the 350 mile drive home.
• Total trip cost about $1000 for 10 days, eight nights on water, one camping on land.  Truck and boat gas was $260, Docking, Campground and truck/trailer storage was $600.  $25 in Ice and $120 for trailer and tire storage.

Sailing & Cruising News

• Cruiser discovers she is pregnant while sailing across the Pacific - She has to deal with finding medical care in remote places and does just fine.  Her boyfriend also finds a creative way to propose.
• UK island brewery ships beer to mainland by sailboat - Ales of Scilly on St Mary's island started shipping their beer to the mainland by 18th century privateer sail boat.  Check out the sailboat it is beautiful!
• 70 year old sets record for oldest to sail around the world via the five great capes.  Congratulations Jeff Heartjoy!  Showing us all that we are never to old to follow your dreams.
• Pen Hadow is leading a team that is attempting the be the first to sail all the way to the North Pole.  The ice pack may melt enough for them to get close this year.

Featured Product

Bathroom / Head odors on the boat can be overwhelming in such a small space.  We found this great odor eliminator that makes the smell much more bearable.   Brandy says it reminds her of a nursing home, but the fresh scent really does quickly eliminate the odors.  We liked it so much that we also bought a bottle for home.  It only takes one spray to cover the odor so the bottle will last a long time.  With only monthly use on our boat, it will probably last for years!

Medi-aire Fresh Air Scent Biological Odor Eliminator 8 oz.

Amazon Store

Please use our Amazon Affiliate links below for anything you buy on Amazon or look at over 90 items we have in our TSR Amazon store.  We use all the items on our boat and include notes of why we like them.  We also added over 40 sailing and cruising books we recommend.  You pay the same low Amazon price and we get a small commission.

USA Amazon Store Canada Amazon Store UK Amazon Store France Amazon Store Germany Amazon Store Spain Amazon Store Italy Amazon Store

Please help us Support Podcast

We need your help to spread the word about the Podcast.  Please share the podcast with your sailing & cruising friends and ask them to subscribe on iTunes, stitcher, or Google Play Music.  You can send them these links:

iPhone iTunes link Android Stitcher link Google Play Music link

It also helps when you share the podcast links on social media and sailing forums.

• Please like or follow us on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  We will follow you too!
• Remember to tag your Instagram sailing related pictures with #thesailingrode
• Send us your feedback on the show and any show topic ideas to [email protected]

Patreon

If you enjoy the podcast, you can support us on our Patreon site and get some special rewards. Check it out at this link:

https://www.patreon.com/TheSailingRode

How it works:  Patreon is designed for you to support your favorite content creators.  You can support our podcast creations by signing up for various levels of support.  You can set a maximum monthly amount so if we release a lot of podcasts in one month, you still only pay your maximum amount.  In return, you get some rewards for your support.  It is kind of like giving us a tip or buying us a drink after a good show.

Thanks for listening and all your support!  We wish you fair winds and hope to see you on the water soon.

–  Steve & Brandy

The Sailing Rode / The Sailing Road

In this episode, we get back on the air and talk about our extended honeymoon over the last five months.  We have some more adventure sailing news and our featured product is a new marine sealant that will save you money.

Intro Chat

• We are back after getting married and buying a new house.  Life is starting to settle back down so we will be more consistent with the podcast and videos.
• Many people would think that buying a house is the antithesis of the cruiser lifestyle, but it is good to have a home base.
• Love our new home, great to have the boat on the property to work on upgrades and other maintenance.  One exception is the Squirrels, they discovered that the plastic pieces of the boat are tasty.  Had to cover cleats and winches with wire cages to stop the damage.
• Squirrel also built nest in our tow vehicle and Steve had to rescue and relocate the baby squirrel.
• Steve installed our new Standard Horizon VHF GX2200 and Garmin 547xs Chartplotter and integrated them for AIS, it was fairly simple after routing the wires and worked first try! We will talk more about the installation and features in a show soon.
• We served as ground crew as Steve's brother Shawn participated in the 2017 Everglades Challenge adventure race 300 miles from Tampa to Key Largo in small wind and oar powered boats.  Shawn was trying to be the first person to finish the race in a West Write Potter 15.  Unfortunately, high winds pushed him onto the shoals near Cape Haze, FL.   Shawn trailered the boat down to Key Largo and spent a few days sailing Florida Bay.  He made it to the Flamingo check point and back to Key Largo.   Florida Bay has some really shallow water and he sailed through some areas that had less than one foot of depth.  Great use of the shallow draft West Write Potter 15.  Check out the video Shawn produced on his adventure.Our 2017 Sailing & Cruising so far:
• We have cruised on our sailboat eight nights so far in 2017, well below our average.
• We took the boat to the Mount Dora Art Festival - Friday and Saturday, we anchored on Lake Eustis on Friday night, cruised the Dora Canal over to Mount Dora on Saturday, and spent the day buying art under the influence.  It was an expensive day, low cruising cost as we stayed at the town dock for free, but our art purchases added up.  The fish and sheep were worth it!

 

• We also talk about sailing the Cortez bridge, Anna Maria Island, Long boat key area were we  hosted all our boating friends.  We anchored out Thursday-Sun. Thursday/Friday Anchored at Jewfish Key and it was very protected from the strong West winds.  We put out back anchors and had the beautiful Sandbar as our back yard. Saturday we anchored at Cortez bridge. We were harassed by one of the local derelict boaters and had to relocated away from them in the anchorage.  We had a great dinner and drinks at Bridge Tender Inn and the other live music spots.  The anchorage became rolly at 2am as the West wind picked up and we made the call to move back to Jew Fish.   We were rafted up with three other boats, so we woke everyone up (I doubt anyone was able to sleep) and moved back to Jew Fish Key for a quiet night.
• Our most recent trip was to the Ft. Pierce / Stuart area, this was a new cruising ground for us and  we will cover it on another show.

Sailing & Cruising News

• Sailaway is a great new online sailing game that simulates sailing and cruising around the world.  The boat behaves just like a real sailboat and the wind and waves are simulated from the current NOAA weather reports.  Trips in the game take the same amount of time as in real life, so you can set the boat to keep cruising even when you are not on the game.  You can also race against other players as you cruise around the world.
• Two Canadian sailors have been sentenced  for setting their 38 foot sailboat on fire to avoid being caught making Meth Amphetamine 200 miles offshore from the Washington coast.  It is Breaking Bad on water, Breaking Waves!!
• Two pirates sailing a boat made from a kitchen table, four inner tubes and a nylon hammock for a sail, were rescued after falling in the cold waters of Utah Lake.   Watch the video of them hitting the water here.

Featured Product

We found a great new marine sealant called Rescue Bond XL1 that is less prone to drying out in the tube when compared to 5200.  It works the same for all your marine mounting and sealing purposes.  It stays flexible after drying.  The tube re-caps well to save money on sealant drying up and constantly buying new tubes.

Amazon Store Please use our Amazon Affiliate links below for anything you buy on Amazon or look at over 90 items we have in our TSR Amazon store.  We use all the items on our boat and include notes of why we like them.  We also added over 40 sailing and cruising books we recommend.  You pay the same low Amazon price and we get a small commission.

USA Amazon Store Canada Amazon Store UK Amazon Store France Amazon Store Germany Amazon Store Spain Amazon Store Italy Amazon Store

Please help us Support Podcast

We need your help to spread the word about the Podcast.  Please share the podcast with your sailing & cruising friends and ask them to subscribe on iTunes, stitcher, or Google Play Music.  You can send them these links:

iPhone iTunes link Android Stitcher link Google Play Music link

It also helps when you share the podcast links on social media and sailing forums.

• Please like or follow us on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  We will follow you too!
• Remember to tag your Instagram sailing related pictures with #thesailingrode
• Send us your feedback on the show and any show topic ideas to [email protected]

Patreon

If you enjoy the podcast, you can support us on our Patreon site and get some special rewards. Check it out at this link:

https://www.patreon.com/TheSailingRode

How it works:  Patreon is designed for you to support your favorite content creators.  You can support our podcast creations by signing up for various levels of support.  You can set a maximum monthly amount so if we release a lot of podcasts in one month, you still only pay your maximum amount.  In return, you get some rewards for your support.  It is kind of like giving us a tip or buying us a drink after a good show.

Thanks for listening and all your support!  We wish you fair winds and hope to see you on the water soon.

–  Steve & Brandy

The Sailing Rode / The Sailing Road

 

 

In this episode, we feature our trip to the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis, MD.  We have some more adventure sailing news and our products of the week will help you keep your boat fresh and mold free.

Intro Chat

• We are back after an extended break from doing the podcast.  We have been very busy with work, travel and a couple big life events.
• After we got back from the Annapolis show, we decided to fit in a week long sailing trip in the Florida Keys before year end.  We had a blast and we will feature that trip on a future show.
• I was able to fix our broken throttle cable on our MacGregor 26M with a  50hp Honda engine.  It was not too difficult, the trickiest part was getting the throttle control out and back in the pedestal as it was a very tight fit.   Here is the cable I bought that has a 4" minimum bend radius to help avoid the wear that happened to the old cable from raising the engine all the way up.  I bought a 12ft cable, but it ended up being a little long and I think 11ft would have worked a little better.
• We also decided recently to buy a new house!  We found a place with a half acre lot so that we can keep our boat at the house instead of a local storage lot.  We will move in late December.
• Steve also decided he was not busy enough so he started to build his first boat.  It will hopefully be a Storer Quick Canoe that he hopes to turn into a sailing canoe and possibly a sailing trimaran.
• Check out these great sailing documentaries we watched recently, both are free to watch.  The first is Chasing Bubbles about a young sailor Alex Rust and his circumnavigation.  If you watch it, please give some support to his charity, it is great karma to support something that gives you enjoyment for free.  The second documentary is about App Applegate and his building of an 80 foot sailboat in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. The password is on the screen, FreeRoam.  Both are great.
• We imagine that most sailors in the northern climates have put their boats in storage for the winter so we will do our best to get you through the winter with some interesting sailing and cruising interviews and podcasts.

Our Trip to the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis

• We attended the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis October 6th-10th, 2016.  It is a great show with a very large selection of boats and vendors.
• We nearly cancelled the trip due to Hurricane Matthew targeting Florida as we were nervous about being away from the house during the storm.  It turned out that the storm stayed far enough off the Florida coast to avoid any damage in Orlando and the weather in Annapolis was great Thursday and Friday.  It rained all day Saturday and was overcast and windy on Sunday, but we still had a great trip.
• We got the chance to meet Paul and Sheryl Shard of the Distant Shores video series.   They are in the process of building a Discovery 48 that will have a lifting keel similar to their last boat a Southerly 49.   Keep their awesome sailing / cruising  videos in mind for Christmas gifts, they are great to watch and fuel your cruising dreams.
• We will eventually release a YouTube video on our visit to the Annapolis show, but for now we will share some links to the boats we thought were unique.

• Catalina 385 & 425

• Pair of Jeanneau 54s different layouts, Jeanneau 58 new boat of 2017 dinghy dock under cockpit.

• Amel 55, awesome boat

• Gozzard 41, beautiful light blue hull, high quality woodwork, unique layout living room salon layout in vberth area.

• Southerly 57, made famous by distant shores, went out of business, but back in production. Lifting keel, 10ft9in down, 3ft6in up.

• Wauquiez 48 pilot saloon. Brandy did not like this one, strange layout and orange leather seats.  Very modern look and feel, would fit in well in Miami Beach

• Solaris 50 – James Bond grey, sleek low deck.

• Allures 45 and Garcia Exploration 45 – Jimmy Cornell owns a Garcia 45, aluminum, lifting keel, super tough boat.

• Dragonfly trimarans – 32 and 28ft. Similar to our boat but as a multi-hull and much faster! Probably sails faster than we can motor.

• Outbound 46 – ultimate monohull cruising boat, very high quality.

• Halberg-Rassey 372 and 40 MK II great cruising boats very comfortable.

• Passport 470 – Brandys favorite monohull for our needs. Center cockpit.

• Gunfleet 58 – fancy cruising, lifting keel, draft 12ft down, 6ft up

• Want a smaller boat but still have lots of money to spend – Alerion 33 express, beautiful boat, about as much room as our Macgregor 25 had below. Beautiful day sailer.

• Ventura 23 sport boat concept – similar to our Macgregor 26

• Rhodes 22 – well built trailer sailor, but like the comfort of our boat better.

 

• The Fleet Reserve Club became the official meeting spot for The Sailing Rode. Great patio upstairs with a view of the whole show. Run by retired military volunteers, usually just open to military, but open to public during the show. Got to know Pat, Charlie and the rest of the guys well through out the show.
• Met up with listeners each day at the show. Some just starting to sail who we could offer advice and some that have a lot of sailing experience who gave us great advice.
• The Chesapeake Light Craft teardrop camper was really cool.  Check out all their boat kits.    
• Andy Schell's swan 48, 59 north offshore adventures, On the Wind podcast. Great position at front of Ego alley, they barely fit boat due to the 8ft draft.
• Outremer 51 catamaran – The is same brand that Sailing la Vagabonde will be getting in 2017, great boat, fast and comfortable cruiser,  we think Riley and Elayna will be very happy with their new boat.
• Bali catamarans – garage door / open floorplan
• Gunboat 57 – simply awesome, very modern but still comfortable
• Get together with other sailing podcasters and youtubers, Jeffrey Wetting – Shooting the Breeze podcast, Teddy J from Sail Loot podcast, Kamau from iandiboats YouTube, and Vince from Sailing Nervous YouTube.  We coined it The first Sailing Multimedia Creators summit, or something like that. It was great to meet everyone.  Check out their content and give them some support.
• Vendors – great selection, we bought some Kent / Onxy PFDs, with integrated harnesses. Around $100 & new Maui Jim sunglasses for Brandy and Costa sunglasses for Steve.
• Brandy also bought a beautiful compass rose necklace from Maggie Lee Designs.  Maggie has a lot of nautical jewelry that would make great Christmas gifts.  
  • Caught up with Greg Kutson, owner of Mantus Anchors, we gushed about how much we love our Mantus anchor that we bought last December. Greg showed us his newest products a portable scuba system and a waterproof rechargeable head light.
  • We got to meet the US Olympic sailing team medalists!  
  • We also had some great food while were were in the Annapolis / Baltimore area.  Check these places out if you are nearby  - Willys Kitchen near Baltimore airport had the best breakfast we have ever had! VIN909 Wine Cafe has great local sourced ingredients and is just over the bridge from the show. The Iron Rooster just outside the show entrance had great homey cooking with interesting recipes.  Davis' Pub great socializing with other sailors and good food too – all these places are amazing.
  • We also enjoyed a few painkillers at Pussers, very tasty.
  • We had late flight home on Sunday so we decided to take a sail on the Schooner Woodwind that morning,  We signed up Saturday afternoon and was told it would be Sporty on Sunday.  It was overcast and 15-20kn winds, I took a turn at the wheel, and we had a great sail!  Captain Jen and her crew were fun and did a great job.  
   

  Sailing / Cruising News

  • Sailor, 74, sets sights on being oldest to sail solo non-stop around world
  • WA yachting legend Jon Sanders sets sail on final circumnavigation of globe
  • Matt Kent plans to set world record for smallest boat to cross the Atlantic Ocean
  • Lindsey Lohan lost part of finger in boating accident

  Products of the Week

  Kanberra Odor and Mold prevention Gel

  Moso Natural Air Purifying Bag 

  We recently bought these two products to prevent mold, mildew and orders on our boat.  They were recommended by sailing friends and have great ratings on Amazon.

 

Amazon Store Please use our Amazon Affiliate links below for anything you buy on Amazon or look at over 90 items we have in our TSR Amazon store.  We use all the items on our boat and include notes of why we like them.  We also added over 40 sailing and cruising books we recommend.  You pay the same low Amazon price and we get a small commission.

USA Amazon Store Canada Amazon Store UK Amazon Store France Amazon Store Germany Amazon Store Spain Amazon Store Italy Amazon Store

Please help us Support Podcast

We need your help to spread the word about the Podcast.  Please share the podcast with your sailing & cruising friends and ask them to subscribe on iTunes, stitcher, or Google Play Music.  You can send them these links:

iPhone iTunes link Android Stitcher link Google Play Music link

It also helps when you share the podcast links on social media and sailing forums.

• Please like or follow us on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  We will follow you too!
• Remember to tag your Instagram sailing related pictures with #thesailingrode
• Send us your feedback on the show and any show topic ideas to [email protected]

Patreon

If you enjoy the podcast, you can support us on our Patreon site and get some special rewards. Check it out at this link:

https://www.patreon.com/TheSailingRode

How it works:  Patreon is designed for you to support your favorite content creators.  You can support our podcast creations by signing up for various levels of support.  You can set a maximum monthly amount so if we release a lot of podcasts in one month, you still only pay your maximum amount.  In return, you get some rewards for your support.  It is kind of like giving us a tip or buying us a drink after a good show.

Thanks for listening and all your support!  We wish you fair winds and hope to see you on the water soon.

–  Steve & Brandy

The Sailing Rode / The Sailing Road

In this episode, we feature part two of our interview with the Radonic Family and discuss their move from trailer sailing to offshore cruising.  We have some more unusual sailing news and our products of the week will provide comfortable seating on and off the boat.

Intro Chat

• We experienced some engine trouble on our Labor Day weekend trip to the Hammock Beach Resort and Marina in Palm Coast, Florida.  Our throttle cable broke, but we were able to remove the outboard cover and manually work the throttle to get us five miles to our destination and back.
• We are attending the Annapolis Sailboat Show October 6-9.  Let us know if you are attending and we will find a time to meet everyone.
• Thank you to all the listeners who have given the podcast great reviews on iTunes and for everyone that has sent us an email.  It is great to hear that people are enjoying the show. Check out one of our listener blogs, Rik from Aruba built a beautiful trailer sailer with his daughter and sailing in Aruba looks amazing.
• Enter the ASA / Hands Across the Sea Sweepstakes for a chance to win a great sailing or land based vacation in the islands.  The proceeds help deliver thousands of books to schools throughout the islands.  TSR donated again this year, join us in supporting the islands and families that provide great cruising grounds for our sailing.

 

The Sailing Rode Leukemia Fundraising

Brandy was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009.  She is one of the lucky survivors as her cancer has been treated so far by a great drug therapy.  That drug did not exist a few years before she was diagnosed and her prognosis would not have been as good before research created the drug therapy.

In 2010, we created a crazy boating event called Lake Conway Wipeout that we eventually turned into a charity event. We ran the event for 5 years and raised over $30,000 for leukemia research. The event grew too large to manage safely so we ended it in 2014. Here are a couple videos on the event.

Lake Conway Wipeout 2014 from ASofCFL on Vimeo.

We are asking for your help to support the annual fundraising for Leukemia and Lymphoma research.  It only takes a couple minutes and a few dollars make a big difference.

Click Here to Donate to The Sailing Rode Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team

You can also join our team and do your own local fundraising and participate in the LLS Light the Night Walk in October.  All the details are on the site.

Also please consider registering to be a potential bone marrow donor at BeTheMatch.org   The second most common Leukemia is called AML and those diagnosed are not as lucky as Brandy.  AML patients currently has only a 25% chance of living five years from diagnosis.  Many die before they find a bone marrow donor.   You could easily save a life, please register to be a donor today.

Interview

In part two of our interview with the Radonics, they talk about their move from a trailer sailer to an offshore cruiser.

• The Radonics are based on Lake Ontario near Toronto Canada.
• After trailer sailing for several years, Ed decided he liked racing and also wanted to have a boat he could sail down to the Bahamas so they bought a Jeanneau 39i.  The 39i is a comfortable cruiser but also a performance race boat.
•   The have done multiple trips between the Toronto and the Bahamas and now leave the boat in the Bahamas year round.

 

Check out the Radonic Family sailing blog here

They also offer Charters on their boat in the Bahamas, for more information click here

Sailing / Cruising News

• The PIZZA Pi boat in the USVI needs your help.  If you have ever visited them on a charter or dream of one day pulling up you dinghy to pickup a great pizza, then sign their petition to convince the local authorities to allow them to stay in Christmas Cove.

 

• Crystal Cruise Lines offers 32 day Cruise through the Northwest Passage

 

• Captain in Sailboat Collision Demands $1M From Other Skipper

 

Product of the Week

West Marine Go Anywhere Chairs

We have used the basic flat folding seats for years in our cockpit and on shore.  They are easy to store and comfortable for lounging in the cockpit or on deck.  We also use it on our helm seat.

 

Other folding seat options on Amazon...

Seat with Arms

Seat without Arms

Amazon Store Please use our Amazon Affiliate links below for anything you buy on Amazon or look at over 90 items we have in our TSR Amazon store.  We use all the items on our boat and include notes of why we like them.  We also added over 40 sailing and cruising books we recommend.  You pay the same low Amazon price and we get a small commission.

USA Amazon Store Canada Amazon Store UK Amazon Store France Amazon Store Germany Amazon Store Spain Amazon Store Italy Amazon Store

Please help us Support Podcast

We need your help to spread the word about the Podcast.  Please share the podcast with your sailing & cruising friends and ask them to subscribe on iTunes, stitcher, or Google Play Music.  You can send them these links:

iPhone iTunes link Android Stitcher link Google Play Music link

It also helps when you share the podcast links on social media and sailing forums.

• Please like or follow us on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  We will follow you too!
• Remember to tag your Instagram sailing related pictures with #thesailingrode
• Send us your feedback on the show and any show topic ideas to [email protected]

Patreon

If you enjoy the podcast, you can support us on our Patreon site and get some special rewards. Check it out at this link:

https://www.patreon.com/TheSailingRode

How it works:  Patreon is designed for you to support your favorite content creators.  You can support our podcast creations by signing up for various levels of support.  You can set a maximum monthly amount so if we release a lot of podcasts in one month, you still only pay your maximum amount.  In return, you get some rewards for your support.  It is kind of like giving us a tip or buying us a drink after a good show.

Thanks for listening and all your support!  We wish you fair winds and hope to see you on the water soon.

–  Steve & Brandy

In this episode, we feature part one of our interview with the Radonic Family about their extensive trailer sailer cruising.  We have some more unusual sailing news and our product of the week will help you battle bugs.

Intro Chat

• We have been on shore the last few weekends, but had some fun meeting up with our local listeners and newly ASA101 certified sailors Colby and Stacey for Colbys birthday.  We also celebrated Brandy's 20th High School Reunion.
• Our next trip is over the Labor Day weekend to the Hammock Beach Resort and Marina in Palm Coast, Florida.
• We are attending the Annapolis Sailboat Show October 6-9.  Let us know if you are attending and we will find a time to meet everyone.
• We watched the Olympic Sailing races , congratulations to US Sailor, Caleb Paine, on winning a bronze medal in the Finn class.  Steve exchanged emails with Olympic commentator, Gary Jobson about the RSX sailboard races.  Gary even covered the question Steve asked in the live Olympic coverage!
• Steve heard from his high school friend, Rocque, in Chicago who just completed his second Chicago to Mackinac race.  This year they had some rough weather.  Twenty boats left the race with damage and one boat sank after losing its rudder post.   See the picture below from Rocque's satellite weather, the yellow area on the right is Lake Michigan.  You can see the storms coming from Wisconsin.  Rocque said they got knocked down in 40 knots of wind, but they only sustained "cruiser damage" which happened when the microwave came lose and flew across the boat.   They finished the race in fifth place in the cruising class.  Rocque sails a 36ft. Island Packet Estero
• • We released our video on our $200 boat air conditioning system.  We got some great comments that highlighted some security issues we did not consider.  Give it a watch and comment with any recommendations.
  • Steve read this article on the UK program that started charging consumers seven cents for each plastic grocery bag which resulted in a 90% reduction in plastic bag consumption in one year!   Steve decided to implement our own program at home to motivate us to stop using plastic bags so we started the "Bags to Boat Fund."   We owe $1 for every plastic bag we use.  The program has been a success and we have only used seven bags in the first month.  The downside is that we only put $7 in the boat fund.  We may change the program to add to the boat fund for each bag we avoid.   Send us your ideas!

  The Sailing Rode Leukemia Fundraising

  Brandy was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009.  She is one of the lucky survivors as her cancer has been treated so far by a great drug therapy.  That drug did not exist a few years before she was diagnosed and her prognosis would not have been as good before research created the drug therapy.

• In 2010, we created a crazy boating event called Lake Conway Wipeout that we eventually turned into a charity event. We ran the event for 5 years and raised over $30,000 for leukemia research. The event grew too large to manage safely so we ended it in 2014. Here are a couple videos on the event.  Wipeout 1 & Wipeout 2

•  

  We are asking for your help to support the annual fundraising for Leukemia and Lymphoma research.  It only takes a couple minutes and a few dollars make a big difference.

  Click Here to Donate to The Sailing Rode Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team

  You can also join our team and do your own local fundraising and participate in the LLS Light the Night Walk in October.  All the details are on the site.

  Also please consider registering to be a potential bone marrow donor at BeTheMatch.org   The second most common Leukemia is called AML and those diagnosed are not as lucky as Brandy.  AML patients currently has only a 25% chance of living five years from diagnosis.  Many die before they find a bone marrow donor.   You could easily save a life, please register to be a donor today.

  Interview

  In part one of our interview with the Radonics, they talk about their start in sailing and cruising on their Macgregor 26M trailer sailer.

  • The Radonics are based on Lake Ontario near Toronto Canada and they cruised extensively around Canada, New York, and Nova Scotia. 
  • They also cruised most of the Trent-Severn waterway and transited the Big Chute Marine Railway.

Product of the Week

Thermacell Insect Repeller

We love our Thermacell, it creates a 15ft barrier that has been tested to eliminate over 90% of mosquito, no-see-um, sand fleas, and black flies. 

Here is our amazon affiliate link to the product

We also heard from Richard, a listener in the UK, about a bluetooth receiver, called Doosl that he really likes to use on the boat. It enables any stereo with a 3.5mm plug to be a bluetooth receiver.

Amazon Store Please use our Amazon Affiliate links below for anything you buy on Amazon or look at over 90 items we have in our TSR Amazon store.  We use all the items on our boat and include notes of why we like them.  We also added over 40 sailing and cruising books we recommend.  You pay the same low Amazon price and we get a small commission.

USA Amazon Store Canada Amazon Store UK Amazon Store France Amazon Store Germany Amazon Store Spain Amazon Store Italy Amazon Store

Please help us Support Podcast

We need your help to spread the word about the Podcast.  Please share the podcast with your sailing & cruising friends and ask them to subscribe on iTunes, stitcher, or Google Play Music.  You can send them these links:

iPhone iTunes link Android Stitcher link Google Play Music link

It also helps when you share the podcast links on social media and sailing forums.

• Please like or follow us on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  We will follow you too!
• Remember to tag your Instagram sailing related pictures with #thesailingrode
• Send us your feedback on the show and any show topic ideas to [email protected]

Patreon

If you enjoy the podcast, you can support us on our Patreon site and get some special rewards. Check it out at this link:

https://www.patreon.com/TheSailingRode

How it works:  Patreon is designed for you to support your favorite content creators.  You can support our podcast creations by signing up for various levels of support.  You can set a maximum monthly amount so if we release a lot of podcasts in one month, you still only pay your maximum amount.  In return, you get some rewards for your support.  It is kind of like giving us a tip or buying us a drink after a good show.

Thanks for listening and all your support!  We wish you fair winds and hope to see you on the water soon.

–  Steve & Brandy

In this episode, we feature part two of our interview with Jamie Furlong and Liz Cleere from the followtheboat YouTube sailing channel about the extensive refit of their Oyster 435 sailboat in Thailand.

Intro Chat

• We had a great time hanging out in Nashville and listening to great music on Broadway every night.  We even had time to check out Percy Priest Lake  and some of the local sailboats at the Nashville Shores Marina.   We also enjoyed a great lunch at Papa Turney's BBQ right above the marina offices, that is some tasty BBQ.
• We have been watching the Olympic Sailing races, but it is disappointing that NBC did not have broadcasting on many of the early races.  It is much more interesting with Gary Jobson and two time medalist, Randy Smyth providing commentary.
• New resources page on TheSailingRode.com   It includes all the other sailing podcasts and websites we follow along with other resources we have found helpful.

Interview

In part 2 of our interview with Liz and Jamie talk about the refit of s/v Esper, a 1989 Oyster 435.   They are currently cruising in Phuket, Thailand.   They also talk about a rough passage in the Indian Ocean.

Liz and Jamie refinished essentially every surface of the boat and spars.  The refit took just over a year to complete.

Check out some great videos of Millie and Liz fishing:

Millie & Liz fishing video

Millie catching her own fish

Get access to additional details on their refit and costs by becoming a patron of followtheboat here.

Check out there great videos on their YouTube channel here.

Also go to their website followtheboat.com  to see their blog and lots of amazing pictures by Jamie

Sailing News

• Expanded Panama Canal Opens
  • Canal Pilots trained in mini ships at France facility
• Piracy Drops to a 21 Year Low
• Couple Swims Seven Hours after Sailboat gets Stuck in Great Salt Lake

Product of the Week

Leatherman - Wingman Multi-Tool, Stainless Steel

This multi-tool is used frequently during boat projects. 

Here is our amazon affiliate link to the product

Amazon Store Please use our Amazon Affiliate links below for anything you buy on Amazon or look at over 90 items we have in our TSR Amazon store.  We use all the items on our boat and include notes of why we like them.  We also added over 40 sailing and cruising books we recommend.  You pay the same low Amazon price and we get a small commission.

USA Amazon Store Canada Amazon Store UK Amazon Store France Amazon Store Germany Amazon Store Spain Amazon Store Italy Amazon Store

 

Please help us Support Podcast

We need your help to spread the word about the Podcast.  Please share the podcast with your sailing & cruising friends and ask them to subscribe on iTunes, stitcher, or Google Play Music.  You can send them these links:

iPhone iTunes link Android Stitcher link Google Play Music link

It also helps when you share the podcast links on social media and sailing forums.

• Please like or follow us on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram  We will follow you too!
• Remember to tag your Instagram sailing related pictures with #thesailingrode
• Send us your feedback on the show and any show topic ideas to [email protected]

Patreon

If you enjoy the podcast, you can support us on our Patreon site and get some special rewards. Check it out at this link:

https://www.patreon.com/TheSailingRode

How it works:  Patreon is designed for you to support your favorite content creators.  You can support our podcast creations by signing up for various levels of support.  You can set a maximum monthly amount so if we release a lot of podcasts in one month, you still only pay your maximum amount.  In return, you get some rewards for your support.  It is kind of like giving us a tip or buying us a drink after a good show.

Thanks for listening and all your support!  We wish you fair winds and hope to see you on the water soon.

–  Steve & Brandy