On the Wind Sailing

#285. Ryan Ellison & Sophie Darsy have become close friends of ours in the years since we first met them in Stockholm. Non-sailors initially, they bought a Beneteau 40 they named POLAR SEAL, and set out on a cruise of undetermined length, leaving Stockholm and sailing south, first to the Mediterranean and last year across the Atlantic. We met them in the Saintes and recorded onboard ICEBEAR. -- ON THE WIND is presented by Sailing Yacht Power Solutions - makers of the revolutionary power generation solution that eliminates the need for a separate generator and uses your current engine installation. Contact S/Y Power Solutions at Info@sypowers.com -- ON THE WIND is also supported by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928, And Chesapeake Sailmakers, Local Annapolis based sailmaker, and distributer of Elvstrom Sails. 

#284. Andy leads a roundtable discussion with all of 59º North's stakeholders (minus Mia), including Lee Cumberland, Ryan Finstad, Ryan Ellison & skipper August Sandberg. The gang talks about how COVID-19 is impacting our 2020 sailing season, how we're thinking about it, and strategies we are implementing to deal with it. Recorded March 15, 2020. -- ON THE WIND is presented by Sailing Yacht Power Solutions - makers of the revolutionary power generation solution that eliminates the need for a separate generator and uses your current engine installation. Contact S/Y Power Solutions at Info@sypowers.com -- ON THE WIND is also supported by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928, And Chesapeake Sailmakers, Local Annapolis based sailmaker, and distributer of Elvstrom Sails. 

#283: Bela Musits // 'The Unconventional Path' Bela Musits Hosts the podcast “the unconventional path” all about taking unconventional paths to build your career and business. Bela actually interviewed andy for his show and that episode aired last week.  they discuss the challenges and rewards of running an offshore sailing business. --- ON THE WIND is presented by Sailing Yacht Power Solutions - makers of the revolutionary power generation solution that eliminates the need for a separate generator and uses your current engine installation. Contact S/Y Power Solutions at Info@sypowers.com --- ON THE WIND is also supported by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928, And Chesapeake Sailmakers, Local Annapolis based sailmaker, and distributer of Elvstrom Sails. 

Andy discusses the Beta Engine refit he and Mia did on ARCTURUS in Sweden in 2013, with the help of their friend Micah. This is episode #5, season 3 of our other show, HOW I THINK ABOUT SAILING, which you can download and subscribe to for FREE anywhere you get your podcasts! -- Subscribe to How I Think About Sailing wherever you get your podcasts. Season 3 started in earnest on January 16, where Andy will look back over the last decade and see how his thoughts on sailing have evolved and what he's learned from his mistakes.

Andy & Mia record from the cockpit of ICEBEAR in Antigua with not one but two MAJOR announcements. Hold on to your hats, it’s Season 3 of ‘How I Think About Sailing!’ (Happy New Year!) -- Subscribe to How I Think About Sailing wherever you get your podcasts. Season 3 starts in earnest on January 16, where Andy will look back over the last decade and see how his thoughts on sailing have evolved and what he's learned from his mistakes.

#282. Liz Wardley is the current skipper of MAIDEN, the famous Whitbread yacht which saw the first all-girl crew complete the round-the-world race in 1989. Liz has never NOT been a professional racing skipper. Getting her first taste of sailing at age 13 on a Hobie cat, she was instantly hooked. At 15, she convinced her parents to let her drop out of school, and by 18 she was racing in the Sydney-Hobart race. Since then she’s done 3 Volvo Ocean Race’s and is aiming for another in next year’s event. Currently she’s working closely with MAIDEN founder Tracy Edwards to fulfill the goals of The MAIDEN Factor as they sail around the world with an all-girl crew. -- Celestial Nav workshop in Annapolis, Feb 1 & 2, 2020 at Eastport Yacht Club! Go to 59-north.com/celestial for details & to signup. -- Sail on ICEBEAR in the Caribbean in 2020! New passages added in the Leeward & Windward Islands. Go to 59-north.com/2020-caribe to sign on! -- ON THE WIND is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928. Check out all their navigation tools, clocks, barometers and more at weems-plath.com. ON THE WIND is also supported by Buldano Towels and Offshore Passage Opportunities. Get 20% off your Turkish cotton towels with the code "onthewind" at buldano.com. Sign up for Hank Schmitt's OPO membership at sailopo.com. --

#281 (#251 Re-Issue). Rachel Slade is the acclaimed author of INTO THE RAGING SEA, the riveting and heartbreaking account of the loss of the American merchant ship EL FARO, with all hands, in hurricane Joaquin in 2015. We’re re-issuing this episode today ahead of the audio release of INTO THE RAGING SEA on Season 4 of Sailing Stories! Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and HOLD FAST!

#280. Back in 2018, the crew of SV DELOS joined Mia, James & I onboard ISBJORN for a 3-week adventure in the High Arctic. Needless to say, it was life-changing. Earlier this fall, we got to relive the adventure with Brian & Brady, who flew out to the Annapolis Sailboat Show to give a presentation on our trip, and show the first-ever screening of their '80 NORTH' film project to a USA audience. What follows is the audio of that presentation, which I hope you'll enjoy. -- Celestial Nav workshop in Annapolis, Feb 1 & 2, 2020 at Eastport Yacht Club! Go to 59-north.com/celestial for details & to signup. -- Sail on ICEBEAR in the Caribbean in 2020! New passages added in the Leeward & Windward Islands. Go to 59-north.com/2020-caribe to sign on! -- ON THE WIND is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928. Check out all their navigation tools, clocks, barometers and more at weems-plath.com. ON THE WIND is also supported by Offshore Passage Opportunities and BRNKL Systems Inc. Sign up for Hank Schmitt's OPO membership at sailopo.com, and check out BRNKL's boat-monitoring hardware at brnkl.io.

#279. Dee Caffari is perhaps the most accomplished sailor I've ever had on the show, and she's easily the most inspiring. Dee has sailed around the world a full 6 times, 3 of them solo and nonstop, and most recently as skipper of the Turn the Tide on Plastic Volvo campaign. There isn't much she hasn't done in racing, whether solo or crewed, as skipper or in another role, but I took away much deeper insights from our conversation on things like leadership, psychology and inspiration. Mia & I met Dee in England to hear her story. -- Celestial Nav workshop in Annapolis, Feb 1 & 2, 2020 at Eastport Yacht Club! Go to 59-north.com/celestial for details & to signup. -- Sail on ICEBEAR in the Caribbean in 2020! New passages added in the Leeward & Windward Islands. Go to 59-north.com/2020-caribe to sign on! -- ON THE WIND is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928. Check out all their navigation tools, clocks, barometers and more at weems-plath.com. ON THE WIND is also supported by Offshore Passage Opportunities and BRNKL Systems Inc. Sign up for Hank Schmitt's OPO membership at sailopo.com, and check out BRNKL's boat-monitoring hardware at brnkl.io.

#278. Kass Schmitt is a solo sailor who has had a dream of completing the OSTAR Race, the original single-handed trans-Atlantic race, which back in the 1960's, began the solo racing scene we know today. Kass, unassuming and thoughtful, set out to make that dream a reality in 2017 on her cold-molded sloop ZEST, but was thwarted halfway across the Atlantic by an unusually strong early summer storm that swept through the fleet, forcing the abandonment of three boats and forcing her to retire. Kass & I sat down in London where she told me the tale.