On the Wind Sailing

#135. is a bonus episode with Jesse Osborn, last week's guest along with his wife Samantha. In this episode, Jesse reads a journal post he titled 'IF YOU DON’T WANT SOMETHING, YOU MAY SETTLE FOR ANYTHING. BUT ANYTHING, COULD BE NOTHING AT ALL.' Read Jesse & Samantha's blog at empiricusembarks.com.

#134. Happy New Year! Welcome to the first episode of 59º North in 2016!  Episode 134 is Jesse & Samantha Osborn. You won’t have heard of them, but they’re some of the most interesting and accomplished cruising sailors I’ve ever come across. Matt Rutherford introduced me to them last fall and they ended up sleeping aboard Isbjorn during the week of the Annapolis Boat Show, bunk-mates with the legendary Don Street, who also took up residency aboard. Jesse & Samantha sail a one-off, steel-hulled gaffer called Empiricus and recently completed the Northwest Passage, and only just, narrowing avoiding getting frozen in for a long winter. Empiricus remains hauled out in Iceland, where they’ll be continuing their adventures in the Arctic next summer. Amazingly, the couple had little prior sailing experience before their adventure in the Arctic. In the offseason, Jesse & Samantha live a sort of home-steading lifestyle in Alaska. Samantha is a veteran bush pilot, flying into and out of remote regions in Arctic Canada on float planes and ice planes, providing supplies to wilderness communities. Jesse is a former police officer and has since given that up in pursuit of his dream to live simply on the water and off. They started and run Seven Seas Sailing Logistics, a self-declared ‘sailing concierge, with the goal of helping others achieve their bluewater dreams. Samantha & Jesse are also young, and I always get extra excited speaking to sailors in the up and coming generation, and these guys are super inspiring. A favorite quote I discovered on their boat’s website, empiricusembarks.com states “IF YOU DON’T WANT SOMETHING, YOU MAY SETTLE FOR ANYTHING. BUT ANYTHING, COULD BE NOTHING AT ALL.” It pretty well sums up their dreams and ambitions. Check out the podcast page on 59-north.com/sailingpodcast for some bonus content that goes alongside this episode, including links to Jesse & Samantha’s adventures. This episode was recorded during a break I had at Cruiser’s University in Annapolis last October, and about a third of the way in, Pam Wall pops into the conversation as a surprise special guest! Pam had asked to listen in on the conversation as we recorded. I think she meant to remain off-mic, but Jesse & Samantha’s stories were so compelling that she couldn’t resist asking them some questions of her own. It was truly inspiring watching Pam, a legend of her generation of cruisers, interact with us up-and-coming younger sailors and seeing her eyes light up at Jesse & Samantha’s stories. It was a real honor having Pam sort of co-host this episode. --- Thanks to everyone who answered the call to donate after the bonus ‘Money’ episode, in particular longtime listener Pedro for his generous gift. If you'd like to help support the show and Isbjorn Sailing, visit 59-north.com/shop to buy some small-batch gourmet Oh Dark Thirty coffee, an Isbjorn Sailing t-shirt or simply donate to the podcast. Of course a nice email is always welcome, as are reviews on iTunes. Thanks to all of you for the continued support. Both Mia and I wish you all a happy and healthy 2016!  

#133 is Pam Wall, circumnavigator and another of my sailing heroes. Pam is a staple in most of the sailing magazines and seminar circuits, and made a career in sailing working for and with West Marine after sailing round the world in her beloved Freya 39 Kandarik. I spoke to Pam during her lunch break one day at Cruiser’s University in Annapolis this fall, where we were both on the speaking schedule. Pam’s sailing career started in the 60s when on a whim she moved to Ft. Lauderdale to pursue a sport she knew little about. Inspired by Australian sailors who had worked their way all the way into the Great Lakes, where she grew up, Pam decided the life was for her. Pam describes what it was like back in the day in Ft. Lauderdale, a yachtie town if there ever was one, and how she met her husband, Andy, their plan to build a boat and sail away, how she became involved with West Marine, Andy’s agonizing death not too long ago and how she’s only now starting to recover again from a hellish few years. Pam, recently let go by West Marine, now works for Steve Dashew and was on her way to New Zealand after our chat to get acquainted with Steve’s revolutionary long-distance motor yachts. Get in touch with Pam on her website at pamwall.com. 

#BONUS Episode! Andy spends 25 minutes or so discussing the evolution of the isbjorn Sailing business, and in the bigger picture, the evolution of he and Mia's sailing 'career' in general over the past 8 years. This one is full of practical advice, so grab a pencil and take some notes! Or better yet, head over to 59-north.com/sailingpodcast and find this episode's show notes for the full transcript plus links. Enjoy!

#132 is Ken & Jen Kaye, the father-daughter duo who, alongside Jen’s mom Ellen Kaye, run the Schooner Woodwind out of Annapolis, MD. This is a very special episode for me, as crewing on the Woodwind was my first stint as a paid sailor, and I worked a whole lot alongside Jen and Ken, who usually were out on the water skippering the boats. If you’re a longtime listener to the show, you’ll have heard the stories of how i grew up sailing on my mom and dad’s boat on the Chesapeake. That’s all well and good, but I truly learned how to sail when I started working on the Woodwind. Jen and her dad are racing sailors at heart, and the Woodwind, while appearing pretty traditional on deck, has a modern, sleek underbody, fin keel, and huge, skeg-mounted rudder. She’s a hell of a boat to sail, and Jen & ken sail her fast!

#131 is Tucker Thompson, TV & Publich Host of the America’s Cup, former America’s Cup sailor himself and Annapolis, Maryland native. I met Tucker at the Annapolis Boat Show launch party in early October when we were introduced by a mutual friend. For the first time in Annapolis show history, the Auld Mug was on display, and was a highlight of the launch party, where guests were invited to pose for photos with it. Mia and I were the very last people that night to get a photo with the cup before the Secret Service agents in charge of guarding it (yes, you heard that right), packed it up for the evening in it’s Loius Vitton trunk. I was politely reprimanded for leaning my elbow on the table the cup stood on during the photo.

#130. is John Kretschmer, one of my all-time heroes and a mentor of mine. John’s motto is ‘never lost, just hard to find,’ and it’s a pretty good summation of how it was tracking him down for the podcast. I finally got in touch with him over Skype, me in Annapolis and he at home in Ft Lauderdale getting ready for another passage on his boat Quetzal. John and I talked a bit about how he’s inspired me to follow this career, how he got into it in the first place, about rounding Cape Horn in a 32’ boat going to wrong way, his career as a delivery skipper, Hurricane Lenny and much, much more. Find John, online at least, at yayablues.com.

#129. is Mark Baummer, a Chesapeake Bay Pilot, one of the guys who will go out and take command of commercial ships when they enter the Bay from an ocean voyage. In this episode Mark and I talk about our trip together (Mia and I did a ride-along with Mark on a 750-foot coal ship), about how he got into the merchant marine in the first place, what it is a pilot actually does, how he became a pilot and much, much more. This is a fascinating look at a professional maritime career, and a real treat to have Mark on the show. Enjoy!

#128 was actually recorded at 59º North - which of course is the latitude of Stockholm, Swedden - in the offices of På Kryss, a popular Swedish sailing magazine, and my guest was Johan Bostrom. We talked about his sailing career, what the sailing culture is like in Sweden, how he single-handed his HR Monsoon 31 across the Atlantic from New York to Sweden and lots of other cross-cultural topics related to Sweden, the US and sailing.

#126 & 127 are parts one and two of World Cruising Club's 2015 Ocean Sailing Forum. It’s a panel discussion of all things ocean sailing. I moderated it, and our guests included Lee & Rachel Cumberland of Satori, their Tayana 37; Rick & Julie Palm of Archer, their Outremer 51 catamaran; and Sheryl & Paul Shard of Distant Shores, their Southerly 49. Paul & Sheryl also have been making the popular TV series of the same name now for over 25 years.