On the Wind Sailing

#87. Andy spoke with Brenda of the schooner Mahdee, which is currently berthed in California. Brenda and her husband David got inspired to go sailing in their college years while on a cycling trip around Lake Superior. Eating from a camp stove, they looked at a sailboat on the lake and thought, 'that's how we ought to travel!' Years went by, and Brenda and David traveled all over the world following his career as a Navy Pilot while Brenda picked up Engineering jobs. Finally, in 2006, their dream came true when they bought and begant the lengthy restoration of the classic 1931 schooner Mahdee. Since launch, they've cruised the west coast as far as Alaska, and are full-time liveaboards, having sold everything ashore to follow their dream. Check out Mahdee's transformation on blog.mahdee.com. Their latest project is Bootstrap Adventure (bootstrapadventure.com), where they're attempting to create a marketplace for outdoor adventurers to buy and sell gear, knowledge and experience. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on 59-north.com/events.

#86. Andy sat down in person with Liza Copeland at the Toronto Boat Show not too long ago. In fact, they shared a booth alongside Paul & Sheryl Shard, who were all part of the seminar program at the show. Liza has sold an astounding number of her books, all about the cruising lifestyle, which has made her a household name in the sailing world. She first circumnavigated with her young family aboard a production Beneteau, and has since sailed over 100,000 miles in that boat, called 'Bagheera.' Andy & Liza discussed how she got into cruising and what it's like saiing around the world with a family! This is truly an inspiring episode for anyone thinking of sailing with kids (Andy met her son at the show, who's now a successful airline pilot - and still a sailor!).  You can find Liza's books online at aboutcruising.com. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth for the Canadian Maritimes this summer and the Caribbean 1500 next fall at 59-north.com/events.

#85. Eric Forsyth, legendary ocean voyager with over 300,000 sea miles and whose visited both Antarctica & Spitsbergen on his Westsail 42, joins the podcast! Andy and Eric chat about his days in the 1950s flying the first fighter jets with the Royal Air Force, how Eric got into sailing, navigating on Celestial only in the Newport-Bermuda Race in the 1970s and what it's like to endure a 75-knot gale in the Southern Ocean. Eric is a very humble man with extraordinary achievements beneath his keel, and bumps along the road in his life. "I have no regrets," he says about it all. Eric's now going on 83, and is planning on going back to Fiona this spring to sail, well, who knows where. Thanks to Eric for this inspiring conversation! Read all about Eric and his travels on yachtfiona.com. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Sojourner, Serenity or a soon-to-be-announced Swan at 59-north.com/events.

#84. Webb Chiles is a sailing legend.  Andy and he spoke about his sailing philiosophy, what it's like to survive for 26-hours floating in the ocean, rounding the Horn and whether or not religion plays a role in sailing (yep, it's deep).  You may not have heard too much about Webb, and that's kind of by design. Webb is an artist as much as he is a sailor (read his work at inthepresentsea.com), and he's about as pure as they come in the sailing world. He's been around the world a full five times, and set a myriad of records, including first American to sail solo around Cape Horn, and fastest aorund the world alone, beating Sir Francis Chichester's record in the 1970s (which has of course since been demolished).  In his 70s now, Webb is about to embark on his sixth circumnaviagation, this time in a 24-foot light-displacement day-racer, which he's been sailing for a while (luxurious compared to his lap of the globe in an 18-foot open yawl). Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Sojourner at 59-north.com/events.

#83. Bruce Scwab is the first American sailor to complete the legendary solo, nonstop Vendee Globe ocean race. It was his second solo circumnavigation onboard Ocean Planet, the boat he designed and developed on the west coast.  Bruce grew up in northern California and started sailing with his dad a young age, eventually working at a rig shop for many years where he honed his skills on the owners boat as a solo racing sailor, winning the first event he ever entered. DON'T MISS Bruce's YouTube channel with some incredible footage from the Vendee, including a horrendous Southern Ocean storm. 'In hindsight, I realized that for my entire life I'd been training for the Vendee and didn't even realize it,' Bruce says. The lightbult went off and he started putting together a program with the nonprofit Ocean Planet, who funded the boat. He tells the whole story - and then some - here on the podcast. Bruce now lives in Maine and specializes in outfitting cruising boats with alternative energy sources and high-end batteries, and is on the forefront of marine energy technology. Check him out at bruceschwab.com or oceanplanet.org. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Sojourner! Summer Annapolis-Lunenburg & fall Caribbean passages available on 59-north.com.

#82. Kamau Iandiataiyero is a learner. He discovered sailing in July 2013 on a Rainbow in Annapolis, and has taken to the sport incredibly quickly. So quickly, in fact, that he's building his own bluewater boat - one that he also designed - and hopes to set off by 2017. Kamau is not your average sailor. He's not average anything - at 6'7", he found production boats literally don't fit him. But they don't fit his personality either, which you'll soon discover in this very cool episode with a very inspiring dude. We talked about Kamau's project, how he got into sailing, how he took the leap to desing his own boat and more. Kamau is using Erik de Jong as his naval architect in fact, so there is definitely some crossover here. Kamau actually first reached out to me before the boat show in Annapolis this fall to have me pick apart his original design on the boat. Check out Kamau's YouTube channel for some very insightful videos at youtube.com/user/kamauiandiataiyero. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Sojourner and sail to Nova Scotia in July or the Caribbean in November at 59-north.com/events.

#81. Andy sits down with yachting photographer Tim Wright last week at the ARC finish in Saint Lucia. Tim has been photographing the ARC finish since 2000, and has been a professional photographer since the early 1990s.  He sailed, single-handed, in the first ARC in 1986 on a 29-footer, and never went home. After a lightbulb idea to photograph a race in Bequia, he took the success of that and expanded on it to create what he calls an 'itinerant photography lifestyle,' whereby he sails his boat up and down the Caribbean taking photos of sailing events. We talk about his career ARC and how he 'made' it in photography and created one heck of a lifestyle job. See all of Tim's work on photoaction.com. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Sojourner, Serenity and others at the newly redesigned 59-north.com/events.

#80. Brenda and Thane Paulsen spoke with Andy from their Bavaria 39 'Asylum' at Rodney Bay Marina in Saint Lucia. They'd just completed their first Atlantic crossing, sailing in the ARC+ rally, which departs Las Palmas and stops in the Cape Verde islands en route to the Caribbean. Brenda and Thane sailed double-handed, and spoke about the challenges of short-handed sailing. They delved into their sailing history, gave some practical tips on shipping their boat to Europe and cruising the Med, and talked about what it's like to sail in a rally. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Sojourner, Serenity or a Swan 57 at 59-north.com/events.

#79. Andy sits down with Samuli & Timo in Saint Lucia to talk about Leopard's record-breaking run in this year's ARC. Nearly 3,000 miles in just over 8 days! While the boat was long gone, Samuli and Timo were still on island with their families and graciously chatted with Andy at Elena's Cafe in Rodney Bay Marina for an in-person chat. They talk about sailing culture in Finland, Samuli's pro racing career, Timo's adventures in the mountains and of course what it's like to sail a 100-foot maxi at 30+ knots offshore. To follow the ARC in real-time, visit worldcruising.com/arc or keep up to date on facebook.com/arcrally. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Sojourner, Serenity or a Swan 57 at 59-north.com/events.

#78. Matt Rutherford is back, and joins Andy via Skype from the R/V Ault, the Ocean Research Project's Colvin schooner in Annapolis. They discuss Matt's tumultuous history as a youngster, which was depicted in the newly released documentary 'Red Dot on the Ocean.' Matt touches on living in a cult, spending weeks in prison, living on and off the streets and how he relates to money (or lack thereof).  "At the end of the day you die," says Matt. "It's not about how much money you have, but what you've done with your life." They also discuss the ORP's last expedition across the Pacific in a Harbor 29 daysailor. The conversation wraps up with Andy & Matt just chatting sailing in general, as they often do. Buy the DVD of 'Red Dot on the Ocean' here or purchase the digital download here. Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Sojourner, Serenity or a soon-to-be-announced Swan 57 at 59-north.com/events.