Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell

Dr. Rikki Grober Eriksen is a PhD Marine Biologist and the Director of Marine Programs for the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation. She lives on a sailboat in the Caribbean and is a wealth of information on coral reef ecology. We talk about her boat, spotted eagle rays, a magical dolphin encounter, coral reef decline, overfishing, where to and not to anchor, spearfishing, ocean acidification and its repercussions, microplastics, and much more.

Pat is preparing his boat, a Saltram Saga, for the 2022 Golden Globe Race, a singlehand, non-stop circumnavigation that allows only pre-1968 technology and old-fashioned boats. He recently sailed from Ireland to Iceland for a shakedown. We discuss his list of tasks, the cruise, and the upcoming race.

This one is just me talking about my time here in Bocas del Toro, Panama. I talk about the anchorages, the town, my new dinghy, spearfishing, surfing, some of the other islands, rip currents, my plans of going to Cartagena next and The Bahamas after that.

This is the second half of my interview with spearfisherman, freediver, kiteboarder, and sailor, Adventureman Dan. If you haven't already listened to Part 1, it is the episode directly before this one.

Adventureman Dan is a spearfisherman, freediver, and solo sailor, currently in the Bahamas. As a nice coincidence, Dan ran into Stephanie Shuldt, from the previous episode, right after I invited him to be on the podcast. As I interviewed him, he was rafted up with Sail La Vie and two other boats in her entourage. Dan and I talk about spearfishing, the Bahamas, surviving a 70-knot storm on a paddleboard, meeting other cruisers, acquiring freshwater, sharks, sobriety, future plans, and much more.

Stephanie left a corporate job just a few years ago to chase her dream of living a nomadic life on a catamaran, sailing, freediving, and spearfishing. We talk about the obstacles she overcame, her boat (a 46' Fountaine Pajot Bahia), The Bahamas, freediving, spearfishing, freedive training, sharks, ciguatera, coral reefs, and more.

Robert Perry has been designing boats since he was 14, and is one of the most well-respected and prolific sailboat designers of all time. We discuss his career, feedback from sailors, boats in the GGR, double-enders, different keel shapes, balanced rudders, draft, his new Carbon Cutter, Sail Drive, the Valiant 40, roller furling, staysails, his book, books he loves, and a final word to his supporters and boat owners.

Margie Woods sailed her Catalina 34, Haunani, in the 2016 Singlehanded Transpac, from San Francisco to Hawaii, and she did it with minimal offshore sailing experience. We discuss preparing herself and her boat for the race, the good days and the hard days, the worst weather and the best weather, dealing with difficulties, being present and sailing in the moment, the mental challenges of singlehanding, tethering and safety gear, getting back onboard from the water, women in sailing, sailing education, the importance of reading, the Hydrovane, and much more.

Expedition Glacialis is a team of scientists aboard a 43' custom steel Koopmans sailboat. Virginie Wyss, Matthew Ryle, Arnaud Conne, and Richard Mardens are collecting data on wildlife, plastics, and the chemistry of the ocean. Their project has taken them to Greenland, where they were when we spoke. We talk about the magic of Greenland, the difficulties and rewards of sailing in the arctic, their boat Atlas, dressing for the cold, heaters, safety gear, heavy weather strategies, wildlife, the marriage of art and science, preparing for the journey, sailing with a purpose, citizen science, micro and macro plastics, listening to whales, and the crew's favorite species. 

Katie is currently trying, at 14 years old, to become the youngest person to sail singlehanded around Great Britain. She is doing so on a beautiful wooden 26' Morgan Giles built in 1950. We talk about her inspirations, her preparations, her boat, the route, the journey so far, and much more.