Nikki Henderson is no stranger to the 59N family. She’s a skipper, a podcaster, master of the Quarterdeck and a dear friend in the community. But when she signs off from these watches, she doesn’t quit. You likely know that she’s been on heaps of other seafaring adventures, including skippering the famed Whitbread machine, Maiden; the Clipper Round the World Race; and her first attempt at the Race To Alaska with Team Sail Like a Girl. I sat down to talk with Nikki about her second, most recent attempt at the R2AK, its challenges, and what made this one such a successful campaign in what I think is one of the greatest adventure races on earth. Guest-Hosted by Ben Doerr.
Navigating the challenges of parenthood whilst also maintaining an atypical lifestyle — be that of a sailor, adventurer, or anything that doesn’t involve a 9-5 desk job — has been a consistent theme of this podcast. Now the tables have turned. Andy, Mia and August are raising their two boys whilst running a business and working as professional sailors themselves. Hoping to be a parent myself one day, I took the opportunity to put them on the spot to discuss what has surprised them about parenthood, what they wish they had known before taking the plunge, and what advice they have for anyone else dreaming of a similar future.
Pam Wall returns to the podcast, live from her living room in Ft. Lauderdale. Andy sat down to talk to Pam about the treasure trove of memories in her house, how she stays happy and inspirational despite the tragedy of losing her husband and daughter too soon, the relationship she has with her son, how she stays fit at nearly 80, and lots lots more.
Celeste Pomerantz wasn't a sailor until she signed up for a sail & ski trip out of Tromsø, Norway, that was headed north in search of un-skied peaks in Svalbard. The boat was called SOFIE, and was owned and skippered by friend of 59º North, Mats Grimsaeth. I discovered Celeste in the ski film Wavy 2 about the adventure and immediately reached out to her. We talked about sailing in the Arctic, her upbringing in the mountains of western British Columbia, similarities between big mountain skiing and offshore sailing, managing fear, 'imposter syndrome' and her studies in renewable energy.
Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole and the North Pole, but his greatest achievement may have been leading the first successful crossing of the Northwest Passage in 1906. Terje Andre Pedersen grew up inspired by Amundsen's great stories of exploration. He has followed his own dreams, and is soon to set sail towards the Northwest Passage in Amundsen's wake with a ship made of wood and a crew made of iron.
ISBJØRN's rig towers over the other sailboats in her winter marina, but at the far end of the pontoons, there is one mast that makes even her spar look tiny. It belongs to a veteran of ocean racing, built as “Toshiba” for the last ever Whitbread Round the World race in 1997. She’s now under the command of skipper Morten Landmark, who uses it for family cruising and to humble the Shetland Race fleet.
In January 2024, Dr. Deborah Fish became the first woman ever to be elected commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. For 99 years, RORC, as it's better known, has been regarded as a premier organization for offshore racing globally, as well as a leading authority for safety at sea. Its most famous event – the Fastnet Race – Deb has completed in impressive 11 times. Despite having started sailing only in her 30s, Deb has an incredible sailing resume and now heads up one of the most influential organizations in offshore sailing worldwide. Not only is she promoting, but also living the truth – that offshore sailing is a sport for anyone, provided they are up for the challenge.
Kiera and Tripp are the couple behind Apparent Winds, a nonprofit they run aboard their sailing research vessel Resilience. As they sail around the world, they collect and share stories of environmental and cultural preservation while conducting marine research. Their journey started in Washington State in 2022, and led them here to Maine via Alaska, Mexico, Panama, and South Carolina. On their diverse expeditions, they might offer a research platform for scientists, an educational platform for students, and now an immersive charter experience for clients. They interview local people in the places they visit and tell stories focused on environment and culture. Emma got to sit down with them in person while they are in town before heading south this fall.
Porter Fox is a writer, lifelong sailor and author of the new book Category Five: Superstorms & the Warming Oceans that Feed Them. I was referred to Porter by our mutual friend John Kretschmer, who is a major character in the book. Porter is also the son of Able Marine founder and grew up in Maine amongst sailboats and boatyards. Porter and I had a long and winding conversation about sailing, weather, science and family. His new book is out now and widely available - I highly recommend it.
Jon Amtrup is an avid environmentalist, and one of the world's top high latitude skippers. He was an obvious choice for GREENPEACE for their arctic research expedition this summer, aboard their recently acquired sailboat WITNESS. She used to be named “Pelagic Australis” and was designed and built by Skip Novak. She is a unique expedition sailboat, as well adapted to the high Arctic as Jon himself.
Vendee Globe sailor Pip Hare returns to the show for a 3rd time only one month before the start of her second Vendee Globe. In 2020, Pip became only the 8th woman to ever complete the Vendee Globe, and on a shoestring, crowdfunded budget to boot. In the years since, Pip has parlayed that hard work and early success into a second campaign aboard a new, faster and foiling IMOCA 60. I caught up with Pip to talk about everything from her fitness routine to making an IMOCA 60 fly in this super fun and meandering episode.Emma talked to Liz while she was home in Australia, simultaneously recovering and preparing for the next challenge: rowing the World's Toughest Row Pacific. Liz tells stories from her solo row across the Atlantic, reflects on her path into sailing and now rowing, and shares plans for the double-handed Pacific row.
Blue & Brady of Cruisers Academy return to the podcast to tell some sea stories! This episode is an adaptation of a video that Mia & I filmed with them a few weeks ago, us on FALKEN, them at their shore base in Tahoe, as we started prepping for our Boat Show workshop coming up in Annapolis. We talk about some of the gnarliest things to happen to us at sea and on boats and had a lot of good laughs to boot.
Nigel Calder returns to the podcast to talk about selling his beloved Malö 46 Nada. Nigel is of course the foremost guru of yacht systems and is at heart and inventor and science buff. He and his wife Terry built their 'dream boat' some 16 years ago and are sad to part ways with her now. We talk about many of the custom design details he's integrated, the systems onboard that made her unique and how he's coming to terms with having to downsize.
Skip Novak returns to the podcast to talk about his new book Skip Novak On Sailing: Words of Wisdom from 50 Years Afloat. There's not much Skip hasn't done in his remarkable sailing career, including 4 Whitbread races, a 5th round-the-world race on a maxi catamaran, and of course pioneering expedition sailing in Tierra del Fuego, Cape Horn and Antarctica. I talked to Skip about his new book and in particular some of the more 'controversial' topics he writes about.
Pickup Skip's new book here.
Lydia Mullan is a sailor, journalist, and onboard reporter. She is the managing editor at Sail Magazine and was the social media manger behind Cole Brauer’s recent Global Solo Challenge campaign. She was aboard the vessel Alliance in this year’s Newport-Bermuda race when they struck an object and had to abandon ship in the Gulf Stream. In this episode, we talk about that accident and their subsequent rescue, as well as Lydia’s career as a sailing journalist.
Friend of the podcast Pam Wall & our own Laura Parent do an ON THE WIND takeover this week to interview sailmaker and America's Cup sailor Peter Grimm! On an impromptu afternoon in Pam's living room, stories started flying and Pam said 'get the mics!' and this entertaining and charming episode was born! Big shout out to Pam & Laura for literally running the show this week! Enjoy their conversation with Peter Grimm.
The RORC Caribbean 600 is one of the great offshore ocean races and in February we launched the 59º North offshore racing program with this as our debut event. The Whole Point? To try to open the door of offshore racing wider so that more people like you can get involved. In this episode Nikki has a chat with Alex to reminisce on trials and tribulations of the 2024 edition of the Caribbean 600.
Andy Schell. We know him, we love him, he's the founder of this very podcast! And of course the co-founder of 59º North Sailing. In this episode, Emma turns the interview table around on Andy to ask him about this past decade of 59º North Sailing. A lot has changed from the early inspirations of starting the business to where Andy sits now, in Sweden, a parent of a 4-year old, and an employer to a whole staff at 59 North. Then again, not much has changed. Andy is still just as in love with sailing and even more inspired by this company as it grows and evolves.
The BELAFONTE is underway on a great, big sailing adventure, and August was lucky enough to meet her and her lovely crew, Julien and Pieter in Bergen. They were on their way North to Svalbard, and the three had many things to talk about. They recently made it to the high Arctic, and are sharing their considerable experiences on @Aboard_Belafonte on Instagram.
Since his On The Wind debut on episode 359 two years ago, Ian Herbert-Jones has raced 28,000 miles and rounded Cape Horn twice. In this episode, he tells the story of him joining the Ocean Globe Race last minute at the start in Southampton, and chasing the circumnavigation that escaped him during his Golden Globe Race.
Since his On The Wind debut on episode 359 two years ago, Ian Herbert-Jones has raced 28,000 miles and rounded Cape Horn twice! In this episode, he tells the story of his remarkable Golden Globe Race, from the last polishing of his boat at the start in France, to losing her to a storm in the South Atlantic.
Our own Emma Garschagen, co-host of ON THE WIND, former ICEBEAR & FALKEN First Mate and now entrepreneur joins me on todays show to talk about her evolution as a sailor since she joined 59º North. Emma started with us as an apprentice, took over as Chief First Mate for Mia when she was pregnant with Axel and has now gone on to start her own business, Sail Seabird, running coastal passages on her refit Navy 44 out of Portland, Maine.
Friend of the podcast and legendary sailor Matt Rutherford returns to the show to shoot the shit aboard his schooner MARIE THARPE. Matt hosted a small gathering of friends in Annapolis back in April aboard his boat, and we got warmed up by getting out the mics and mixing it up at the salon table down below on a rainy, chilly day. Matt was sipping tequila I think, and I had a beer and the conversation flowed, as it's wont to do with Matt, across a myriad of topics. Enjoy.
Skipper Heather Thomas recently won the inaugural Ocean Globe Race aboard the iconic yacht MAIDEN. The crew made history again by becoming the first all-female crew to win a round-the-world race! At 27, Heather was the youngest skipper in this race and one of two female skippers. Emma and Heather talked about leadership, confidence, navigation and weather routing in a retro race, and much more.
Comedian Kristoffer Appelquist returns to the podcast to talk about his first trans-Atlantic passage with the Swedish reality TV show 'Över Atlanten.' Now in it's 6th season, the show — which puts celebrities onboard a big Swan with Whitbread skipper Gunnar Kranz for an Atlantic crossing — has become a huge hit. Kristoffer, Mia and I talk about how his dream of ocean sailing has evolved since we first had him on the show, how he got picked for the TV show, what it was like hot-bunking with hockey legend Peter Forsberg and more.
