Writing

233: Nat Philbrick // 'In the Heart of the Sea' Writer

233: Nat Philbrick // 'In the Heart of the Sea' Writer

#233. Nat Philbrick is the author of ‘In the Heart of the Sea,’ the famous story of the whaling ship Essex, which sunk in the Pacific after being attacked by an angry sperm whale. This true-life story became the inspiration for Herman Melville’s classic ‘Moby Dick’, and at the time, was one of the most well-know sea stories. Nat’s book, which recounted the true story from the perspective of the ship’s cabin boy, went on to become a Hollywood movie of the same name. Nat’s also a sailor, and actually lives on Nantucket, the whaling capital of the world in the 1700’s. I chatted with Nat about his career as a sailor and writer back in February.

231: Tom Cunliffe // Sailing Legend & Writer

231: Tom Cunliffe // Sailing Legend & Writer

#231. Tom Cunliffe is one of the great sailor/writers of the past 30 years. His old-school style in both the boats he chooses to sail and the way he tells his story is fascinating. Tom grew up in the UK and went to sea at a very young age on an actual merchant sailing vessel trading along the coast. His adventurous spirit goes beyond the high seas too - he and his wife motorcycled across the US, and he keeps a 1949 Bentley in his garage that he affectionately calls Reggie. After sailing classic, wooden gaff pilot cutters for most of his career, Tom now sails a (relatively) modern Mason 44. Mia & I met Tom at his house in the New Forest in England in February to talk sailing, and even got to sit in the Bentley! This one’s an all-timer, so listen closely!

203: Fatty Goodlander // 3x Circumnavigator & Writer

203: Fatty Goodlander // 3x Circumnavigator & Writer

Cap’n Fatty Goodlander pretty much needs no introduction. He & his wife Carolyn have circumnavigated the globe a full three times, setting an example along the way of how to do it safely & on the cheap. Fatty’s brand of storytelling is legendary - he’s an editor-at-large in Cruising World magazine, and has appeared in basically every sailing publication there was over the past 30 years. He even had a radio show published on NPR. Mia & I met Fatty & Carolyn in Tortola this past spring and sat down in the cozy aft cabin of their boat ‘Ganesh’ to record a meandering and highly entertaining interview with perhaps the most entertaining sailor of all. 

183: Chris Museler Returns

183: Chris Museler Returns

Chris Museler, NY Times journalist & sailor extraordinaire, has been a longtime friend of the podcast since the early days, and he’s back yet again for another catch-up. Chris has a remarkable journalism career and is one of the few people who get to write about sailing for the NY Times. He crossed the Atlantic onboard Hugo Boss as an onboard journalist with recent podcast guest Ryan Breymaier, sails in most of the major ocean races, and cruises his own cold-molded schooner Magic out of New England. Chris & I chatted in January about his new boat, composting toilets, the Cruising Club of America, inspiring young people to go sailing, and more.

130: John Kretschmer

130: John Kretschmer

Episode 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.

104: Tania Aebi

104: Tania Aebi

Tania Aebi spoke at the ARC Europe Rally in Bermuda last Sunday, and Andy recorded it. Tania was skippering Jojo Maria, a Beneteau on it's way back to New York from the Caribbean. During the Bermuda stopover she regaled the packed house of crew with her tales of circumnavigating in her 26-foot Contessa in the 1980's at age 18. She was the youngest woman to ever do so single-handed. Her book 'Maiden Voyage' remains in print and is an all-time sailing classic. The fleet was based at the St. George's Dinghy & Sports Club. 

86: Liza Copeland

86: Liza Copeland

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.'

84: Webb Chiles

84: Webb Chiles

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). 

36: John Rousmaniere

36: John Rousmaniere

John has been in charge of media for the past three editions of the race, and reprised his role in 2014. Then he jumped aboard the McCurdy & Rhodes designed 'Selkie' and sailed back to Newport! John and Andy Skyped, Andy in Sweden, John in NYC, and they chatted for almost an hour about John's career as a writer, what it was like to sail in the '72 Bermuda Race and infamous '79 Fastnet Race, his motivations for writing about sailing and specifically safety at sea, and what he fears offshore. Enjoy!

4: Lin & Larry Pardey

4: Lin & Larry Pardey

 Lin & Larry Pardey are on the podcast! Two of my sailing heroes, whose voyages, articles, books and advice has spanned at least two generations of sailors. I spoke to them from Sweden - they were half a world away in New Zealand...