#273. Lars Ström is known as 'The Professor' of Nautor's Swan. Now 80 years old and retired, Lars worked at the famed Nautor boatyard in Finland for nearly his entire career, and indeed during the period in the 1970s when ISBJORN, our S&S Swan 48, was built, AND also in the 1990s when ICEBEAR, oru Frers Swan 59 was built. Over the years since we first bought ISBJORN Lars has been a wonderful help to us in learning the boat, as he is to almost any Swan owner who reaches out to him. Mia & I talked to him in Finland about his long and satisfying career.

#272. Jeremy Davis, weather guru, comes on the show to debrief his passage from Lunenburg-Newfoundland on ICEBEAR. He shares what he learned as a forecaster, getting offshore for the first time.

#271. John Harries, the founder of morganscloud.com, AKA ‘Attainable Adventure Cruising,’ and in my opinion the foremost authority on safe and simple ocean sailing boats & equipment. He’s an accomplished high latitudes sailor with over 150,000 miles under his keel. Mia and I met him for a round 3 on the podcast in Lunenburg harbor aboard Ice Bear.

#270. Ben Shaw & Lauren Keane were recent crewmembers on ICEBEAR for the Annapolis to Lunenburg passage. Mia & I first met Ben's parents, Sid & Rebecca, in 2011 in St. Pierre, as we were getting ready to sail ARCTURUS trans-Atlantic. Inspired by us, and with a career in radio production Ben recently started the 'Out the Gate' sailing podcast. I talked to him and Lauren about their goals to take their kids long-distance cruising and how they're making that dream into reality.

#268. The one and only Matt Rutherford is back on the show yet again! Matt & I sat down to chat aboard ICEBEAR in Annapolis as he was getting ready to take ISBJORN north to Newport. As is normally the case when Matt comes on the show, we didn't really know what we were going to talk about, yet we easily filled a very entertaining hour, talking about him skippering ISBJORN, his own podcast 'Single-Handed', his challenges with the Ocean Research Project and more.

#267. Meg and Morgen are the couple behind Ocean Racers, sailing a Pogo 12.50 (think cruising 'Class 40') on the Atlantic racing circuit and taking paying crew along for the adventure. They earned their chops - and met each other - as young 20-something's sailing as crew on the Clipper Round the World race, the same year that friend of the podcast Ollie Cotterell was skipper. That adventure inspired them to start their own racing team, which evolved into the Ocean Racers business. Mia & I spoke to them in person onboard their boat HERMES in Bermuda. What follows is one of the most inspiring episodes yet, so get ready to enjoy the ride!

#266 Ben Doerr is the owner of Sail Bainbridge, which operate charters is the region Bainbridge Island Region. He is also a husband, father of two, and professional musician with the indie-folk band, St. Paul de Vence. Andy and Ben sit down to discuss the recent passage from Key West to Bermuda. On the Wind is presented by Costa Sunglasses And also supported by Buldano Towels, and Offshore Passage Opportunities

#265. Chris Stanmore-Major returns to the podcast for another super-inspiring chat about ocean sailing. Chris is hugely accomplished, having sailed over 300,000 miles offshore, mostly racing. In the last episode with Chris, # 227, we discussed his sailing history and philosophy; this time, we talk about his latest ambition to try and break the east to west solo circumnavigation record, sailing nonstop round-the-world AGAINST the wind & seas, and his plan to launch a Canadian team in the next edition of The Ocean Race. Learn more about Chris at spartanoceanracing.com.

#264. Vendee Globe sailor Bruce Schwab returns to the podcast with guest hosts (and now Isbjorn skippers!) Ben Doerr & Simon Borjeson, to discuss the power management refit options for ICEBEAR, our Swan 59. Bruce runs Ocean Planet Energy in Maine and specializes in power generation, and we discussed diesel versus electric propulsion, lithium batteries, gensets, AC/DC power and lots more.

#263. Øyvind Vedvik is the Sailing Category Managing Director at Helly Hansen, who have been a longtime supporter of 59 North. Øyvind grew up sailing in the fjords of Norway and along the Scandinavian coastlines and has had a passion for the sport since his early days. He invited Mia & I to sail ISBJORN up to their annual sales meeting last April and we had a chance to talk to him about his personal sailing career and his time developing sailing gear at Helly Hansen.

#262. Pawel Motawa is one of the first guests I ever interviewed WAY back in my 'Two Inspired Guys' days in 2012. Then, he had just completed the ARC rally in St. Lucia, and I was drawn to his bright yellow steel sloop MALAIKA, with it's proud Polish flag flying, and thought there had to be a story here. When Mia & I sailed ISBJORN into Las Palmas in January, there was MALAIKA again, on the pontoon just a few slips down from us. Pawel immediately said hello and we reconnected for another chat in the saloon of his lovely boat.

#258 David Hows is the host of the Ocean Sailing Podcast. He sails his own Beneteau 44.5 “Ocean Gem” and has raced it extensively between Australia and New Zealand. He has now crossed the Tasman Sea three times, two of those single handed. David interviewed Andy for his podcast - they spoke of the podcasting business, filming and photography, and the anxiety that comes with running a boat offshore.

#255. Alvah Simon is best known for his extraordinary voyage to the Arctic that he documented in 'North to the Night,' a highly philosophical, almost spiritual book about his over-wintering in the Canadian Arctic, alone, on his steel sloop, the ROGER HENRY, frozen in the ice. Alvah and I of course discussed this adventure, but today's show really covers his whole career and touches heavily on his personal philosophy, not just with sailing, but life in general. Alvah is one of these rare humans who really seems to have it figured out. He's a sailor's sailor, happier at sea than ashore, and our conversation is filled with wonderful anecdotes and bits of advice he's learned through the years.

#256: August Sandberg is a young Norwegian sailor and filmmaker. After being inspired at a young age by the Norwegian sailing greats, he bought a boat with his friend and sailed it across the Atlantic and down to Panama. He now works as a teacher, professional filmmaker and sailor. Andy caught up with him at his home on the west coast of Norway.

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On the Wind is presented by Rutgerson Marine. And also supported by Offshore Passage Opportunities and Sun Powered Yachts.

#254: Simon Borjeson returns to the podcast as ISBJORN's new skipper for the first few two-boat passages later this year. Simon & I became friends when we met during the ARC Europe rally a few years back, and bonded on our love of sailing, skiing and endurance sports. Back then he was sailing his dad's X-42 EUPHORIA across the Atlantic, while simultaneously training for the 70km OtillO Swimrun World Championships. Simon came out to the farm in Sweden in December for a weekend of planning, and we sat down to discuss his love of sailing & adventure, the cutting-edge foiling motorboats he's currently involved in building, how he got involved with ISBJORN, his thoughts on leadership and more.