Out The Gate Sailing (Benjamin Shaw)

John Taussig is the founder and executive director of Backcountry Medical Guides and the subsidiary Maritime Medical Guides. He’s a career paramedic who’s worked on helicopters, in ambulances, on ski patrol, as a ranger, and as a captain on boats. He’s a surfer, climber, kayaker, mountain biker, snow boarder, sailer, and and all around adventurer based in Bellingham Washington. John and I talked about responding to bear attacks in Yellowstone, commuting to work from Santa Cruz to Monterey via sailboat, flying on choppers through the Sierra as part of a air medic team, his trip paddling and sailing a kayak from Washington up the inside passage to AK, and more.

Jon Bilger is the director and founder of PredictWind. Jon founded the company after working on forecasting for the Alinghi Americas Cup team. The technology has revolutionized accessibility of weather forecasting and routing for both racers and cruisers. I talk to Jon about his own sailing background, how he developed Predict Wind, some new exciting tools - like 100 meter accuracy tidal current modeling for San Francisco Bay - and more.

Pam Wall has encouraged and inspired so many individuals and families to find joy from sailing and cruising. She has spent decades sharing her knowledge through lectures, boat show seminars, and of course podcasts like this. Pam first took off cruising with her husband Andy Wall aboard their 30-ft sloop Carronade. Later, with children, they cruised aboard the 39-ft sloop Kandarik. While I’ve never met Pam in persons, she’s been friends with my parents for years and my father, Sid Shaw, met Andy Wall in Tahiti in the 60s.

He made it! Cyril Derreumaux recently became the second person in the world to kayak from California to Hawaii. We spoke before he left (episode 73) and now 91 days and 2,400 miles later we discuss the trials and triumphs of his successful solo crossing. It was not his first attempt, but he took what he learned from the aborted trip a year previously to make sure he was prepared physically and mentally for the adventure. 

Leigh Hunt is President and CEO of Modern Sailing school and club. Modern has been introducing people to sailing on SF Bay since 1983. In 2014, Leigh, decided to make his passion for sailing into a business - leaving a career in product management to purchase Modern from the previous owner. Recently Modern has expanded their operations, taking over the space in the Berkeley Marine Center that used to be OCSC.

Brooks Watson started sailing about a year ago. But he’s jumped in with both feet, not only getting out on the water, but building a new community for sailors on the Clubhouse social media platform and launching a non-profit, Watts on Water that will enable cruisers to bring solar powered lights to those in need all over the world. He’s currently focused on the recent disaster in St. Vincent and is working to bring lights to those in need after a volcanic eruption cup power to much of the island.

Mary SwiftSwan is the founder of Afterguard Sailing in Oakland. Afterguard is only one of the three sailing schools she’s founded. She began teaching sailing in 1984, became the very first woman ASA instructor/evaluator, and has literally written the book on ASA instruction - helping write the ASA curriculum for the 101 and 103 courses.

I catch up with Chris and Marissa Neely aboard their Choy Lee 41 Avocet. After years of living aboard and working on their boat in Ventura, CA, they’ve thrown off the dock lines and are going cruising. Their first stop? San Francisco Bay. Chris grew up sailing on the Bay and they are excited to be back in home waters. You can follow Chris and Marissa on their trip through their popular and beautifully produced videos at Sailing Avocet.

Mike Scheck is President of Scanmar International, the Bay Area company best known for making the Monitor Windvane. A long-time Bay sailor, Mike took over the company from founder Hans Bernwall in 2014. Scanmar actually sells a few different windvane models and autopilots. Mike and I talk about the advantages of different kinds of steering gear, the new emergency rudder system for the Monitor, the origins of Scanmar, as well as the challenges of making your avocation into your vocation.

Billy and Sierra Swezey are better known to their online fans as the couple behind Tula's Endless Summer. The two met at a surf shop in Florida when Billy sailed in on his small boat. Not too long afterwards both of them were living on the boat, with their dog Jetty, cruising the waters of Florida and beyond. Since then they've had a series of fixer up boats - and a camper - that they've gotten on the cheap and turned into seaworthy homes allowing them to explore further and further. Currently they're fixing up a DeFever motor yacht in Napa while waiting for their new Seawind catamaran to be constructed and delivered. They film their boat work and travels, sharing it on YouTube with over 150,000 subscribers. Their able to support themselves and their travel with the revenue that creates.

This week on OTG I discuss the U.S. Sailing Safety at Sea Seminar Lauren and I just took as well as the lithium battery conversion I am in the process of completing.

In January 2018, Caitlin Schwarzman and Jason Rucker set sail with their son Arlo and daughter Alma, from Alameda for a year-long adventure through the Pacific. Their boat Debonaire is a 44-foot double-ended wooden ketch - and is the sister ship to a boat Caitlin went cruising on with her parents in the 1970s. We discussed getting themselves and their boat ready for the trip, the adventure itself, and how it brought them closer as a family. You can find their blog at: www.ayearandaday.net

Cal Currier had never been ocean sailing, but at sixteen-years-old the Palo Alto high school student set himself a goal to sail solo across the Atlantic Ocean. A few short months later, with support from his father and New England sailmaker Sandy Van Zandt, he had learned to sail, found the right boat, and set off on his crossing. His 28 day 3,400 nautical miles trip from Massachusetts to Portugal may qualify him as the youngest to ever make the west-to-east passage. We talk about his preparation for the trip as well as the highs and lows of the crossing itself.

Martin Machado is a visual artist who finds inspiration form the sea and the people who work it. His paintings and drawings reflect the stories, landscapes and people he encounters when he sails his small boat in the California Delta, or spends six months at sea aboard a 900-foot container ship, or squats in an old cannery with other salmon fisherman in Alaska. We had a fascinating conversation that touched on everything from pirate attacks to painting landscapes. Check out Martin’s artwork at MartinMarchado.com

James Dilworth is a sailor and boat builder. He built a 17-foot catamaran, strapped it to the roof of his car, took it down to Mexico and spent time exploring the Sea of Cortez. Once, in a challenge from the Discovery Channel, he built a boat with 3-grand in 3-days and attempted to sail it to the Farallon Islands. When I first met James he was getting ready to fly to the Philippines where he’d bought a traditional dug-out canoe, outrigger sailboat to take between the islands. In this conversation he shares the highs and lows, close calls and unforgettable experiences from his many adventures.

Linda Newland has devoted a good part of her life to expanding the presence of women in the sailing. She is an accomplished sailor herself, having done numerous single-handed races, including multiple San Francisco to Hawaii Transpacs. She holds the record for the “Fastest Woman Single-handed Transpac” in a race from San Francisco to Japan, and she skippered an all-female Transpac team in 1997. Linda holds a 100-ton Captain’s License, she ran a yacht delivery service, she’s a maritime attorney, a nautical science instructor, a certified ASA instructor, and served as president of the National Women’s Sailing Association. Nearly thirty years ago she co-founded the Island Yacht Club’s Northern California Women’s Sailing Seminars, and in September went virtual to continue the tradition through the pandemic.

Justin Jenkins is a sailor, musician, and carpenter who has sailed all over the pacific. He and I have been corresponding about sailing for a few years and I recently met up with him at the KKMI where he works and lives aboard his Luders 36. We had a good conversation about the ups and down, the stress and anxiety of preparing for an ocean voyage.

Ryan May run’s his charter business, May on the Bay, out of Sausalito aboard his Catalina 34. A U.S. Coast Guard Captain, Ryan has logged over 25,000 offshore nautical miles since learning to sail as a kid in Toronto - visiting nearly 40 countries by sail. Ryan and I met because our kids went to the same school in San Francisco and quickly bonded over our similar sailing experience. Book a sail with Ryan at www.MayOnTheBay.com.

John Kretschmer is a philosopher sailor and a great storyteller - in the vein of Bernard Moitessier. As a sailor he’s logged more than 300,000 offshore sailing miles. He’s taught thousands of people about ocean sailing, imparting his knowledge in person and through his writing. He’s the author of At the Mercy of the Sea, Flirting with Mermaids, Cape Horn to Starboard, and most recently Sailing to the Edge of Time - which just last week came out as an Audio book. I sat down with John when he was in town to speak at the St. Francis Yacht Club.

Ryan Finn grew up sailing with his family in the Gulf of Mexico. At 19 he was diagnosed with non-hodgkin's lymphoma and while undergoing cancer treatment he became fascinated by single-handed sailing. Today, Finn has successfully completed three Trans-Atlantic and three Trans-Pacific crossings. Now he's about to attempt the first ever solo, non-stop sail from New York to San Francisco around Cape Horn East to West. And he’s undertaking the 14,000 voyage in a modern proa, an updated version of a Polynesian sailing canoe. Follow Ryan’s journey at 2Oceans1Rock.

Will Curry grew up cruising with his family in desolation Sound, Sarah didn’t. But she did grow up reading about families that were out cruising and longed to do it herself. So it’s not a surprise that on their very first date they talked about sailing to the South Pacific.  Five years later, that’s just what they were doing, aboard their own boat. In addition to sailing together, Will and Sarah work together on the family business - Hydrovane steering systems. Follow Will & Sarah on their blog: svkaiquest.com

In this second interview with Brady Trautman and Alex Blue of S/V Delos fame, we talk about their new Passport 42, Lintika - the largest boat in their Cruisers Academy fleet. The sail training school they’re running in Tahoe and Sausalito is going strong and we had a great time talking about their plans for Lintika, surviving a tsunami warning in San Francisco, and nearly striking it rich on whale poop. 

Ronnie Simpson was badly injured when hit by a rocket propelled grenade in Iraq. After coming home he discovered sailing as an exciting new way to explore the world. Since taking to the water, he’s raced solo to Hawaii, lost a keel at sea, biked across Asia, and set up sailing and surfing clinics to help other wounded veterans. Today he lives in Fiji where he’s running a board and sail shop called Mamanuca Board Traders.

Tor Johnson first set sail as a child in the 1970s, cruising across the pacific with his parents and older brother and sister. It was during these travels that a friend gave him a camera, hooking him on photography. Today his photos appear on the covers of magazine such as Cruising World, Yachting World, Sail, and Sailing. Tor and I talk about the challenges and dangers of capturing unique images of boats, waves and more. You can see Tor’s work at www.tjhawaii.com.

Cameron Albin is a marine and an Iraq war veteran who suffered a traumatic brain injury while on deployment. After being discharged from the military he found himself struggling, until he rediscovered sailing. Now, he’s started American Odysseus Sailing Foundation to help other veterans and first responders living with PTSD by taking them to sea. The organization is organizing an entry into the 2023 Ocean Globe Race with an all-veteran crew aboard a Swan 59.

Sally and Simon Currin met while planning an expedition to Mount Everest. Since then, they’ve traded in high altitude climbing for high latitude sailing, and in the process won awards from the Cruising Club of America and the Ocean Cruising Club for their navigation and exploration of Greenland’s Scoresby Sound - the largest fjord system in the world. Simon is also the current Commodore of the Ocean Cruising Club.

Federico Guerrero grew up 4 blocks from the beach in Argentina. Laura Smith Grew up next to me, in Falls Church Virginia. The two of them fell in love with sailing independently and then met at sea aboard a ship - and soon after nurtured a plan to build their own boat and sail it to Antarctica. Today they run a charter business called Quixote Expeditions out of Ushuaia, Argentina - regularly taking guests on expeditions to Antarctica aboard one of the two vessels in their fleet. I talk to them about running the business, sailing at the bottom of the world, and how they connected with yet another childhood friend of mine to start taking photography trips in conjunction with Visionary Wild.

Hank George, of Blue Heron Battery, is an engineer who has a background working in the nuclear industry. Designing his own components, he was cruising with lithium power over a decade ago, years before most people. And he’s helped many other boaters do the same. In addition to his expertise, what has impressed me with Hank as I’ve gotten to know him over the past months is the clear way he’s able to explain complex topics with generosity and patience.

Brendan Borrell is a corespondent for Outside Magazine. Along with photographer Tom Fowlks, he recently paddled from the Central Valley of California to the headwaters of the San Francisco Bay. Taking advantage of a very wet winter last year, which led to the reformation of Tulare Lake, they paddled over flooded farmland, up irrigation ditches and down rivers, braving putrid water, a sinking boat, being shot at, and nearly being arrested. An article about the adventure titled My Wild Wet and (Sometimes) Miserable Paddling Trip Through the Heart of California, with words by Brendan and photos by Tom, appears in the November/December issue of Outside Magazine.

The Race to Alaska is a wonderful race in which boats of all shapes and sizes head north from Port Townsend, Washington and end up in Ketchikan Alaska, 750 miles away. The only rules are no engines and no outside support. Satchel Douglas has done the race twice before - and joined me on Episode 9 of the show to talk about his effort as part of Team Shut Up and Drive. This time he joins me to talk about his latest attempt at the race aboard a wing foil! His story of how he qualified for the first leg of the race across the straits of Juan de Fuca is an adventure in itself. The first leg just started on Monday June 5.

In the 90’s, Susan Cole, her husband John, her 7-year-old daughter Kate, and their dog Elmo all boarded their Mason 43 for a three-year adventure though the Caribbean with ups, downs, hurricanes, and more. I talk with Susan about her recently published memoir titled Holding Fast, that chronicles her family’s cruising trip but is really a love story. From falling in love, to setting sail together, to battling the cancer that eventually took John’s life, Susan shares in vivid detail moving and meaningful moment from her life together with John.

Ben Pedersen-Wedlock grew up on boats and is an experienced ocean sailor. Anna Behrens had little to no sailing experience - until she met Ben. About a year after meeting, the two took off cruising in a 28-foot, ferro cement, William Atkins designed boat named Inga. They sailed south from San Francisco, down around South America and back up to New England, all without an engine. We talk about their 50-plus day passages, transiting the Beagle Channel, getting arrested in the Falkland Islands, running low on food and power in the dead of winter, and more.

In 1967, my father Sidney Shaw was shipwrecked on a small reef just south of Vietnam while sailing aboard an 87-foot steel schooner named Dante Deo. The crew of seven, including a young child, were attempting to navigate the reef strewn South China Sea when they struck the Bombay Reef. Over 50 years later, my dad’s memories of the disaster and survival are still vivid as he recounts the story.

When Kame Richards started Pineapple Sails in 1973, he’d only been sailing a handful of times. Forty-six years later, his business is still going strong and he’s learned a whole lot about sailmaking and sailing. In this interview we talk about his business, tides and currents on SF Bay, racing to Hawaii under a full moon, and the Alameda Community Sailing Center which he recently launched.

When Bianca Bahman and Fernanda Schlender, two Bay Area women decided to go on a surfing trip in Indonesia together they had no idea what kind of adventure they were in for. The small boat carrying them to the island resort where they were to vacation hit a reef in the middle of the night, forcing the two to take charge of the situation and fight for their lives. The two share the harrowing tale with me. Bianca also wrote the story up for the December 2020 issue of Latitude 38.

John Arndt is the owner and publisher of Latitude 38, the magazine that is fairly synonymous with sailing in the Bay Area. John started selling ads for the magazine in 1987 and in 2016 bought Latitude 38 from founder Richard Spindler. John also started, and has championed, Summer Sailstice, an event close to the summer solstice that encourages sailors across the globe to get out on the water any way they choose for a day of sailing.

Roughly 15 years ago, Barry Walton and two of his surfing buddies bought a 24-foot sailboat, sailed it out the Golden Gate, turned left, and spent months sailing down the coast to Mexico. Though the trip wasn’t at all what Barry was expecting, he brought along a camera, filmed the adventure and just recently turned the footage into a 5-part documentary called Reaching Reality.

Jim Quanci has been sailing and racing on San Francisco Bay since the early 80s. He’s raced to Hawaii 18 times, once with his whole family, once alone, and many times with his wife - whom he met while racing on the Bay. Jim has sailed many miles on his Cal 40 Green Buffalo and many more all over the world on charter boats. In this episode, we talk about what’s changed in racing over the years, his race strategy, single handing, and what he loves most about being out there on the water.

Markus Pukonen has been traveling the world for 7-and-a-half years. He’s sailed, he’s biked, he’s canoed, he’s kayaked, he’s stand-up paddlebarded and he’s pogo sticked his was around the globe. What he hasn’t done is traveled anywhere by motorized vehicle. I was introduced to Markus by a mutual sailing friend and I was excited to catch up with him just after his return to North America to hear about his amazing adventures and what inspired him to take this epic journey. You can learn more about Markus and follow his travels at RoutesOfChange.org

Cyril Derreumaux is attempting to solo paddle his kayak across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Hawaii. French-born, Cyril now lives and began paddling here in the Bay Area about a decade ago. Since then, he’s raced the Moloka’i Hoe in Hawaii, paddled the Cal100 down the Sacramento Rive, done the 444-mile Yukon River Quest race in Canada twice, and in 2016 skippered a 4-man row from CA to Hawaii - setting a world record time of 39-days, 9-hours and 56-minutes for the 2,400 mile trip. You can follow his current crossing at SoloKayakToHawaii.com

Chris Neely grew up sailing on San Francisco bay, but met Marissa in the mountains where he taught her to sail on Huntington Lake. Not long after graduating college the two bought a 1979 Cheoy Lee 41, SV Avocet, which they are taking time to extensively refit in preparation for sailing far afield. Follow them on Sailing Avocet, their popular and beautifully produced video series on YouTube documenting the work they’re doing.

When Lauren Sloss met Alex Kleeman in San Francisco, she was planning on moving to New York to study journalism. He was planning on sailing the world. They managed to do both of those things and stay together as a couple - eventually getting married and sailing far and wide together. As well as being a sailor, Lauren is a Journalist who recently wrote a wonderful article in the New York Times about a trip up to the Delta in which she explored the history and geography of the land and water.

Sonya David and Jack Patton met while sailing, and really haven’t stopped. They live together on their Passport 42, along with their cat Fathom, and together run Spirit Marine Services a business they started to do boat projects and maintenance for others. They have sailed extensively all around the Bay Area and plan to head off further afield in the near future. You can follow their adventures at TwoTheHorizon.com.

Ryan Ellison, who’s American, and Sophie Darsey, who’s French, met in Sweden. Together they learned to sail then purchased a 2007 Beneteau Oceanis 40 and set off sailing together in what they expected would be a one-year trip. Five years later they’re still cruising, having sailed from the North Sea to France, then Spain, then the Mediterranean, and then across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and up to the Chesapeake Bay. I talk with Ryan about his life-changing encounter with a goose, his traumatic single-handed transatlantic trip, training a new fuzzy, four-legged crew member, and what more than five years living and sailing aboard with his partner has taught him about life and relationships. You can learn more about Ryan and Sophie and watch their excellently produced videos at RyanandSophie.com.

At the age of 22, John Neal bought a 27-foot Albin Vega sloop and set off from Seattle headed for Hawaii. His book chronicling that voyage, Log of Mahina, became a best seller and people started seeking him out to ask: "How can I find and prepare a boat for ocean voyaging?" In 1976 he began conducting Offshore Cruising Seminars and in 1990, to meet the requests for hands-on offshore instruction, John established Mahina Expeditions. He’s sailed 342,000 miles in the South Pacific, Caribbean, Patagonia, Antarctica, Atlantic, Scandinavia and the Arctic, rounding Cape Horn six times in the process. John’s wife Amanda was featured in episode 14 of Out The Gate.

Andre Lay is licensed Captain from the Bay Area who is in the process of circumnavigating North America in a compact trawler. He’s currently in Barra de Navidad on the Mexican mainland and is soon headed for El Salvador. He is doing this trip simply to prove too himself he can, to meet people, and to see what’s out there. He’d also like to raise awareness for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but as Andre says” I’m not trying to change the world by going around it. I’m just out there to experience it.”

Cree Partridge started building boats in his parents front yard while still in elementary school. His passion for being on the water started at a young age and continues to this day. In college, he channeled his desire to be on the water into racing and traveled all over the world to crew aboard big, fast boats. He then got into boat building. For the past twenty years he’s run the Berkeley Marine Center, where he helps bring many a dream to life.   

Kevin Wasbauer is an experienced sailor, having competed in the Fastnet, the Heineken Regatta, the Transpac and many other races. In 2020 he purchased a Farr 53 named Atalanta and refit her during the pandemic in order to launch a charter business out of Monterey called Shearwater Sailing. I recently joined Kevin for a chat and a sail aboard this beautiful boat.

Ron Elliot probably has more close encounters with great white sharks than nearly any other person. Ron is a retired urchin diver who has spent countless hours underwater at the Farallon Islands. He continues to dive at the Farallons, even after a recent encounter during which he found himself facing a massive shark charging him with open jaws…. He didn’t escape unscathed. Watch Near Miss, a film by Josh Berry featuring Ron. And help support shark research at the Farallons, which has suffered a loss of funding during the COVID pandemic.

Scott Racette and Ashley Gremel met sailing in San Francisco Bay in 2016. Five years later they sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge together aboard their Pearson 365, Azimuth, to begin a trip from the San Francisco Bay to the Chesapeake Bay. Along the way they adopted a cat, transited the Panama Canal, fixed leaking through-hulls, and learned a whole lot. I talk to them about the adventure.

Ryan Foland, together with John Arndt, the Publisher of Latitude 38, recently launched a new sailing podcast called Good Jibes. The podcast, hosted by multiple members of the crew at Latitude 38, features stories and tips from west coast sailors and is focused on community, cruising, and racing. Ryan and I talk about the show’s origins and where its headed. Ryan grew on the water in Southern California and spent most every summer anchored off Catalina Island.

Rich Jepsen found his life’s work at age 14, when he was allowed to take a small boat out sailing for the day by himself. Eight years later he got his first gig teaching sailing, and he’s continued that work to the present. He was an owner, operator and CEO of OCSC Sailing School in Berkeley for over 30 years. Today, while still teaching sailing and leading sailing trips around the world, he’s also Vice President of U.S. Sailing. In 2017 Rich received the Timothea Larr Award for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of sailor education in the United States.

Captain Heather Richard, a good friend of mine, was one of the key inspirations for this podcast. She was my very first guest and I’m thrilled to have her back on the program for episode 101. She lives and runs a charter business in Sausalito called Fine Day for Sailing aboard her 43-foot sailboat Carodon. A U.S. Coastguard licensed captain, Heather’s been sailing since the age of 4 and more recently she’s picked up wing foiling. We talk about winging, her recent sailing trips down to Baja, homeschooling three kids along the way, and her sailing plans for the future.

The former editor of Good Old Boat magazine got into sail ing when his mother mistakenly subscribed to Cruising World when he was a kid. He met his wife Windy through a Latitude 38 crew list and ended up cruising together aboard an Newport 27 down to Mexico, through the Panama Canal and around the Caribbean. Later, they set sail again, this time with their two daughters, aboard a Fuji 40 and sailed up to Alaska, down to Mexico and across the Pacific to Australia. Along the way he started writing for sailing magazines and ended up running Good Old Boat.

In 2008, Behan and Jamie Gifford set sail from Seattle with their three children, Niall, Mairen, and Siobhan. Their Stevens 47, Totem, took them down to Mexico, across the pacific, and beyond. Almost exactly ten years later they crossed their own track, completing a circumnavigation. They are currently in Mexico, where they had planned to set sail for another Pacific crossing, before the Coronavirus pandemic put those plans on hold. You can follow their adventure at sailingtotem.com

Wilbur Spaul has been sailing since the 70s. For over 40 years he’s dreamed of crossing oceans in a tiny boat. On September 27, 2020 he will leave Berkeley, head out the Golden Gate and attempt a record breaking sail to Hawaii in a 9-foot sailboat called Chubby Girl. The San Francisco sailing community has rallied around Spaul to help him bring this dream to fruition. Now it’s time to start the adventure. You can follow his voyage at www.ChubbyGirlCruising.com

In March of 2021, during the Corinthian Yacht Club Midwinter race, Jim Diepenbrock was dismasted while sailing his Swan 48, Wingman 5. It was a dangerous situation, but Jim handled it with a calm demeanor that allowed him to get his boat and his crew safely back to the dock. We talk about this incident and other scary situations he’s encountered while racing on the west coast.

In part two of this two part interview, Elana Conner talks about sailing solo across the Pacific: what made her think she could accomplish it in the first place, what lessons she learned after she got out there, and why it’s made her feels more like herself than ever. We talk weather, electronics, and the frustrations of sailing in the wrong direction. Follow and support Elana at www.peregrinasails.com

Andy Cross grew up daysailing and cruising with his family in Michigan. He made his first offshore passage at 19 and he’s been working in the sailing industry pretty much ever since. In 2012, Andy and his wife Jill bough a Grand Soleil 39, named her Yahtzee, and threw off the lines to live aboard full time - raising two boys aboard the boat. They’ve sailed the Salish Sea, the Inside Passage, Alaska, San Francisco, Mexico, through the Panama Canal, Down to Columbia and beyond. Read Andy's blog at sailingyahtzee.com

Graham Balch is the Managing Broker at Green Yachts - a new brokerage in San Rafael that is dedicated to selling, servicing and promoting electric boats. He shares with me the latest advances in electric propulsion and other green technology for sailboats. Graham recently spent time with Kika and Dan of Sailing Uma to test sail a Salona 46 in Croatia and you can see their video review of that boat here.

At 10-years-old, Malcolm Morgan fell into boat maintenance when his family bought at Hobie Cat dealership after having sailed exactly once. He quickly took to doing electrical work and over the past 50 years has built up an expertise that is nearly unparalleled. Malcom works as a yacht broker for Oceanic Yachts and runs a marine electrical business, Malcolm Morgan Marine In our conversation, he shares his thoughts on proper grounding, lightning protection, lithium batteries and more. 

Tyler Walkey and Julie Sinusia fell in love with a ketch rigged Ingrid 38 in Monterey. Trouble was they needed to get it down to Los Angles within days of purchasing her because they had flights home to Japan they had to make. That’s where I came in. They posted online looking for experienced crew and I happened to have the time to join them for the few days it would take to sail down the coast. I recorded this interview with Tyler and Julia while we were at sea, underway between Monterey and LA. 

This week we go below the waves to learn more about how what we humans do on the water while fishing, sailing, or shipping impacts humpback whales and other marine mammals. I’m joined by Kathi George and Bekah Lane both of whom work with the Marine Mammal Center in Marin. Kathi, Director of Field Operations and Response at the Marine Mammal Center, works on whale entanglement prevention. Bekah is a graduate student researcher at the Marine Mammal Center studying the risk of ship strikes to humpback whales in the Bay.

Erden Eruç is an accomplished ocean rower who is the first person to complete a solo circumnavigation by human power and the first to row the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. In the spring of 2021 he launched his boat from Crescent City with the goal of reaching Asia and climbing Mount Everest. He stopped in Hawaii to fix some gear and better time his crossing. That’s where I caught up with him before he departed on the next leg of his adventure. During his crossing , he’s partnering with the Ocean Recovery Alliance to raise awareness about plastic in the ocean. He’s currently in the Pacific and you can track his progress at westboundrower.com

Stan Honey is a professional navigator, inventor and businessman who’s won 11 Transpacs, the Volvo Ocean Race and set a non-stop circumnavigation record a transatlantic speed record. In addition to being a successful navigator he’s an accomplished inventor and businessman. He pioneered on-screen navigation for cars, and invented the technology that superimposes the first down line in yellow for football game. He and his wife, Sally Lindsay Honey, race and cruise aboard their Cal 40 Illusion.

Ryan Nelson has loved being on the water from a very young age. As a kid he cobbled together logs, a pole, and some fabric into a sailing raft. Today, as the owner and operator of Rogue Rigging, he’s still working on boats - and loving it. He spent nearly a decade rigging for West Marine before striking out on his own. I sat down with Ryan in his rigging shop at the Berkeley Marine Center and we talked about his business, his four boats, and his passion for racing on San Francisco Bay.

Joe Balderrama loves the feeling of sailing alone - and he’s done a lot of it both in the San Francisco Bay and across oceans. He’s currently the Commodore of the San Francisco Bay Singlehanded Sailing Society. We talk about everything from the Three Bridge Fiasco to surviving squalls in the Pacific.

Bernard Dunayevich owned one of the first windsurfers in Argentina and taught himself how to rig and sail it in piranha infested waters. But he says the main disincentive from falling in was the cold water and lack of a wetsuit. He’s come a long way from that first heavy board, having raced all over the world and even making a bid for the Olympic Games. Today he sails regularly out of Berkeley.

Brady Trautman and Alex Blue are a filmmaking and sailing due who met cruising on SV Delos. For the moment, they’ve left the high seas and are starting a new adventure on Lake Tahoe - a sailing school called the Cruisers Academy. I talk with Brady and Blue about their time sailing on Delos, their adventure sailing in Svalbard, the resulting documentary series “80 Degrees North,” and their new ventures in Tahoe and beyond.

Isabel Lardner has sailed many miles on tall ships, something I’ve always dreamed of doing. She share stories of her time at sea and describes what it’s like sailing these special ships.

Jamie and Behan Gifford have been sailing their Stevens 47, Totem, around the world for more than a decade. They raised three children aboard but are now empty nesters, planning the next chapter of their cruising life. Lauren and I joined them aboard Totem to discuss life afloat, upgrades to their beloved boat, their successful coaching business, and their upcoming sailing plans. (Photo by Jill Hearne)

Andy Schell, along with his wife Mia Karlsson, founded the ocean sailing business 59 North to share the wisdom of the high seas. Lauren and I sailed with them in July of 2019 and that’s when I last had Andy on the show. Since then Andy and Mia have grown 59 North by leaps and bounds. In this episode, I catch up with Andy to hear about the changes and the difficulties and stresses they’ve faced in building the business and how he attempts to find balance while pushing boundaries.

In January, Ryan Finn left New York on a single-handed, non-stop passage to San Francisco around Cape Horn - a feat that’s never been done. But only a day out from shore he heard a bang and found a gaping hole in the hull of his 36-foot proa. He was able to make repairs and limp back to the east coast of the United States. After interviewing him before his departure (Episode 62), I caught up with him again briefly to hear about the incident, the aftermath, and his plans for the voyage moving forward. He’s set up a Go-Fund-Me campaign to help with the costs of the voyage.

My parents, Sid and Rebecca Shaw have been sailing together for over 50 years. Starting in the 60s as a newlywed couple aboard their 33-foot ferro-cement ketch and then later aboard their 35-foot Hallberg-Rassy, they cruised all around the world. We talk about how they got into cruising and what kept them at it. From learning to sail in Florida to a near sinking in St. Thomas, they share stories from their time together at sea.

Ryann Finn departed New York in January of 2022. Just over three months later he arrived here in San Francisco, having sailed his 36-foot proa sailboat 14,000 nautical miles - down the Atlantic, around Cape Horn, and back up the Pacific to San Francisco. He faced multiple challenges, including broken gear that required stops in Brazil and Patagonia, plenty of storms, and frustrating calms in the Pacific as he neared his destination. He talks about his adventurous passage and adjusting to life back on land. You can follow Ryan on Facebook at 2Oceans1Rock.

Jeff Cote is the founder and owner of Pacific Yacht Systems. He and his staff provide custom marine electrical solutions for boaters. He thinks of his work less as providing a service and more as enabling dreams. He started the company after buying his own boat and having to redo the electrical system because it was causing him such grief. He wasn’t going to let his dream die due to gear frustrations. And he’s now helping others keep their dreams alive and head off into the blue with systems that allow them to be disconnected and self-sufficient for days, weeks or months on end.

The Rosie G is an innovative, new, scow bowed, junk rigged, boat that came from the mind of Barry and Samatha Spanier. She was designed by Jim Antrim and built by Cree Partridge and his yard at the Berkeley Marine Center. All of these folks are friends of the show, which is why it was such a treat to sit in the dog house on Rosie G in the Emeryville Marina and talk with Barry and Samatha about the boat’s conception, construction, and coming sea trials. 

Lisa Chapin Bullett Grew up sailing sunfish off the beach in Florida. Later, while living in Texas, she jumped to sailing bigger boats thanks to a program called SailTime in which members share boat access. Today, after cruising the East Coast, the Caribbean, and the Pacific as crew aboard various boats, Lisa is the owner of Sailtime San Francisco. As a licensed captain, Lisa has a passion for introducing people and families to sailing in whatever way works best for them.

Years ago, Jim Hancock conceived of a hands-on, interactive learning center that would inspire a passion for sailing and science by delighting people through play and discovery. Jim and I talked about the Sailing Science Center four years ago when he was on the podcast. Since then the center has come a long way. They’re up and running with regular programing and an army of volunteers. In fact, this coming weekend on June 24, you can catch up with Jim and see and play with Sailing Science Center exhibits at the Oakland Yacht Club’s Summer Solstice event.

Kimball Livingston covered sailing for the San Francisco Chronicle for fourteen years. He then moved to a position as the West Coast Editor for Sail Magazine. His assignments took him around the globe and had him covering everything from local races to the America’s Cup. His coverage has been seen and heard on NPR, Radio New Zealand, and the CBS Evening News. He’s a past Commodore of St. Francis Yacht Club and current Chair of Junior sailing at the club.

Heinz Baumann learned to sail on lakes in Europe, but was introduced to a whole new world of sailing and racing when he moved to the Bay Area. He’s sailed his boat Rageboge, a 38-foot Hallberg Rassy, down to Mexico with his family and across the Pacific in the 2022 Pac Cup. More recently, he’s started a charter business called Swiss Adventures and he takes paying crew sailing in Alaska, all the way from Seward out to. Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands.

James Frederick was recently awarded the 2021 Qualifiers Mug from the Ocean Cruising Club for sailing 2,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean, 1,000 of those without a rudder. We met up in Annapolis the night before he received his award to talk about his rudder failure, steering by drogue, and how he went from being an artist, and taxi driver to an ocean cruiser aboard his 1965 Alberg 30 Triteia. He’s currently cruising in French Polynesia and you can follow his adventure at www.svtriteia.com.

Noelle Brewin and Laura Levy met while sailing on San Francisco Bay. They bonded over a desire to create quality sailing apparel for women. Together the recently started Somand and launched the Farallon Jacket with an anatomical cut, and many other design features, specifically crafted for women. We talk about getting the business up and running during the pandemic and their plans going forward.

Jim Antrim, often called the Wizard of El Sobrante, is a naval architect who apprenticed under Dick Carter, Britton Chance and Gary Mull. He’s designed record breaking multihull and monohull sailboats as well as popular production boats. He’s an expert in composite material engineering and has developed several computer programs used in performance analysis and prediction. I met him in his office to talk about many of his designs and how he got into naval architecture in the first place. 

Tim Henry is a man of many talents. He’s a sailor, a surfer, a windsurfer, a journalist, and an artist. Until recently Tim was Managing Editor at Latitude 38 and he’s uncovered some great stories for the magazine covering the Sausalito general plan, anchor outs in Richardson Bay, the Berkeley marina, and more. We talk about all of these things in this wide-ranging conversation.

Michael Rohde is rebuilding - bow to stern, keel to masthead - a late 70s Cape George 36 named Akela. He welcomed me aboard the boat last August when it was on the hard at Napa Valley Marina. He’s jumped into this major project with both feet and is making good progress. Inspired by other YouTubers, he’s documenting the entire refit on his channel RohdeSoda.

Stan Honey is a professional navigator, inventor, and businessman who’s won 11 Transpacs, the Volvo Ocean Race, and set a non-stop circumnavigation record a transatlantic speed record. In addition to being a successful navigator he’s an accomplished inventor and businessman. He pioneered on-screen navigation for cars, and invented the technology that superimposes the first down line in yellow for football game. He and his wife, Sally Lindsay Honey, race and cruise aboard their Cal 40 Illusion.

Last time Ronnie Simpson was on the show, in 2020, we talked about being wounded by an RPG in Iraq and how sailing saved his life. This time, Ronnie and I talk about his preparation for the upcoming Global Solo Challenge, a new round-the-world sailing race. He’s currently in North Carolina preparing his boat Sparrow, an Open 50, for the race. You can follow his effort at www.RonnieSimpsonRacing.com

Ernie Koepf has seen the many sides and many eras of commercial fishing on the west coast. He grew up fishing with his family out of Half Moon Bay, and took to the life, buying his own boat to search the seas for crab, salmon, herring and more. His book Opening Day is a fictionalized account of his life and it’s a story beautifully told. Ernie will be reading his writing at the 8th annual Suasalito Community Boating Center Herring Festival on January 27th. Get your tickets here.

Matt Rutherford made a name for himself when he completed a solo, 309-day, non-stop, record-breaking trip around the Americas in a 27-foot Albin Vega. Today he’s focused on putting the finishing touches on a 72-foot, Brucer Roberts designed steel schooner that will be the flagship of his non-profit: Ocean Research Project. Matt and I talked about the 60-day research expedition he and Nikki Trenholm undertook from San Francisco to Japan in a 30-foot daysailer they built in about a month.

In 1999, at age 29, Clark Beek sailed out of Newport Harbor aboard his 40-foot Ketch on what he thought would be a year-long cruise. Ten years later he sailed into San Francisco, bringing with him stories of being torn apart by a Rottweiler, having dengue fever in Costa Rica and dysentery in India, going through a bloody insurrection in Fiji and a tsunami in Thailand, running aground on shoals and reefs, sailing through storms, and being run over by a container ship! Clark is a journalist who has written for nearly every sailing magazine out there. Check out his writing at http://condesa.org/

Marga Pretorius stumbled into sailing while a freshman at UC Berkeley and quickly realized if she wanted to head off towards the horizon on her own boat one day she’d need to learn how to fix all things nautical. Work on her own vessels and a career at the Berkeley Marine Center had her tackling all kinds of boat projects. Today she lives and cruises aboard her Kelly Peterson 44 - with an impressive collection of tools that she clearly knows how to use - as illustrated in her May 2021 Cruising World article. She’s recently started a marine surveying and consulting business called Dogfish Boatworks so you too can benefit from her expertise.

Patrick and Tara Franz, and their son Everest, started sailing about five years ago after moving to the Bay Area. It wasn’t long afterwards they started thinking about living aboard and cruising to distant destinations. The boat they've chosen for the journey is a 68-foot, Britton Chance designed aluminum racer from 1971. The Pandemic has added another element to cruising, but the Franz family continues to travel and enjoy their adventure. You can read their latest updates at svpandion.com.

Philippe Jamotte took up sailing in 2013. In October 2020, he departed San Francisco trying to set a new record for the fastest westward solo, non-stop circumnavigation in a boat under 40 feet. He’s not one to do things by halves. A few of his past passions include long-distance motorbike racing, triathlons, and pottery. Since getting into sailing about seven years ago, he’s crossed the Atlantic as crew in the Clipper race, won the 2018 Transpacific Yacht Race in an Olson 30 named Double Espresso and set his sights on this solo circumnavigation. You can follow his journey at pjsails.com

Mark Hensley, knows sailing - he’s sailed his entire life. But he’s spent most of his time on the water at sea as captain of an oil tanker during a 20-year career with Arco Marine. He’s got plenty of stories from his time on the water and subsequent years teaching at the Maritime Academy in Vallejo, CA.

When Lin met Larry Pardey in Newport Beach in 1965 he was just starting to build Seraffyn a 24.4-foot Lyle Hess designed cutter. The two quickly became inseparable and went on to sail more than 200,000 miles together, circumnavigating twice. Together they wrote twelve books on sailing and inspired many would-be cruisers with their “go simple, go small, go now,” philosophy. Larry passed away in 2020, but Lin continues to sail, and she shares in this interview sailing stories from the past and the present, including an inspiring tale about the Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors.

When Jason Brown started asking around about the possibility of freediving in San Francisco Bay people told him it was impossible. But my friend Jason has never been one to let impossible stand in his way. Together with his buddy John Prins he’s pioneered freediving just inside the Golden Gate in water that’s cold, dark, and frequented by massively strong currents. Not only has he attracted the attention of the press - with a recent front page article in the San Francisco Chronicle - but he’s attracted the attention of the world’s preeminent free diver - Alexey Molchanov who recently joined Jason here in the Bay.

As my wife, two daughters and I prepare to move aboard and sail south aboard Dovka, our 1981 Hallberg Rassy 352, the four of us sit down with my parents Sid and Rebecca shaw to talk about the boat--which they used to own--and our coming travels. Follow our trip at www.Dovka.com

My wife Lauren Keane and I share a love of adventure. I brought sailing to the marriage. She introduced me to long-distance, back-country hiking. To celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, we traversed the High Sierra Trail, a 72-mile hike across Sequoia National Park that took seven days and ended on Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48. Lauren joins me in this episode to debrief the trip and discuss the similarities and differences between backpacking and cruising.

McKala Bower is a trans woman who only started sailing a short while ago, but she’s got big ambitions to be the first trans and first openly gay person to circumnavigate solo. She’s always loved adventure and the outdoors and we talk about how at 25, a near-death experience in the mountains actually led her to coming out as trans. Now she’s tackling an adventure on the sea aboard her sailboat S/V Swirl, a San Juan 30, built in 1977. Learn more about McKayla at whoismckaylabower.com