Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell

Eli van den Broek is a boatbuilder, offshore sailor, and sailing instructor. He is the founder of Coolnautics, a sailtraining and coaching institute. He coached Mark Slatts in the 2018 Golden Globe Race and helped Abilash Tomy, Guy deBoer, and Etienne Messikommer in the 2022 GGR. He was the matermind and the hands behind the emergency repair of Guy's boat recently in the 2022 GGR in the Canary Islands. He has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to sailboats and sailboat construction and repair.   We talk about learning to sail, sailing as a youth, becoming a boat builder, his favorite boat that he built, the Mini Globe Race, The Golden Globe Race, Mark Slatts, the Class Globe 5.80, coaching Mark Slatts in his GGR campaign, Guy de Boer's GGR boat and repairing her in the Canary Islands during the race, what happened to Guy's boat in the 2022 GGR, more details about repairing the knee, details about the tools and materials used in the repair, epoxy vs polyester resin for boat repairs, choosing an appropriate epoxy for your project and climate, laying up epoxy and cloth and how to apply multiple coats, the problems moisture causes epoxy when setting, temperature of the epoxy, the fiberglass cloth and what to use, acetone, cleaning up, the Small Ship Race, the Coolnautics Sailing Course, Eli's Van de Stadt (steel sailboat), keels, keelbolts, methods of attachment of keels to hulls, bulkheads, his dream boat, barge yachts, more about the GGR and how we can learn from it, and more. Links and photos are on the podcast website Support the show through Patreon Sail with Sail Libra Sail with Tapio Lehtinen

Eli Westervelt and his friend Hayden Childs sailed Eli's Outboud 46 through Tierra del Fuego via South America's west coast, stopping in Lima, Iquique, Viña del Mar, and on to the canals of Chile.  We talk about learning to sail, buying an Outbound 46, losing sail battens, coming up with the idea to sail through Tierra del Fuego, choosing the right boat, going through the Panama Canal, crew dynamics, stopping in Peru, clearing customs at a soccer game, sailing upwind and up-current, avoiding longlines offshore, the Chilean scallop divers, clearing customs in Chile, getting lucky with the people you meet, loaning the dinghy to the Dominican Republic Armada, Viña del Mar, high winds, anchoring and tying ashore in Tierra del Fuego, engine trouble, sailing into anchorages, favorite moments in Tierra del Fuego, hiking, staying cold and wet, the natives, not having a heater, sailing around Cape Horn, bucket-list destinations, more anchoring, sharks, and more. Photos and links are on the podcast shownotes page Support the show through Patreon Shop for or sell sailboats at SailboatsForSale.com Get marine electrical help from Meridian Marine Electrial Shop LED navigation lights at Signal Mate 

Duarte Champalimaud lives in Cascais Portugal and sails a 1972 Swan 40. He recently sailed solo for the first time across the Atlantic Ocean.  We talk about Portugal, learning to sail on small boats, sailing in the Mediterranean, his boat, fuel tanks, osmosis, refitting the boat, adding an inner forestay, adding running backstays, having a teak deck, fear, arriving in the Canary Islands, hitchhikers, feeling like you have to prove yourself, solo sailing and if it is running away from something or selfish, solitude, discovering new places, Kirsten Neuschafer's book "All Good, K," sailing from the Canary Islands to Martinique, bananas, sailing downwind, hitting 16 knots, the windvane autopilot, pursuing our dreams, spearfishing, preventers, and more. Links and photos are on the podcast website Support the show through Patreon Sail with Sail Libra Sail with Tapio Lehtinen Shop tankless dive systems at Blu3

After many years of preparation, Dave and Beth Mortell bought a catamaran and took off with their daughter Landon and their two dogs. But tragedy struck early and they lost their boat to a fire in The Bahamas. Instead of giving up the dream, they bounced back, bought a Leopard 45 and took off from Florida again, sailing the Caribbean, Panama, and the South Pacific. They were in New Caledonia when I interviewed them. We talk about New Caledonia, clearing in to the Loyalty Islands, Sail Time and learing to sail, starting a boat fund with $200, kids on a boats, homeschooling, international travel, getting rid of stuff in order to leave land for good, monohulls and catamarans, comfort vs speed, if boats have souls, sailing with a schedule, working with a weather router, heaving-to in a catamaran, heavy weather, a boat that hit a whale and sank, life rafts, loosing their first catamaran to a fire, deciding to buy another boat and try again, bouncing back, confidence, kid boats, finding your people, making friends while cruising, loneliness and community, favorite passages, finding growth outside our comfort zones, and more. Photos and links are on the podcast shownotes page Support the show through Patreon Shop for or sell sailboats at SailboatsForSale.com Get marine electrical help from Meridian Marine Electrial Shop LED navigation lights at Signal Mate 

Colm Walker was signed up to race in the Golden Globe Race (GGR), but was not able to make the start. He was in Mexico the last time he was on the show, then sailed to Panama, through the canal, and all the way to France, solo and nonstop, in his Tayana 37. We talk about the GGR competitors, Matthew Wright's Galicia a Galicia circumnavigation, the mental strain of being stuck in light air, sailing through squalls, suffering from the desire to be somewhere else, his decision not to do the GGR (this year), sailing into the Sitran fleet on his way in to Les Sables d'Olonne, leaks in his boat, plans to do the 2030 GGR, the Golden Globe Race family, solitude, solo sailing - who enjoys it and who does not, GGR history, the point at which we feel the exhale, the passage from Mexico to Panama, sailing with an incomplete sail wardrobe, building confidence offshore, the Panama Canal, using an agent to transit the canal, the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, Guy Waites, the pass/fail mental aspect of the GGR, his passage from Panama through the Caribbean and on to France, the Windward Passage, Cuba, rough weather, sailing downwind, slowing down and dealing with difficult situations, lightning, navigation, celestial navigation, sailing without modern instruments, different reasons people enjoy sailing, a solar eclpise, listening to the boat, letting the boat swing, the zen of sailing offshore, meditation, letting go of attachment and suffering, preparing mentally for long offshore passanges like the GGR, having an external dialogue with yourself, the importance of not rushing, Spain and Portugal, a dream boat, the Mini Globe Race, and more. 

The Golden Globe Race (GGR) is underway again. Many of the skippers from past and present races have been on the podcast. In this episode, I have made a compilation of past GGR racers talking about the mental strain of the race, storms, and other difficult situations. Included are Ertan Beskardes, Guy Waites, Simon Curwen, Kirsten Neuschafer, Elliot Smith, and Pat Lawless.  Photos and links are on the podcast shownotes page Support the show through Patreon Shop for or sell sailboats at SailboatsForSale.com Get marine electrical help from Meridian Marine Electrial Shop LED navigation lights at Signal Mate 

Ambre Hasson learned to sail in 2020, then after owning a small cruising boat, she decided to train for the Mini Transat. She got the ball rolling, but lost her boat while qualifying for the 2023 Mini Transat race. Ambre persisted, got a new boat, prepared it, qualified, and completed the 2025 Mini Transat. She then sailed acrtoss the Atlatic back to France, her home country, in a Class 40. We talk about the 2025 Mini Transat, hiding from a hurricane in Peniche, Portugal, whales, hand-steering, tuning your autopilot, hand-steering pros and cons, why planing boats don't use windvane autopilots, beautiful moments on the ocean, the stars and bioluminescense, getting in tune with the weather, predicting wind shifts, squalls, thermal winds, clouds, sailing from Martinique back to France in the winter, comparing the mini 6.50 to a class 40, sailing two-handed, hallucinations, a visit from JarJar Binks, symptoms of sleep deprivation, losing her boat on the rocks in 2023 and lessons learned, and more. Photos and links are on the podcast website Sail in New England with Sailing Resolution List or browse sailboats on sailboatsforsale.com Shop tankless dive systems from BLU3 Shop sailing navigation lioghts from Signal Mate

Tim Skillman is a long-time sailor and author of "Looped: from the Staits of Mackinac to the Bitter End," a book about his mid-life-crisis journey from the Great Lakes down the Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee and Tombigbee  rivers to the Gulf of Mexico and on to the Virgin Islands on a Cheoy Lee 53. We talk about growing up racing small boats in Michigan, buying an Erickson 46, the secret to not getting burned out on maintaining a boat, lunch with Richard Branson, meeting his future wife on the beach, the journey down from the great lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, walking away from his career and family, dealing with the locks and river traffic, why he avoided the Missisippi River, entering the Gulf of Mexico, Key West, crossing the bank between Key West and Nassua, sailing to a foreign country for the first time, a shark encounter while spearfishing in The Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, guns on the boat, the Virgin Islands, an awakening, the San Blas Islands, the Guna people, aliens, and more. Photos and links are on the podcast shownotes page Support the show through Patreon Shop for or sell sailboats at SailboatsForSale.com Sail in New England / Canada with Sailing Resolution Get marine electrical help from Meridian Marine Electrial Shop LED navigation lights at Signal Mate 

Captain Ryan Rayfield runs Sail Libra, an offshore sailing charter operation aboard a 60' ketch built in 1969 by Abeking & Rasmussen and designed by William H. Tripp Jr. Based in Newport, RI. They sail around New England, to Bermuda, to the Caribbean, and will sail to the Azores and Portugal in 2027. Ryan is a USCG-licensed STCW A-2 Internationally endorsed captain. We talk about sailing from Newport around Long Island Sound and New York City, the East River closure when the UN is in session, anchoring in NYC, a failure of the exhaust anti-siphoning valve and fixing the resulting problem with water in the engine, champagne sailing, flying a spinnaker, racing vs cruising, sail changes, roller furling, dealing with the general public and taking them aboard, sailing upwind (or not), maintaining a 60' offshore sailboat, licensing required for an offshore charter operation, STCW certification, whether or not you need a USCG license to operate a charter operation in a foreign country, other certifications, chartering laws, endorsements, insurance, openings for Bermuda to St. Thomas, orcas, and more.  Photos and links are on the podcast website Sail in New England with Sailing Resolution List or browse sailboats on sailboatsforsale.com Shop tankless dive systems from BLU3 Shop sailing navigation lioghts from Signal Mate

Pure Yachts is a new German shipyard based in Kiel, northern Germany, building high-performance aluminum cruising yachts featuring hydraulic-lift keel systems, modern planing hull lines, and the use of lightweight composite materials for the interior components. Their boats use the highest quality aluminium and top-shelf components to make them long lasting, secure and fit for world-wide bluewater cruising and high-latitude expeditions. We talk about sailing in the Baltic Sea, the details of the yachts they build, custom hatches, precision design and boat building, boat performance in various conditions, the advantages of fast high-performance boats, their design philosophy and market niche, the expected lifespan of a Pure Yacht, things owners need to know about aluminum boats, the portlights, bulkheads (or not), construction of the aluminum hull, the lifting keel, dual rudders, drying out, customization, and more. Photos and links are on the podcast shownotes page Support the show through Patreon Shop for or sell sailboats at SailboatsForSale.com Sail in New England / Canada with Sailing Resolution Get marine electrical help from Meridian Marine Electrial Shop LED navigation lights at Signal Mate