An inspirational interview with Dylan Magaster who flew to South America at the age of 21 with only $1,000 in the bank and his camera gear and decided to go traveling.
He backpacked for 6 months, converted a van into his home and began creating influential short documentaries showcasing ‘Alternative Living’. After nearly two years living in a van, Dylan
decided to move to the Mediterranean in pursuit of new adventure. With just 7 days of sailing experience, he bought a 1979 Morgan 382 sailing boat and has lived aboard the ‘Arianrhod’ since.
He has now sailed more than 6,000 nm to 3 continents and traveled to 27 countries, sharing countless inspiring stories of Alternative Living. With 100 million video views on YouTube, Dylan is proof of the hunger for adventure so many of us crave.
Dylan’s main passions are adventure storytelling and sustainable living ad he is also CEO of FLORB, a successful film production company he created based in Los Angeles, California.
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David Hows shares this sneak preview of his exciting new sailing expeditions that lay ahead and the 70-foot expedition super yacht he is acquiring to make it all possible.
This is your chance to get involved, get onboard and sail to places you could normally only dream of and at a fraction of the normal cost. David is launching a unique and innovative shareholder membership program, for just 20 members in total, to make it easier for sailor’s to join him on a range of new passages, races and expeditions at a fraction of the normal crew cost (including front row seats at the America’s Cup in 2021 in Auckland).
If you have often thought about;
Then find out more by watching this pre-release video.
https://www.oceansailingpodcast.com/membership
This episode is about sharing the lessons from an initial mechanical failure that occurred in the middle of the Tasman Sea, that set off a chain of events over the course of 520nm, resulting in the Coastguard rescue of a 45-foot Beneteau yacht and its crew of 6.
As a sequel to episode 88, skipper David Hows conducts a full post mortem with the crew, who share their thoughts on what they would do differently, how they would prepare and what they got right in this multifaceted, near disaster story that took place 4 days after departing Hobart, Australia to sail 1,250nm across the Tasman Sea to Picton, New Zealand. The crew of the Ocean Gem had to face a steering cable failure in the early morning hours, followed by two crash gybes that snapped the boom preventer and broke the boom in half. What followed 500nm later was the failure of the steel emergency tiller and then the autopilot, causing total steering loss and ultimately a call for a rescue tow from while mid Cook Strait and 53nm from Nelson.
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Parlay Revival is a story about a young man from New Zealand, Colin, who spend's his life savings from a 10 year career as a Super yacht engineer, to buy a Lagoon catamaran that was badly damaged and partially sunk during Hurricane Irma and repair it in Guatemala.
With friends from all over the world they spent months fixing her up, to get her to sail around the world. The next mission was to sail across the Pacific from the Caribbean to New Zealand to make it to Auckland, Colin's home town, in time for the America's Cup, but the plans come unstuck as Covid-19 shuts down access to the Pacific Islands and the crew find themselves anchored up in Panama.
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4 days after departing Hobart Australia to sail 1,250nm across the Tasman Sea to Picton, New Zealand the crew of the Ocean Gem had to face a steering cable failure in the early morning hours, followed by two crash gybes that snapped the boom preventer and broke the boom in half. What followed 500nm later was the failure of the steel emergency tiller and then the autopilot, causing total steering loss and ultimately a call for a rescue tow from while mid Cook Strait and 53nm from Nelson.
This is a tale of determination, resilience and creative thinking by a crew of six who faced 500nm of hand steering a 12 ton yacht in seas of up to 4 metres and winds up to 29 knots, using emergency steering constructed from 2 block and tackles, an emergency tiller and bow sprit before this eventually failed too. This episode was first recorded as a Facebook Live broadcast by Skipper David Hows.
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This is the inspirational story of Amanda and Darren who decided to, give up great jobs and sell up and go sailing while in their early thirties. Whats amazing is they did not grow up around boats, they new nothing about sailing and they had not even stepped aboard a sail boat until they took their Amel Sharki "SV Panda" for a test sail.
We catch-up with Amanda and Darren in Puerto Rico about the lead up to their decision to go sailing, the boat preparation required, the costs involved, their annual sailing budget and what its been like to adapt to living on a 40 foot boat on a big ocean!
After sailing from Florida to the Bahamas and then onto Puerto Rico, they are holed up waiting for COVID-19 restrictions to ease, before considering heading north for a clockwise Atlantic circuit.
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On the eve of the 4 year anniversary of the Ocean Sailing Podcast and the 500,000 download milestone achieved this month, producer David Hows shares a big update on whats next for him. With exciting new plans for his Ocean Gem Sailing adventures he has just released in the Ocean Sailing Podcast sailing calendar, this is a bumper update from David. It also includes personal reflections on the changes and challenges he has experienced over the past 2 years and details of all of the sailing adventures and destinations he has planned ahead, to some very unique, remote and challenging locations that very few sailors ever get to.
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Guest host Paul Trammell interviews Andrew Bishop of the World Cruising Club just prior to the 2019 Caribbean 600. Andrew completed his first Fastnet Race at age 15 and was later knocked unconscious in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers in 1989, without a lifejacket on. Fortunately he survived and went on to meet Jimmy Cornell shortly after, offering to get involved in newly created World Rally for Cruisers. He joined the WCC in 1991 and helped launch and run the inaugural 16-month WRC for 35 yachts. If you are interested in joining a cruising rally, Andrew discusses the benefits that WCC cruising couples have found most valuable.
Andrew has spent a life on the water both in the Navy and as a sailor and he shares valuable advice on safety equipment for offshore cruisers, the rising safety standards that are required and he philosophy on being self-sufficient and not expecting to be rescued.
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The inspirational tale of Dave and Gabes who act on their dreams, throw in their jobs and spend 7 months sailing 5,000nm up the east coast of Australia from their home port in Hobart, Tasmania to the Whitsundays in Queensland and home again. Its a great example of whats possible if you cut out the spending on unnecessary lifestyle costs, save hard, buy a boat that fits your budget and then invest your own time in preparing it for cruising as a live-aboard.
Dave and Gabes are both passionate and practical sailors, who are living life on the water by 'working to sail' instead of 'living to work'.
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In March 2019 David Hows sailed 1,250 miles from Southport, Australia across the Tasman Sea to Auckland, New Zealand via Opua in the Bay of Islands with his crew of 4 onboard a Beneteau 45 named Ocean Gem. A fantastic 7-day reaching / running passage was enhanced by a series of unexpected events, starting with a cast alloy anchor stem bow fitting that broke in two, a broken steering cable 400nm offshore, a parade of 150+ dolphins and finally a crew emergency requiring ambulance evacuation on arrival.
This story reinforces that despite having great plans, you should always expect the unexpected and adapt to the challenges that occur along the way in almost every ocean passage.
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Behan and Jamie left great careers in the USA 12 years ago to sail the globe with 3 young children in tow. They share some of the highlights, challenges and lessons from offshore cruising with kids, their roles as a sailing couple and what its meant for their relationship.
Behan and Jamie have developed the ability to earn income as they sail and they devote a lot of time to helping others start the cruising life. Recorded onboard Totem in Mexico, they have now travelled to 48 countries and are a glowing example of whats possible if you commit a date to paper.
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James & Kimmi have sailed and free dived together since shortly after James purchased the 38 catamaran; SV Zingaro in 2016 before they met in Mexico. They share the story of their Catamaran's structural failure 60nm off the coast of Hawaii and their desperate efforts to stay afloat for several long hours while awaiting the US Coastguard's arrival. They also highlight their earlier adventures from more than 3 years of sailing the coastline and islands of South America and the Pacific and the amazing communities their travels have taken them to.
On the technical front they dive into para-anchors and drogues and recount their personal experience of what works and what doesn't in strong winds and big seas.
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David Hows shares his race experience from the inaugural 530nm yacht race from Brisbane to Hamilton Island up Australia's east coast. This unlikely tale of a 27 year old Beneteau 45 foot yacht named Ocean Gem and a rookie crew is an example of preparation, determination and seat of the pants sailing to take out the 1st place on both IRC and PHS in Division 2 and finish 7th overall in a fleet of 16, behind grand prix yachts; Wild Oats X and five TP 52's. This episode provides insights into the highs and lows of ocean racing and whats possible if you do the basics well, even when you are racing against superior yachts.
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Andy Lamont interviews Matt Andrews who started sailing on Moreton Bay with his dad as an 8 year old in the 1970’s on a Mirror dinghy followed by a 125, before moving to Balmain in Sydney and buying a Sabot before making the jump, as a 15 year old, to 16 foot skiffs.
He then left school and started sail making in Sydney before moving to Denmark and talking his way into a job with North Sails and eventually making sails for 100 foot yachts.
Norths moved Matt to Spain, which opened up the opportunity to make sails for the Telefonica Volvo 70 campaign, before moving to the Americas Cup sail loft in Valencia in 2007. A chance introduction with an Emirates Team NZ (ETNZ) member, led to Matt being employed by ETNZ a year later. Matt shares first hand lessons about kiwi creativity, resourcefulness and leadership he learned from his time at ETNZ.
This led to his next campaign as sail maker with Ken Read’s Puma Volvo Campaign in 2008/9 and then Telefonica Team in 2011/12. Matt reflects on his time, incredible career, sailing lessons and his recent change of role to father, sail loft owner and dinghy sailor on the Tweed River in New South Wales, Australia.
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I catch up with David Hanton from Bradford Marine and get deep and technical about protecting whats under your waterline. We dive into the typical issues with hull maintenance, osmosis in fibreglass and what causes it, how to know if it’s a big vs small problem, how to prevent and repair it and we talk about how significant the damage and repair bill can be.
David shares examples of shortsighted shortcuts boat owners and tradesmen take and the extra problems they cause. We talk about the product choices for owners when it comes to anti-foul paint and the differences between budget and premium and how the life expectancies differ, the paint thats better suited to warm and cold climates and racing versus cruising application options.
We discuss some of the ugly things that can happen to poorly maintained hulls and the construction materials to avoid when buying a second hand yacht. We finish up on rudders and keels and the warning signs you should pay attention to.
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With a father who went to 5 olympics as Flying Dutchman competitor initially and then as coach, Jon Bilger spent his early years around sailing. He bought is first boat after saving $250 and asking his dad to build him an optimist. In a P Class he then won New Zealand’s Tauranga Cup twice amongst a fleet of 120 dinghies that included young sailors such as Craig Monk. Then the move to the 470 and the Olympics followed along with competing in various European sailing regattas before the days of professional coaches.
Jon was thrust into the Tag Heuer 1995 Americas Cup Team as navigator and it opened the door to his newly found passion for weather analysis. From there a decade with the Swiss based, Russell Coutts led, Alinghi Americas Cup syndicate, Jon was responsible for weather modelling for the 2003 and 2007 winning Americas Cup team before the loss in 2010 to Oracle. The weather technology developed for this team led to the model that Predict Wind is based upon today and is now used all over the world by everyday sailors.
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A unique and personal insight into the reasons some of us are drawn to the sea. Taylor Grieger is a Navy Veteran that returned from 6.5 years of active service and resigned from the military, only to suffer the tragedy of his fellow veterans and buddies dying from suicide. Research shows military veterans commit suicide at a frequency of 20 per day in the USA. Taylor is a young veteran who decided to use his own painful journey to help create a smoother path for those who come after him.
Taylor Grieger and writer Stephen O’Shea set out on the sailing adventure of a lifetime, sailing around Cape Horn to raise awareness of and spark solutions for veterans' suicide. They never anticipated that their voyage would take them through 3 hurricanes and 2 tropical storms or the extreme cold and personal hardship they would suffer.
Their soon to be released documentary 'Hell or High Seas' captures the highs and lows of a personal path too often travelled.
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Paul Willison spent his early days as an outdoor education teacher and quickly migrated to working on a square rig sailing ship teaching high school kids to sail. He then set off to travel around the world and sailed on lots of different boats in unusual locations. On his return to Australia he bought the hull and decks for an Imp 33 catamaran and spent the next 3 years fitting it out in his spare time. Next came a maritime training centre with feet of six 15 foot boats, then offshore again doing coastal and blue water deliveries.
Paul tells of his 20-year love affair with his Wharram Cat, modelled on a Polynesian voyaging canoe, which he sailed the West and East coast of Australia, through Papua New Guinea and to Indonesia. His tall ship adventures saw sail as Mate on the STS Leeuwin II, a 55m long, 500-ton steel 3-masted sail training ship, voyaging from the South Australian border to Darwin and across to Indonesia, hitting speeds of 16 knots in 35 knots of breeze. Next came the role of Mate on the Batavia, a replica of the 1628 Dutch East Indies ship. Paul has recently bought a 45 Kurt Hughes performance catamaran 'Queimarla' and has set up his own sailing school on West Coast of Australia.
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Jana and Mick are not your typical semi-retired Australian offshore sailors. Surviving a head on crash in the outback at 100 km/hr at a young age, made them think differently about turning their sailing dreams into reality sooner. They worked and saved hard for the next 2 years and I catch up with them onboard their dream yacht in Florida, waiting to sail to the Bahamas. Their yacht search led to a surgeon selling his 1986 Morgan 43 for $80k. They offered $58k and it was theirs.
After lots of maintenance, upgrades, groundings, engine headaches and weeks of toil they are on the eve of departure. With a plan to sail the Bahamas for a few months, then fly home to Australia to save more money for next legs to the Caribbean and onto the Pacific, it's a great story of whats possible with determination. We also discuss boat systems and handling and share some handy tips.
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From the moment Glenn Ashby won his first A-Class Cat World Title in Spain at age 18, he demonstrated an innate ability to understand the physics in play on the water and interpret them better than anyone else in his chosen class.
As the winning 2017 Americas Cup skipper and wing trimmer for Emirates Team New Zealand and now Cup Defender for the next edition on Auckland Harbour, Glenn shares insights on the design evolution to the new 75-foot foiling monohull and how the return to some of the traditional elements of Americas Cup match racing such as; upwind starts, larger sailing teams and tacking duels have driven the monohull design and created this hybrid of both ‘tradition’ and ‘futuristic’ design that even a ‘catamaran purist’ could love.
Glenn gets technical on the physics that drive the performance of this exciting new monohull and candidly shares his thoughts on potential speeds, likelihood of capsizes, the potential for 100% fly time and the changes to crew selection strategy with the new design.
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James and Patti Hunt are Australians who truly have the traveller’s spirit, having extensively backpacked as young Australians throughout Europe in the early 1980’s. They were introduced to sailing in the chilly conditions off the south coast of England and purchased their first yacht ‘Wanderlust’ a Hurley 24 in 1987.
By 1995 they made the decision to find the ideal cruising yacht to become their travelling home and subsequently purchased ‘La Aventura’ (Spanish for ‘The Adventurer’) from Jimmy Cornell. Over the next 25 years they sailed two-handed to 73 countries and covered approximately 50,000 miles, including a circumnavigation of the UK, two seasons in the Baltic, sailing to Eastern Europe, St Petersburg, Russia, on to the Mediterranean in 2000, where they spent the next 11 summers, then Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon and Israel. By 2012 they crossed the Atlantic to the Eastern Caribbean, before spending 6 years exploring the Eastern and Western Caribbean, Panama, Cuba and east coast USA. ‘La Aventura’ is now back in the UK and for sale, having just completed a voyage from the Western Caribbean, back across the Atlantic via Bermuda and the Azores.
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Andy Schell produces the sailing podcast: 'On the Wind'. With more than 250 episodes under his belt, along with a sailing calendar that sees him tick off more than 10,000 sea miles each year, Andy eats, sleeps and breathes 'all things sailing'. Andy shares his love of sailing and podcasting in a rare and candid interview, where he's on the other end of the microphone for a change.
Andy and his wife Mia, are renowned for their generosity in sharing sailing content, knowledge and hands on adventures. I was inspired by Andy's work to launch the Ocean Sailing Podcast in 2016, so its a privilege to spend an hour with Andy, drilling into what drives him and the things that keep him awake at night.
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Deborah Dalziel is both sailor and sailing technology entrepreneur. We explore the story behind the business idea, to find out what drove Deborah, as the Founder of www.MySail.Team to create a Web and App platform, designed to make race crew management easier for boat owners and skippers, while making it simpler for race crew to access and find crew positions on new yachts for races and regattas. With more than 500 yachts and 2,500 crew using My Sail, it's really gaining traction and proving that sailors love technology, that saves time and simplifies life.
As a Canadian immigrant to Australia, who has bootstrapped her start-up with a ton of grit and determination, Deborah shares her vision, the challenges, set backs and future growth plans for My Sail and what she hopes to achieve with the product enhancements that lie ahead.
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Vernon Deck is a great example of jumping head first into sailing and just figuring it out as you go along. He learned by watching sailing videos and doing local racing as crew, then purchased a yacht, spent 3 weeks on preparation, then untied and departed. His first 3 seasons were spent sailing the 780nm passage between Brisbane and Cairn on the Australian East Coast on a S&S 34 before buying a much faster Sayer 37 yacht and heading offshore to Solomon Islands, then onto Papua New Guinea and then Indonesia.
After a lifetime of adventure and earning a living as a sports photographer, Vernon now spends half of each year in Austria earning a living and the other half onboard his yacht, cruising his way north through the Pacific.
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