Out The Gate Sailing

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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/

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.