Colm Walker, Pacific Mexico to France, The Mental Components of Sailing Offshore
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul TrammellShow Notes
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.
More from Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
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
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