Sailing from the POV of a Former Commercial Fisherman, Joe Drago
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Release Date: 01/19/2026
Cuba!
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
MIke and Danielle live aboard their Catalina 34 in La Paz Mexico. They recently bought another boat, a 1999 Catalina 42, in Virginia and sailed her to Panama, where I met them. On the way, they were forced to stop in Cuba to fix their motor and were able to explore and cruise a bit. We talk about their boat, Panama, poisonous snakes, immigration in the US and the current political climate, discovering surf breaks, sailing down the US East Coast, sailing to Cuba, entering and clearing in to Cuba, the Cuban people, the embargo, politics, Castro, propaganda, Cuban fishermen,...
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Exploring Alaska with Allison and James
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Allison and James bought a Catalina 30 just a few years ago, taught themselves how to sail, and took off to explore Alaska. We talk about meeting and deciding to make plans to buy a boat, learn to sail, and explore Alaska by boat; their boat, a 1979 Catalina 30, Uintah; going from an airstream to a sailboat, setting sailing goals, learning by the school of hard knocks, wheel vs tiller, towing the sailboat by rowing a dinghy, sinking and on fire, Desolation Sound, making the call to go on the first adventure, solar and batteries, lifting the anchor without a windlass, sheet-to-tiller...
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Sailing a Norseman 447 from Florida to The Bahamas and Panama, Brendan and Channel Moore
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Brendan and Channel Moore live aboard and sail a Norseman 447. They recently sailed from Florida to The Bahamas and on to Panama. We talk about sailing across the Gulf Stream to The Bahamas, a leaking hatch, clearing in to The Bahamas in Great Cay - Berry Islands, other islands in The Berrys, fishing, the new fishing permit in The Bahamas, sharks, the San Blas islands, barracudas, trouble with the starter, a fierce squall while at anchor, trouble at Highbourne Cay, anchoring and scope, setting 2 anchors, sailing from Great Inagua to Panama in June, losing the autopilot, trees and fishing...
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Brian Hathaway, Circumnavigating on a Hunter 44DS
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Brian Hathaway was in Marina del Rey, California, where he left from in February 2022 at the beginning of his circumnavigation, during this intervierw, after completing a circumnavigation on his Hunter 44 DS. We talk about how a circumnavigation changes you, what it's like to complete one, readjusting to life in civilization, staying at a marina in California vs Mexico, haul-out facilities, an incident with a crazy doc worker at a marina, choosing a Hunter to circumnavigate and all the doubters, the pros and cons of a production boat, running warps, drogues, weather routing, weather...
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Gaurav Shinde, Lake Ontario, India, and a Life-Changing Shoulder Injury
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Gaurav Shinde lives and sails on Lake Ontario in Toronto, Canada. He was entered in the 2022 GGR with "Good Hope," his Baba 35, but injured his shoulder on the way to France and had to drop out of the race. His need for adventure was cultivated by his late grandfather at a very early age, starting with climbing and hiking in the Western Ghats of India. Gaurav was introduced to sailing at the Sea Cadet Corps Training Ship Jawahar and found what he was born to do. After winning several offshore sailing championships in India, Gaurav decided to take on the challenge of the Clipper Round The...
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James Banemalo, Sailing a Wharram Catamaran
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
James sails a Wharram catamaran with two free-standing masts side-by-side and Chinese junk rigged. I met him in Bocas del Toro, Panama, and later in San Blas, in 2023. When I interviewed him, he was in Madeira. We talk about San Blas (Guna Yala) Panama, the jungle, leaving Panama without clearing out, arriving in Colombia without a zarpe from Panama, rescuing a friend, sailing from Panama to Colombia, squalls, Islas de Rosario, the boat Banemalo - a Wharram Tiki 46, what a Wharram is, tarred nylon line, sailing a junk rig, sailing the boat on different points of sail, tacking angle, the...
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Matt Rutherford Circumnavigating the Arctic Solo, Nonstop, and Unassisted
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Matt Rutherford set off from Aasiaat, Greenland June 25th in effort to circumnavigate the Arctic Ocean solo, nonstop, and unassisted in a Valiant 42 ketch. If he succeeds, he will be the first solo sailor to have done it in one season. Matt has been on the show twice before, and is still the only person to have circumnavigated the Americas solo and nonstop. We talk about Greenland and Assiat, the port, the people, his route around the Arctic, maximizing the motoring range of a sailboat, wind conditions in the Arctic summer, diesel engines, sleep, currents and ice, the Valiant 42,...
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Ollie Bergquist, The Beginning of a Circumnavigation on a Contessa 32
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Ollie Bergquist recently sailed his Contessa 32 from California to Hawaii solo and plans to continue on around the world. We talk about Hawaii, arriving at a city after a long passage alone, learning to sail, preparing for the journey, learning on a Laser, YouTube favorites, books, the Contessa 32, the Dufour Arpege, the 1979 Fastnet, Fiji, California, sailing offshore for the first time, sailing from British Columbia to California, learning the Hydrovane, developing the confidence to pull the trigger and buy a boat and take her on a long journey as a novice, sleeping while offshore,...
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Antigua to Nassau on Galiana with the crew: Jillian Feberwee, Nick Tait, William Edelman, and Michael Youngling
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Jillian Feberwee, Nick Tait, William Edelman, and Michael Youngling sailed with Tapio Lehtinen aboard Galiana, his 1972 Swan 55 yawl from Antigua to Nassau, The Bahamas. We talk about what everyone hoped to get out of the passage, Galiana and other sailboats, sailing with and learning from Tapio, highlights of the passage, fishing, hand steering, seasickness and getting over it, sailing downwind at 9 knots, preparing for the trip in Antigua, cooking in the galley, difficult situations, comparing Galiana to other boats, sails, the Swan's companionway, sail trim, swimming in deep...
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Ertan Beskardes, GGR and MGR Competitor
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Ertan Beskardes is a lifelong sailor entered in the 2026 Golden Gobe Race. He recently completed the Mini Globe Race, in which he circumnavigated in a 19' Class Globe 5.80 sailboat. He started both the 2018 and 2022 Golden Globe Races, but retired in each. His GGR boat is a Rustler 36, formerly Matmut, Jean Luc Van Den Heede's winning boat form the 2018 GGR. He also sails a Jenneau Sun Odyssey 33. We talk about the difficulty of being suddenly disconnected from all communication with family in the Golden Globe Race, learing through experience, an electrical fire, the Mini Globe...
info_outlineJoe Drago used to be a commercial fisherman in New England and now sails a Cape Dory 45 ketch based in New York and runs Sailing Resolution, a sailing adventure charter business.
We talk about how he got involved in commercial fishing, lessons about seamanship learned from commercial fishing, fishing in foul weather, being washed overboard while longlining in the Gulf Stream, his rescue, safety gear, responding to a mayday, things commercial fishermen wish sailors did differently, towing signals, radar and AIS, sleeping while singlehanding, communication with commercial vessels, the Gulf Stream and wind against current, his boat Resolution - a Cape Dory 45 ketch, Airex foam coring, sailing a ketch, redundant and simplified systems on his boat, personal MOB AIS beacons, bronze deck fitting, chain plates, dragging anchor, sailing and climbing in Newfoundland, tips for staying warm and dry in cold wet weather, St Pierre (French island near Newfoundland), favorite anchorage in Maine, and more.
Photos and links are on the podcast shownotes page
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