The Mariner
Light hearted & filled with personal anecdotes and amusing tangents, the Mariner Podcast shares the wealth of knowledge & experience accumulated by a sailor who has covered more miles on the world‘s oceans, than the distance from the Earth to the Moon. Each episode, solo circumnavigator Chris Stanmore-Major, talks about all things sailing from how to flake a line and prepare a meal on a family cruising voyage to how to race through the Southern Ocean on an Open 60.
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Episodes
Thursday Nov 24, 2022
Thursday Nov 24, 2022
In this episode we investigate handling lines- a wide and varied subject that tests my abilities to stay on subject and not launch into exponential tangents! I try to make the case for not just doing things 'as they have always been done historically' particularly with regards to storing rope, and to be sympathetic to the needs of a new generation of rope types that require different husbandry both when working and when being stored. In trying to stay on point I look at the major line handling stations on the boat and talk through the skills required to be safe and effective. Finally I take a brief look at mooring and anchoring and the specific challenges these line handling situations create.
If you recognize that creating this content requires hours of effort and you would like to help support for the equivalent of 25 cents per episode please visit my Patreon Site at https://www.patreon.com/themariner and select the $5 per month 'crew' option.
If you have any questions please send them to: csmthemariner@gmail.com
Thursday Nov 17, 2022
Thursday Nov 17, 2022
Questions & Tangents is your opportunity to get to the bottom of those nautical problems that keep you awake in the middle of the night such as, 'Is electronic log keeping really a Thing'? & 'Which boat would Chris have if money and maintenance were not an issue?'
You guys lay awake at night thinking about some weird things... but its my pleasure to share my answers- if you can stand the tangents!
Just before you go....
If you recognize that creating this content requires hours of effort and you would like to help support for the equivalent of 25 cents per episode please visit my Patreon Site and select the $5 per month option.
If you want to get out on the water on a race, regatta or training voyage you can book with me here: Spartan Ocean Racing & Training
If you have any questions please send them to: csmthemariner@gmail.com
Cheers,
CSM
Tuesday Nov 15, 2022
Tuesday Nov 15, 2022
Another on deck report! This time passing through islands just before I arrive in Iceland. It’s super light winds, flat seas and a rare opportunity to chat and appreciate the scenery as we transit within a few hundred meters of sheer stratified cliffs- Iceland at it’s best:)
Patreon On-Line Seamanship Course
If you would like to develop your seamanship skills and overall safety at sea- check out the options to receive the regular Seamanship Training Videos, extra podcast and YT content over on my Patreon page.
Check out The Mariner Patreon Page here https://www.patreon.com/themariner
Friday Nov 11, 2022
Friday Nov 11, 2022
The loss of Colin Golder from his boat 'Morgan of Mariette' in the 2022 Newport Bermuda Race shocked the race officers and participants alike. In this episode, in an effort to learn from this incident, and in so doing memorialize Colins' memory, I go through the incident report prepared by US Sailing and attempt to distil what lessons I can with the intention of increasing the sailing community's understanding of what was done correctly, what could have been improved and discuss how ongoing Safety at Sea training could be modified to help prevent similar accidents in the future.
Patreon On-Line Seamanship Course
If you would like to develop your seamanship skills and overall safety at sea, check out the options to receive the regular Seamanship Training Videos, extra podcasts and YT content over on my Patreon page.
Check out The Mariner Patreon Page here https://www.patreon.com/themariner
Tuesday Nov 08, 2022
Tuesday Nov 08, 2022
No mistake made in the title! I wish to put forth the concept that we should be referring to the 'Triangle of Bermuda' rather than the 'Bermuda Triangle' to correctly identify a patch of the world's oceans that contains a known set of meteorological, navigational, oceanographic and seamanship challenges that together have indeed caused a number of ships to go missing over the period of time man has been traversing those waters and keeping logs of their experiences.
Is it aliens, worm holes or time travellers? No, and therefore the term 'Triangle of Bermuda' needs to be thrown out.
To me the tall tales that surround this area constitute a kind of straw man argument for caution which once disposed of by a rational mind could lull the unwary into thinking we in fact should not give this area any more of our focus than any other, and THAT would be a mistake.
Let us instead recognize and consider the perfectly explainable but manifold risks that the 'Triangle of Bermuda' contains for the sailor, and plan accordingly.
Patreon On-Line Seamanship Course
If you would like to develop your seamanship skills and overall safety at sea, check out the options to receive the regular Seamanship Training Videos, extra podcasts and YT content over on my Patreon page.
Check out The Mariner Patreon Page here https://www.patreon.com/themariner
Friday Nov 04, 2022
Friday Nov 04, 2022
As we continue to move through the excellent RYA Sea Survival Handbook by Keith Colwell we come to the piece of safety equipment that most sailors have the most familiarity with. We live in an age of miracles where now, falling into the cold, black waters of the Atlantic in the middle of the night MAY not actually be a death sentence, but for a lifejacket to have a chance of saving your life it needs to be correctly fitted, maintained and optioned (Spray shield, light, whistle, AIS beacon, crotch strap etc) PLUS you need to know how to use it and how to improve your chances of being seen.
Patreon On-Line Seamanship Course
If you would like to develop your seamanship skills and overall safety at sea- check out the options to receive the regular Seamanship Training Videos, extra podcast and YT content over on my Patreon page. There you can also enter exciting monthly draws to win fabulous sailing prizes!
Check out The Mariner Patreon Page here https://www.patreon.com/themariner
Monday Oct 24, 2022
Monday Oct 24, 2022
Something different! a book review of one of the books I have just read over on my other podcast Rare Nautical Reads
This is my thoughts having just read this famous French text (wonderful translated by Brian Connell) that charts the voyage of Dr Alain Bombard across the Atlantic in a 12ft rubber raft, with no food, and no water, in 65 days. Alone.
It is a most remarkable story, rendered even more heroic when one discovers that Bombard only undertook to complete this voyage to prove a method of survival that may aid those unfortunate enough to be shipwrecked. It could possible aid up to 50,000 people a year in 1950.
I think this text has important lessons to teach us as sailors today who rely solely on modern electric life saving devices. One needs to know that if those luxuries are suddenly unavailable, for whatever reason, and you have to enter a raft, you are going to need a plan. Bombard provides it.
Patreon On-Line Seamanship Course
If you would like to develop your seamanship skills and overall safety at sea- check out the options to receive the regular Seamanship Training Videos, extra podcast and YT content over on my Patreon page.
Check out The Mariner Patreon Page here https://www.patreon.com/themariner
Friday Oct 21, 2022
Friday Oct 21, 2022
Another on deck report and in this one you join me sneaking through the Pentland Firth, a narrow channel at the very top of the Uk mainland. It's midnight, the wind is very light and the coast is very close by: listen in as I discuss keeping such situation safe, keeping on top of the navigation and of course- getting the coffee in!
Patreon On-Line Seamanship Course
If you would like to develop your seamanship skills and overall safety at sea- check out the options to receive the regular Seamanship Training Videos, extra podcast and YT content over on my Patreon page.
Check out The Mariner Patreon Page here https://www.patreon.com/themariner
Monday Oct 17, 2022
Monday Oct 17, 2022
Sea Survival - Cold Water Survival
It is one of my greatest fears. entering cold water in an uncontrolled manner and dying prematurely due to my lack of experience in such an environment. After making this podcast today I am forced to realize that just taking a weeks worth of cold water showers could-statistically- make me 50% more likely to be able to hold it together long enough for a vessel to change course, find me and save me.
Let's see if I am able to convince you of the same thing as we take this opportunity to talk facts about what it is to enter cold water off the side of a boat. The statistics are terrifying but it does seem to be that there is a lot we can do to prepare ourselves mentally and physically for a cold water survival situation. As winter descends in the Northern Hemisphere- the scene is set for us all to get a lot tougher with regards cold water and increase our likelihood of surviving cold water shock
Patreon On-Line Seamanship Course
If you would like to develop your seamanship skills and overall safety at sea- check out the options to receive the regular Seamanship Training Videos, extra podcast and YT content over on my Patreon page. There you can also enter exciting monthly draws to win fabulous sailing prizes!
Check out The Mariner Patreon Page here https://www.patreon.com/themariner
Tuesday Oct 11, 2022
Tuesday Oct 11, 2022
First On Deck Report
For the longest time I have been struggling with how to create a podcast episode at sea with all of the environmental noises that make life on deck interesting and evocative BUT which also play merry hell with recording on a microphone. Well, I think I have a solution and whilst it's early days this episode is an opportunity to see how this content 'goes down' and gives me a starting place to build my skills.
For this episode you join me in the North Sea to the East of England, Solo on Osprey and dodging wind farms on the way to Iceland.
Patreon On-Line Seamanship Course
If you would like to develop your seamanship skills and overall safety at sea- check out the options to receive the regular Seamanship Training Videos, extra podcast and YT content over on my Patreon page. There you can also enter exciting monthly draws to win fabulous sailing prizes!
Check out The Mariner Patreon Page here https://www.patreon.com/themariner