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On the Wind Sailing

Celeste Pomerantz // To Svalbard in Search of Un-skied Couloirs

On the Wind Sailing

Andy Schell

Sports, Wilderness, Places & Travel, Society & Culture

4.8593 Ratings

🗓️ 22 June 2023

⏱️ 68 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Celeste Pomerantz wasn't a sailor until she signed up for a sail & ski trip out of Tromsø, Norway, that was headed north in search of un-skied peaks in Svalbard. The boat was called SOFIE, and was owned and skippered by friend of 59º North, Mats Grimsaeth. I discovered Celeste in the ski film Wavy 2 about the adventure and immediately reached out to her. We talked about sailing in the Arctic, her upbringing in the mountains of western British Columbia, similarities between big mountain skiing and offshore sailing, managing fear, 'imposter syndrome' and her studies in renewable energy.

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If you liked this conversation you'll LOVE The QUARTERDECK, 59 North's 'deep dives on the art of seamanship.' Join our interactive community and get involved in the conversation at quarterdeck.59-north.com. First two weeks FREE, then multiple pricing options thereafter. 

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ON THE WIND is presented by Forbes Horton Yachts. Get in touch with Forbes today about buying or selling a boat. The show is also presented by Blu3, makers of compact shallow-water tankless diving systems. 

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Okay, Mia. Tell me your name and what you had for breakfast. My name is Mia, and I have not had

0:04.9

breakfast. I just climbed out of bed. You can tell. What time is it? It's 720. All right, so Mia,

0:14.4

you and I are in Annapolis, and it's kind of like old times doing boat work on falcon having micah over last night

0:21.6

Lee was here doing the engine stuff how does it feel to be back hands-on working on the boat

0:26.5

it feels like we haven't learned anything wait what do you mean we're still doing the same thing

0:33.0

no i think it's great it's really fun to be able to able to, you and me be able to do boatwork together.

0:40.3

Despite it, I actually love working on the boats with you. It's fun.

0:44.3

Can you describe what you were actually doing last night in the Lazaret? Because I'm not sure that's actually fun.

0:49.9

The concept is fun, but what were you actually doing last night?

0:53.0

Well, yeah, I was a pretzel in the in the lacerette, trying to remove some nuts from some paddice that was mounted all the way after on the deck. So I was laying in the pit, sweating. Yeah, so the physical thing is not fun. It's like anything, exercise. It may not be fun in the actual moment, but it's very rewarding. Yeah, I agree. So we got a couple more days of maintenance, and then I'm off to Lunenburg next weekend, and you and Axel are off back to Sweden. You haven't been home since April. Have you even allowed yourself to think yet that you're going to be home in one week from tomorrow? No, I'm trying to enjoy the moment because we are in the U.S. hanging with all the friends here. And really going to be nice to go home, but it's also really fun to be here. And Appalice is kind of our home. We know so many people here. You haven't been on the podcast since your seventh transatlantic. So just give us a quick, not a recap, but how did it feel to be back at sea this was by far

1:45.9

the longest you've been away from home since axel was born and the longest you've been on the

1:50.2

boat so how did that feel well i think the first uh i flew down to las palmas and met up with

1:55.0

adam and i think i share the impression that a lot of cruiser on Falcon, when I first came down to her,

2:00.9

I was a bit overwhelmed because she looks like a big boat. She's a big boat. But I was a bit

2:06.1

overwhelmed when I first stepped on her and said, oh man, she is big. Like what have we done?

2:10.5

Yeah. But then as soon as you like live on her and like spend time on her just for a day or two,

2:16.5

she shrink in a good way. and she's just a sailing boat.

2:20.5

But the trip was amazing.

2:22.4

Sailed with Chris for the first time, which was great.

2:25.3

Had amazing crew both trips.

2:27.1

We always have amazing crew, but it was really fun.

2:29.8

And light wind, which would have been nice to have a few extra knots, but surprisingly we had no squalls.

...

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