In this episode, I speak with Mike Beemer, a marine technology instructor and sailor who sailed through the Northwest Passage in 2025.
We explore what goes into preparing for a voyage like this, including the technical readiness of the boat, planning for remote conditions, and navigating an environment where ice and weather constantly shift the situation.
Mike shares what daily life looks like on board an Arctic expedition, from continuous watchkeeping to the pace and pressure of operating in a place where there is very little margin for error.
We also talk about how his teaching background influences the way he sails, particularly in how he approaches systems, troubleshooting, and decision-making at sea.
If you’d like to explore some of the resources mentioned in the episode:
Transcript
Welcome back to the Liveaboard Sailing Podcast. I’m your host, Annika, and in the show I speak with sailors about their decisions behind their sailing lives and what it’s actually like to spend time at sea. Today I’m speaking with Mike Beemer, a marine technology instructor and sailor, who recently took part in an expedition through the Northwest passage.
Mike brings slightly different perspective as someone who not only sails, but also teaches, and we talk about how that background shaped his role in this expedition. We get into how the project came together, what it takes to prepare a boat for that kind of journey, and what it’s actually like to sail in the Arctic from navigating ice to living and working on board in a constantly changing environment.
Here is my chat with Mike.
Annika: Thank you Mike for being on the show. And [00:01:00] maybe to begin, can you tell me a little bit about this one Ocean Expedition that you were on and how you came to be part of it?
Mike Beemer: For sure. So, um, it’s one of the, the biggest, most satisfying projects that I’ve ever been involved in. I’ve been involved in marine education for 20 years. And so the way it came about is when captain Mark Schrader went around the Americas in 2009. After that expedition, he came in and talked to my students because he lives in this area.
And so he was sharing the whole experience and what he learned with students in our area. And so then when they were gonna do expedition 10 years later, but COVID hit, so then they finally got this thing launched and they were, um, looking around town and talking about it. And they came to see me because as part of the marine technology program, I had at that time refit a couple of different [00:02:00] boats.
And so like for example, for COVID, we had refit, west Sail 39 so our students could do authentic learning ’cause they couldn’t go out and work in the, um, in the yard. So I proposed to them, I said, Hey, you just bought a boat, but it’s gonna need a lot of work. Why don’t we partner? Because your whole expedition focuses on education, which is something that programs do. We’re community college, you know, and so it’s the big community. And so, uh, the seed was planted and we made a plan to move forward. They were gonna go shake down the boat, uh, for the summer and make a comprehensive list of what needed to be fixed. And then when school started in the end of September there, we hauled the boat out and worked on it.
And so by doing a complete refit over six or eight months, I worked side by side with the crew. And that’s a big part of, I think when you’re gonna do offshore sailing in a big expedition like this, is you get along great with the crew. And so I was invited to be [00:03:00] part of the, of this whole expedition as much as I could with my current job.
And so that’s, that’s how it all started. We all became great friends and worked seven days a week together and, um, you know, all share a common, vision of wanting to share and do the education and, just awareness of climate change. So it.
Annika: And you’ve kind of built this educational platform in the form of a sailboat. Uh, but also the, the educational component being that there is some education for, is it schools in the Pacific Northwest area specifically when the boat is sailing around the world?
Mike Beemer: No, it’s, um, we have schools all over the world. We have schools, on the east coast. We have Ukraine. We have, Costa Rica, Chile. We have schools all over. So the expedition we partnered with, um, exploring by the seat of your pants, which is an outfit, that Jo does, uh, amazing work where they bring [00:04:00] education to students and like our expedition and Antarctic and safaris, whatever places that, that students will never, you know, typically can’t, you can’t take a field trip, right.
And do this. And so they have over a million, followers and so they, this is what they do. And so they followed our expedition and we did live classrooms. So that was the, the big picture. And then when we stopped, we did, local schools. So, um, you know, in Nome and, in Newfoundland and everywhere we went, I have these memories of, we would contact the local schools and go in and present.
So super fun little. Little villages, you know, where you might do a K through 12 all in one room or, it would be like k through seventh grade and then your, your high school students, you know, we do a double presentation, but we get out to the schools and, and share what we’re doing.
Annika: Yeah, that is a really noble goal and or a project and I’m sure [00:05:00] very well received by the students and schools who you’re working with, both remotely and also in person and, uh, for you, ’cause I think you joined the boat, um, or the expedition part in the Pacific Northwest.
Right?
Mike Beemer: I, I did right from the launch, right from the beginning. It was here in Anacortes, Washington is where we started. And in the beginning we were doing kelp research. So one of our big projects was on the entire west side of all of the Americas, was doing kelp research, and that was our onboard scientist Grace.
Uh, she’s University of Victoria. We partnered with like four, five schools, right? I mean, not just Skagit Valley College for the refit, but with University of Victoria for kelp, university, Southern California with kelp. We did Woods Hole for buoys. So we’ve launched, uh, buoys in different places to do recordings.
We’re partnered with the UDub, so there’s 24 7 monitoring of [00:06:00] atmospheric conditions, skin temperature, seawater temperatures. So there’s just, this boat is, is is just a vessel right to go around and gather all of this data. And so it’s super cool. But yeah, I did get to go down in, in Anacortes and I had a, my normal summer off plus a sabbatical in the fall and so I was able to stay on all the way through.
Um, it was scheduled in January, of this year and I did end up getting off right at Thanksgiving because where they were heading was gonna be a long passage and so. That was the appropriate place for me to, to step off and, and come back to my regular teaching job.
Annika: Right. And uh, so you went all the way up to Alaska, then through the Northwest passage and all the way down, and where did you get off the boat? How far south
did you get?
Mike Beemer: in, San Juan in Puerto Rico. And so,
Annika: well that’s a pretty nice stretch when you look at it on the map. Hey,
Mike Beemer: Yeah, it’s a big, yeah, you look at a map that’s a, [00:07:00] it was almost 10,000 miles and, um, I had never done of course the Arctic up there. I’ve taken boats to LA and Hawaii and stuff, but I had not done the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering sea and, you know, all of those fun things.
Annika: Right. So it was your first time in the Arctic, and I wanted to ask about that because, it’s a special place. My work has also taken me to the Arctic, and I’m just wondering, did you, at what point did you realize that you were in the Arctic as you started heading north?
Mike Beemer: Well we were going west to east, obviously, so it was strange and Nome around the 4th of July, you know, endless summer and the sun doesn’t set. It was hot like we were putting on sunscreen and we were delayed by a week because we were watching the webcam up in Utqiaġvik there. There was still ice, like the ice hadn’t broken up yet.
And so that was the start of like, wow, I’m really getting into something here. [00:08:00] You know, like we, we can’t continue north because we’re just gonna run into a, a dead end. And like, it was so out of the realm of, of how, you know, like most people’s brains process things. But, about a week later we seen that the ice was breaking up and, and we went up and, and got staged and ready to go through.
So, um, I think that’s when it really set in, you know, it was like, we’re here, we’re all anxious and ready to go, but yet we can’t move because it’s still chock full of ice up there.
Annika: Yeah. Once the ice forecasting comes into the picture, then you know that you’re up in the Arctic.
Mike Beemer: yeah. Yeah. As you know, you live your lives by the, the daily ice reports, so.
Annika: Exactly. Now, I mean, the Arctic is a very special place, both environmentally, but also culturally. And like you said, you visited some of the communities along the way and I’m, I’m curious, what were your first impressions of some of the communities, which I assume would be places like Cambridge Bay or Gjoa Haven that are on the typical Northwest [00:09:00] passage route?
Mike Beemer: Yeah, so we started, um, I guess the first one was Herschel Island, which is just this amazing place that was, you know, where they did whaling. And boats would go up there. I mean long, long time ago and they wouldn’t come back until they could fill their holds. So most of these people would go for 2, 3, 4 years and they would just go up, freeze in when it would thaw.
They would go do their work, spend all winter on these boats in this little bay, right? And so you’re just sitting there and there was a, a little graveyard, and you look at the markers and a lot of really young men perished up there because the winters were so harsh. And so that was the start of just understanding the, the culture of, of how things went there.
And then in like in Tuktoyaktuk, we got to go to concerts and had locals show us around their town. And then, I mean, I had a super neat experience. We were invited to do a beluga harvest up [00:10:00] there. And so they had already brought the whale in the night before, but they talked about the science and how this is still part of their culture and how they get their winter calories and how the whale numbers are increasing because they’ve stopped all the foreign whaling.
But it’s still nobody that I knew, you know, went out and did a whale harvest. So they actually, we got to talk with like three generations of the Inuits and the older gentleman was kind of supervising and sitting there, and then the other ones were working and, you know, they took all of the blubber, which is the muck tuck, and we’re hanging it up to dry on these old wooden racks that had probably been there for over a hundred years.
And then they process all the meat real thin, and they season it now. They put ing on it and all sorts of stuff so that they can trick the kids into eating. It is exactly what they told me. And so, um, so just, yeah, [00:11:00] amazing. Every place we went to the, the hospitality was fantastic. And unfortunately the common theme with the permafrost melting is, everything’s falling into the ocean.
And so it’s like they’re all struggling just like everywhere else in the world. And so even though they have this simpler life up, you know, you think where they live, it’s, it’s not.
Annika: Yeah, no, definitely not simple and not easy anymore. Well, I don’t think it ever was easy, but it was perhaps simpler way back when. But, uh, now due to climate change it’s definitely taken a new look kind of all across the Arctic. For sure. So, but it sounds like you had some really meaningful experiences and conversations there. So, which is really a, which is really what I love about the Arctic personally, because you get to hear their stories and you wouldn’t really think that, you know, you would resonate with, with a whale harvesting story. But when you look at it from the point of view, know it’s three generations kind of sharing the knowledge and, doing what they’ve done for, for years and years and years and doing [00:12:00] that as a family.
And it makes you think it’s are really cool experiences.
Mike Beemer: Yeah, for sure. It’s definitely unique and different. But I didn’t know what to expect, obviously. ’cause I had never been there before. You just get to hear the stories and, and stuff like that. So I was very surprised and just, you know, once in a lifetime opportunity I think, for me just to, to experience all of that.
And they are getting to travel. So we did a presentation at the Vancouver Aquarium before we left talking about our expedition. And we were actually in the Arctic Center, uh, at the aquarium. And I met a family from Tuktoyaktuk and it was a father and a mom and a couple of kids, and they were coming down to Vancouver is the first time they had left their original village because there’s a road now and you can drive and then fly and then fly again. But so before I got to go up there, I actually met a couple people and, and it, it helped me think about like a 50-year-old person had never left the village [00:13:00] before.
Right. The first experience of coming out and doing something and so it was really neat to connect with, with people, you know, and and see the, the way they live. So lots of it’s interesting it they have ice rinks
i’m like, but you live in me. In the ice world, like why would you need, you know, and like ice rink with a Zamboni machine and stuff, and I’m talking to them, but they’re very social.
It’s dark all winter. And so they, they, they’re used to cold and ice, right? So they need a place with smooth ice so they can play hockey and they can bring everybody together and do, do social events and potlucks and, you know, and so it was super, there was just all these surprises, things that you would never think of in my daily life down here, you know?
Yeah, they have an ice rink.
Annika: Y Yeah, I wouldn’t have thought of that either. I was like, well, surely you got enough of ice. But, uh, yeah, no, that’s true. It’s a really interesting mix of sort of modern things. ’cause you know, everybody’s got their smartphones and, and [00:14:00] one as everybody’s on Instagram and all that, and definitely on Facebook.
But then it’s this sort of more traditional part that is perhaps a lot more cherish than it is in, in sort of, shall we say, in our more southern world.
Mike Beemer: Yeah, absolutely.
Annika: Now, of course a lot of sailors dream about high latitudes and the northwest passage specifically. But many may not fully really appreciate what makes sailing in the Arctic different. So I’m curious if there was something that surprised you most about operating a vessel there compared to your more typical cruising grounds in the Pacific Northwest.
Mike Beemer: Yeah. Um, well, one thing is I didn’t have a lot of time to really, uh, focus on it or think about it. We were so busy, like I said, seven days a week that, you know, we just go. And I was going with an experienced captain who’d been through before, so I was relying on that. I mean, I am the, the boat systems guy, so I could get the boat ready, but then it’s, when you’re up there, it’s [00:15:00] the, as we mentioned, it’s ice reports every day, right?
But, it was different. When we were getting the boat ready to go, I was told to make sure that we had budget fuel appropriately to get through because there’s no wind. In 2009, we read through all the log books, and in the, actually in the Northwest passage, the wind only blew over 20 knots three times. It was low twenties.
This past summer. We had five major wind events, major meaning more than 40 knots where we had to duck into a bay and hide. And so I was not expecting that at all. Right? And so oh nine was probably a rare year where they didn’t have some, but they’re definitely seeing a lot more as the ice edge is going north.
They’re seeing more wind events. Um, in the summertime. They, they typically would get them, I guess in the wintertime more. And so there was that, and you’re just so much alone up there too. You really realize you have to be so [00:16:00] self-reliant. The towns all do have food. It can be expensive and it may not be exactly what you wanted to buy, but they’ll have something for you.
Um, and then I think it’s, the statistic is 18% is all that’s charted of the whole thing. So, um, you know, we ran a ground a few times, mostly when we were trying to anchor. Um, but, in the modern world, it’s hard. It was hard for me to imagine. I mean, where I live in cruise and like where you cruise, like a hundred percent of everything is charted, right?
There’s no surprises. And to go somewhere where, you know, still 80 plus percent of it has never been really charted or people have explored and been there, but it’s just not recorded for us in our digital world. And so, um, you, you really have to rely on some of your older senses, uh, of being out on a boat and, and just being careful.
And so it was very surprising to me.
Annika: Yeah, no, that’s true. And it’s a really good point. And it brings it home that you are really kind of in the [00:17:00] true wilderness that, uh, of course people have been there and have been lived living there for thousands of years. But like you said, not in the modern sense that it’s not documented.
Mike Beemer: Yeah.
Annika: And that certainly adds a little anxiety, I would imagine at, at times. And, you said that preparing for your journey, you were all go, go, go seven days a week. But once you were actually out there, uh, Gil, uh, what was Daily life on board for your crew? How many people were you, were you on board anyway?
Mike Beemer: Uh, so we had five people on board. So we had, captain Mark, co-Captain Jennifer, who was also the, the director. We all, everybody came from education. Um, and then we had Grace that I mentioned our onboard scientist we had Tess, who is our social media and education. And then we had me as an engineer, and then we did rotate out on occasion.
So we had some volunteers that helped on the boat in Anacortes of the refit that joined us for different [00:18:00] legs. And we had Dave who went through an oh nine who came up and did some with us. And so we would trade out, um, some of the crew during those times. And so, but so daily life was, it was so much more busy than I thought.
When I’ve done some of my other trips across the Pacific, for example, I had to bring a lot of books to read and, you know, you have time to do, to do things and reflect. This expedition. I say there was no time to get lost. Because we layered on all of these things of online classrooms and then lining up classrooms, when we get to the next port and then we all did writing and contributed to our website. So we kept a good website going with a tracker and you know, like the, all of those things take time, right? And so it was all based on the crew onboard the boat that we were doing all of these things. And so we were typically four hours on, four hours off.
And so [00:19:00] rotating through, because up in the ice we would have two people, usually minimum navigating. And then, um, at times we had to have three. So when we were trying to find leads through the ice, um, we were a fiberglass boat. I kid it was a plastic boat. It does have a stainless steel ice guard on the front and it’s got, um, it’s an expedition yacht, so it’s got watertight bulkheads for and aft.
But still when the ice was thick, you’d have somebody driving the boat and looking at the electronics inside. You’d have another person inside watching and helping with go Porter Starboard and then we had somebody up top on the cabin top or a loft, you know, looking for the big picture.
And so it was busy. It was a lot of sleep deprivation, I think. ’cause you know, you’re just not getting a good solid night’s rest. But it, it’s still fun. We did, you know, I did read some books and stuff, but it was a lot busier. We had, um, it was really nice. Everybody on board enjoyed cooking and could cook good food.[00:20:00]
And so our boat had a beautiful galley with a gimbal propane stove and a freezer and a fridge. And it was really set up nicely. And so what we would do is like, if it was my day to cook, I would prepare everything, cook it, feed the crew, and do dishes and clean up. And then we would rotate and the next day would be Jennifer and then Tess and then Mark and whatever.
So every four or five days you’re doing the main meal. Um, and then of course when you get ready to provision, we all make our list of stuff we need for the next hour long, two weeks, three weeks that we need. What meals are you gonna prepare and make sure you have your provisions. And so we all shared the workload that way and it worked out really well.
I think we all gained weight because we had great food and not a lot of exercise. ’cause you’re cramped into a 48 foot boat. So,
Annika: Exactly. Yeah. What a perfect excuse. Where did you provision in the north as you were sailing?
Mike Beemer: So there’s Northern stores, which are [00:21:00] probably just a spinoff of the Hudson Bay Trading Company. There’s still a couple of those old shacks that you could see up in the Arctic. Um and so you could provision in Utqiagvik and then Tuktoyaktuk, Cambridge Bay. We skipped Gjoa Haven, unfortunately because the.
Let’s see, later in the year you’re worried about getting out. And so, there was that. Um, and then when you get to Pond Inlet as well, so they’re just steel tin buildings, but they’re a grocery store. You know, you can go in and we found like fresh produce. I mean, things were expensive up there, but, you know, and we always used to joke of like, when you’re provisioning, you can’t say you want broccoli for a side, you can just be like, I want something fresh that’s green, because it might be beans or Brussels sprouts or broccoli.
It’s never all of ’em, but you just, whatever’s there, that’s what you get.
things that were big and bulky, you could live without. I mean, potato chips were like 12 to $16 a bag, um, [00:22:00] ginger ale was, I don’t know, between 19 and $38 a 12 pack, things ’cause it all comes in by airplane.
So if it’s big and bulky or heavy, it’s super expensive.
Annika: Yeah. It’s gonna cost you. Yeah. It makes you really think like, how much do I want these chips?
Mike Beemer: Yeah, for sure.
Annika: Absolutely. Now, of course when we’re talking about the Arctic, uh, polar bears are always in everybody’s minds when they think of the Arctic. So what kind of preparations did you do for that? And then did you have any close encounters or far away encounters?
Mike Beemer: So that was, um, that was one of the disappointments of the trip. I think last trip they saw polar bears everywhere. We had 12 recreational boats that went through. Both directions last summer. It’s always a very small number up there. And one of the 12 that set out, one of ’em had to turn around because they blew a head gasket on their engine.
And so, uh, but of all of those 11 boats, I think two saw polar bears and they were off in the distance and it’s it, [00:23:00] and so I was, I’m talking to people in town and scientists, but the polar bears are where the food is. And so the edge of the ice is also where, you know, we would see, you’d see more whales and stuff like that, and that’s where the seals are.
Well, as that ice edge moves further north in the summertime. That’s where the bears are going. And so we’re of course down closer to land now. It didn’t make navigation any easier just ’cause the ice edge is moving. ’cause that’s what a lot of people have asked me. And there’s just more pack ice, right?
It’s just the edge of the ice is moving further north, but it still breaks up and there’s actually more pack ice to, to navigate around. Um, so we didn’t see it, but we did, we were prepared. We brought a gun with us and we have to go through Canada, um, on the way up, which they’re, you know, they’re very sensitive to guns.
And then when you go around the top and you’re into the Arctic, like they expect you to have a gun. And so, um, so when we went to shore excursions, um, we always went with at least two people so we could [00:24:00] have somebody on bear watch. And, um, we saw some, some polar bear prints and, you know, we knew they had been there but didn’t get to see any unfortunately.
Annika: All right, well next time on your next Northwest passage.
Mike Beemer: I, I definitely was nervous about it because you hear the stories and you know, they’re, they’re hungry and they will come after you, so.
Annika: Yeah. They’re not shy for sure. And, I work, with small expedition ships, and even when they see a big ship, they are not afraid, they’ll still come up close and say like, oh, what are you guys up to? I smell your bacon there, eating there. So,
Mike Beemer: exactly.
Annika: Yeah, but that is the, beauty of the Arctic
Sometimes you do see bears or wildlife, and sometimes you don’t. It’s just you gotta take what you can.
Mike Beemer: You know. Exactly. There’s nothing, yeah, nothing you could do about it. So, um, but I did miss trees, that’s for sure. You know, where we live is solid trees in the Pacific Northwest. And so, um, [00:25:00] when we got down to the Labrador coast, uh, we were all hugging trees. We finally could see trees again.
Annika: the trip turned you into tree huggers.
Mike Beemer: Yeah, exactly.
Annika: Oh, the, yeah, that’s a good point. That’s a long stretch without any significant, uh, tree coverage. Yeah, that’s a good point.
Mike Beemer: Yeah. Surprisingly, you know, it’s things you don’t think about. You see pictures
and landscape pictures, but it never really crossed my mind like until you hike on a beach and you look around and it’s just tundra and no, no
Annika: Yeah. It’s like, oh yeah. Trees. Yeah. Not here. Not here. Now, from a vessel standpoint, I am wondering if, uh, there were any systems or kind of design features on the boat that you were sailing in that proved especially important in that sort of arctic environment.
Mike Beemer: Yes. So, being the systems and the onboard engineer, um, when I mentioned like this UDub equipment that, records 24 7, our star link so that we can do these live [00:26:00] feeds, right? So heavily dependent on electricity. so we pro I put in two main battery banks where most boats only have one two inverters.
So if either one of them went out, the other one, you know, would still, so we could keep that monitoring equipment going. And we had an onboard generator. Um, the boat had an original generator that was falling apart and we swapped it out, um, with the. Uh, basically a new one. And so redundancy, uh, electrically was our biggest thing.
You know, we had to, and just keep the, keep the lights on, so to speak, to. Keep the education and the outreach and what we needed to do going.\ And so that was the, the biggest thing that we did. The other thing is being an expedition yacht is it came with enough fuel capacity because you do a lot of motoring up there and, uh, a lot of distance.
And so, um, those were, were a couple of the super important things. The other thing with diesel fuel is we heat [00:27:00] with diesel fuel. And I really appreciated, um, we had a hurricane, boiler system, hot water heat throughout the boat, and so being able to be warm inside and then it had inside steering station, which they didn’t have last time.
They had inside area where you could see, but you had to be out under like a hard dodger. On the last expedition, we could actually navigate drive from inside bundle up. You know, you gotta go out and put a in or something. It’s, it’s cold, but you would bundle up and go outside and, you know, adjust things or do whatever you have to do and then, and then come back inside.
So I really appreciated our hurricane heater. And of course I went and bought all the spare parts that you could, um, for that hurricane heater. And we did have like a, a pump that went out on it, you know, and, but we had asked the manufacturer, like, we’re going up where it’s cold, this is an essential piece of equipment.
What should I break for extra parts? And they said, you know this. And so then sure enough, I got an air light and I [00:28:00] swapped out one of the pumps and, and kept the, the heat on. So I, I really came to appreciate being warm and, and any boat that goes up there obviously needs to have a decent heat source or even multiple heat sources so that you can be comfortable.
Annika: Yeah, absolutely. It makes a huge difference when you’re out there sailing. ’cause it can get cold and yes, it can also get quite warm, but uh, you know, the wind is just so when it’s raining or maybe it’s snowing a little bit and you know, you have to steer outside and you don’t have any heater and they inside the boat that gets, uh, miserable real quick and you have a, a lot of miles to cover.
Mike Beemer: And, and some of the surprising stuff is, you know, we had a good snowstorm on our way out just before we got to Pond Inlet, you know, and I’ve got pictures of winches with snow all piled up on ’em. We, you don’t, they don’t get a lot of snow up there, right? In the summertime, they, the precipitation is low, but we did get one really nice snow storm and then you have your cold.
But then when we were, um, at Herschel Island, [00:29:00] the sun was out and it had to have been close to 60 degrees. And of course after having about 38 degrees for the normal high, we a, I mean, we actually put the paddleboards in the water and went paddle boarding in the sunshine. , And so you have this huge, shifts too, and temperatures, you know, and it was really crazy to, to experience that.
Annika: Yeah. Yeah, it sounds like a lot of change also with the wind storms that you mentioned. So there’s, uh, there’s a lot going on at the Arctic, but it’s, it’s a huge stretch of land that you’re talking about that you cross. So, so no wonder.
Mike Beemer: yes. Absolutely.
You know, when you’re up there for a couple of months in the summertime you see a, a lot of variation, that’s for sure.
Annika: Mm-hmm. Absolutely. And it’s also very different from year to year. Like you said, you can look at the ice, um, situation even from the previous year and it’s no kind of guarantee that it will be as easy
Mike Beemer: Yeah, no, Captain Mark kept saying, you know, not everybody makes it through, you know, ’cause we ran into [00:30:00] a couple people who on purpose had spent the winter, when we were talking about, our rotating watch schedules and stuff too, some other things that really blew my mind. Whereas, um, in one anchorage, and it was actually called Summers Harbor, I’ll always remember that because in that bay, uh, we were waiting again to get across the ice.
And so we were partway through and even at anchor there was a bunch of ice in the bay. And as the wind and current would switch, we would have to re-anchor. So even though we were stopped, we had to have 24 7, uh, somebody on debt, you know, somebody paying attention. Um, and in four days of waiting, we had to anchor seven times.
So you, you know, you’re sleeping and somebody’s like, uh, they’d be like, ice is coming in, ice is moving. And so you lift, anchor, move to the other side of the bay, re-anchor. And it was [00:31:00] maddening. Like, we’re sitting there, we can’t move because there’s too much ice. We gotta be on the lookout 24 7. We had to keep moving.
and so it was very unusual for me. I was just like, wow, this is so different than anything I’ve ever experienced.
Annika: absolutely. Especially in a fiberglass boat. I bet you’re a little bit, uh, wary of the ice getting too close.
Mike Beemer: yes, absolutely. But I, I think I would’ve been leery even in a, an aluminum or a metal boat. They did sink a, an aluminum boat up there two summers ago. Um, you know, if the ice comes in and the ice crushes you against as shore, I don’t think it matters if it’s a metal boat,
you know?
Annika: no, that’s true. And yeah, you don’t wanna get into that situation and be, stuck on land with the polar bears. That will definitely show up when you least want them
Mike Beemer: exactly. When you, when you don’t wanna see one. Exactly.
Annika: Now, you did this big trip, like you said, almost, uh, 10,000 nautical miles altogether, the whole stretch.
Was there a moment [00:32:00] during either in the Arctic or, or later in the more, was it warmer latitudes, but more, more southern latitudes that was genuinely challenging or uncertain? And how, how did that work out?
Mike Beemer: Um, well there were a couple. One of ’em, when you talk about southern latitudes after not really having a summer, all summer was up in the ice when we got to Bermuda. So I did, I had one little trip off of the boat to go see some family, and that’s when they had the worst, passage in the North Atlantic.
And they, they, there’s some really good stuff on the website. You can go to the One Ocean, website and, read about that. So there was a really terrible North Atlantic crossing, and, and I was, so, I was flying into Bermuda and there was a hurricane coming and everybody goes, everybody’s leaving Bermuda.
And they’re like, you know, there’s a hurricane coming. I’m like, yes, but the crew just got really beat up. The boat needs me, the crew needs me. And so we went through a hurricane and then when we got to, [00:33:00] um, San Juan, I was thinking, oh, it’s tropics. Everything’s gonna be beautiful. Well. When you’re in a place like Puerto Rico, if you’re just vacationing and you’re in a little bay with a breeze, it’s probably lovely.
But we were in a marina so that I could go to West Marine and to the hardware store and there was no airflow and I couldn’t sleep at night ’cause it was so hot. It was 95 degrees and 95% humidity. And we’re working, right? We’re, and we’re going to do interviews and we’re setting up our educational tent.
And I thought I was going to die. It was so hot. it was crazy. but, and the other challenge, the, the hardest part of the trip for me personally was after Pond Inlet. You’re like, oh, we’re free of the ice, we’re gonna be fine. We’re turning south. Everything’s gonna be great. We’re, we’re headed for Newfoundland.
You know? And so, um, and all of a sudden you realize like it’s still 2000 miles away and we [00:34:00] had to dodge a, um. I don’t know what they call ’em, a North Atlantic cyclone. You know, they don’t call ’em a hurricane, but it’s a big wind event. And so that ended up pushing us into the Labrador coast. But up there, it’s getting dark now.
And this is still where all of a sudden, this is where you see the big icebergs, right? This is where you see, uh, on the internet, where you know the things, the size of buildings, and now it’s dark for periods of time at night and we’re in a plastic boat. And so for whatever reason, for me, about halfway through there, I really just struggled with, wow, this is taking a long time.
We have so far to go. it was nervous for me because I knew there was ice out there, you know, that’s where the, you know, the North Atlantics really, the Titanic went down, right? Like, and, and there was still a, a huge risk of, you know, there’s, there was risk all the time. That never bothered me. You know, I never really thought about it, but it was like we had time to kind of, I guess, focus on it.
And so we had good [00:35:00] open communication with the crew and I told ’em I was stressed out a little bit and, um, that always helps to just talk it out, you know? but that was for sure, um, the hardest part of the trip for me, um, was just that getting the boat south. And then we were totally rewarded on the, the Labrador coast was beautiful and friendly people.
Then in Newfound land, we got into a bay and had to wait a week, and we got to go to a school and we got to do all sorts of local stuff and hike over to a beautiful cove, and it was like fall. Beautiful weather. And so it turned out okay, as it usually does when you’re sailing. But there’s always challenges,
Annika: course, of course. That’s a really, good observation. Indeed. I hadn’t thought about the daylight thing. Of course, in the Arctic, um, further north there is a lot of ice, but there’s also daylight, and then you head further south come September, and so. Not so much ice are still there, but, uh,
Mike Beemer: It’s just, but we did, we also got rewarded then. Like we missed trees. [00:36:00] All of a sudden on your night watch, we were seeing Northern Lights, massive amounts of stars, right? And it’s like, oh, for that whole period of time, we hadn’t seen that. Right? Because it’s daylight and so you were rewarded with, with other forms of beauty and nature around you.
And uh, I think that was such a cool way to leave, you know, may, is beautiful where we’re at. That’s the spring weather and then, you know, all the experiences up and around. And then back to super hot summer, like I got the whole experience of everything, you know.
Annika: Exactly. Oh, that’s, that’s good. Yeah. And the Northern Lights, that’s special. And I sometimes have to laugh ’cause I’m originally from Northern Finland and we get a lot of tourists who come for their lights. Uh, and now I work, uh, more in the Arctic and there are passengers who come on board in the summer wondering about the Northern Lights.
It was like, no, this is not
the
Mike Beemer: be no
Annika: Just you don’t remember the [00:37:00] midnight sun part. It does not happen at the same time as the Northern Lights was like. So you went down, I guess, Baffin Island. You didn’t cross over the Greenland or,
Mike Beemer: Correct. And then, and part of it is sailing to a schedule, which is always a bad idea. But our entire trip was to a schedule. Right. And it still is for them. They’re down. This weekend actually, um, well by the time this podcast is aired, they will have been around Cape Horn.
But you have to go through the Northwest passage in the summer, and then you have to get to the southern hemisphere to go around Cape Horn in their summertime. And so I always joked there was really no time to get lost. Right? It’s not like, oh, you know, the hurricane passed in Bermuda. Let’s spend a week and go explore. And snorkel and do nothing like that doesn’t exist on this expedition. It, it has a purpose and and a schedule. And it’s, it’s a great goal. But it really keeps the boat moving. You know? It is really busy, [00:38:00] busy.
Annika: Yeah, absolutely. But you know, when you frame it that it has a purpose, it sounds much better than it has a schedule.
Mike Beemer: yes. And so we did not go over to Greenland. We would’ve loved to. So one of my, uh, friends, Sam Devlin, who’s a boat designer from Washington State, he went east to west and we met, met in the middle. They went, early a little bit and got to explore Greenland. And the pictures and the stories were absolutely fantastic.
It’s just. You know, we went pretty much nonstop from Pond Inlet. We did one anchorage, , all the way to the Labrador coast. I think we did a, a big long passage there.
Annika: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. For reals. So now that you have been in the Arctic, which I know many people are attracted to, at least the idea of it, do you see the draw? Are you looking to go back one time if you get a chance?
Mike Beemer: Well, I don’t know that I have the goal to go back, but it was a hundred percent worth it. Or the experience, what I, you know, people say we did do [00:39:00] it again. I’m like, yes, I’d do it again. And they’re like, well, when are you gonna do it? I said, well, down, like the trip that I did. I mean, a hundred percent.
There is nothing. I mean, other than that story a little bit I shared about, you know, just anxiousness of getting out. It was just so absolutely wonderful. But for me it was the education and sharing the story and what we were doing as much as just these, you know, some people really wanna go to the extremes just to be there, you know, to, to do, you know, all these different places maybe in the planet and I, that’s not on my list, you know, it, it was very convenient for me to go from here up and through with people that I know and love now with the mission. Um, so, um, I don’t know if I’ll find myself up through there again or not. We’ll see. There’s plenty of time.
Annika: For sure, for sure. Now, I wanna switch gears a little bit because, you’re a great guest. You have, lots of different angles that I can follow up with you on. So [00:40:00] the, the other part that I wanna talk with you about is more about your educational background and more in the marine technology, and then let’s call this the practical part of the podcast.
Because you yourself are an educator in this field and, very well known, and I know you do a lot of great work at the college there, and I know that many cruises realize and perhaps sometimes the hard way that understanding their both, uh, systems is absolutely essential. And from your perspective and experience, what are the most important technical skills ever Cruiser should have?
Or is that even, is that too broad of a question?
Mike Beemer: It’s a little bit broad, but I could tell you a little story and I could answer some of it, because what I do, , professionally here, is a couple of things. We have, one year certificates, two year degrees. So, my college, community college, Skagit Valley, we’ve been training technicians for over 50 years.
That’s just what we do. And so I’ve been [00:41:00] ingrained in education for 25 plus years working with boats, setting boats up for long distance cruising, mostly passionate about just having students be able to go out and work in the industry. But one of the most important things, I had a student, so I taught math at a contemporary high school for about four or five years.
Um, math and marine programming and then switched to all Marine. I had a student in math class who was just a pistol, the hardest kid I’ve ever had to deal with and, you know, get through a program. You know, he had to pass my math class to graduate and it was a train wreck, but we got through it and then a, a year or two later, I was teaching night school electrical for my job now, and I still teach electrical. It’s my favorite topic. And so when you ask what cruisers need to do, I think it’s electrical. ’cause Bo came in, he goes, remember me Mr. Beamer? And he is bouncing off the wall. And he is just like, I’m like, yes. How could I forget Bo? [00:42:00] He goes, well, here’s the thing. I talked to the advisor ’cause I needed this electrical class, and when I saw you were teaching it, I was like, there’s no way he’s gonna let me in his class.
Like I, I kind of burned that bridge. He goes, but they told me it’s a community college and if I pay tuition, you can’t kick me out. And I’m like, yeah, that’s true. I said, but, but why are you here specifically? And he goes, well, here’s the thing. Grandpa bought me a fishing license. Dad bought me a fishing boat.
I’m a commercial fishing boat. And it only took one year to learn that everything on a boat that breaks down has a wire hook to it. And I have to understand electrical to be successful. And I said, you’re a hundred percent right and you’re gonna be a great student. And so he came in, went through about eight weeks of the course.
Dove in, learned everything, studied, worked hard, was just an awesome student. And then he dropped out and failed the class because he, he didn’t turn in his lab book, he didn’t take the final, he didn’t do anything. But to this day, 20 some years later, he’s still fixing his own electrical work. And [00:43:00] so, um, if you think about it on a boat, I mean, most cruisers can sort out, you know, the sailing gear and the rig and a lot of those things.
It’s the systems, it’s anything that’s got wires hooked to it, I think is, is the most important. And so, I, I do believe also that, the common mechanical things on an engine, being able to do your own cooling system, you know, your seawater, impellers, uh, fuel, keeping fuel to the engine, those are important.
But overwhelmingly, it, it’s, it’s all the stuff that, that wires are hooked to.
Annika: That is a good answer and that’s a good story. Now, obviously you’ve thought a lot and, and some people are cruisers, some are just younger students who are looking to, to make this their profession.
Is there something specific people tend to struggle with, whether it’s sort of mechanical or electrical problems and systems? Is there [00:44:00] something that is like particularly difficult to learn?
Mike Beemer: uh, yeah, I think it’s, the troubleshooting, the, um. The bigger picture. So most cruisers could change out a component, you know, a pump or some wire or whatever. But it’s, it’s understanding which part of the system is defunct first, right? Instead of trying to replace the whole system. And it’s troubleshooting.
And it’s one of the hardest things actually for me to teach, and to develop a teaching skillset. And so we do a lot of scenarios in class where you give, students a couple, three clues, you know, here’s what you’re seeing, and then what are the probable causes, the root cause. And I think that’s the hardest, absolutely the hardest thing to teach, you know, um, in electrical, if you’re putting in a new pump to, you know, seawater wash down pump, you can go to the marine chandry.
You can go online and find a chart that just says, [00:45:00] oh, if your pump draws eight amps and it’s, you know, 15 feet from the battery. Here’s the size wire, put in a 12 gauge wire or whatever. Most people can figure that out. It’s, it’s when the stuff doesn’t work and then they’re like, oh, is it the circuit breaker?
Is it a fuse? Is it the wire? Is it the pump? And, and that, that takes a while to, I think, to figure out, and a lot of cruisers have just learned that by hard knocks, right? They have no other choice. They’re just gonna have to start digging around and figuring it out, you know? So, but education before you leave, um, at a minimum, obviously I’m an educator.
I’m very passionate about, you know, um, getting some training, uh, will save you a lot of grief and, um, and make it more enjoyable while, and, and more importantly, safer when you’re out on the water.
Annika: Yeah, absolutely. And I can understand that those sort of troubleshooting or diagnostic problems would be or diagnosing what is actually the problem can be a challenge. ’cause what I’m picturing is that, you know, you have a problem, but the [00:46:00] cause could be about 500 different things depending on your boat and the conditions and what happened in the past six months.
Mike Beemer: Yeah, absolutely. And, and of course for, um, my technicians that are gonna go out and work in the field, I tell them, you know, the reason they need to be an expert, you know, be able to diagnose things and troubleshoot is because our going rate right now is between 185 and $210 an hour to get your boat work done. So I’m telling my students like, it’s $3 a minute for you to stand there and scratch your head before you start getting your tools out. And if the boat owner’s standing there, like, just think about how fast the clock is running and what they’re paying you, they really wanna see results. They want you to be able to figure out like, oh, this is exactly what’s wrong.
Here’s a solution. We’re gonna replace this pump, or pull in a new piece of cable, or whatever. But it’s, it’s expensive, right? And so. [00:47:00] You know, the last thing a boat owner wants at that kind of money is to have you say that the pump is bad and just go swap out a pump and then it still doesn’t work because you know, you diagnosed it wrong.
And so it’s, that’s, that’s super frustrating.
Annika: Yeah. So when someone’s coming to you saying, oh, I’m preparing for some extended cruising. I’m gonna go to Alaska and then down to Mexico, and then to the Pacific, and I wanna learn to take better care of my boats and to maintain it better, um, is there a solution for this?
Do you approach that?
Mike Beemer: So well being in education in my building, we have, uh, high school students, which are skill center. They’re half day. We have my main program, um, which is you can do as little as nine months. And do you know, mechanical and electrical stuff? Students that do a full two years, that’s the optimum.
They get every class we offer including systems and, you know, water makers and start to finish. . [00:48:00] So most of our students, you know, 40%, 50% are 30 years or younger, and they’re looking to get a career in fixing boats or some of ’em have captain’s licenses and they wanna deliver boats.
And you can’t be a good delivery captain if you don’t understand what’s going on under the floorboards. Right. And some of ’em wanna be surveyors, you know, just depends. So, um, we have those courses, um, that we do for one and two years, and we have boat owners that will come in and, and do that.
And then we have a program called Cruisers College where we do weekend classes. And so, um, we have a whole array of weekend classes and we have people come from all over Anchorage and Texas and Colorado, and they’ll fly in for a weekend. In fact, even Australia is my farthest one away. Um, and so like Gio and Julie that you’ve interviewed, they do a weekend offshore sailing seminar, a nice primer [00:49:00] to really getting into the cruising lifestyle.
We’ve got a weekend diesel program, um, a two day where you actually will change fuel filters, you know, get some rubber gloves out and, and really learn about this stuff. And, two day electrical. Um, next weekend is, uh, two days about going to Alaska. So we have a full weekend. ’cause out here where we’re at, that’s the big deal to go from Anacortes, you know, Washington State, Seattle up to Southeast Alaska, go up to, you know, and see the glaciers.
So. That’s what we do. We do training. So a lot of people will come in. The fellow from Australia was great. He came in for the offshore sailing weekend, and then he spent five days looking at, uh, three different boats that he was selecting to purchase. And then he did the diesel class. He had made an off on a boat because he wanted a boat in Australia, but he said, you might as well buy it up, wind and get to go see Alaska and then sail back down.
And so he [00:50:00] just incorporated a nice big package into having some, some training while he was looking for his dream boat. Um, but we’ve got, every year we’ve had, um, at least, uh, two to three people of our 28 people who are cruisers today. Um, geo and Julie were, were one of them. We’ve had Dave and Sarah,, another couple that are longtime cruisers.
The list goes on every year. We had Bob and Carol, his wife, they were 10 years ago, they refit a boat here in town, did some work on it, and took off and went down to the Panama Canal in the Caribbean. And just, they just spent time here, uh, lived on their boat, took classes, learned how to fix things, and, and so that’s a really good solution if you can do that.
You know, if you’re transitioning into a cruising lifestyle to be like, I’m going to stop a year early and, you know, spend some time getting some training. So we’re, we’re the only school really on the West coast that does, um, this kind of professional [00:51:00] training.
Annika: Yeah, I have not actually even heard of any other school. Anywhere that does, does that sort of, um, uh, training, uh, specifically like these, uh, cruisers, um, or these courses sort of more tailored to cruisers, um, but from the technical point of view. So it’s, it’s really interesting And um, yeah, John and Julie and Geo have talked a lot about it and how useful they are ’cause they are all very, very, very familiar with that.
Um, now I was chatting with uh, Julie and Geo earlier, um, for their podcast and they talked a lot about how rewarding it is for them ’cause they are now, um, helping people to embark on this, uh, lifestyle of liverboard cruising or, uh, extended sailing and that kind of thing. And it’s so rewarding for them to see that people out on the water.
And I’m wondering, is there a similar reward for you when you get to see people take off and hopefully not have trouble? Or do you hear from your students once they, uh, leave the [00:52:00] courses?
Mike Beemer: Oh, absolutely. No, I, I do hear from students and that is, is definitely the rewarding, that’s why I do it, you know? Um, there’s a lot more money in fixing boats than there is, you know, in teaching people how to fix boats, you know, just a community college. But it’s the reward, it’s my passion. And yes, I get pictures from the field of like, oh, you wouldn’t believe what I saw, or, you know, this, and, and no, I get, yeah, I get cruisers that, um, will go out and, and not only be able to fix their own boat, but as you know, like the cruising communities are pretty tight.
And so when you get somebody who’s had formal training and they’re in Mexico and you know, then, you know, uh, some of my other students, you know, Mac and Jenny, um, they are like, wow, this is so great. We pulled in and there was two couple of different boats that had problems, and for them it was a simple thing to fix.
And so, um, they weren’t using it to, some people will use the, their [00:53:00] skills to, to work as they go, you know, to make extra money. But they were just meeting friends and getting dinners and bottles of wine and stuff like that because they could go in and be like, oh, this is what’s wrong and this is how you fix it, you know?
And, um, so no, it’s super rewarding to, to get and hear the stories about different places that people are going and, and what they’re up to and, um, to be able to follow along, you know? So,
Annika: absolutely. And I think I’ve interviewed Mac and Jenny for the podcast, uh, a long time ago. That sounds like a
familiar story. They’re they are
Mike Beemer: Could be. I’m cruising Maya. Yeah, they’re neat, neat
Annika: Oh, they’re wonderful. Um, now obviously you see a lot of different kinds of students, whether they’re for cruising or for, um, uh, just as your regular students.
Um, and I imagine it is also satisfying for you when you see the confidence level rise. And uh, I’m just going back to the sort of cruiser stereotype where the [00:54:00] husband or the, the male party is the tech guy and the marine guy and the electrical. Um, how do you have experience and have you seen this happen where there’s, they come in as a couple, um, to both of them learn and, um, where they start off from a very different sort of starting point and, and
Mike Beemer: Yeah. So, um, yeah, um, it’s interesting. So we do have couples that will focus in different areas, um, and, and Geo and Julie had, uh, did that to some degree for sure, um, because they just wanted to cover all aspects. Right. Um, but um, we also ha one of the classes we have, which is interesting is we have our diesel, our two day class, which is run this weekend.
We also offer it, um, solely for women. Um, and so, um, it’s interesting they, the dynamics, but they actually have more fun because [00:55:00] I, I will go in and help. Um, and they learn a lot. And so, and actually in the marine world, um, traditionally we have about. I don’t know. It’s a, a super small percentage of, of females that are in the electrical or mechanical world.
Our school has, um, we always have 3, 4, 5. Um, you know, so we’re up at like a, a huge percentage compared to industry and, um, I have to tell you that women make the best Marine electricians. It’s crazy. They pay attention to detail, they’ll read the instructions, they get the job done. And, um, and so it’s, it’s always fun that, um, but I have to say that the, some of my best electricians I’ve turned out have, have been women that, and I think part of it is because maybe they come in knowing nothing and they just absorb, you know, like I grew up in a family where we were all, you know, we had automotive repair garages and we were in farm country and we fixed stuff.[00:56:00]
Um, but if you come in with somebody who has zero electrical experience. Um, and they wanna learn. Our program is set up, and if they absorb all that, uh, you know, and, and figure it out, they, it’s really quite powerful.
Annika: Yeah, absolutely. And when you’d have nothing to unlearn, none of those bad habits that you picked up along the years, then, you know, it’s just blank slating. It gets started. Um, now just as we wrap up, um, if someone is at a, you know, very basic level, really needs to and wants to, um, learn, uh, whether it’s, uh, remotely, uh, whether it’s in person, in uh, in Anacortes area, um, now, where would you recommend they, they get started In the wonderful world if, uh, marine technology and
Mike Beemer: yeah. So well. I mean, obviously they, you know, people can check out our website. Um, so, and, and for both of these, these [00:57:00] talks that we’ve done, you know, these two topics, you know, the, the one island, one ocean.com following the expedition, their tracker, I mean, they’re still gonna be out there for another six or six months or more.
Um, going to the cruisers college.org where we have classes. Um, student, you know, I’m in education. I send people all over the place, right? And so Trawler Fest goes to like five different places in the United States, and they do have, um, some diesel classes and some electrical classes that, that would be good for boat owners.
So if you can’t get to Washington State, you could, you know, if you’re by Florida or somewhere else, there’s schools. Um, I have to give a, a big plug too to my friend Nigel Calder. Um, he has boat how to, and if you can’t get to a place to do training. His online training is exceptional, um, that he and Yan put together, so I don’t get any kickbacks.
He invited me to be on the team to develop that program [00:58:00] and, you know, I, I did some, some beta testing is all because I was too busy to do it, but they really did a bang up job. And so, um, it’s definitely worth, if that’s at a minimum, if you’re gonna go off cruising, they have both electrical and diesel classes that you can take online.
So,
Annika: Oh, fantastic. And I will link those all on the website so people can go, uh, find those as well. ’cause that’s always super valuable when you can like, click on a link that someone’s recommended. So that’s
Mike Beemer: Absolutely, and I appreciate that. But yeah, my passion get as any and as much education as you can, so, and then go off and enjoy and hopefully you get your boat set up ahead of time to where you’re not just, you know, the old thing of cruising, it’s just working on your boat in exotic locations, which does happen.
I mean, I just got done with 200 plus days of doing that. But, um, you can, you can maximize your experience and minimize the, the work hopefully by [00:59:00] doing your homework ahead of time, taking some classes and, and making sure that your, your boat is set up properly. So,
Annika: Absolutely. Yeah. There’s a different way to do it. It starts with education.
Mike Beemer: always starts with education.
Annika: Wonderful. Well, Mike, thank you so much. It’s been great to chat with you. Is there anything else you wanted to, to cover, uh, to touch up on or anything like that?
Mike Beemer: No, I think we covered it. It was a pleasure to, to visit and to, to share more stories. And obviously as a lifelong educator, that’s what I like to do. Just encourage people to get out there, whether it’s, you know, for a, a cruise around Scotland or the up to Alaska or wherever. Um, you know, go around the world.
Just get out and enjoy being on the water.
Annika: Exactly. Alright, thank you so much. That’s great. Let me, um, finish.
And there you have it. I hope you enjoyed that [01:00:00] conversation as much as I did. I really like hearing about the day-to-day reality of that kind of expedition, especially what life is like on board and how much of it really comes down to just staying adaptable. And also the way he described sailing in a place where so much of it is still uncharted.
It really brings it home how different that experience is compared to most of the sailing that we’re used to hearing about. Um, as always, thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please feel free to share it with someone who might also find it interesting, and I will see you in the next one.
Bye for now.