Salty Podcast: Sailing Stories
The Salty Podcast shares real sailing stories and adventures — expert tips, ocean crossings, storm tales, heartwarming stories, and the quirks of life at sea. Each week, Cap’n Tinsley brings you voices from the water: sailors who’ve crossed oceans, lived aboard, and chased horizons. Join The Salty Podcast each week for adventures in storm survival, cruising life, and the joy of sailing. No fluff — just salty conversations, heartfelt moments, and lessons from sailors worldwide. Salty Abandon is Captain Tinsley from Gulf Shores & Orange Beach AL: Oct 2020 to Present - 1998 Island Packet 320; 2015-2020 - 1988 Island Packet 27 (lost in Hurricane Sally Sep 2020) Want to support the podcast? http://patreon.com/SaltyAbandon Salty Podcast Shop: https://SaltyPodcast.myshopify.com https://youtube.com/@svsaltyabandon https://www.facebook.com/saltyabandon sailing podcast, sailing stories, sailing adventures, sailboat life, cruising lifestyle, liveaboard sailors, ocean adventures, solo sailing, circumnavigation, bluewater cruising, sailing the Caribbean, sailing the Bahamas, offshore sailing, storm stories, sailing interviews, real-life sailing stories from around the world, tips and experiences from liveaboard sailors, adventures of solo and crewed sailors, lessons from storms, passages, and long crossings, cruising life beyond the horizon
Episodes
The sky stayed gray for most of 26 days and the wind rarely dropped below 30 knots. That’s the stage for Olivia Wyatt’s non-stop crossing straight from Sumatra to northern Madagascar—3,400 nautical miles on a 34-foot full-keel cutter, riding the edges of tropical depressions and threading the risk lines of the Mozambique Channel. We invited Olivia back to unpack the tactics, the fear, and the strange, luminous moments...
Salt air, guitar strings, and a catamaran that doubles as a tour bus—this conversation sails straight into the heart of Gulf Coast life. We sit down with Captain Matt, a charter captain turned songwriter who chose six knots over forty and found his voice again between sunrise watches and storm-tossed nights. From a generous offer on a 2002 Gemini 105MC to dockside concerts after Hurricane Helene upended plans, he show...
Scroll below description for Chapter Markers
Tonight’s episode of The Salty Podcast is tailor-made for two types of sailors:
The Dreamers—the ones scrolling YachtWorld at midnight imagining bluewater passages… and
The Salty Veterans—those who’ve owned boats, love the lifestyle, but don’t necessarily want the responsibility of ownership again.
Captain Ryan of Sail Libra joins Cap’n Tinsley live from Marathon, F...
A quiet walk to the store turned into a life-changing moment—and a complete rethink of how we cruise. When Stephen was hit by a car during a shoreside errand, our family of five had to answer hard questions: How do we keep the dream alive without setting back his recovery? What gets upgraded, what gets cut, and what truly matters when health, teens, and time all collide?
We share the plan we landed on: stretc...
Planning to sail from Miami to Georgetown without a single overnight? We lay out a proven, day-only route that respects winter weather, leverages the best anchorages, and removes guesswork from every leg. Think Biscayne Bay as your patient launchpad, South Bimini for an easy check-in, a smart pause on the Banks before Northwest Channel, and short, joyful hops all the way down the Exumas.
We start with a simpl...
A thousand miles from Hawaii, the chainplate ripped out and the mast went over the side. That sleepless night in the Transpac didn’t just test seamanship—it planted the seed for a weather platform that now helps a million sailors make safer choices at sea. Olympian and two‑time America’s Cup winner John Bilger joins us to share how a jury rig, a weatherfax, and a hard-earned finish turned into PredictWind’s mission to...
A single upgrade can change the way you move through the water. We just installed a below-deck autopilot and walk through what it means for safety, stamina, and real backup when steering cables or hydraulics fail. From the bypass pin to the rudder feedback sensor, we get hands-on with the hardware and talk about keeping linkages clean, joints aligned, and fuses easy to reach when the sea is bouncing and decisions need...
The docklines aren’t off yet, but the journey’s already begun. From a quiet slip in Orange Beach, we walk through the exact work it takes to ready a 1998 Island Packet 320 for a run down Florida’s Gulf Coast, across the Keys, and over to Georgetown in the Exumas—repairs, routing, weather calls, and the steady courage to go. We start at the masthead with a rigorous rigging inspection: a too‑long Genoa luff corrected wi...
Have you ever found yourself desperately checking multiple weather apps before casting off, still uncertain if you're making the right call? In this episode, we dive deep into the technology that's revolutionizing how sailors make weather-based decisions with Karen McMaster from PredictWind.
Karen brings extraordinary credentials to this conversation – she's not just a support team member at Pr...
What does it take to completely transform your life? For Brian of Sailing Delos, it was a moment of clarity in his manager's office, staring at a corporate org chart and realizing he wanted something entirely different. After walking away from his software career, selling everything he owned, and buying a sailboat, Brian embarked on what was supposed to be an 18-month adventure that has now stretched into 14 extr...
The transformative journey from land to sea captures the imagination of many adventurers, but few make the leap quite like Billy and Lizzie of Two Brits, One Box. In this captivating conversation, they reveal how they traded their RV lifestyle for life aboard their 1980 Pearson 365 sailboat, Stephney Thames—with absolutely no sailing experience.
Their story begins on the highways of Canada and the United Stat...
What drives someone to leave everything behind and race solo across an ocean? Five years ago, Amber Hassan didn't know how to sail. Today, she's preparing to cross the Atlantic alone in one of sailing's most challenging races. Her journey from New York professional to offshore racer began during the pandemic when she escaped to the Florida Keys and discovered an unexpected passion that would completely ...
Some audio issues with one of my guests, Christian Parker. He was on his boat in the Florida Keys and was using his phone for the Livestream. What does true sailing freedom look like? For Christian (better known as @ShipwreckedSurvivor) and his fiancée Pippa, it's about stripping away the unnecessary, embracing simplicity, and making this ancient art accessible to everyone—not just the wealthy elite.
T...
📅 Wed, 6pm CT 8/20/25
📍 Live on @SaltyAbandon (FB, IG, X) + @SVSaltyAbandon (YouTube)
▶️ Playlist & past episodes: https://tinyurl.com/SaltyPodcastPlaylist
Dive into the fascinating world of luxury yachting with Hugo Ortega, a 500-ton Superyacht captain, mentor, and the new bosun on Below Deck Season 12. In this candid conversation, Hugo reveals his unlikely journey from dissatisfied engineer to commandin...
The truth about yacht insurance isn't what most boat owners expect to hear. As insurance veteran Keri Gonzalez reveals in this candid conversation, "Insurance is not your friend, we're not a good neighbor, you're not in good hands." With 36 years of experience as an insurance broker, Keri strips away the marketing slogans to expose what boat owners need to understand about their coverage—espec...
Austin embodies what he calls the "tropical freedom mindset" – a philosophy that's taken him from the digital nomad scenes of Costa Rica and Colombia to his current life aboard Cha-Cha, a lovingly restored 1965 Choilee Bermuda 30 catch rig sailboat. With refreshing candor, he admits he's still learning to sail, yet his plans to navigate south to Florida and the Bahamas reflect a courage that comes ...
What does it look like when you refuse to choose between career and adventure? Casey and Steve have found that sweet spot—spending half the year aboard their 50-foot aluminum sailboat and the other half working as expedition leaders on ships traveling to Antarctica and the Arctic.
Their story begins at a whale research station in British Columbia, where marine biologist Casey met Steve, who was leading paddle...
Watch Full Episode https://youtube.com/live/Pf-pWDAL048
When Maya and Aladino first laid eyes on their Cape George 36, most sailors would have walked away. What appeared decent from the outside concealed extensive rot and deterioration beneath. But this creative couple—whose backgrounds seemed destined for a nomadic seafaring life—saw potential where others saw a hopeless project.
Five years of intensive rebui...
The allure of crystal-clear Bahamian waters calls countless sailors each year, but planning that perfect island-hopping adventure requires insider knowledge and careful preparation. In this special bonus episode of the Salty Podcast, I'm sharing my upcoming journey from Orange Beach to Georgetown, Exumas—a voyage that represents both adventure and healing after the loss of my husband nine months ago.
Joi...
Have you ever dreamed of escaping to paradise without emptying your savings account? Meet Stan Loveday, a sailor, author, and retired firefighter who traded his landlocked existence for the gentle rocking of his sailboat "Southeast Up Disorder" in Key West's mooring field.
Stan reveals the remarkable economics of his lifestyle choice – paying just $450 monthly for a mooring ball versus the sta...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.
"SmartLess" with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!