59º North Sailing

"Sharing the wisdom of the high seas, with those wise enough to seek it out."
Andy Schell
59º North Mission Statement

"Crisp stars overhead, the quiet rush of water below, all your troubles left ashore. Salt air, a hot meal on the stove, and the gentle motion of the boat rocking you to sleep in your cozy seaberth.

From the first time we sailed over the horizon and discovered the freedom and sense of purpose the sea can bring, we knew we wanted to share that experience. Out there, people come together in a way they rarely do on land. You’ll leave the dock as strangers and return as Shipmates - a bond shared only by those who have gone to sea together.

Come sail with us. Hold fast to your dreams."

Andy Schell, Mia Karlsson & AUGUST SANDBERG
59º NORTH co-founders

sail offshore on bucket-list adventures

🇨🇦 🇺🇸 🇻🇬 🇧🇱 🇦🇬 🇬🇩 🇻🇮 🇻🇨 🇧🇲 🇵🇹 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇸🇪 🇳🇴 🇸🇯 🇮🇸 🇮🇪 🇮🇨 🇵🇷 🇫🇷 🇬🇵 🇬🇧 🇨🇻 🇧🇧 🇫🇮 🇬🇱 🇯🇲 🇨🇺 🇫🇴 🇳🇱 🇲🇹 🇨🇴 🇵🇦 🇪🇨 🇵🇫 🇲🇽 🇨🇷

195,379

Nautical Miles Sailed

212

Total Passages Sailed

1,175

Crew

38

Countries Visited

76

Landfall Ports

14

Atlantic Crossings

6

Equator Crossings

16

Arctic Passages

2

Passages Above 80º North
2 Bunks

2027-1 | FALKEN | San Diego-San Jose del Cabo

FALKEN
Jan 7, 2027
–
Jan 15, 2027

The first passage of 2027, and we can't wait to get back to sea! FALKEN starts her journey back to the home waters of the Atlantic as we head south from our off-season quarters in San Diego towards Mexico and the Baja Peninsula. Escape the northern winter with some warm Pacific breezes. This passage might have the highest chance of seeing wildlife as any of ours, so get your whalewatching binoculars out!

$6,900
9
Days
820
NM
2027-1 | FALKEN | San Diego-San Jose del Cabo
5 Bunks

2027-5 | FALKEN | Cayman Islands-Key West

FALKEN
Mar 14, 2027
–
Mar 21, 2027

Join FALKEN in Grand Cayman for the run around the west end of Cuba and on up to Jimmy Buffett's spiritual home in Key West, Florida. It's been almost ten years since we last sailed into Key West and it's one of the more memorable landfalls as you sail past Mallory Square and into Key West's historic seaport.

$7,200
8
Days
570
NM
2027-5 | FALKEN | Cayman Islands-Key West
5 Bunks

2027-6 | FALKEN | Key West-Bermuda

FALKEN
Mar 26, 2027
–
Apr 6, 2027

It's 1,200 miles from Key West to Bermuda, with a little hitch in the route to get around the Bahamas. This is a longer, more challenging passage out into the Atlantic proper, where we'll have to plan the weather just right while we're in the Gulf Stream for the first portion of the voyage until we can turn east past the Abacos. You'll get all kinds of weather on this trip as we transition through the Horse Latitudes — cold fronts coming off the continent, easterly Tradewinds at the start, and deep ocean swells once clear of the Bahamian islands.

$9,750
12
Days
1,160
NM
2027-6 | FALKEN | Key West-Bermuda
View all passages
All Sailing Passages
"It's called wayfinding, princess. It's not just sails and knots. It's seeing where you're going in your mind. Knowing where you are, by knowing where you've been."
Maui
Moana
"The more you know, the less you need."
Yvon Chouinard
Patagonia
"To me, seamanship is what we do. It's like breathing... It's not just a checklist of knowing how to tie a bowline... it's an attitude."
John Rousmaniere
Andy Schell's ON THE WIND Podcast, #36
Listen
"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea… 'cruising' it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine – and before we know it our lives are gone. What does a man need – really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in – and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all – in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?"
Sterling Hayden
Wanderer
"Success is a dangerous element in any endeavor. Embrace the struggle. Beware the achievement. For it steals your caution even as it leads you down the next unknown pathway."
Laurence Gonzales
Everyday Survival: Why Smart People Do Stupid Things
"The least advertised tragedy is the fear or dislike of sailing that can be instilled in your prospective sailing partners when your lack of skill leads to a few incidents that could have been avoided if you'd spent a little more time practicing sailing skills."
Lin & Larry Pardey
The Self-Sufficient Sailor
"The tough part is making departures, shedding the shackles of society's expectations, kicking the addiction of electronic connections, subverting the guilt of our own obligations, and pushing off the dock physically and metaphorically."
John Kretschmer
Sailing a Serious Ocean
"Sail training continues to become more valuable because it is an opportunity to help people unplug from society and experience nature, the environment, and each other in a way that is irreplaceable."
Will Sofrin
Andy Schell's ON THE WIND Podcast, #503
Listen
"The more technology we add, the more likely we are to get ourselves into a situation where that stuff absolutely must work, and the less likely it is that we will be able to manage safely without it."
John Harries
ATTAINABLE ADVENTURE CRUISING
"I'm in the Northwest Passage, I'm cold, I'm wet a lot, I'm hungry, I'm sleep deprived, like properly sleep deprivation at times. I had every right and reason to be miserable, right? Cold, wet, tired, hungry, and miserable. But being miserable was not going to give me sleep. It's not going to give me a warm meal. It wasn't gonna give me a hot shower. It wasn't gonna give me any of those things. So you might as well enjoy the moment, you know?"
Matt Rutherford
ON THE WIND Podcast, #487
Listen
"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth, a nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present. In this limitless nation, this nation of wind, light, and peace, there is no other ruler besides the sea."
Bernard Moitessier
The Long Way
"Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made, For somewhere deep in their oaken hearts the soul of a song is laid; A soul that sings with the ship along through plunging hills of blue, And fills her canvas cups of white with winds that drive her through."
Robert N. Rose
My Ship of Dreams
"Cause without the bitter, baby, the sweet ain't as sweet."
Cameron Crowe
Vanilla Sky (Movie)
"People really don't truly understand what real life is until you experience being that far offshore away from land. And it is unbelievably the best feeling on the planet. And I would do anything to be back every day."
Cole Brauer
ON THE WIND Podcast, #482
Listen
"If you want to sail around the world to say that you've done it, well, don't do it because you have the wrong attitude. If you really, really want to do something because you love the ocean, you want to see the world as it is still now before it is too late, then do it."
Jimmy Cornell
Andy Schell's ON THE WIND Podcast, #502
Listen
"There are few events filled with as much promise as the prospect of stepping ashore after a long passage."
John Kretschmer
Sailing a Serious Ocean
"You've got it in you, alright, everyone's got it in them, it isn't a special dispensation from a selective Providence. It is just a question of whether you have the guts to apply it. It struck me that I must be pretty dumb, for most people come by it naturally, but I had to sail across thousands of miles of ocean to find out that courage is the key to living."
Ann Davison
My Ship is So Small
"You'll be bothered from time to time by storms, fog, snow. When you are, think of those who went through it before you, and say to yourself, 'What they can do, I can do.'"
Antoine de Saint Exupery
WIND, SAND & STARS
"You can just look at the globe and just see you can cross oceans from where you are now, and that's like a mind-blowing thought for me."
Øyvind Nilssen
ON THE WIND Podcast, #504
Listen
"That's how you succeed doing crazy stuff, right? You gotta be conservative in your day-to-day, even though the overall plan is not conservative, it's kind of crazy. But stay in the middle, man."
Matt Rutherford
Andy Schell's ON THE WIND Podcast, #506
Listen

REAL SAILING & REAL PEOPLE

You know what's cool about 59º North? We sail actual offshore routes, that require real planning, real strategy, and our crew (that's you, we hope!) to truly hands-on sail the boat. But maybe more importantly, there is a real person writing this marketing text! That's right, everything on this site was brainstormed and designed by me, Andy Schell, co-founder & one of the Lead Skippers at 59º North Sailing. So keep that in mind as you peruse the site.

We're confident that we offer the very best offshore sailing adventures in the world, combined with the best & most unique experiential education through our limited annual workshops. Co-Founders Mia, August & I run all aspects of the business, from the intial customer signup process (shout-out to Mia), to boat maintenance and staff selection right on up through actually sailing with you at-sea. We've all got real skin in the game, and that matters to the quality of your experience out there. We flat-out care more.

Our small group of professional sailing staff are close friends, selected by us for their work-ethic, knowledge, experience & humanity. What we offer in terms of real-world sailing expeditions & educational workshops, events & online courses cannot be duplicated and you'll find it nowhere else. We hope you'll join us on the high seas for the adventure of a lifetime.

195,379
Nautical Miles Sailed
1,175
Crew
More about us

"I’ve sailed with 59º North four times—each has been a unique and gratifying experience. Sailing with like-minded folks, captained by the best in the biz, in well-maintained vessels has been the highlight of my 40-year sailing career. I’ve learned so much about sailing and myself on my 59º North adventures."

Karl
|
2023
|
FALKEN
|
Portsmouth-Portsmouth
United States
|
🇺🇸
3,931
Miles sailed
4
Passages sailed

"The experience was more than I hoped for in every way. I felt completely at home on the open water in our mighty vessel and with a wonderful crew that quickly became family. All of the staff at 59º North were kind, professional, fun, knowledgeable, and friendly. I will be back!"

Lucinda
|
2025
|
ISBJØRN
|
Bergen-Torshavn
United States
|
🇺🇸
540
Miles sailed
1
Passages sailed

"I'm AKA Andy’s Dad, so my opinion of the skipper may be slanted a bit. I admit to being wrong on my initial reaction to FALKEN—at first sight she seemed like a hard-to-handle race boat, but she is easy to handle and shrinks once you get used to her. The refit work done below is flawless, with comfortable bunks, a spacious galley, and plenty of storage. A trip with 59º North on any of their boats is truly a life-changing experience. Highly recommended!"

Dennis
|
2025
|
FALKEN
|
San Cristobal-Nuku Hiva
United States
|
🇺🇸
9,334
Miles sailed
8
Passages sailed

"I highly recommend the experience of doing a passage on ISBJØRN. I gained valuable offshore experience on a fine boat, learned how Andy and Mia competently manage their boat, learned about celestial navigation, and had a great time doing it. Completing ISBJØRN's first back-to-back 200 mile day passage was a smokin' fast bonus!"

Reed
|
2017
|
ISBJØRN
|
St. George-St. Croix
United States
|
🇺🇸
393
Miles sailed
1
Passages sailed

"My time on FALKEN crossing the Atlantic was highly rewarding and incredibly enjoyable. The trip was routinely challenging and always a lot of fun, allowing me to stretch myself and enjoy being absent from the rest of the world for a time. Unforgettable."

John
|
2024
|
FALKEN
|
Mindelo-Charlestown
Canada
|
🇨🇦
2,175
Miles sailed
1
Passages sailed

"Before 59º North I didn't know my bowsprit from my binnacle and suffered from low sailing esteem. After two weeks of 59º North, what a difference! As a longtime podcast listener, I arrived for my Bermuda to Horta transatlantic with high expectations, and they were all not just met but exceeded. I could not imagine a skipper and mate more professional and enthusiastic than Andy and Emma."

Christian
|
2022
|
ICEBEAR
|
St. Georges-Horta
United States
|
🇺🇸
2,503
Miles sailed
2
Passages sailed

"Great time sailing on FALKEN with Alex, Adam, and Zoe from Hawaii to B.C.! The passage took about 2 weeks, with beautiful sunrises and sunsets, dolphins, whales, fast speeds, and big waves. FALKEN handles rough weather with ease, and the experienced staff made this passage a piece of cake. By the end of the trip, I was already looking at next year’s openings to sign up for!"

Nikolay
|
2026
|
FALKEN
|
Hawaii-Prince Rupert
United States
|
🇺🇸
4,354
Miles sailed
3
Passages sailed

WHY 59º NORTH?

ambitious sailing schedule

The best boats

WOMEN BUNKS GUARANTEED

Professional, well-paid staff

knowledge & community

Why it costs what it costs...

"It's called wayfinding, princess. It's not just sails and knots. It's seeing where you're going in your mind. Knowing where you are, by knowing where you've been."
Maui
Moana
"The more you know, the less you need."
Yvon Chouinard
Patagonia
"To me, seamanship is what we do. It's like breathing... It's not just a checklist of knowing how to tie a bowline... it's an attitude."
John Rousmaniere
Andy Schell's ON THE WIND Podcast, #36
Listen
"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea… 'cruising' it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine – and before we know it our lives are gone. What does a man need – really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in – and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all – in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?"
Sterling Hayden
Wanderer
"Success is a dangerous element in any endeavor. Embrace the struggle. Beware the achievement. For it steals your caution even as it leads you down the next unknown pathway."
Laurence Gonzales
Everyday Survival: Why Smart People Do Stupid Things
"The least advertised tragedy is the fear or dislike of sailing that can be instilled in your prospective sailing partners when your lack of skill leads to a few incidents that could have been avoided if you'd spent a little more time practicing sailing skills."
Lin & Larry Pardey
The Self-Sufficient Sailor
"The tough part is making departures, shedding the shackles of society's expectations, kicking the addiction of electronic connections, subverting the guilt of our own obligations, and pushing off the dock physically and metaphorically."
John Kretschmer
Sailing a Serious Ocean
"Sail training continues to become more valuable because it is an opportunity to help people unplug from society and experience nature, the environment, and each other in a way that is irreplaceable."
Will Sofrin
Andy Schell's ON THE WIND Podcast, #503
Listen
"The more technology we add, the more likely we are to get ourselves into a situation where that stuff absolutely must work, and the less likely it is that we will be able to manage safely without it."
John Harries
ATTAINABLE ADVENTURE CRUISING
"I'm in the Northwest Passage, I'm cold, I'm wet a lot, I'm hungry, I'm sleep deprived, like properly sleep deprivation at times. I had every right and reason to be miserable, right? Cold, wet, tired, hungry, and miserable. But being miserable was not going to give me sleep. It's not going to give me a warm meal. It wasn't gonna give me a hot shower. It wasn't gonna give me any of those things. So you might as well enjoy the moment, you know?"
Matt Rutherford
ON THE WIND Podcast, #487
Listen
"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth, a nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present. In this limitless nation, this nation of wind, light, and peace, there is no other ruler besides the sea."
Bernard Moitessier
The Long Way
"Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made, For somewhere deep in their oaken hearts the soul of a song is laid; A soul that sings with the ship along through plunging hills of blue, And fills her canvas cups of white with winds that drive her through."
Robert N. Rose
My Ship of Dreams
"Cause without the bitter, baby, the sweet ain't as sweet."
Cameron Crowe
Vanilla Sky (Movie)
"People really don't truly understand what real life is until you experience being that far offshore away from land. And it is unbelievably the best feeling on the planet. And I would do anything to be back every day."
Cole Brauer
ON THE WIND Podcast, #482
Listen
"If you want to sail around the world to say that you've done it, well, don't do it because you have the wrong attitude. If you really, really want to do something because you love the ocean, you want to see the world as it is still now before it is too late, then do it."
Jimmy Cornell
Andy Schell's ON THE WIND Podcast, #502
Listen
"There are few events filled with as much promise as the prospect of stepping ashore after a long passage."
John Kretschmer
Sailing a Serious Ocean
"You've got it in you, alright, everyone's got it in them, it isn't a special dispensation from a selective Providence. It is just a question of whether you have the guts to apply it. It struck me that I must be pretty dumb, for most people come by it naturally, but I had to sail across thousands of miles of ocean to find out that courage is the key to living."
Ann Davison
My Ship is So Small
"You'll be bothered from time to time by storms, fog, snow. When you are, think of those who went through it before you, and say to yourself, 'What they can do, I can do.'"
Antoine de Saint Exupery
WIND, SAND & STARS
"You can just look at the globe and just see you can cross oceans from where you are now, and that's like a mind-blowing thought for me."
Øyvind Nilssen
ON THE WIND Podcast, #504
Listen
"That's how you succeed doing crazy stuff, right? You gotta be conservative in your day-to-day, even though the overall plan is not conservative, it's kind of crazy. But stay in the middle, man."
Matt Rutherford
Andy Schell's ON THE WIND Podcast, #506
Listen

NEWEST BLOGS

View all posts

Among the Channel Islands

2026-12 | FALKEN | Ensenada-Monterey Bay

In the wind shadow of SoCal we had a restful night with calm conditions ghosting through smooth seas. We’re getting ourselves in position for spicy weather tonight once we round Cape Conception, the seas build and the breeze freshens. It will be an upwind sail into an acceleration zone along a formable coast with few bailout points, Morro Bay being one. The crew is really gelling with lots of smiles and laughter on deck. Monterey is in our sights!

25/9/2026
Among the Channel Islands

Day Two Delights

2026-12 | FALKEN | Ensenada-Monterey Bay

The seas were completely glassy with a gentle swell as we approached San Clemente Island, the southernmost of the Channel Islands. Everyone jumped in and marvelled at the lovely temperature and crystal clear, indigo-colored water. Before long the wind started to pick up, and we happily unfurled the jib and were sailing again. The afternoon has been gorgeous, cruising along at 5-6 kts, close hauled on a port tack in a gentle breeze, Catalina Island in the distance on our starboard side, and everyone is happy.

24/9/2026
Day Two Delights

Adios Ensenada!

2026-12 | FALKEN | Ensenada-Monterey Bay

Around 9am this morning, we slipped lines and made our way out of Todos Los Santos Bay with a pre-arranged escort pod of dolphins. After a few hours of motoring through very calm, very blue, very kelpy seas, we clicked the engine off and off we went. After some delicious frittata and not-new potatoes a-la Adam, we executed our first of many tacks. With only 5-10 kts of wind, our close haul has been nothing but pleasant so far. After a lovely week in Ensenada for me, Alex, and Adam, we’re stoked to finally head out and begin our upwind journey back up the coast.

23/9/2026
Adios Ensenada!

You are the crew

You don’t need to be a seasoned sailor to join us; you do need to be curious, engaged, and willing to be part of the team. As a paying crew member, you’ll take part in every aspect of running the boat: helming, sail handling, navigation, weather routing, etc, all the small decisions that add up to a safe and successful ocean passage.

We’re not a formal sailing school. We teach seam'nship the way it’s been taught for centuries—by doing it, for real, in real conditions, with experienced staff who care deeply about safety, quality, and the people on board.

Inclusivity matters to us. We reserve at least two bunks on every passage for women sailors and we work hard to create an environment built on respect, trust, and genuine care for each other.

If you’re looking for a polished vacation, this may not be it. If you’re looking for meaningful challenge, real responsibility, and an unforgettable experience at sea—you’re in the right place.

2026: Pacific & North Sea
2027: Atlantic, Artic & Iceland
View open bunks

IRL Events

View all events
Thu
15
Oct 2026

Annapolis Boat Show | Annapolis

Annapolis
Save the date! Annapolis Boat Show 2026!

Every October Andy, Mia & friends and family of the 59º North team come to our spiritual home port for the annual Boat Show festivities, and we’ll be back in 2026! The Annapolis Sailboat Show dates in 2026 is October 15 - 18, 2026 (Thursday - Sunday, 4 days).

More info will be coming out closer to the show!
Free attendance
SHOW TIX REQUIRED
/ person
View Event
Fri
16
Oct 2026

Sailor's Social Party | Annapolis

Annapolis
59º North's annual Annapolis Boat Show party returns at J/World Annapolis in Eastport, featuring free food and drinks (beer by Heavy Seas), networking with sailors and crew, and deck tours of WOODWIND II. All proceeds, with a minimum $25 ticket, benefit Matt Rutherford and Nicole Trenholm's Ocean Research Project.
Free attendance
$25.00
/ person
View Event
Fri
16
Oct 2026

Women's Happy Hour | Annapolis

Annapolis
The 59º North Women's Happy Hour, supported by Women Who Sail, invites women of all sailing experience levels to connect over drinks at Ram's Head OnStage in Annapolis during the Annapolis Sailboat Show on Saturday, October 16, 2026, from 11:00 AM –1:00 PM. The event is free to attend with RSVP required, and drinks are available for purchase.
Free attendance
FREE
/ person
View Event
View all events

The Quarterdeck

SEA·M’N·SHIP /ˈsēmənˌSHip/: “The skill in, and knowledge of the work of navigating, maintaining, and operating a vessel.”

Go to The Quarterdeck