This interview connects with Matt on the day that he left St John's, Newfoundland, bound for Aasiaat in Greenland where he will begin his quest to circumnavigate the Arctic solo and non stop. He expects to cover the 10,000 miles in around 90 days if everything goes perfectly. He has crammed 1,600 litres of fuel onto his Valiant 42 and will sail across the North Atlantic, passing north of Iceland and Norway, before he enters Russian waters. He, like Elle Hibberd and fellow OCC member, Harry Anderson, have succeeded in receiving the necessary permission to attempt the North East Passage without a Russian Pilot on board. Once he crosses the border into Russia his Starlink terminal and GPS will stop working leaving Matt without access to detailed satellite imagery to help him navigate the ice strewn waters. Instead Matt will have to rely on the Iridium network to stay in touch and access weather and ice information. We terminated the interview a little early due to poor audio quality but we will make every effort to catch up with him again when he is under way. Matt's sailing credentials are extraordinary. He became the first person to circumnavigate the Americas non-stop in a 309 day solo voyage through the North West Passage and around Cape Horn. He now runs an expedition yacht supporting scientists studying climate change. He does this through his non-profit organisation and is currently raising money to buy a new engine for his research yacht. Here is a short video explaining the route https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHPThATpYrQ Matt's website is: www.oceanresearchproject.org

Ocean Cruising Club Members, Yves and Barbara, have been living aboard S/V MedioVas since 2019 and are currently cruising in New Zealand. Barbara (a Vet from Belgium) occasionally finds work when visiting French island such as St Pierre and Guadeloupe. Yves (a former French Naval Officer) retired early after commanding the Naval base on Mayotte. Their voyage began in the Indian Ocean and has taken them to some unusual destinations. Cruising the Canadian Maritimes to Montreal was the highlight of their voyage thus far. Their plan is to continue westward from New Zealand visiting New Caledonia and the Solomon Island along the way.

Ocean Cruising Club member, Istvan Kopar, will leave Fort Lauderdale on July 4th bound for France and the start of a solo, non-stop, westabout circumnavigation aboard his Rob Perry designed Valiant 42. Istfan made his first solo circumnavigation in 90/91. He circumnavigated again in 96/97 and then finished the 2018 Golden Globe Race in 4th place after 263 days at sea. Visit Istvan's website to learn more: https://koparsailing.com/

Tim, Emmie and their four year old daughter, Célestine set sail from the UK in August 2025. They are currently paused in Cape Verde having cruised in Gambia and Senegal along the way. In a few weeks they may head to the Caribbean or sail south for Brazil, Argentina or Chile. They will decide nearer the time! Team Shadowfax were recently made OCC Roving Rear Commodores and their cruising adventure has got off to a great start. In this video Tim and Emmie chat about their adventure so far and their plans for the future.

In this webinar, Environmental scientist and ocean explorer, Charlie Young, describes the overfishing of sardines in West Africa that deprives locals of work and food forcing them to abandon their homes. She shares the story of the fishmeal industry and its impact across the world.

OCC Member and Connecticut Port Officer, Bob Osborn, was welcomed to the Gibraltar Straits by a pod of Orcas in the summer of 2025. Within a few minutes he lost both his Hydrovane rudder and 1/3rd of his main rudder. In this Webinar Bob interviews Rui Alves who runs the Orca reporting website orcas.pt. Bob describes his Orca encounter and Rui explains the statistics, the behaviour and how best to avoid and respond to attacks.

Duncan and Larissa Copeland have been professionally involved in ocean ecology for many years. When they decided to take their young family sailing, they set up a citizens science directory to help other boats link with projects. The whole family have been fully engaged with many research projects all the way across the Pacific. Along the way they have encouraged many fellow cruising boats to connect with Citizens Science Projects. In this interview Duncan describes how engaging with scientists has enhanced their family adventure and contributed useful data to a range of different projects. https://www.freerangeocean.org/aboutfreerangeocean

Will Spencer, a yacht master instructor, advises novice ocean sailors about how to prepare their boats and themselves for an ocean crossing. In this webinar he talks about loss of mast, loss of steering, fire, man-over-board, flooding and abandoning ship as well as medical emergencies. His emphasis is on prevention and planning. Will's business is: https://www.whitedotsailing.com/

Jamie and Behan coach and mentor cruisers worldwide from their sailboat S/V Totem. Having circumnavigated with their young family they are now cruising at a leisurely pace in the Western Pacific. They arrived in Japan in June 2025 and like it so much they adjusted their plans to remain in Japanese waters for more than a year before heading down to Taiwan.

Anette and Anders are passionate ocean wanderers who have been living aboard S/V Horizon, their Outbound 46, since 2018. They were in New Zealand and wanted to sail to Tasmania but they took a long route via Japan and Alaska. In this meticulous presentation they describe the voyage which began in early June 2025. They crossed in 9 days from Hokaido to Attu and then hugged the Aleutian Archipelago spending most of their time within the 12 mile limit in order to limit their Starlink bill. They describe the flora and fauna they encountered along the way and offer copious advice to those wishing to follow in their wake. Only 8 sailboats made this voyage in the summer of 2025.

Ocean Cruising Club Challenge Grant winner 2024, Charlie Young, is a marine scientist living aboard her sail boat in the Caribbean. She presents an overview of the the ecosystems in the Caribbean and the threats they are facing. She talks about best practices for cruisers and suggests citizen science projects that cruisers can engage with to both further their own knowledge and inform the scientific community.

Bojan is a professional sailor and OCC member based in the Netherlands who works very closely with the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. He has extensive experience with downwind sailing techniques and has put together this thoughtful webinar to help those preparing for a long tradewind passage.

Daria, though born in New Jersey is of Ukrainian descent. After a successful corporate career she became an avid sailor and a huge contributor to the Ocean Cruising Club and the sailing community. She now lives with her husband, Alex, in a remote corner of Ireland's west coast where she has half an acre of grape vines producing 700 bottles a year. She is a staunch environmentalist and looks after rescued donkeys.

A beautiful and poignant film about The Reverend Bob Shepton who is an Ocean Cruising Club Honorary Member. This film, made 5 years ago, tells the story of Bob’s extraordinary adventures as he sells his beloved boat, Dodo’s Delight, to care for his ailing wife. We are pleased to report that, 5 years on, Bob is still sailing to distant shores and inspiring us all to follow in his wake.

OCC Challenge Grant winner Nicole Trenholm sends in her first video from Greenland. The OCC is pleased to support the Ocean Research Project with a Conservation Challenge Grant towards monitoring coastal Greenland’s capacity as a natural carbon sink and how climate change impacts the natural carbon absorption process. Ocean Research Project’s GO-MARIE (Glacier-Ocean Mapping and Research Interdisciplinary Effort) mission is led by oceanographer Nicole Trenholm (PhD candidate at University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences) and Captain Matthew Rutherford.

SY Cruising Independence; 2023/24; Richard Delfosse. Join the crew of Independence as we explore the Fiji islands, The Yasawa island chain and the beautiful Lau Group. Meet the people, the culture and see the beauty of these islands that are difficult to reach. Enjoy!

We are happy to welcome you at the webinar "sail repair at sea" given by Patrick van der Walle. Marcus Noordermeer and Willie Ambergen will moderate this webinar.

Anneke Sips sailed 15,000 miles and learned much about provisioning and cooking along the way. In this webinar she shares her top ten tips.

S/V Thor was designed and built for a short handed transit of the NWP. This webinar describes in detail the challenges that high latitude sailing can present and how those challenges influenced the design and build of this remarkable yacht.  With guests Victor Wejer (OCC Port Officer NWP) & Tom Zagon (Canadian Ice Service), Gerd & Melissa traversed the NWP in 2024 and enjoyed the company of 5 other OCC yachts along the way. The Marggraff's describe how they prepared for the NWP and how their plans worked out.

Ralf & Wiebke's describe their passage from Hawaii to Alaska and the summer that they spent cruising around Sitka and Glacier Bay. Their talk is illustrated with stunning photographs of landscape, flora and wildlife. They describe the practicalities and delights of cruising this sparsely inhabited and rugged coast.