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Janine Georgette wanted to learn to sail. She was, in her words, "sea bit." But she lives in New York City—one of the most expensive cities in the US and certainly not an easy place for a divorced woman in her 60s to find a boat on a shoestring budget. But Janine is about as determined a woman as you might find. As an 11 year old, Janine wanted to learn to ski. She was frustrated by how easy and natural it was for the kids who had been skiing their whole lives, and she struggled to improve. So she joined the ski team at school, and it worked—she dove in the deep end, if you will. And later in life she tried the same approach to learn how to sail—immersion. Janine tells her story with all of its ups and downs, successes and failures. You can't help but to be inspired. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/remarkablestories/message

Mansoor Adayfi was held at Guantanamo Bay for fourteen years. He was never charged with a crime. Mark Fallon was the NCIS agent in charge of criminal investigations at Guantanamo Bay. This is the second part of Mansoor's story. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/remarkablestories/message

At the age of eighteen, Mansoor Adayfi was kidnapped by Afghani warlords and sold to the CIA. Despite the fact that he was a teenager from Yemen, his abductors convinced American intelligence agents that he was a middle-aged Egyptian recruitment officer for Al Qaeda. Mansoor was held first at a secret CIA black site, was then moved to Kandahar Prison, and finally was transferred to Guantánamo Bay, where he was tortured and humiliated for fourteen years. This is the first of a two-part edition of Remarkable Stories. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/remarkablestories/message

Lou Landreth has been on this Earth for ninety-eight years and has spent much of that time sailing and fighting. She invited Mike McDowall over for tea, cookies, and an argument. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/remarkablestories/message

Don McIntyre has spent his entire life engaged in daring exploits. He has sailed the toughest seas, he has led expeditions to the most inhospitable places, he has been an endurance pilot, a rally driver, and an Antarctic explorer. He has won medals and accolades in numerous countries. He has written books and produced documentaries. He has built boats and aeroplanes. More recently, he revived the Golden Globe Race - a solo circumnavigation widely regarded as the toughest sailing event in the world. On October 31st 2021, at the age of 66, he's due to compete in the Globe 580 TransAt, a race across the Atlantic in self-built plywood yachts. Don McIntyre talked with Seabird's Mike McDowall about his extraordinary life. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/remarkablestories/message

Jon Martins was a qualified tandem sky-diving instructor, parachute packer, and cameraman by the age of 20. After performing thousands of jumps, Jon met tragedy on New Years Eve of 2012 as he experienced a hard landing that caused a spinal fracture, making him an L1 paraplegic. In his words, “I see it as a gift, a tremendous blessing in my life, but it is necessary to act quickly upon it. When you have these life changing enlightenments and you don’t act quickly, it will just fade away, go in the background and you forget about it” Jon turned his focus to sailing, becoming the first disabled sailor to circumnavigate New Zealand, to cross the Caribbean Sea, and to singlehand across the Pacific. But you won’t find him wallowing in the spirit of tragedy and despair. Deeply philosophical, self analytical, and curious about the world around him, Jon joins Seabird’s John Herlig from his New Zealand home to talk about his life, accomplishments, struggles and aspirations in a fascinating and moving episode. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/remarkablestories/message

This episode of Remarkable Stories has been removed at the request of the interviewee. In its place, you can hear an early trailer from back when we were called Seabird. However, I am excited to let you know that Imi will be back, on Wednesday, July 20th at 9am Central European Time. Do not miss it. Honestly, Imi's life story will make your jaw hit the floor. It is sensational. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/remarkablestories/message

The former owner and captain of a Charleston, South Carolina, charter company, Banff Luther has once again tossed the predictable aside to pursue life in an unconventional way. Trading the sea for the mountains, Banff recently acquired his contractor’s license and is planning to build a number of luxury rental cabins as well as a garage large enough to let him work on the Porsche 911 that he races on weekends. Grounded, humble, and thankful, Banff sits down with Seabird’s John Herlig and shares what it is that gets him out of bed in the morning. And he says he’d be content to go out with his boots on, doing what he loves. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/remarkablestories/message

In January of 2020, Seabird’s John Herlig crewed together with his friend Benjamin on the delivery of a 44’ Antares catamaran named Seahorse from Rio Dulce, Guatemala, to the island state of Grenada in the Windward Islands of the Caribbean. A year later the two were called upon again, to deliver the vessel from her marina in Grenada to her new home in South Florida in the USA. In this episode listeners can follow along as Benjamin and John fly to Grenada in the midst of a global pandemic, survive quarantine, and pilot this luxury catamaran back to the United States. Aboard Seahorse in 2020 they sailed over a 7.7 magnitude earthquake as they left Grand Cayman. This year’s trip involved piloting the vessel through the ashen skies of the erupting volcano Soufriere on the island of St. Vincent. From didgeridoos to ukuleles, midnight storms to quarantine kittens, John & Ben find amusement in all aspects of the sailing life. This episode offers listeners a rare first-hand look into life at sea. And don’t forget to check out Newsly, the fresh online audio news service. Go to: https://newsly.me/ Seabird listeners can get their first month of Newsly Premium for free using the promo code SEA2021. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/remarkablestories/message

John Barry never knew his father, a fighter pilot who was killed in action in WWII. But John grew up determined to honor his father's memory by living life to the full and not wasting away in the confines of a dusty office. As a young man, he left his native North Carolina and drove to Annapolis on a lark, hoping to find employment in the sailing capital of America. He took on work as a broker, and through that ended up scoring a job on the schooner, Harvey Gamage. Some years later, he became the captain of this storied, romantic tall ship. In this episode, Captain Barry sits down with Seabird’s John Herlig on the shores of the Intracoastal Waterway in North Carolina, to share tales of years gone by, sailing the Caribbean Sea. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/remarkablestories/message

Back in the 80s, Ric Sagarminaga was one of those Greenpeace guys making headlines with their daring attempts to prevent illegal whaling or the dumping of toxic waste. Three decades later, Ric is still defending the marine environment only now he does it aboard his own vessel, the century-old Toftevaag, flagship of his scientific research organisation, Alnitak. Ric is a cool guy with a laid-back manner that hides a steely determination to protect the oceans. The work he does helps conservation efforts worldwide. Mike McDowall joined Ric aboard Toftevaag on the north coast of Mallorca. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/remarkablestories/message

Not many people enter the sailing and racing world along the path that Dave Shearlock took. Raised in East St. Louis, Missouri, during the 1940s, Dave’s mother placed him in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, where he was introduced to sailing on the Mississippi River. Through lake racing in suburban St. Louis, Dave honed his boat handling skills and eventually met his wife Carolyn, in the Illinois racing circuit. Carolyn is well-known as the author of The Boat Galley Cookbook and the creative force behind The Boat Galley brand and website. Dave speaks with Seabird’s John Herlig about bridging the gap between the blue collar world of his upbringing and the high-dollar world of sailboat racing. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/remarkablestories/message