Podcasting From The High Seas

From across the ocean Captain John Konrad watches the sunset from the bridge of his ship, a world record setter in size and capability. From his perch 100 feet above the water’s edge he has control of six 8,000 horsepower azipod thrusters that tie into a state of the art dynamic positioning computer. Using advance differential GPS and pre-positioned sonor buoys the multimillion dollar computer system has the ability to rotate each thruster 360 degrees, independently. Captain Konrad says, “This ship can really turn on a dime.”

What’s impressive about Captain Konrad’s story, however, is not the spread of flat panel displays illuminating the bridge, it’s a technology familiar to the average landlubber: VOIP. You see in addition to his duties as the ship’s first officer, he’s also a talented podcaster, possibly the first to record a regular internet show from the High Seas.

“I was really lucky to be assigned a ship with such cutting edge technology that allows me to blog and podcast regardless of my physical location”, he says.

Captain John was lucky in other ways as well, “I started by writing the blog on the site gCaptain.com and through that endeavor got the opportunity to meet some very interesting people including my co-host Peter Mello.”

While John’s perspective is certainly unique, it’s the dynamic interaction between him and Peter that makes the podcast so interesting.

Sailing since a young age, Peter fell in love with the sea during his high school years at Tabor Academy in Marion, Massachusetts. He says, “The school owns the tall ship Tabor Boy and by integrating her with a maritime based curriculum the school offers a unique experience that appealed to me at a young age.”

As life progressed Peter worked in marine insurance and later as CEO of the American Sail Training Association, an international nonprofit that supports the sail training industry and organizes Tall Ships events in North America. His years aboard sailing ships eventually led him to create a company that provides leadership consulting to corporations, executives and students world wide. This new beginning, coupled with an interest in social networks and technology, led him to create a blog, Sea-Fever.org, which is how he met John.

“I have always had a passion, not only for the sea, but also for teaching others about it’s rich and storied culture” says Peter. “If we can share a small part of our passion for the sea and knowledge of the maritime industry with our weekly listeners we are sure to succeed in enriching all of our lives.”

If you are interested in listening to their unique podcast it can be downloaded on the website MessingAboutInShips.com, on their respective blogs at gCaptain.com and Sea-Fever.org and through iTunes and other popular podcast directories. John and Peter can be contacted at podcast@messingaboutinships.com.