Will Sofrin, USCGC Eagle: The Legacy of America’s Tall Ship

Will Sofrin is a lifelong sailor and the author of the book "USCGC Eagle: The Legacy of America's Tall Ship." The book tells the story of a German naval training ship seized at the end of World War II and transformed into the U.S. Coast Guard's flagship, training generations of officers. Rather than a conventional history, it is told through firsthand accounts from those who sailed her, with each chapter capturing a different decade of the ship's life, from her dramatic 1946 delivery to America, to Cold War voyages behind the Iron Curtain, to surviving a near-loss in a hurricane.

He is also the author of the book "All Hands on Deck," a  memoir about sailing the tall ship Rose 5,000 miles from Rhode Island to California so she could become HMS Surprise in the feature film Master and Commander.

We talk about sailing a J-70, his book all hands on deck, sailing a tall ship, what all the crew did, maneuvering a tall ship, sails on a tall ship, climbing the mast of a tall ship, tall-ship sailors of old, the book "Two Years Before the Mast," sailing the tall ship Rose from Rhode Island to California for the movie Master and Commander, chain of command on a tall ship, a force 12 storm, going aloft in the storm, freeclimbing rigs, crew dynamics on Rose, sailing upwind in a tall ship, the motion of the boat, ballast on a tall ship, the ship's carpenter, the daily routine, tools, varnishing exterior teak on a sailboat - tips and best practice, his new book "USCG Eagle: The Legacy of America's Tall Ship," Will's dream boat, and more. 

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