Sailing videos and vlogs explosion

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There has been an explosion of sailing videos on YouTube in the last few years. It seems that all the young people who have gone sailing are documenting their voyaging with vlogs instead of blogs, which appear to be so passe nowadays. Some have hundreds of thousands of subscribers who watch these videos that can be half an hour long. The best ones for me are under 10 minutes long, any longer and I get bored. YouTube has even created a list of top 30 sailing video channels.



Most of them are done by young crews, often good looking couples. Some are done by aging sailors that are more pirate than celebrity. Many of these cruisers are funding their adventures through paid for videos on Patreon, Paypal donation requests and crowdfunding on sites like Go Fund Me.

What's amazing is that people who are not sailors are watching, dreaming and funding other people's dreams. There have always been armchair sailors who never untie the lines but this is an extraordinary phenomenon. I suspect that the dire warnings about climate change, the political uncertainties, the challenges of workplace in an increasingly competitive market, overcrowding, IT proliferation and generally intense stress and malaise have contributed to the need to dream of escape. And what's even more amazing is that none of the cruisers have a 'publisher' or 'studio'. They are all doing it with equipment and skills they have on board their boats. A new era has been born. Here's a look at some of these vlogs.

Sailing La Vagabond, the largest of the channels, has more than 605,000 subscribers as of March 2019. Their Spearfishing video has amassed 3.2M views.  I personally liked their 4 years of sailing in 4 minutes video. It doesn't hurt that this young Australian couple are two really beautiful human specimens, but their followers have become critical of their vlog since they became more commercialized.

Sailing s/v Delos has more than 300,000 subscribers and their crossing the equator video has almost 5.5M views. It is a very highly rated vlog offering a mix of adventure, sailing, and fun in distant lands.

Sailing Doodles has 122,000 subscribers on YouTube, as well as a website with a photo gallery, podcast and video library. Their video 'Who needs clothes on a private island' has almost 1.8M views. Quite a few of their episodes have more than 1M views.

Sailing Uma has almost 102,000 subscribers and have documented their entire journey from finding the right boat and learning how to sail her on through more than 160 episodes. Their camera, drone, and editing work is outstanding, and the couple, Dan and Kika, are really sympatico.

Ocean Cruising Club Member Rick Moore runs the Sailing Sophisticated Lady channel. With more than 100,000 subscribers, his most popular video Deported!  has more than 2.8M views. It's 30 minutes long! He sails with young people and documents the cruising lifestyle.

RAN Sailing, with a Swedish couple, has almost 75,000 subscribers. Their 1st Episode has clocked up almost 130,000 views. They cover sailing more than the liveaboard lifestyle and so theirs is a more technical vlog that is popular with other sailors, well produced and narrated.

Sailing Yacht Ruby Rose has 57,000 subscribers but their sailing the Portuguese Coast video has more than 400,000 views. Their How much does it cost video had more than 600,000 views.

Here are a few more vlogs I've become aware of:

Sailing Catalpa (family of 4)
Sailing Fata Morgana (by a talented young girl named Maya, English with Bulgarian subtitles)
Bums on a Boat (3 young men)
Sailing Zatara (family)
Sail Surf ROAM (trimaran)
Sail Life
Free Range Sailing
Sailing Nandji
Adventures of an old Seadog
Chase the Story
MJ Sailing
Sailing Into Freedom
Wicked Salty
Abandon Comfort
Luckyfish Gets Away
Sailing Tangaroa
Sailing Kittiwake
Vet Tails' Sailing Chuffed

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