A case for the sailing YouTuber

[AKscamp]

I have to say I am incredibly surprised at the positive responses this "article" received and I think the evolution of the comments to discuss the future of cruising is really interesting! Thank you to everyone for being so encouraging and understanding as to how much work it is to film and edit. My husband and I went back and forth about starting the channel for multiple reasons; "selling out," giving away our favorite anchoring spots, adding to the ridiculous travel porn industry, but in the end we decided as long as we stayed honest about our experiences and were ourselves on camera, we could do it. It's turned out to be a lot of fun and really added to our love for the growing YT sailing community (even those not actually on the water). That is all to say, we have very little influence on the actual larger YT Sailing community, but hey, one can dream.

[AKscamp]

Originally Posted by alaskaflyfish

I dont know if anybody has noticed this yet but everything costs more money for the average cruiser of modest means. My slip cost $100 more this year than last year and groceries cost more by the day. As far as young people starting to cruise, I only know of 1 person that is younger than me with a sailboat at my local marina. Cant blame YT for that.

We've noticed, as well! I am surprised, however, that the maritime inflation is hitting AK, that makes me sad. Are you sailing the Kachemak or Resurrection, up there? Hope Soldotna isn't too wet this time of year for you!!

[knotstogo]

I think that YouTube is a great resource for learning about new things as well as entertainment. I saw your channel the other day in my YouTube feed. What caught my eye was the clever boat name, Millennial Falcon, but I haven't browsed through yet. I wouldn't give much attention to naysayers, especially if they aren't providing constructive criticism or are looking for attention with negative commentary.


What I have noticed is that there has been a small explosion in the number of channels in the past few years. I think the success of La Vagabonde and Delos has shown that there is business in sail vlogging. The video linked in one of the messages above, Papageno Diaries, is from a former Delos crewmember. The growing number of channels is good, in that there is more diversity to choose from, to find relatable or entertaining characters, but challenging in that it takes more time to find the good stuff!



At any rate, I wish you fair winds in your channel and don't sweat the negativity because it is everywhere now, another artifact of the Internet age. If you can make a buck, even better; it's no different from any other profession, if you provide a good service then it's reasonable to seek payment.

[AKscamp]

Originally Posted by knotstogo

What I have noticed is that there has been a small explosion in the number of channels in the past few years. I think the success of La Vagabonde and Delos has shown that there is business in sail vlogging. The video linked in one of the messages above, Papageno Diaries, is from a former Delos crewmember. The growing number of channels is good, in that there is more diversity to choose from, to find relatable or entertaining characters, but challenging in that it takes more time to find the good stuff!

Well said! I agree, there are a lot of channels out there and I don't relate to all of them, but some of them I just LOVE. They really make me feel apart of their trip. I think it's great that it gives people options, people may not relate to us, but there is a channel out there that they will relate to.

[Sojourner]

I disagree with Youtube sailors "ruining" it for everyone, and not just because I am one of them... Just because someone will see me or them or delos on a sailboat and like the glorified show that's going on doesn't mean they are gonna magically be able to quit their lives and grab a sailboat and go anywhere. It's aspirational, not realistic for most people, which is why they're fun to watch. Everything has been getting crowded compared to 'the old days'. When I used to backpack Cambodia waaay back when, I was the only white face for hundreds of kilometers, all the streets in the capital were dirt, and you could hear gunfire all night long; now they run parades through siem reap on boardwalks and spring breakers go to phnom penh to drink. People have gotten a little more affluent and all travel sectors are booming, including sailing. But overall, sailing is such a money, time and knowledge intensive thing that most people who see some suntanned young people swimming off madagascar won't be able (or willing) to do what it takes to get there. But there WILL be other people who would have added themselves to the sailing crowd in general already due to more people and more money in general, everywhere. Ie correlation is not causation.

As far as making money, well, more people watch youtube than TV these days, so why should anyone want to make what amounts to a tv show for free? It costs a lot to get the equipment to travel to and film these things, to edit, to put out a quality product. It's self-selecting: if you don't put in effort and put out crap, you ain't getting that sweet recompense, for good reason.

And as far as 'begging' for money, ie patreon, that, too, isn't getting something for nothing. Our patreon has (when it launches soon) lots of additional footage, live chats with us, advice, giveaways, and crew competitions where the patrons can win weekends on the boat with us, all expense paid... that's not something for nothing. That's something for some one who is interested and supportive enough of our project to help contribute to it.

So. If you look at YouTube like the next cable TV, it seems a bit more logical to get money for it if you work hard for it. And just like anything else, if you don't work hard, you're gonna be disappointed

[jmh2002]

^^^ Very correct and fair comments.

[alaskaflyfish]

Originally Posted by AKscamp

We've noticed, as well! I am surprised, however, that the maritime inflation is hitting AK, that makes me sad. Are you sailing the Kachemak or Resurrection, up there? Hope Soldotna isn't too wet this time of year for you!!

I'm on K-bay. Seward is too rainy for me, plus its where most of Anchorage ends up on the weekend. Homer has lots of quirky people but they are nice. Soldotna has nice weather but too many druggies for me. Lots of property theft and two legged riff raff.

[Suijin]

I think the issue revolves around the fact that there is a spectrum of cruising you tubers that goes from great (smart people, entertaining, good content, good production) to absolutely awful (annoying personalities, arrogant, ignorant, bad content, etc.), and everyone reacts to them differently.

It’s fine for people to ask for support. If you don’t like it, don’t support them. If you get tired of them asking, stop watching. I think most are fairly low key about it for the most part.

The ones that irk me are those that try and pass themselves off as knowledgeable and experienced but are not. They do endless boneheaded things and don’t seem to ever comprehend that it’s from their lack of experience. I hate to say I check in on a few of them now and then. It’s like watching a train wreck, you can’t look away.

I agree with atoll that this is going to have a bad impact on cruising opportunities. How much, time will tell. But it’s not a genie you can put back in the bottle.

[JPA Cate]

Ah, yes, the genie and the bottle....

We had a pretty sad lesson about not telling everyone where our favorite atoll was. Taught us to let adventuresome people discover such places as we did, with no prior touting.

Sometimes, for good reasons, actions which in retroflection had the best of intentions, can have pretty sad outcomes.

Ann

[Sojourner]

Originally Posted by Suijin

I hate to say I check in on a few of them now and then. It’s like watching a train wreck, you can’t look away.

Those trainwrecks are probably making 4k a month on their patreon... You know the old saying in showbiz: It don't matter what they're saying, as long as they're talkin'

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by billknny

I have done just enough video editing that I understand that it is really HARD to produce good content that is worth watching. It is not "like work" it IS work. A 20 minute video easily take me 4 or 5 hours of work to polish to the point I am ready to release it "in the wild."

Depends.
I watched a few episodes of Sailing La Vagabonde when they started off. The recipe was simple: Chaos, nice views, fun couple, and some sexy shots.

I bet they made the videos for fun and edited in ten minutes. Not even close to what I call "work"

Then this YT channel became a professional business. I stoppped watching long ago, even before they moved to the cat. Now I bet they are editing long hours, but they earn what? a million per year? They invite foreigners (their patreons) for weeks onboard to produce new content?


I never got this YT or instagram thing. I can see these millenials (and younger) on the beach, busy making videos / photos of their nice looking girl in the sunset.
These folks are always busy trying to make their life look perfect to impress their online "friends" and total strangers.

[OldManMirage]

I think, like anything else, there are good ones and there are bad ones. You can watch really high dollar folks visit really nice places and watch some really good footage shot from drones and such. Or you can find some more down to earth people and follow them on their journey and feel like you get to know them a little. On both types there is information to be gleaned.

A couple of ones I really like are "Sailing Emerald Steel" and "Adventures of an Old Sea Dog." Here are the links for those who want.

Emerald Steel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIP...glg6QAgEYocQ8Q

Sea Dog
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClI...K7VQ3Rmbojvfyw


And while I wasn't really ready to do this, I'll throw out my own Channel.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb6..._as=subscriber

It's still a work in progress and I only have one really nice video - the latest one, the others are me learning ! - but I hope to add some decent content including some of the repairs and modifications I plan to make to my Cape Dory 28 over the next few years.

I think it shows that you're never too old to learn. I did the last and best video with just my Samsung S8 and some software I downloaded. It took about a day to put it together, and that's with me having to learn the new program, which I'm still doing of course. Fun stuff though ! And hey, we can't let all these young people think they rule the internet right ?

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by atoll

some role models here.....screwing it up for the rest of the cruising community,in real time youtube style...........

O...M...G. You’ve got to be kidding me.

[john61ct]

I have zero interest in gathering information by watching videos, 99.999% waste of time compared to scanning well-written text + static graphics.

Plus the quality of the data, knowledge of the author is usually ridiculously low.

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by Suijin

O...M...G. You’ve got to be kidding me.

I agree. Same reasons I've never been able to tolerate any "reality TV" (oxymoron) for more time than it takes to flip away to something anythig less soul crushing.