Is it viable to vlog?
WHAT could be more idyllic than cruising around the world on your own private yacht while documenting your lifestyle? Creating a record not only for yourself but for family and friends. Satisfying your creative outlet. Compiling footage of your life during a time when you are living it to the fullest. Visiting unspoiled islands and exotic lands. Crossing oceans abundant with life and meeting people as diverse as the scenery. Travelling by the power of the wind, frivolous and free.
Now imagine if the footage you were capturing was so exciting and inspiring, you were able to earn a living, simply by sharing it. Sounds like the dream does it not? What is that old saying: ‘if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life?’
If you have a dream of cruising, whether it be around the world or closer to home, why not film what you are doing and share your journey on YouTube? After all, how hard could it be?
WHAT IS THE BACKGROUND?
There is little doubt that there’s success to be had through You Tube. With 1.9 billion people tuning in each month from 91 countries around the world, the platform reaches more viewers than any TV network in existence. More than 1/3 of internet usage is from You Tube alone, with 1 billion hours of video being viewed every single day, more than Netflix and Facebook combined.
Take a moment to let that sink in. With 85 million subscribers, the most popular You Tube channel belongs to that of PewDiePie, a Swedish comedian and video game commentator, earning him an estimated one million dollars per month.
Hoping to find out for myself just how feasible it is to fund the cruising lifestyle through the creation of a You Tube channel, I interviewed nine sailing video loggers, or ‘vloggers’, each with varying levels of success. With 800 sailing channels to choose from, my options were practically unlimited.
In order to gain a historical perspective on just how practical it was to fund one’s lifestyle while actively cruising, I began with cruising legend Lin Pardey, author of a dozen books, countless magazine articles and cocreator of five cruising documentaries.
Lin has circumnavigated the globe, twice, once in each direction. Both times in wooden, engine-free, cutter rigged sailing yachts under 30 feet! I
