Quote:
Originally Posted by softdown
I have been watching various youtube liveaboard videos for a few months. These series seem to constantly pop up for viewing:
* The Vagabond couple. The real star are the eyes of the young lady. How did that young buck come up with the cash for that yacht and endless voyage anyway? Again, the real treasure is his lovely co-star.
* The SVVelos crew. Once again, how did that young man buy that 52' yacht and endless voyage? I think it even has a scuba tank compressor.
* Followtheboat. Middle aged couple with 42' boat. This one seem real. He was a DJ so their audio quality is always very good. They focus on education about liveaboard challenges.
* EmeraldSteel. Another trip into a fantasy world. She somehow maintains an amazing middle aged figure. We are left to wonder if this is due to exercise or genetics. He was a home builder and can make a huge ships mast with a knife and saw (an exaggeration). Their boat is made of steel. Of course he knows how to maintain it himself.
* There are a few single guys doing their liveaboard/sailing thing. Having a hard time competing with the couples I would think.
* There is a new couple from Australia. I hope they make a lot more videos.
Have I been missing the best ones? Who do you like?
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I've been watching these folks for years, as well as the recent explosion of others wishing to follow in their "monetary income" wakes. It will be interesting to see where this goes (money wise) over the next few years, yet here's a few of my thoughts, opinions, ideas, and guesses - point by point:
A few things first, and by the way, it's "Delos", not "Velos".
Personally, I enjoy watching many of these "home movie" videos. However, would I ever "
pay money" to watch them? No! Just like I never payed my friends to watch THEIR home movies. Would I ever pay money for one of their coffee cups, hoodies, or t-shirts? No. However, some people do.
Who would pay? My guess?
1) Rich yacht-sters or others who just want to blow some bread.
2) Mom & Dad, Sis & Bro, Grammy & Gramps, and assorted pals.
3) Folks that just wish to live vicariously, because their own lives are dead.
4) THEMSELVES! (ping pong!): Keep in mind that maybe many of their gracious patrons could be "them" paying "themselves". You don't want to appear to be the "sad sailing ducks" with no patrons. Thus, set up accounts and pay yourself, that might encourage others to do the same. The more "patron" money you get per upload, the more chance that "anonymous" wannabes will want to join the "let's pay them" club.
Oh, but there's more to think about. Let's examine a few, and I'll keep proper names away for political correctness:
1)
Crocodile Dundee is not so young. As for the money to buy the first boat in
Italy, I think he was working for years on
oil rigs, or something akin. Thus, he saved enough to buy the used French boat. After sailing to
Greece, he met the wannabe "Sheryl Crow / Joni Mitchell". She had the "make videos / patron money" ideas. She was just a Roo on a Greek island, with no bread and no plans. Before that she was a runaround hippie. Lot's of those around. Good thing she's a looker. That helps. It also helps that he's a good looking guy. I sometimes enjoy watching them, yet would I pay money for that? Nope. That aside, they lucked out. It's the "new age of advertising" for yacht makers. Watch them embrace and start laughing in glee on their
new boat. Even "they" cannot believe that "strangers" give them money to sail around and that a yacht company gave them a boat. It's like high-school
kids hitting the jackpot in Vegas. Where will it go? Who knows? They recently put out a contest for a new crew
member, because they need "video editing" help. Since the
new boat, their patron money has gone down.
2)
Mr. Computer from Flagstaff saved money,
sold house and car, quit his job, took a bank loan for the boat, and went sailing - with now "ex-wife"(?) and brother. Similar to Crocodile Dundee, he's not young, and they had no idea that they could make some bread sailing around when they left
Mexico. In fact, I think that someone suggested to them "You should buy a video
camera and
record your
passage." Good thing that the ex was replaced by a cute desperate Swede who enjoys being topless. Not much was waiting for her in
New Zealand, so why not go sailing? That aside, I like many of their home videos. Would I pay? Nope! Why pay? Now, and after their recent trip to
France, where it appears that the French boat maker also wants to enter the "new age of advertising"
game, their patron money has gone down. But, don't forget that Mr. Computer can always probably make "secret" computer-related money over the Net. That fact won't be mentioned when they stare gleefully into the
camera and say "Buy us a
beer, bro!" Keep in mind, many of these patron seekers may actually have a lucrative "secret" side business. heheheh!
They are laughing ALL the way to the bank!
3) The "
Cat from Canada" trudging around for years in the
Caribbean with assorted girlfriends who eventually leave him. I liked the first video of his that I noticed. He was sailing down to Granada to avoid a
hurricane. Eventually the blonde left. Recently, the communist girlfriend (who also previously left) came back, as who would not select "sailing the
Caribbean with Grandpa and his kid" over cold nights in Moscow working part time at McDonalds? It's an easy choice. Recently,
Canada Cat decided to try and join the "patron"
game, and there's even a video of them chatting with Mr. Computer boat. Do you wanna guess what they were "really" discussing that was not on the home
movie? I know what they were talking about.
4)
The Man from Brighton, Massachusetts! OK, I'll say it! Drake! I LIKE this guy, and I used to live in Brighton 30 years ago. It's a section of Boston. He's a very good egg. The first video I saw he was leaving
NYC, headed solo for
Bermuda. He heard an SOS from a chump with no cash and decided to help him. While towing the dude to
Bermuda, the boats "banged in the night", and his
bowsprit got mangled. Of course the dude in the other boat couldn't pay him any bread to fix his
bowsprit, so he had to chew it. Poor guy. That aside, I like many of his home movies. He loves sailing, and he's got a good heart. Why he picked up the gal in the Carolinas who always appears "sour" and stays below seasick, I have no idea. That's love, I guess.
5)
Ms. Deutschland! Pretty enough. Good legs. Dad has money through his pharmacy. I can tell by her
English that she lived in the States. She sometimes flies home to
Germany for the holidays, and for more bread from dad, but is now pulling in a fair "patron"
income. We'll see where she ends up in that old steel tub of hers. I think she's now in the Pacific after a few years in the Caribbean, where she learned to sail. Good luck, fraulein!
6)
Ms. Texas! Not much needs to be said about her. She was recently hanging around "Canadian Cat" for a while, yet I'll leave her sordid story alone.
And finally, the EXPLOSION of others who basically just wish to follow in the wakes to make money, hoping for a "dream life" tropical
vacation that pays $500K a year. Good luck!... and we'll see where this all ends up. I think the more folks that enter the game, or just the boredom that will probably soon arise, the more the patron money will go away. I could be wrong. Who knows? Television shows eventually go off the air, because ratings drop. It should be the same with home movies.
With that aside, what type of person wants to give even "
ONE DOLLAR" to strangers on the
Internet who are laughing all the way to the bank, with also a free million-dollar boat? I have no idea where that idiocy comes from, but it doesn't come from me.
Lastly, I REALLY LIKED "
Boston SV Slick", and "
Alex Rust" (RIP). Those cats sailed for the true love of sailing. Nothing else. No begging for beers while taking
delivery of a million-dollar yacht.
All
food for thought.
Cheers!