To Blog or not to Blog?

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by SlugmasterP

I feel my generation (I'm 30) and younger have

short attention spa

[estarzinger]

We have a blog, but I much prefer to write occasional articles/essays for our website, than write about what we had for lunch or where we sailed today on the blog.

[wingNwing]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

We have a blog, but I much prefer to write occasional articles/essays for our website, than write about what we had for lunch or where we sailed today on the blog.

Agreed ... and its far more useful for the reader as well. I don't really want to hear what someone did, I want to hear what they thought about / learned from what they did.

[svHighLife]

I use wordpress for my lackluster blog. While I felt the learning curve was a little steep, the options for layouts and drop-down menus seemed to be the most abundant.

I agree with the previous posters in regard to length and pictures. Keep it short, and keep it full of pictures. I definitely favor more blog posts over longer individual blogs. I very much enjoy the quality vlogs (Video Logs... think youtube) like DrakeParagon, s/v Velocir and Cruising Lea Lea and have started to include them myself.

Im heading down the ICW for a few months in the Bahamas in October on my '66 Bristol 27 s/v High Life and will be sharing my experience.

Here is the most updated list of the blogs I follow as well.

[JK n Smitty]

Originally Posted by SlugmasterP

I feel my generation (I'm 30) and younger have become obsessed with documenting every aspect of their lives. Its like if we can take a picture of it, film it, make a status update about it, or blog it, it'll become a material posession we can take with us and own. I have seen friends of mine experiencing something fun or new but the whole time they were preoccupied with getting a picture of it so they could post it on facebook. I've noticed this so many times when I walk down the street to watch the sun set behind the ocean. People aren't looking at the the sunset, they are staring at their cameras or phones trying to get a good shot.

I think sometimes experiencing stuff without having the documentation or proof can make an experience a little purer.

One time when I was a kid I walked down to our pond where my dad was fishing. When I got to him he had a huge grin on his face. He reached into a bucket and pulled out the biggest largemouth bass I had ever seen. He had just caught it. I wanted to run up to the house to snap a picture and weigh it but before I could, he took it and gently placed it back in the pond. He would always decline to take a picture when he'd shoot a big buck as well. He wasn't hunting and fishing to brag about it later.

As someone slightly older (38), I like this part of your generation. Yes they over document but a lot of people in your age group appear to be more determined to collect experience instead of stuff. And that's a great thing! It reminds me of the surf scene in the early days of big wave surfing like was documented in Riding Giants.

[Gavala]

99.9% of blogs contain such little humour I'd rather put an ice pick in my forehead than have to read inane ramblings of Mr & Mrs Safe which are less exciting than eating a natural yoghurt.

Also, people who post 'facts' in blogs should be shot.

Seb Rogers although not a text blogger but a previous YouTube blogger gets my vote.

[settingsun]

I like to use my blog as a platform for illustrated story telling and for sharing our journey of self-discovery and growth.

For those that like to ponder the meaning of life and enjoy self-discovery:
Living, Loving and Perfecting "The Dream"

For those that like sailing adventure stories:
Gulf Of Tehuatnepec Mexico - Squeezing in a Crossing Between Blows

For those that love the "travel" and "culture" side of the cruising experience:
It's Not About the Hair

For those that love sweet surprises:
Quinceañera - s/v Groovy Helps Celebrate a Mexican 15th Birthday

[bvimatelot]

is what I feel about blogs and web-sites that ask for donations.....but that's just me.....

[Sailor_Hutch]

Originally Posted by svHighLife

I use wordpress for my lackluster blog. While I felt the learning curve was a little steep, the options for layouts and drop-down menus seemed to be the most abundant.

I agree with the previous posters in regard to length and pictures. Keep it short, and keep it full of pictures. I definitely favor more blog posts over longer individual blogs. I very much enjoy the quality vlogs (Video Logs... think youtube) like DrakeParagon, s/v Velocir and Cruising Lea Lea and have started to include them myself.

Im heading down the ICW for a few months in the Bahamas in October on my '66 Bristol 27 s/v High Life and will be sharing my experience.

Here is the most updated list of the blogs I follow as well.

I agree that Wordpress is very good for words, Tumblr is very good for quick-shot photo sequences, and of course there's Youtube for video. Some sailors use smugmug for photo collages.

Another poster mentioned that many blog interfaces do not allow for good content indexing, meaning that the blog ends up being one long post that takes forever to load into the browser, and longer to navigate from point to point. It really depends on the theme that is chosen. For instance, on Wordpress, I use the Sunspot theme, which is set up for really nice paged indexing in a left side column, and makes the blog work out about the same as a regular web page.

Also - paid blogs usually have more bells and whistles, including fancier paging options.

[youngncruisin]

Well this is the start of our blog. We are trying to inspire other younger couples that with good planning this is a viable way of life. We learned a lot of lessons the first time around that we believe would scare away most people from this way of life. We are going to give a lighter side of what we took from when those Oh Snap moments come up in sailing, as they always do/will.

Our Journey To / With Twinspire and the Twins

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by youngncruisin

Well this is the start of our blog. We are trying to inspire other younger couples that with good planning this is a viable way of life. ......................

I always hope to avoid succumbing to the negative views of the "old codger", but I still find blogs, and your's too, of little interest. Maybe this is a generational problem. I know I would be thrilled to meet you or other young couples at an anchorage, but the blog just falls far short! Forty years ago we were young liveabord cruisers and I still remember the names of other young cruisers we met, as well as the names of their boats. Maybe there exists a disconnect for those of my generation that prevents an ability to establish a cyber camaraderie. ....or maybe it just comes slow; afterall, there are half a dozen posters on this forum that I feel that I know as friends, but I only know them "online".

[settingsun]

How sad that folks here feel compelled to lash out at fellow cruisers and cut down their blogs.

If you don't like reading certain blogs, don't go to those links.

If you want professional writing and photography, buy a cruising magazine.

Keeping a blog is very challenging -- many of our followers have lamented to us that once they started cruising they found it overwhelming to try to keep up a blog too, and yet that had been something high on their list for fulfilling the cruising dreams.

My hat is off to anyone that goes cruising and to anyone that takes the time to blog about it.

Not everyone is a brilliant writer or photographer, but everyone who moves aboard a boat has an interesting story to share.

Keep up the good work, ALL cruisers/bloggers, and enjoy the lifestyle and the blogging hobby.

[virginia boy]

A few years ago at my girlfriends urging, I started a blog. I posted a few times, and added a crapload of pictures (mostly of other people's Westsails) and then stopped. It hadn't taken me long to realize that I loathed writing, I had no tech knowledge to offer, and my blog was boring as crap. The worst thing was the pressure I felt to post clever, imaginative, or wildly exciting content. F*#k that....life is too short! That said, I regularly visit sailing/cruising blogs and learn quite a lot from them.

Evans Starzinger mentioned that he now prefers to write essays or articles. I prefer to read articles or essay type posts (Reasonably short ones.) I also like pictures! Lots and lots of closeups of pictures of boats, and people on boats!

[Hudson Force]

[QUOTE=settingsun;1295166]How sad that folks here feel compelled to lash out at fellow cruisers and cut down their blogs....................[QUOTE]

I might be among thse that you consider to be "lashing out" at other's blogs, but my intent is just to evaluate my response to these blogs. I freely admit to not being stimulated by these blogs, but I'm not identifying any one as less appealing than another. I think that my negative reaction to blogs is simply that they are a one-way communication, not unlike listening to a report on a radio. The message is received, but there is no interaction. On an interactive forum, like CF, the communication is two-way and far more interesting as it enables participation. I have 42 years of liveaboard cruising and raising two children aboard from infants to adulthood. I've experienced many of the events and challenges that come with cruising, but I'm not interested in presenting a dialogue without the participation of others. I'm very interested in sharing my experiences, but not wthout an active exchange.

[o_q]

People have their opinions of what makes a good/bad blog. Don't let that discourage you from posting it here. Someone will appreciate it. Even if by consensus you are bad at it, do it anyway if it's what you want to do. You'll get better.