I have a few channels that I regularly watch, many others that I swing by from time to time. I am mostly interested in the people that did it on a shoestring
budget.
Sailing Uma
Project Atticus
Saillife
A Sailboat Story
And now SampsonBoatCo.
I have watched Delos, Vagabond and some of the others... but they are way out of my league. I'm not that interested in a rolling
rum fest, or beautiful people on a 50' Cat.
Here's why I watch who I watch.
Sailing Uma. I like how they progressed. They have done quite a bit of work to their
boat, including installing a homebuilt
electric motor. Their projects appeal to me. Dan
rode out
Hurricane Matthew at
anchor in
Haiti and documented it! Impressive the amount of prep work he did, and documented his 2 day ordeal. They had very little money to start out, but their video content is very entertaining and compelling (at least to me). They now seem to be earning a fair bit of money from Patreon, and I hope that doesn't negatively effect their video content.
Project Atticus - I started watching these guys because they bought an
Allied Seabreeze 32 (a
boat that I am also interested in). Their early videos, documenting the work they did on this boat in the Keys were short and poorly produced... but the
DIY was informative and interesting. Their video production has skyrocketed! But they are low on money, so they have been working on OPB's to earn money. Their skills in sewing and
fiberglass work are now very impressive. Jordan just completed a hard
dodger that he made from scratch, and it turned out beautifully... something that I would consider building.
SailLife - Mads is just... a great guy! He is refitting a 1980's Warrior 38, that was in pretty bad shape. His channels is almost solely
DIY. His videos are fun and entertaining, he has such a positive attitude even in the face of daunting setbacks.
A Sailboat Story - These guys are great Ben is hilarious! He and his wife have a 5ish year old daughter that steals the show. Having a 3yo boy myself, I am fascinated at all the experiences they share with their daughter Molly. I can't think of a better
environment to a child to experience. They are currently back home working day jobs to
repair and set out again.
Yes, I do support them on Patreon, but I myself am saving for a boat, so my contribution is very modest. But I feel that I have gotten my money's worth. I have learned and enjoyed from them, and IMO, there contribution is no less significant than the
books that I've purchased on the subject, or the $$$, I spent on
sailing lessons...
The last one, I just discovered from a SailLife live chat. Sampson Boat Co - This is a young guy who bought a 108 year old, historic sailing yacht, and is essentially rebuilding it from the
keel up! It's an incredible undertaking and fascinating to see how much effort is involved in restoring a wooden boat of that size. He has massive stacks of live oak planks that he is going to be shaping into a
new boat, based off of the original plans. He has given me a new appreciation for wooden boats... as well as a greater appreciation for
fiberglass as a
hull material!
I watch a few others, but not with the zeal or interest that I watch the above channels.
- Follow the boat, is interesting at times, but I don't like the way he teases and pesters the hired hands...
- Sailing Doodles, well... it started off interesting, but his channel turned into chasing girls... Now he is on a 10 month boat
delivery aboard a 50+ foot
Beneteau, and now that he's got a girlfriend, his doodles are left at home. His original 35' boat was wrecked by a
hurricane in
Puerto Rico, and he doesn't even mention it. He's moving on to some
charter gig in
Thailand with his girlfriend. Well, lets just say, he's
lost focus... for me. I'm no longer into what he's doing.
- Abandon Comfort. Now This just got interesting! They
sold their 30ish footer and bought a 20' Pac Seacraft Flicka as their new liveaboard! They wanted a
blue water trailer sailor. It will be interesting to see how that works out.
- Miss Lonestar. I am impressed by her perseverance, but I don't like that most of her video content isn't available without paying for it!
- Drake Paragon... again. I am disappointed that his content is over 3 years old. If you want to know what he's up to, you gotta pay. I think a better business model would be to keep his YT channel
current, and offer up a few exclusive vids to his patreons. His content was better than many, more successful YT channels, I feel that is because his content isn't anywhere even CLOSE to realtime... that kinda puts me off.
ANYWAY, I'm ranting... but my
research on boats has led me down the YouTube rabbit hole. And you sorta get caught up in actually caring about these people. They are REAL people, and they have real issues. Their future isn't scripted, so it's much more compelling than watching a TV show. It is informative content that is also entertaining as hell!
Anyway... I absolutely love YouTube and I love the fact that anyone doing ANYTHING that is of value or interest to others, can put together a channel, apply a ton of effort, an make some money. Certainly nothing wrong with that. In fact, I support it! literally.
I would much rather watch YT than almost anything on TV anymore.