Youtube liveaboard stars?

[Yihang]

I don’t know if what they are doing Is more conservative than mortgaging a piece of land in a coastal metro area in the long term. But certainly everyone is entitled to their choices.

With the Al boat they essentially put 120k into it and got 90k back, their numbers. Which is already pretty good. Im sure they can sell the cat and break even minus the sweat equity of course.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by Yihang

I don’t know if what they are doing Is more conservative than mortgaging a piece of land in a coastal metro area in the long term. But certainly everyone is entitled to their choices.

With the Al boat they essentially put 120k into it and got 90k back, their numbers. Which is already pretty good. Im sure they can sell the cat and break even minus the sweat equity of course.

Investing in property via a big loan can work out well for many young couples but it ties you to that place for the duration and that is pretty limiting when you want to travel and see the world and have adventures. I know 2 others who borrowed heavily to invest in property and lost it all through bankruptcy. By conservative I meant that the amount they might have to borrow is well within their ability to pay it back, and it’s unlikely that a well made cat with a lot of their sweat equity in it will ever put them in a difficult financial position whether they keep it or eventually sell it. But why are we discussing their finances when it doesn’t seem to be a big issue of concern for them and they haven’t done anything crazy like taking out a huge loan to subsidize their lifestyle? Isn’t part of why video bloggers like them are interesting to many is watching how they make an alternate lifestyle work for them? The way I see it, so far so good.

[Yihang]

Yeh, lets leave it there. I hope MJ manages to thrive, they seem like a great couple. It's a big gamble for a channel to switch focus.

[Yihang]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O36m...anceCatamarans

Phil Berman from Balance giving his view on the youtubers asking for discounts on boats promising internet stardom. Really love the guy and his honesty. Probably tired of armchair youtube sailors.

I wonder who were the youtubers that approached him for a discount. Probably cruisingoffduty.....

[ol1970]

Originally Posted by Yihang

Yeh, lets leave it there. I hope MJ manages to thrive, they seem like a great couple. It's a big gamble for a channel to switch focus.

Yep, I'm rooting for this couple as well as they are from our neck of the woods originally and they seem like very genuine & good people. I just would be nervous as hell about my future, I totally get throwing caution to the wind while you are young healthy and able bodied, but there basically is no retirement plan, they will not haven't paid enough into Social Security to have income there. What the hell happens if there is a medical emergency or they actually need healthcare...like having a family? Living on a shoestring budget relying on if-come YouTube income isn't appealing to me in the least, but I would agree it is better than being a desk jockey.

Side note I watched a video of Sailing Noaha (spelling?), they had just had a newborn and were living on a 40 year old cramped as hell 25' leaking monohull (valued at $5000) with no hot water...to me it looked like a living hell, throw in a baby and I might have taken a long walk off a short pier. Scary to think about, I would not call living like that "winning".

[Matt Johnson]

I stood on the sidelines without jumping in since I didn't want to stifle or make it awkward for any participant - so please don't sensor yourselves just because I'm here. But the questions kept coming and I figured I could fill in some of the blanks or maybe answer YouTube related questions... hopefully, without derailing the honest discussion that's been going on for 68 pages

Regarding our situation -


We left on sabbatical with around $125,000 and the intent of cruising (maybe circumnavigate) for three years. We had budgeted $75,000 for this "adventure" and hoped to return with the remaining $50,000 to restart life on land (we sold everything when we left). Well, once we left the US, we found that the money went much further than we dreamed, and this allowed us to comfortably reduce the budget to $15,000 a year and extend our time off until we hit that red line of $50k remaining in our account.

The increase in the market from 2012-2016 didn't 100% cover our cost of living, but since we weren't retired or planning on living on this account for the rest of our lives, we were happy to just have the flow of money OUT of our bank account slow.

We have a retirement account that I started at 18 and is not to be touched until we're of age. We are not adding to it currently, but based on average balance for people our age, we're doing just fine.

In 2016 we switched over from our written blog to YouTube. We were fortunate to already have an established presence from the years of the written blog. Growth was pretty rapid at the beginning and we quickly got to the point of covering our living expenses. Unfortunately, we also plateaued rapidly and we haven't really grown since. It's a minimum wage job, but if it keeps us going it's worth the effort.

We currently have enough saved to build the new catamaran to the stage where we can launch, motor around (cruise locally) and live aboard. The rig and sailing hardware may have to wait, but that just depends on how over budget we are... we are budgeting high and keeping an emergency fund off limits for the build. No loans will be taken.

Living expenses will hopefully still be covered by YouTube income, but if not, then we get jobs. Obviously we like hard work - or we wouldn't be building a boat - so getting normal jobs isn't a punishment or threat to us



Matt

[Davy J]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

I stood on the sidelines without jumping in since I didn't want to stifle or make it awkward for any participant - so please don't sensor yourselves just because I'm here. But the questions kept coming and I figured I could fill in some of the blanks or maybe answer YouTube related questions...

One thing I find strange, is that of all of these youtubers, you seem to be the only one participating here.......

Why do you think that is......?

[Souzag818]

Originally Posted by BlackHeron

If people think that there is money to be made building a cruising boat up from basically a hulk, outfitting it to the nines and then selling it for more money than they have invested (regardless of how much sweat equity has been invested, I'm just talking parts) then they have something seriously crossed in their wires or perception of reality.

You can never get what you put into boat upgrades and refits at the time of sale, not even if you are internet famous. Even Mads from SailLife is going to have to cut his losses when he sells Obilyx as he moves aboard Athena (and perhaps again when he sells Athena after catching the dreaded cat fever.)

Mads will never see anything financially close to what he's put into Athena, but he genuinely seems to enjoy working on it. Of course that could also be the miracle of editing and he could be throwing tools and and tantrums off camera... Either way, his money and time, and I'll keep watching till it gets boring.

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by Davy J

One thing I find strange, is that of all of these youtubers, you seem to be the only one participating here.......

Why do you think that is......?

I've got no good answer. The reason for me to be here - and stay around - is a love of boats, love of everything related to cruising, and love of continuously learning from all of you about this fairly niche subject. I don't think that the average sailor, the average cruiser or average youtube sailor/cruiser is that singularly focused.... and there is 100% nothing wrong with that. Not being obsessively curious about boats saves you from wanting to spend the next two years building a catamaran

I'm also of the generation that uses forums to access information. I think younger people than us use Facebook groups, youtube, and other social media sites to get answers to their questions. My participation in those is pretty low.

- Matt

[BlackHeron]

Many cruisers don't use this forum.

Of the other cruisers we meet and talk to on a regular basis out here living the life I would estimate less than half have anything to do with CF. When I bring up a thread from here in a real-life discussion which may be relevant to what we are taking about many cruisers will give a sour look and say something like, "why do you bother with that site?" Or "That is the couch-sailor site for wannabees." Few will admit to actually participating, or even knowing much about CF.

That's just my personal observation. The real "Cruiser's Forum" is at the dinghy dock near every good anchorage, or at the lounge or laundry room of every popular marina stop.

I'm not surprised most YouTube sailors are not here. Why bother? They have hard work to do trying to find interesting stuff to film and edit. Kudos to Matt for his sense of humor and candor. It takes a big johnson sometimes to wade in with the hoi polloi.

[BlackHeron]

Originally Posted by Souzag818

Mads will never see anything financially close to what he's put into Athena, but he genuinely seems to enjoy working on it. Of course that could also be the miracle of editing and he could be throwing tools and and tantrums off camera... Either way, his money and time, and I'll keep watching till it gets boring.

I don't think Mads could have financially swung anything close to what he has built himself. It just isn't out there today at any price unless you custom-build and project-manage every tiny aspect of the build/refit yourself.

While many of his skills are self-taught and painstakingly learned, and there are probably more-skilled marine techs out there, there is no way one can get the kind of attention to detail he has put into the Athena build out of the marine industry today without paying top dollar and still watching every aspect of the project like a hawk.

Even still, I doubt many marine "professionals" at any level would put up with the kind of bird-dogging their work to satisfy his own standards. It just couldn't be done at that level without folks quitting left and right.

Plus, he has gained the skills in this project to maintain Athena easily since he now knows every centimeter of his boat. He built/reworked each bit with his own two hands -and enjoyed every glorious moment of it (mostly.)

Money can't buy that. So many folks just can't grasp this.

[ohdrinkboy]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

I've got no good answer. The reason for me to be here - and stay around - is a love of boats, love of everything related to cruising, and love of continuously learning from all of you about this fairly niche subject. I don't think that the average sailor, the average cruiser or average youtube sailor/cruiser is that singularly focused.... and there is 100% nothing wrong with that. Not being obsessively curious about boats saves you from wanting to spend the next two years building a catamaran

I'm also of the generation that uses forums to access information. I think younger people than us use Facebook groups, youtube, and other social media sites to get answers to their questions. My participation in those is pretty low.

- Matt

Matt - Thanks for you YT channel. I enjoy your adventures, and appreciate your contributions to the forum.

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by seahag

It seems like everything else- the slicker the production, the more you can figure out it's not as "real" as what we would like it to be. Yes there is money being traded and boats and accessories are being donated, and some of them are models. Many of them come from a film/photography background and have enhanced their careers with these productions. That's good and bad for the viewer but inevitable in this world of money-fueled overproduction. The stuff I'm sailing away from.

I know people who think these guys are all the real deal. It's quite amazing actually. I think you see almost nothing about what the sailing lifestyle is really like. Boats never break down. Bad weather never hits them.



I really find most of them quite boring.

[Davy J]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

I've got no good answer. The reason for me to be here - and stay around - is a love of boats, love of everything related to cruising, and love of continuously learning from all of you about this fairly niche subject.

Thanks for your participation, keep it going...........

Here is a challenge for the rest of you youtubers, calling you out.....

Check in, let us know what your Cruising Forum name is.......

I know you are watching........

La Vag
Delos
Doodles
Distant shores.......

[Chili Palmer]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

I think the eventual buyer approached them about wanting a boat much like theirs even before they had decided to sell.

I’m with you on spending all their savings on a boat since it’s their only home. Lots of land dwellers spend all they’ve saved on just a down payment and then take out a few hundred thousand in loans. What they are doing is more conservative than that. They’re both young and able bodied, capable, and hard working so I see no reason to worry about them or their finances.

I expect the cat build process to be interesting to some but since they won’t be sailing for quite awhile I suspect they’ll lose some viewers. But others will follow them through the whole process. I agree with you that it’ll be interesting to see where they eventually sail off to next but we’re in for quite a wait to learn the answer to that question. But wherever they go, I enjoy their positive hands on approach to cruising and boat projects.

I've definitely learned quite a bit from watching their videos and will probably continue to watch them sporadically and you're right, they'll lose some viewers but chances are they will pick up a few more because they're moving to a CAT.