Having followed a bunch of Youtube sailors, we thought how hard could it be to do the same. I have a limited youtuber experience with another hobby, a DJI “gopro” action camera for the gear and strong sense of what I want to accomplish.
Despite we’re not going to sail the year around I had this visual image in my head where we’d upload bi-weekly entertaining, useful and most importantly perfectly evergreen material to the Internet.
We created all the social media channels, including a Youtube channel.
I don’t really like the diary-type videos as they are pretty time-related and you usually need to watch multiple videos in order to understand what’s happening. Then again, that is somewhat akin following a TV series and also the format Youtube monetisation programs encourage regardless if it affect the overall quality.
In addition to some youtubing experience, I also do have sailing experience.
That is sailing as a crew-member but not as the owner.
Reflecting on that, my ego was writing checks my skills didn’t know how to cash.
Big plans get struck by reality
I was pretty overwhelmed by the sheer amount of new stuff that I needed to learn regarding boat maintenance and boat handling skills.
That could’ve been excellent material to share and probably both entertaining and educational!
But in reality I found myself many times tackling an issue without a camera in my hand.
The moment was missed and felt really phony to fabricate the situation later just to get it on film. Being an introvert it was also strangely difficult to talk and explain stuff to the camera while there was anyone close by.
We have some material and perhaps I’ll edit them into short videos later. But let’s not hold any of our breaths for that to happen.
I also hope I can lower my own expectations and settle on diary-type videos at least for the time being.
I really do believe the Finnish archipelago (and Swedish also) is a gem for international sailors and I still want to paint a picture for all to see. And also to explain, educate and promote some our cultural things that make us us.
That is my goal and purpose for these channels and this very content.
This season 2024 so far (end of July)
- we covered the wheel with elk leather
- we replaced the faceplate for our navigational instruments
- we got the boat on the water for Vappu, which if 1st of May
- we replaced the fore-stay and installed a furling system with our mast up the whole time
- we started our main journey in June and spent three weeks sailing around the main-mass of Ahvenanmaa (Åland)
- a few few-days journeys closer by
- accumulating approx 350 nautical miles
I’ve visited Ahvenanmaa and its capital Maarianhamina (Mariehamn) and continued also to Sweden multiple times, but never visited any harbours on the west or north cost of the “mainland” of the islands. The scenery up there was breath taking.
No pictures so you just have to trust on me this one.
The issues we have faced
- there was water pouring out from the inside of our hull structure (apparently this is a spring-feature but was pretty daunting when it first happened)
- the fridge warmed-up and spoiled our Midsummer feast food (i had our plotters (plural!) eating our battery)
- our furling didn’t close in 25 knots wind due the foil connecting with the halyard (preventer missing)
- our start-motor fuse blew and we couldn’t start the motor and didn’t know why
- we had a potential fire as our fuse-box main conductor burnt due a loose wire touching something it shouldn’t have
- filling up the fresh-water tank something leaked and we had 20 litres of water inside the cabin, twice
- we’ve spilled some diesel when topping from a jerry can as we don’t have a gauge and my consumption calculations were worse than we actually consumed (“Eat sparingly some clay”, said the frog to its children, “for the world is big” – a Finnish saying)
- also spilled some motor oil from a leaking canister (twice until i found the source) and I’d stepped on it and now we have oil-burns here and there along my foot-steps
- we had a hole on our cockpit floor leaking inside the structure leaking on the aft-cabin mattress
Naturally I’m not very proud of the spills and got a bit scared about the potential fire.
But I am extremely proud of ourselves for all the issues we managed to fix along the way!
Being a solopreneur office worker with only little craftsman skills it has been awesomely rewarding to find my way around problems and issues.
The schools start in a week for our sixth grader so there is a strong effect on the curve of the season. Also Noora’s paid annual leave from the work is all spent. But I have high hopes we get full 500 miles until we need to get the boat up from the water and store it on the hard for the winter.
I still don’t know the limits of our fridge and I don’t really trust our electrical set-up. But I am on my path to figure it all out and fixing it where fixing is due.
And youtube videos.. maybe they are coming out on their own pace.
Seikkailuun! (“To the adventure!”)