I watched your videos from beginning to now and you always made me feel comfortable watching whether you showed your experiences with different cultures, different countries or you talked about problems that you encountered and how you fixed them. You and Amy did what others (myself included) can only dream of doing until you realize it is too late and in reality there never was a chance for it to happen. But I am glad you made so many people a part of your experience.
I just found your sailing channel and considering I am literally in the last stage of buying a boat and heading off at the end of 2023, these videos have been a GREAT find. Thank you for all you do and providing so much real world knowledge for us beginners.
Great video David. We can relate to everything you are saying. Good points on carrying spare parts. As for making better videos, haven’t tried to do videos yet but it’s on the list to learn. I think the biggest surprise for us, so far, has been the affect that COVID has had on our plans.
Yeah, unfortunately you're not alone in how much your plans have had to change.😕 It feels like the "to-learn" list always gets longer than shorter, but videos are a fun way to look back at what you've done. Even though I "cringe" at our early ones, I'm still glad we have them!
Seriously I think you two are my favourite RU-vidrs out there, you are so down to earth, helpful and friendly. Thank you for these videos, they are so helpful to those of us preparing for our own voyages. I also really appreciate you showing us the harder/not always sunshine and rainbows side of cruising, it helps temper our expectations and remind us we're not failing, it's normal for it to be hard too. Also I kind of love your old, rough videos, because they show your growth and make you guys a lot more relatable than some of the "perfect" vlogs out there - imperfect is beautiful and real, I prefer it.
We really appreciate that! It's been challenging, but fun, to take the knowledge and experiences we've accumulated and try out this new video series. If we can help people learn from our mistakes, or help provide more realistic expectations of what the life is like, then it's well worth it!
Very good advice. From our perspective of 10 years at sea, I would add what We learned. It is the voyage that is important, not the destination. Have fun. Enjoy as much as you can. It isn’t all going to be great, or even good. Give yourself and your mate some slack as long as the problem isn’t lie-threatening or going to break the boat. For us, admittedly a different generation, a RU-vid Chanel wasn’t going to add to the enjoyment of our trip, but turn it into “work”. I enjoy photography, but photographing for other people can spoil “being there” and “getting there”, both physically and mentally, is a great part of the adventure. Fair Winds.
Thanks for your perspective and that is a fair point about a RU-vid channel turning the trip into 'work'. It can be very hard to balance wanting to capture a moment vs just experiencing it. And also editing a video falls smack into the definition of work!
I'd say what scares me the most as we plan to buy and cruise (2 year plan) would be all the systems on board and knowing how to repair them (engine, water, refrigeration, rigging, electronics, etc) and the electrical puzzle that is a reality on a boat. There seems so much to learn about that it is daunting!
I wish I could tell you that nothing would break, or even that it's possible to learn everything you need to know before you cast off. But it wouldn't be the truth... What we've found is the second most important cruising success factor (good relationship communication being the first!) is the ability to figure out how to tackle a problem. There are some basic troubleshooting steps (wasn't kidding about the switch and a multimeter) but you have to have the patience/stubbornness to figure out a solution when something breaks/happens that you don't immediately know how to fix. This really is a learning by doing lifestyle!
Nice choice in multimeters, I have the same one! And as you already know, I watched you from the beginning, and yes I am still here! I think we covered a lot of these topics in Annapolis, but the reminder is always good. Thanks again.
I know you said cringe, but I liked that your videos looked like my dad's VHS home videos from the 90s. I liked how you improved quality every year, it really felt organic and you weren't a bingable show from Netflix. You guys seem like real people doing real things and I really related to you guys!
Your earliest videos were not bad; you got all of us to follow you. Like everyone else, you got better with practice (and technology improvements). Thank you once again for bringing us along for the ride, and for continuing to inspire and educate! Now, what are Amy's Top 5?
You guys still hold the record for most stuff brought to SH! As for the early videos, I may say you're a bit biased as you were part of the intended audience! 😉
Your vids are great - I have been watching from the beginning and its fun to see you progress on all axis - video and seamanship. We just put in an order for our own 44' which will be ready in late 2025. Thank you for the inspiration and learning.
I watched from the beginning and have learnt so much. We are about to start the same journey of adventure on our Marten 49 carbon fibre monohull Thanks so much David and Amy
David I have to disagree with something you said off camera. Your videos are interesting, even to us landlubbers. Like many of your other commentators, I like the fact that your videos capture both your journeys across the seas, but also your journey in learning to make a video.
Thank you, David, well done. What would you recommend for video editing software and equipment? A video on filming and editing would be very appreciated.
Suggesting we do a filming and editing video, is a very nice compliment. Thank you! We might get to it some day, but in the meantime I'd definitely suggest you check out 'Gone with the Wynns'. They've done several videos on all the different equipment they use. And Jason was a professional photographer so he knows what he's talking about. For editing, I'm currently using DaVinci Resolve. It runs on both Mac and PC, has a free version that is very powerful, and if you want to go for the full featured version, it's a one time charge, rather than a subscription. And there are a TON of tutorials on RU-vid about how to use it.
Well fortunately, we are out sailing again! But making the sailing/trek videos was a bit too much time and effort. So while I'd never say "never again", we're going to focus on these types of videos for a while longer! 😁
To be honest, I don't know much about composting toilets because we've never really considered them. One thing that pops to mind is how easy it'd be to find the material needed to manage the composting process. Probably not easy in certain parts of the world, and then you have the issue of storing everything you need.
The video with us in the mud is this one from Thailand: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Drxl1aTot0k.html The first time we ran aground was actually WAY back in the Bahamas. But that's one of those early experiences I didn't really capture on film. 😆
Boss:”what did you do!” ME: “i don’t know. I connected it color to color”. Boss:” Son, electricity is not prejudiced like I am. It don’t care what color the wire is and who knows how the last idiot hooked it up.”
