Less Hustle More Coffee

It has been so much fun, so relaxing, and at times I’ve been perched on the edge of my seat – watching these folks on YouTube as they adventure out into worlds beyond. I’ve watched them learn, I’ve watched in amazement how they become their own plumber, electrician, and yet fantastically manage to produce their own show from laptops atop the expansive mass of water often far away from civilization. They have provided us with beautiful moments from below the sea, horrifying clips of mountainous waves about to engulf, and beautiful sunsets and sharing their sundowners with us as we cheer them on with sips of wine from our sofa. They show clips of cooking at sea, fishing and filleting fish, and provisioning. They share their lives with us, the how to’s, the dare nots, the must do’s. They take us along in their dinghies to the shore lines, to the harbors they reach, to the towns and their charms or lack thereof. They take us to mountain tops amid glorious and sometimes very dangerous hikes, and they drone us over for aerial views. However, hard it is, they take us in to their living quarters and on their night watches, and try as they may to show us the beauty of the night stars and luminous essences of the deep. They share their fur babes with us – some have arrived – some have gone. We’ve shared their ups and downs in our hearts, their disappointments and excitements, their fear, and their adventures. We’ve swam with sharks, watched the whales and dolphins, we’ve watched their knots, their sails, their docking and departing, their wind charts, depth charts and awaited weather windows.

So let me introduce you to the Channels I watch on YouTube. I’ve screen shot their channel page to give you a glimpse at their channel. And will link to each as well if you decide to visit and/or subscribe.

Gone with the Wynns

This couple, Jason and Nicki, had been home and away from their boat during many months of Covid missing their window by about one flight. While their boat was safe (well for the most part) they still provided us with weekly videos of exploring with other sailors and they have helped so many people with their charity venues. They spent many months back in Tonga repairing their boat, but without parts they need have managed to get critical acceptance into New Zealand for repairs, otherwise would remain locked out of the country due to Covid. While their boat is in repair, they are currently touring New Zealand in an RV. I’ve been watching these for a long while. You will never be bored. They are inspiring, humorous, kind, generous, and very talented with their boat, their filming equipment, with their maintenance (although they will say they are not), and with their diving and adventures. I don’t really want to hurt anyone’s feelings if they read, but it’s pretty easy to say this is my favorite!

Link: Gone With the Wynns

Sam Holmes Sailing

Oh boy, I have watched him explode. I watched just a video of him sailing into Hawaii at the very beginning. Not even really sure he was trying to start a channel, but his views exploded. It’s been fun to watch him grow and learn to manage the videos and the channel. While he has some health challenges, you would never know it if he hadn’t told you. He is very good at figuring things out with his boat. Great at the maintenance. He shares with us what it is like on a smaller sailboat. He recently upgraded to a bigger one. I worry about him as a Mom would as I have one about his age. He is so young (I’m guessing around late 20’s -early 30’s but yet out there by himself.) He’s taking on the world. He loves to hang glide and hike when given the chance. He is a talented musician as well and often gives us some glimpses. He discusses and shares his challenges at sea. And this week he has even shared his location with us by giving us the link to a chart. I saved the link and followed him as he entered the coast of Ireland. I breathed a sigh of relief. I took a screen shot or two as I knew I’d be sharing this entry. Most won’t share with you their locale for security reasons, but it was nice of him to do. I prayed for his safety. I know it’s weird. I feel I know these folks so well and they have no idea who I am. I think Sam’s videos are more in real time than most. Looks like he is safely within protection of the latest upcoming storm. I’m looking forward to the upcoming videos from Ireland. I loved how the Predict Wind had a place for his log notes.

Link: Sam Holmes Sailing

Sailing Project Atticus

Oh wait! This one is my favorite too! They are all my favorite!

These two, Jordan and Desiree, have taken us on some mighty fine adventures and have some really fun videos. They have sailed through pirate infested waters and shared their moments of fear. They have met interesting people along the way, in particular I remember a little boy who showed them around a remote island they visited. They share their remote anchor spots which they seem to prefer over docking, much less expensive but they all enjoy amenities the docks have to give. They learned to free dive and Jordan is very talented with the maintenance projects. They recently upgraded to a bigger boat to start a family, and they have added a cute little furry friend, Oso, who I think is a poodle or poodle mix – not sure. They are currently in Maine and doing boat repairs to get the new boat sea cross worthy. Love seeing them each week as they do their upgrades and share scenes from their current location. Last week was about Lobster! My little info section does not give them justice. But they do a fabulous job of giving and sharing the ups and downs of sailing. Their personalities – I just love! I look forward to them every week.

Link: Project Atticus

Sailing Ruby Rose

Oh my gosh, somehow I think YouTube suggested this one and I have enjoyed it from the start. First of all I absolutely love the accents of Terysa and Nick. Second of all, I fell in love with their personalities. I began watching as they came back from a COVID break and back onto the boat for lovely adventures along the coast of France. They are both very down to earth and also humorous at times. I believe he is from London and she is from Australia. They are in the process of building a catamaran and meanwhile have been sharing adventures from a catamaran they have been using in Austraila to get the feel for catamaran sailing while their boat is being built. I have loved watching them with coffee on Sunday mornings. They share their explorations at each port, along with their brews, and breads and croissants – yet they seem to never gain weight! They hike and share the views and stroll along the cities edges and give us the feel for each port and anchorage. They take their sailing seriously, paying attention to the weather windows, waves and currents, and tides. While obviously there other sailors with video channels that may do the same, Nick and Terysa take time to explain things and often share charts and graphs in their videos. I love how they make sure to have a safe passage or entrances into ports and they often explain what they are doing and why. But they are open to share their mistakes which seem to be few. I also love the banter between the two which they are very good to share the down sides to sailing and even living with another person in a small space, even sharing some of their light disputes. But they are a playful couple that I love to watch! They are a favorite too! Oh so hard to claim who is my favorite crew!

Link: Sailing Ruby Rose

Sailing Zatara

This one grabbed my attention as it was a family. And a fun family at that. Keith and Renee and their family aboard a big catamaran. These folks are down to earth and feel like they were my neighbors at one time, or perhaps a coworker. It seems like I’ve known them forever. And yet weird again as they have no clue who I am, lol. But I enjoy watching the “goings on” on this crew. You’ll see family fun clips of sailing, docking, what they do at sea, what they do on land. You will see “kiting” out on the sea, some good drone clips, musical moments. I love the clips that Renee gets of whatever the family is doing throughout the boat. They are older kids and are doing their home schooling aboard. Currently they are in Australia. They have a daughter that is back in college that they have not seen since Covid hit. They have plans to catch up and I hope this next Covid spell does not cancel their plans to see her. I’ve come to love the personalities of each of the family. Lots of spirited folks on board here. Love keeping up with them weekly. Renee is such an inspiration with all she does on board and in running the videos. Sometimes the kids have done their own Teen Tuesday videos.

Link: Sailing Zatara

M J Sailing

Matt and Jessica I found first. I found it while looking for reality sailing blogs. And I found their blog and then began watching when I realized they had a YouTube channel. It was very much by mistake that I began watching these sailing shows on YouTube. I began getting suggestions from YouTube or saw mentions of other channels and slowly followed each of them either keeping or discarding as I would resonate with them – or not. Matt and Jessica I love to keep up with. They currently are building a Catamaran and are not on the water so much right now. The adventures out on the water are my favorite. They have been to some incredible places. I admire their ability to cruise and find the best windows of opportunity. If I personally was going sailing with anyone, I would go with them. They seem to find the safest routes or should I say “weather windows”. I love this about them. They seem very wise and methodical with their approach to sailing. Recently they went to the Arctic circle and explored in places not seen very much. I believe it was around Norway. Names I’d never heard. They love their arrival zones and finding the best places for a good nights sleep with the least of swell and a good beer as their sundowner. I like when they show us the beer the find on their excursions. Quite fun. I’ll be watching more intently as they do their shake down cruises and splash down time with the new boat. I’m not into the builds so much so taking a back seat on this for a while. But for those interested – in building – they do a great job. I can’t wait til they are out cruising on this new cat and it looks like it is coming together! Can they get the materials? What a time to try to do this? Or maybe it’s the best time while Covid wreaks its head again.

Link: MJ Sailing

Sailing Uma

I follow this one, as they have some amazing adventures. I’ll be honest, I’d watch more if I had more time. But it is one of the most popular sailing channels out there. So I’m providing you with this one. They are very spirited and fun individuals and share their “get off your couch” and “don’t buy a sofa” mentality so you can head for your adventures. Recently they have been in the arctic areas. Since I’ve not watched lately I’m not exactly sure where they are. But because of it’s popularity I didn’t want to miss telling you that I often have watched this one.

There are so many others out there but I’ve just not resonated with or didn’t feel a connection to, if you will, for whatever reason. But I wanted to share with you what I watch instead of TV a lot of the time. Most of these – I believe they all have Patreon Accounts that you can be a member of to help them with their videos and to be able to adventure to provide coverage of their trips and exploration. You often get perks such as special clips and chats and meet ups.

I follow RV’ers too. And sometime I will do an entry for them too. But I hope if you have some time, you will check these out and see what you think. If you like it you will have hours of time to watch as you can go back and start from the beginning, or just sit and pick out your favorites. You can pick up from where they are or watch past episodes. It’s fun to see other parts of the world as these talented folks share their dream lives and realities with us.

Enjoy!