How many of these incredible people have you watched? I’m going to share the top Youtube sailing channels that really inspire and inform us as we learn to be better sailors and boaters. This article is not sponsored in any way, it is strictly our family favorites as we learn to sail. Right now is the perfect time to learn, sharpen, and hone the subject of sailing during down season as cold weather drives you indoors.
And by watching these sailing channels, you will discover:
- Sailing and boating are possible for the complete novice
- You don’t need all the gadgets to do it
- Which boats will get you where you need to go
- Inspiration for your travel bucket list
- What exactly to take with you
- What are all those parts and what are they called?
- There is a boat for any preference out there
Ready? Let’s dive in to our favorite 6 channels
Sailing Magic Carpet
Sailing Magic Carpet is one of the most beautifully cinematic sailing channels that we watch. A young married couple who have renovated a now 28ft. foot boat and live on it. Maya does a superb job film editing with beautiful scenic shots of the places they visit, serene waterscapes, and artistic shots. She is an accomplished musician and will often add a short musical performance spot woven into her videos. Each episode is like watching a gorgeous mini-film. Through them, my travel bucket list has significantly grown. Their focus is not DIY or How-to’s. Instead, they aim to give you a taste of what to see in different spots and tips sprinkled into a beautiful and poetic mini film.
Watching this channel often brings to mind independent foreign films and coffee house jazz. The flavor is distinctly intellectual and philosophical. I also appreciate that these two have pulled themselves up to success by hard work and elbow grease.
Rigging Doctor
We stumbled across The Rigging Doctor channel while looking up a rigging question for Dyneema and have been hooked ever since. This energetic couple live aboard their 45′ Morgan and sail around the world showing the in’s and out’s of everyday life. Their focus is on the practicality of live aboard boating and instructional education with all things sailing. We appreciate that they take the time to carefully and clearly explain the why’s of simple to complex sailing questions. E.g. Why they use a sprayer in their bathroom to what not to spend money on. Their openness and fun are great to watch as you learn.
A note, Maddie is an artist and has a wonderful mural on the bottom of their boat so be sure to catch that episode to see what’s on there under that water!
Sailing Zatara
In a completely different style, Sailing Zatara follows a family of 6 around the world on a large lux catamaran. As they sail around the beautiful islands of the world they are full of energy and on the go for water sports. As a homeschooling family, it is interesting to watch Renee and the kids talk about that side of life and the teen perspective. Letting viewers in on their daily life and get to know each of their family members makes the whole channel a great watch. We appreciate their close bond and their obvious love for each other. Their catamaran is lovely to view and learn about as well as their style of sailing. Keith answers Q and A with a straight up attitude which is a mixture of humorous and seriousness at the same time.
Sailing Millennial Falcon
This lovely Aussie couple are fun and informative to keep up with. They live full time on a Tayana 42 and sail the world. Their videos are a mixture of how-to, improvement projects, real emotions, and interviews. They just did a two-part interview with an extremely experienced sailor that included a huge amount of knowledge on what makes a great blue water boat. Not to be missed! It added to our book wishlist for sure. We love their upbeat sense of humor, but also the down to reality sessions. This channel needs to be on your playlist!
Learn more about Sailing Millennial Falcon.
Spoondrifters
Spoondrifters follows an American based family renovating a hurricane damaged Morgan in Texas. This boat is BEAT UP and the channel follows all their struggles and wins in doing up this boat properly. A huge undertaking to watch in process while still in drydock while the ups and downs of family life are going on at the same time. It is interesting to see how they fund these projects taking time off to go on work assignments to raise funds. This channel is a prelude to their upcoming second channel once they get the boat up, running, and in the water. I like that their videos are not perfectly choreographed and scripted. The drama is as it happens with all it’s real sweat and frustrations. Way to go Spoondrifters, we can’t wait to see it finished!
Last of the sailing channels but certainly not least, Captain Q, Yacht Hunter
A unique channel in that Captain Q is not recording sailing expeditions or renovation projects but instead taking you on a tour of different boats that are for sail or sometimes not. He is not a broker or seller, he just uses his 60 years of expertise and love of boats to go through prospective boats, going over their merits and strengths. We greatly appreciate the vocabulary definitions of each sailing word that pop up in the corner of the screen as he’s speaking. For us newbies to sailing, there is a language all it’s own in the sailing world.
Throughout the videos, the humor shows through with quick cuts to movie references that are perfectly fitting. There is a ton of knowledge to be gained from watching and listening to Captain Q, from the shape of the hull design to the history of the boats. Don’t miss it!
Conclusion of Sailing Channels
By taking advantage of the knowledge and experience that is available free for the taking, you can spend some of your down time spiffing up your sailing game. Take the time to learn something new, add to your bucket list, and see what there is to see out there in the big wide world. What is the right boat for your dreams? How do you make that jump? What do you need to get there? There’s so many new words, what do they all mean? These channels will give you the answers!
Thank you for this work you’re doing. Nowhere near the top but making progress
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe-dFj0wQCyFjy1uveHp33A
Thank you! I just checked out your youtube channel and I love what you put there for training.
I enjoy Sailing Salacia Star and Sailing Sunday. They have been buddy boating for a year and tell of their experiences from different perspectives. Start with their meeting in Preveza in January 2020 as they are just now going in different directions.
Thank you for your suggestions! I have not run across either of these so will definitely check them out.
We also enjoy free range sailing and wild we roam.
Thank you! I will check those out. Wild We Roam I believe just published an ebook on their previous van life adventures that sounded interesting also:)