If you quit your job, will your professional skills be able to feed you so that you can sell around the world? Imagine that you get rid of the daily routine at work, long hours in traffic jams, all this corporate life and dullness ... What if you were paid to sail on a yacht, or you earned while you go on a yacht ? Is this a pipe dream? Not anymore.

5 ways to make money living on a yacht. In the photo: Sailing La Vagabonde
Today, a whole wave of people are leaving traditional careers and the long wait for financial freedom in order to take a break or just leave indefinitely, not putting off life until tomorrow. They decide to give up everything, go on a journey and live a simpler, freer, happier life. But they are completely different from those nomads of the 1960s and 1970s. These are people with higher education, with a professional background, who travel in comparative comfort.
If you are smart - and most of these 30s, 40s and even 50s have learned the necessary digital skills - life on board can be turned into a robust business model that offers a harmonious work-life balance and possibly a better and more meaningful life.
There is another wayIf your goal is mainly to earn an impressive captain's salary, you can join the superyacht industry. But make no mistake: this path is hard work, long hours with a lot of responsibility, and it can also be extremely limited; most often without the ability to make decisions, acting clearly on the order of the client.
We assume that the majority are attracted by the first option, which involves being the master of your life and the captain of your own yacht, making money by sailing, "sailing", or remotely in another area, and going where and when you want. Perfect, right ?!
MUST-DO: create a yacht vlog about your life on board
The ways of making money while traveling have become so diverse in recent years, mainly due to the rise of telecommuting and the success of blogger and startup funding platforms.
Creative work is revolutionizing with a myriad of new platforms. And there are hundreds of millions of fans of "reality shows". If you haven't researched yet Patreon, take a look. It is the main platform used by cruisers and the most popular product is video blogs or podcasts. Youtube... Vlog and blog creators invite "sponsors" to pay according to a tiered structure - the more contributions, the more exclusive access, events, gifts from vloggers, etc.
Some vlog creators have achieved an impressive following and are making surprisingly good money. One of the very first and best of them is Sailing SV Delos, a crew of four traveling in the Amel Super Maramu and very media savvy. They make about $ 15,000 from videos from 1,900 sponsors and create up to four episodes a month.

Sailing SV Delos

Sailing SV Delos

Sailing SV Delos
Sailing La Vagabonde - another very famous vlog about life Riley Whitelum and Elayna Carausu has a huge following, and with 2,600 sponsors, they earn between $ 10,000 and $ 20,000 per episode. Riley and Elaina have been cruising for 5 years, and during that time they have covered about 70,000 nautical miles. Several years ago they purchased a new yacht, a catamaran Outremer Is a serious business. And this is real life, young people became parents a few months ago, and have already moved from the states to the Caribbean with a baby on a boat.

Sailing La Vagabonde

Sailing La Vagabonde

Sailing La Vagabonde

Sailing La Vagabonde
These famous vloggers, by their example, have created a whole community, more 500 video channels of people who travel around the world on yachtsand some of these young vloggers have serious financial commitments, including leasing.
Videos, documentaries, reality shows - the boundaries are erased, but they can make a lot of money. Yes, it takes a long time, a deep understanding of digital tools, social media and intense daily work to engage the audience - which is cool if you are young, fit and look spectacular in a bikini. By the way, it is very important to be thick-skinned in this industry - comments under the video can be aggressive, harsh - and this is part of the "game", since you have to communicate with the audience and be able to deal with this negativity, like any public person.
As lighthearted as these videos seem, it can turn into a full-fledged job: “Adventure” requires storyboarding, filming, and an enormous amount of editing time. If the episodes are frequent, you are also regularly tied to places with good Wi-Fi.
Fund-me platforms all kinds of creativity that digital media previously destroyed are beginning to change. Patreon's highest earning projects range from craft videos to daily newsletters of Bible quotes and political podcasts.
Perhaps some of your knowledge or skills can be useful in this lifestyle. Are you a lawyer, accountant, translator, coach or designer? These skills can be offered both online and offline. If we talk about freelancing, then even living in the city, people are increasingly leaving for remote work and calmly paying their bills, saving time, traveling, etc. As a rule, everyone thinks that the more freedom and free time you have, the lower potential income. But you can make enough money to go sailing and enjoy it. Desire and plan is the key.
Some of the cruiser yachtsmen admit they work harder than their previous jobs. at the table, and for less money, but they get much more pleasure and ultimately, weighing the advantages, get more satisfaction from life. Freelance revolution has opened up many new opportunities at any stage of her career. The question is, are you ready to turn your life around?

Cheeky monkey
Another couple who have done this is Tasha and Ryan Hacker (Tasha Hacker, Ryan Hacker). In 2015 they sold their business and acquired a new one Fontaine Pajot Helia 44which we know as Cheeky monkey... They launched their new cruise boat in La Rochelle, and over the next 18 months they sailed across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and then through the Panama Canal to French Polynesia.
Tasha had three main sources of income: Youtube - where earnings ranged from $ 200 to $ 3000 per month through Google and Patreon; writing articles that brought in from $ 250 to $ 1000 per article in popular magazines; and income from investments made after the sale of their company. For her, the motivation for filming the video came down not only to funding their cruise lifestyle, but also to stay active, creative, busy, and passionate. Being a professional YouTuber means being disciplined while allowing your creativity to flourish as well. However, there are trade-offs, such as the constant need to find a good internet.

Cheeky monkey

Cheeky Monkey - Tasha Hacker
For those who plan to make money with Youtube or with publishers to fund their alternative lifestyle, Tasha gives some tips:
“If you love to write or shoot videos and then publish them on the Internet, money will follow and it won't be a burden for you. But if the main motivation is money and you don't like the process itself - for example, you don't like sitting at your computer for hours in a beautiful bay - this will be a very difficult way to finance your trip. Building an audience takes a long time, and love is what keeps you moving even when the money isn't coming in. "
Work remotely at your previous job
14 years ago Petter Bergman, Octavia Bergman took a standard course at a yachting school and immediately fell in love with this activity, and soon after that, they already bought their first boat Hunter 44DS - SV Bella Marina... After moving by boat, they went on sabbatical for one year and traveled the west coast of the United States and Mexico before settling in California. However, they desperately missed the cruise lifestyle and immediately began to develop a plan that would allow them to combine their successful career in Silicon Valley with cruising.
While Octavia returned to work in the software industry, where she was a top manager, and Petter was in the creation of software, they began to develop their own business idea that they could do while sailing: software to control the yacht. created by yachtsmen for yachtsmen, which they called Quartermaster... They hope that in the future this will provide sufficient income to support their lifestyle, but while the project picks up steam, Octavia continues her consulting work remotely. They also have a property that provides them with rental income, but according to them, the monthly income varies greatly from $ 1,000 a month to $ 10,000 a month, depending on the number of clients Octavia works with.

SV Bella Marina
For the past two years, they have been able to combine telecommuting and managing their cruise project while slowly navigating the Pacific Ocean. They compare this to "the old corporate work-life balance that didn't exist," and say the current state of affairs requires them to stay longer in certain places as they depend on Wi-Fi access. They have less time for fun compared to other non-working sailors, but they firmly believe that, despite some shortcomings, they made the right decision.
“This lifestyle allows us to sail, travel and enjoy beautiful sunsets and clear waters until we retire. An alternative lifestyle is becoming acceptable both in society and in the workplace. We are all available at any time via the Internet, and the Internet is available everywhere. Why not take advantage of this? "
Make money on your boat
American Andy Schell and his Swedish wife Mia Karlsson, who are over thirty, decided to create their business to suit their lifestyle. They organize charters on their boat, focusing on the transfer of their experience and love of the sea, and Andy additionally releases his podcast "On the Wind".
They recruit a crew that pays them for crossings and training on their boat. S & S Swan 48 Isbjörn 1972 year. Each season they draw up a transition calendar, which they publish on their website. 59-north.com, usually in two years, thus deciding on their own when and where they will go. Such a plan allows them to travel about 10,000 nautical miles per year in ten voyages, approximately, each of which is about 7-21 days.
“We have set ourselves several goals: to create a business where work is not like“ work ”; make enough money to be happy, but never do it solely for money; lead a financially simple, moderate lifestyle; and have free time to pursue personal interests and spend time with family and friends. "

S & S Swan 48 Isbjörn
“Our business is a way of life - no one has become rich in this yet, since it cannot be scaled. I want to spend my life doing what I love, so instead of working to just make money and then retire and start sailing, I skip the middle part and make my living doing what I love, ”explains Andy ... He also shares how they approached the creation of this business and what guided them:
“We started to develop a business plan with such considerations: there are many studies that prove that happiness increases with income, but there is a limit, and it is about 70,000 dollars per family per year. So we used these numbers as a target number and tried to calculate how many transitions we need to make to reach that number as a profit, leaving a small margin for unsold seats, unexpected maintenance, etc. We bought an old boat that was 45 years old, and have replaced almost all systems. We bought a relatively cheap boat for $ 130,000 - and since then have invested at least $ 150,000 in the refurbishment. ”
In terms of earnings, they ended up doing better than their initial forecast. at 70,000 dollars a year. In addition to paid conversions, a podcast that generates revenue through sponsorship provides them with about 75% of all payouts as its popularity brings them conversions. And in the fall, they hold several seminars during the Annapolis boat show, and occasionally write articles for magazines.

S & S Swan 48 Isbjörn

S & S Swan 48 Isbjörn
Overall, they make just under $ 200,000 a year, but with a lot of refurbishment money invested in the boat in 2016 and 2017, they made a net profit of about $ 40,000. But this profit will certainly grow, and the main work on the boat has already been completed. They also estimated that their budget for maintenance, insurance, marinas and more was about $ 40,000 per year. In addition, they have a fund for new sails every 50-60,000 miles, or every 5-6 years, which is $ 25,000. And also this kind of business has a very low cost share, since they do not have a physical office.
“Yachting as a job is not really freedom - yes, we are free to choose where and when we go, but as soon as we go out to sea, we stick to the plan. Some of the freedom actually comes when we are not on the boat. In our off-season, in addition to maintaining the business and recording the podcast, we can do what we want and we have tons of free time. "
Become an independent freelancer
Matt Wilcox, Lucy Wilcox traveled for 14 years until they bought a 38ft catamaran Lagoon 380, 2005 to travel the east coast of the United States and the Bahamas.
The plan was to live off the savings and then return to work, but when it was time to get back to their normal lives, they realized they couldn't give up their cruise lifestyle aboard Independence, so they decided to become freelancers.
Lucy previously worked at university, taught online courses and took a similar job as an online English teacher for Chinese students. In the meantime, Matt works as a freelance photographer and graphic designer, finding clients through freelance sites.

Lucy wilcox
In addition, they are both cruise editors and photographers. Bahamas Waterways Guideand both are writing articles. Their workweek does not exceed 20 hours with a combined income of $ 2,400 per month. But the lack of mobile communication or the Internet in some regions makes them inaccessible for visiting, since the transitions are planned taking into account Lucy's online classes.
During their two weekends a week, they change locations, explore new places, or just take a break. When they have time, especially in bad weather, they can increase their workload, and when they are busy in the crossing or boat work, they can put off some work.
“Working part-time while living on a yacht has brought more satisfaction and balance to our lives. We make about 25% of our land-based revenue, but we've never felt more successful. Freelancing and the cruise lifestyle is a win-win for us. "
Create a full-fledged yacht business
Bruce Jacobs and Rachael Sprot decided to go into their own business, and created a charter company Rubicon 3, having already owned three yachts. This is a great example of a small but growing number of very well organized sailing agencies.
“Rachel and I have different backgrounds. She is the daughter of a professional yachtsman and has worked as a skipper all her professional life. I have worked in the yachting industry for 12 years in marketing and development, ”says Jacobs.

Rubicon 3
In 2012, they learned that Clipper Ventures sells a yacht Blackadder (now Hummingbird), and borrowed money to buy it. They were confident that they could recoup their investment, but finding clients was only half the battle. For five years, they both worked about 60 hours a week building their businesses. This is partly due to the fact that they aimed to create a new type of yachting company that will provide professional skippers with good training, pay and safety.
Balance between work and personal life - this is something that should worry anyone who is thinking of moving to the yachting business from another area, says Jacobs. The first two years they worked as skippers almost continuously, and it was quite difficult for a young family with a child. But now they work as skippers no more than twice a year, since the management of the company has become a full-time job for both of them.
“When you work for yourself, the work-life balance is different. There is much less "free" time than before, but also much more motivation and satisfaction. "

Rubicon 3

Rubicon 3
In terms of money, it took them 5 years to earn enough, paying themselves very little or nothing in the beginning. But they strongly recommend thinking to anyone looking to build a business in the yachting industry. Yachting as a hobby Is completely different. Doing a yacht business every day of your life can transform real love into a routine, besides, it is not yet the most profitable industry for a small business.
“My advice for starting a full-time yachting business is to think carefully and plan. How will you progress? What skills will you need, what new knowledge will you need, where will you be in 20 years? If you cannot answer these and other questions, or you do not like the answer, it is better to just continue sailing for fun. "
06.05.2019
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