Post: #1

I just finished watching all the videos on the Youtube channel "Sailing La Vagabonde" and browsing through their website http://sailing-lavagabonde.com/.

Here is one of the videos from their channel:





So according to their biographies, the Australian guy (Riley) went to college but ended up failing. He then found work on offshore oil rigs (back when the industry was actually doing well), made a bit of money, and then bought his sailboat while on a vacation in Europe. He then met the girl (Elayna) also in Europe, managed to convince her to accompany him on his sailboat, and now they spend their time sailing to various places around the world and posting videos of their travels on Youtube. They have videos of their sails through the Meditteranean, the Caribbean islands, and even an Atlantic Ocean crossing.

Now I don't know if their story is 100% authentic (sailboats and their maintenance costs definitely aren't cheap). However, their videos of the sailing life are not only quite relaxing and great to watch, but also informative on showing some potential future travel destinations.

And no doubt is this guy living quite the enviable life- sailing, diving, fishing, seeing new places, and overall living a relaxed life with his hot girlfriend.

Post: #2

Those offshore boys made some good coin when the industry was rolling. I also heard that in Australia they get double time after 40hrs, so if that's true then I'm sure he made more money than most other offshore guys in his position. I assume he was derrickhand or assistant driller/driller by the time he left, so he was probably making easily around $150k USD working his standard rotation the last few years he worked on a rig.

Post: #3

They surely lead an amazing life. The only real "catch" I see as far as I can tell is that the "I quit my boring life and bought a sailboat" story doesnt really add up.

I'm assuming that he certainly had a fair bit of sailing experience before going into this. Long trips and living on a boat in general takes handyman skills, resolve against constant salt and sun, survival smarts, and loads of experience.

Though if he did just escape his old life for the new one color me incredibly impressed.

Post: #4

(02-21-2016 11:24 PM)mickeyd Wrote:  They surely lead an amazing life. The only real "catch" I see as far as I can tell is that the "I quit my boring life and bought a sailboat" story doesnt really add up.

I'm assuming that he certainly had a fair bit of sailing experience before going into this. Long trips and living on a boat in general takes handyman skills, resolve against constant salt and sun, survival smarts, and loads of experience.

Though if he did just escape his old life for the new one color me incredibly impressed.

Living on an oil rig probably didn't hurt either.

What's also incredible is that now that their Youtube channel has gotten fairly popular, they make a living by having people donate money to them to sponsor their trips. The incentive is that every once in a while, they pick a lucky winner from the sponsors who gets to spend time sailing with them. Crazy how people literally pay them to travel to exotic locations year round.

Post: #5

damnit she bad. We might need to go to greece to find a singer ya'll

Post: #6

[img][/img]

Post: #7

I was thinking of starting a thread on this too, either in the travel or lifestyle section, thanks for getting it started Truth.

Caractacus Potts posted in the 10 thread this video a while back:




My interest was piqued, mainly because of the hot chick, but also I was curious about the sailing lifestyle. I burned through their youtube channel, about 30 videos, over a few weeks.

Observations:
1. The guy worked off shore rigs and mines in western Australia for around 8 years. Traveled on his time off and stacked cash.
2. Decides he wants to buy a boat rather than a house, with very little sailing experience, and sail around the Mediterranean. Buys a Beneteau Cyclades 43 ft boat in Italy for $100k AUD. Examples of boat here. Blog post on how he bought the boat and affords to sail here.
3. Single handed (solo) sails around eastern Mediterranean for a bit and learns the ropes.
4. Stops in Greece, meets a 20 yr old Aussie girl playing in a band, uses yacht game to reel her in. After hanging out a short time they decide to take off indefinitely around the Mediterranean. She has little to no sailing experience, but is an experienced scuba diver and free diver.
5. They sail around Europe, cross the Atlantic, hang out in the Caribbean, currently just passed through Panama Canal and are planning to do a Pacific crossing.
6. The guy is masculine: spends his time spear fishing, free diving, sailing, repairing the boat, reading books, sports a porn stache.
7. The girl is feminine: long hair, pleasant attitude, cooks, cleans, sings, does all the video editing and social media. She also spears fish, free dives, and handles night watches.
8. They turned their sailing lifestyle into a location independent business through youtube, social media, and Patreon. They went from $0/mo a year ago, to $1670/video last July, to $5209/video as of today. They put out 2-3 videos per month, so they are raking in $5k-$15k/mo just from Patreon. Some people donate per video, some donate a max per month.
9. They are now doing interviews and podcasts to broaden their reach and gain fans/supporters.

I have to tip my hat to this Aussie, he busted his ass saving up for a boat and went after what he wanted with no fear and very little experience.

Obviously having a hot chick on board is the main reason for their financial success, but they found a way to use technology and the system (videos, social media, Patreon) to fund their lifestyle.

They both have some big balls, sailing 15-25 days at sea on their ocean crossings. Some of their videos show storms they sail through, with huge swells, 30+ knot winds, and leans where the boat looks about to tip over.

I don't know the first thing about sailing, but this couple's story and videos are pretty damn impressive and inspiring.

Anybody here sailed around the world or spent weeks/months cruising the islands before? I think the Father has, maybe he can chime in here or start a sailing thread. Once you get the boat purchased (there are surprisingly decent boats on yachtworld in the $40k-$80k range used) the monthly living expenses seem to be pretty reasonable.

Post: #8

^^^

NasaTestPilot should chime in on this thread. He lives on his boat and travels around the world, been doing it for years. Also pretty bad ass and my favorite new poster in a long time.

Also, thanks for the TLDR Chauncey. I was trying to figure out how they did it. I was thinking either inherited money or drug trafficking. There is no way an oil worker that young has saved up the several million it takes to have a permanent 6 figure passive investment income.

If he is smart, he should be stacking cash continually. There will come a time when he gets bored of his girl when she hits 25 and is already hitting the wall because of all the sun exposure and he needs to switch things up, and he'll need money for the transition phase. I'm sure about 95% of their traffic/donations is from guys wanting to see cool girl in bikini.

Post: #9

Saw the original post by Caractacus, and went through this guys youtube channel. Inspirational to say the least. The guy is:

-Sailing across the world.
-On his own private yacht.
-With a hot, feminine, young fun woman who cooks.

In one of the videos the guy spears a lionfish and the girl fillets it (avoiding the poisonous spines) and sautees the biggest fillet in butter for him to eat. I know perhaps two women who would be happy to cook while I get some work done, much less one who would handle a poisonous fish for me to eat. If anyone is winning at life, is this guy. Next time this guy want to pick up a chick in a bar, all he would have to do is whip out his cell phone and say "hey, do you want to see a video of my yacht?"

(02-22-2016 04:03 AM)Chauncey Wrote:  Anybody here sailed around the world or spent weeks/months cruising the islands before? I think the Father has, maybe he can chime in here or start a sailing thread. Once you get the boat purchased (there are surprisingly decent boats on yachtworld in the $40k-$80k range used) the monthly living expenses seem to be pretty reasonable.

Also, are there any docking costs? I assume there must be some cost to keep your boat "parked" on a town or city dock.

Post: #10

Post: #11

This is a good article which might dampen your enthusiasm regarding this lifestyle a bit, but it is an enlightening read:
http://www.visitmyharbour.com/articles/1...t-for-you-

TL;DR: Constantly lugging water, food, gas etc. on board during 40 °C summer days in the Mediterranean is tough. When shit breaks, nobody might be around to help you fix it, so you gotta learn how to do that yourself. Mooring spots can be expensive as hell. People will try to rip you off.

I haven't watched a lot of this dude's videos, but from the ones posted in this thread I imagine that he's sugarcoating the experience quite a bit. Especially when it comes to the girl. I mean, her personality seems decent enough...but we're still talking about someone barely past puberty, who's used to being in the spotlight, with narcissistic tendencies etc.; then they're constantly headed to these European holiday destinations that are full of young thirsty partygoers of both genders, and then you have to live with this person 365/7 in a tiny floating box. To me that sounds like a nightmare, and who knows how much drama there really is - but props to the dude if he's happy.

Post: #12

VVV, yeah I meant NASA Test Pilot should share some wisdom, stories, advice on sailing around the world.

Post: #13

^Love this series, I have watched every show.

She is lovely to say the least.

Chauncey - thanks for the back story, didn't realize she was so young.

Props to the dude on yacht game.

Post: #14

(02-22-2016 10:01 AM)rudebwoy Wrote:  She is lovely to say the least.


Props to the dude on yacht game.

Yacht Game: He made an offer she couldn't refuse.

Yacht Game: Best Logistic in the world

Post: #15

I worked in sailing for a while but not much experience on this level.

Cool thing about a boat is once its bought your costs are super low. I met a Danish family once, parents and two young kids, who had just done a whole year sailing for $20,000. They had just finished a round the world trip. The guy had a really handy work shop on board and would fix and repair a lot of stuff himself, lots of food can be caught and you just buy the basics when you rock up somewhere. Really great way to meet people since everyone loves a tour of the boat and the kids were way ahead of similar kids their age. They did it to avoid putting their kids in school and give them a real education. Boat was stacked with good books, cool workshop, great kitchen and huge open gallery where you cook and eat. Really comfortable and cool feel to a big sailing boat like that. I think it cost 160,000 euro.

A lot of regions in the world you can travel in convey and people will stay in touch over the radio and hang out when they stop at port. So its not like you are way out by yourself unless you want to be.

Post: #16

^
And I have another dream for myself Man this sounds so interesting!

Post: #17

They had something like this..

http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1985/Gre...stBRBh-d-I

I believe prices are cheaper when you buy more north though. I think they got their boat out of Norway and did some work themselves to pre-trip.

Post: #18

(02-22-2016 04:03 AM)Chauncey Wrote:  I was thinking of starting a thread on this too, either in the travel or lifestyle section, thanks for getting it started Truth.

Caractacus Potts posted in the 10 thread this video a while back:




My interest was piqued, mainly because of the hot chick, but also I was curious about the sailing lifestyle. I burned through their youtube channel, about 30 videos, over a few weeks.

Observations:
1. The guy worked off shore rigs and mines in western Australia for around 8 years. Traveled on his time off and stacked cash.
2. Decides he wants to buy a boat rather than a house, with very little sailing experience, and sail around the Mediterranean. Buys a Beneteau Cyclades 43 ft boat in Italy for $100k AUD. Examples of boat here. Blog post on how he bought the boat and affords to sail here.
3. Single handed (solo) sails around eastern Mediterranean for a bit and learns the ropes.
4. Stops in Greece, meets a 20 yr old Aussie girl playing in a band, uses yacht game to reel her in. After hanging out a short time they decide to take off indefinitely around the Mediterranean. She has little to no sailing experience, but is an experienced scuba diver and free diver.
5. They sail around Europe, cross the Atlantic, hang out in the Caribbean, currently just passed through Panama Canal and are planning to do a Pacific crossing.
6. The guy is masculine: spends his time spear fishing, free diving, sailing, repairing the boat, reading books, sports a porn stache.
7. The girl is feminine: long hair, pleasant attitude, cooks, cleans, sings, does all the video editing and social media. She also spears fish, free dives, and handles night watches.
8. They turned their sailing lifestyle into a location independent business through youtube, social media, and Patreon. They went from $0/mo a year ago, to $1670/video last July, to $5209/video as of today. They put out 2-3 videos per month, so they are raking in $5k-$15k/mo just from Patreon. Some people donate per video, some donate a max per month.
9. They are now doing interviews and podcasts to broaden their reach and gain fans/supporters.

I have to tip my hat to this Aussie, he busted his ass saving up for a boat and went after what he wanted with no fear and very little experience.

Obviously having a hot chick on board is the main reason for their financial success, but they found a way to use technology and the system (videos, social media, Patreon) to fund their lifestyle.

They both have some big balls, sailing 15-25 days at sea on their ocean crossings. Some of their videos show storms they sail through, with huge swells, 30+ knot winds, and leans where the boat looks about to tip over.

I don't know the first thing about sailing, but this couple's story and videos are pretty damn impressive and inspiring.

Anybody here sailed around the world or spent weeks/months cruising the islands before? I think the Father has, maybe he can chime in here or start a sailing thread. Once you get the boat purchased (there are surprisingly decent boats on yachtworld in the $40k-$80k range used) the monthly living expenses seem to be pretty reasonable.

Just to play devils advocate- I do think they ran out of $$$ and had to call it quits just for a bit to regroup in Cold Perth I believe. 5-15k for the videos is unreal & fantastic but I still think its hard to live on that with boat maintenance costs. I;m rooting for him

Post: #19

My guess is hes far from a millionaire. He probably saved enough for the boat and had 50-250k aside from that money.

The cost of his lifestyle doesn't sound that expensive to me. Aside from the boat, it wouldn't cost that much just to sail.

Upkeep can't be more than 10% of the boat value per year. (10k AUD in this case)

I wouldn't be surprised if hes only spending 30-40k a year.

The reason they are popular on youtube is the girl is attractive, young and appeals to most western males tastes. Additionally it has the advantage of being a story that joe average can relate to and dream about.

Joe average can't relate to a hedge fund manager making 2 million in compensation a year but he can relate to a tradesman who worked hard, saved his money and bought a boat.

Post: #20

It's cool but what sort of person donates to stuff like this, let alone enough to fund their lifestyle? Are that that many thirsty betas with money out there?

Post: #21

(02-22-2016 02:30 PM)lavidaloca Wrote:  My guess is hes far from a millionaire. He probably saved enough for the boat and had 50-250k aside from that money.

The cost of his lifestyle doesn't sound that expensive to me. Aside from the boat, it wouldn't cost that much just to sail.

Upkeep can't be more than 10% of the boat value per year. (10k AUD in this case)

I wouldn't be surprised if hes only spending 30-40k a year.

The reason they are popular on youtube is the girl is attractive, young and appeals to most western males tastes.

again just to point out- they seem a bit worried in some of the videos about money while still attempting to live care-free. It seems it would wear on you after a while not knowing how you would feed yourself after fish for days etc. She is hot tho.

Post: #22

Pretty awesome video.

I'd like to sail around some islands, but I think I'd puke my guts out being on the open water for long.

That chick is bad. Without her he probably wouldn't be getting 10% of the donations and views he is. Nice business move on his part.

Lets hope all accounts are in his name, otherwise he might have to drown her at sea lol. Or take a trip to Africa and sell her to some Somali pirate king. Bet that white girl is worth a mil easy.

Post: #23

(02-22-2016 03:01 PM)RioNomad Wrote:  Pretty awesome video.

I'd like to sail around some islands, but I think I'd puke my guts out being on the open water for long.

That chick is bad. Without her he probably wouldn't be getting 10% of the donations and views he is. Nice business move on his part.

Lets hope all accounts are in his name, otherwise he might have to drown her at sea lol. Or take a trip to Africa and sell her to some Somali pirate king. Bet that white girl is worth a mil easy.

double agree. Her aussie accent makes her even more sexy. She also exudes confidence and she looks amazing in those white and mixed bikinis. She obviously had some cash before hand tho- sporting multiple ray bans and upper end hippie type clothing that aint goodwill. The dude is the man tho- kudos to him for making this work and finding her partying in greek islands. Again- whos up for a greek island trip this spring? Fuck


btw- in one of her most recent vids she is complaining because she is back in aussie and has to go to Bali, indonesia to get some sun and relaxation which is like a 2 hour plane. lol - if bali was as close to US as it is to Aus than we would be there in a second! Screw Mexico


also this might bring some context-

http://sailing-lavagabonde.com/a-not-so-brief-bio-elay/

wonder what kind of shoes he was wearing- need to get me a pair

Post: #24

Awesome. Sailing around the world must be one of the most amazing things to do in a lifetime.
That said, I have zero skills or experience of anything sailing related except for buliding yachts.

I wouldn't hesitate a second if I had the chance to participate in a long sailing trip as a crew member or whatever. Is that even possible?!

Any sailors here on the forum?

Post: #25

^^ That is a damn good read.

What a surprise, she has EE/Austrian roots.

Riley has serious game, I too would like to know what shoes he wears?

She has a strong sense of adventure and he obviously knew what buttons to push, he has that on lock.

El Mech is a sailor I believe.