OCTOBER 16, 2026 – Admittedly, I’ve become a sailing vlogger junkie. I got hooked by the cheerful daily reports by Drew Smith, a Canadian sailor who documented his passage last year from New Zealand to Victoria, British Columbia. What impressed me were not only the vast distances crossed by the vlogger sailing his 1974 34-foot boat called X-Wing. It was his even keel—even when his boat was heeling, as he navigated the deep blue waters of the Pacific. Plus, he seemed to know how to diagnose and repair anything aboard his vessel, from rigging to rudder to power systems to the diesel engine. He was as much an engineer and mechanic as he was a meteorologist, electronics, communications and navigation expert and . . . oh, yeah: offshore solo sailor.
As we journey around the planet, it’s impossible not to leave tracks—or a wake in the case of travel by water. Consequently, I’ve caught up with other ocean-going boats skippered by full-time solo mariners—all of whom share the collection of skills exhibited by Drew Smith, essential, I now realize, for success and survival on long-haul passages. One the sailors I follow goes island hopping all over the seas around Indonesia. Another, the unflappable Sam Holmes from California, keeps to the waters of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. A happy-go-lucky American guy with long hair always reined in by a head-kerchief, sails his boat Songbird solo all over the South Pacific. Then there’s the inimitable Oliver Widger aboard Phoenix do Mar, a 1998 40-foot Pacific Seacraft, 13 days into his solo, non-stop passage around the world. (See my 10/03/26 post.)
The quirky Captain Oliver is the guy to watch. He now has 3 million followers compared to just under 400,000 followers for Sam Holmes, who’s been vlogging for nearly 20 years. It’s hard to know just how many regular sailing vloggers there are in the world but sources that attempt to track them estimate the number to be around 100. Based on data collected by the highly regarded maritime researcher Jimmy Cornell, on any event day, worldwide, 10,000 recreational sailboats are making long-distance passages on the world’s oceans—50 to 200 boats being solo-skippered.
Vicariously, I’m learning lots, not only about sailing but geography, sea conditions, global weather patterns, and even psychology. I would never dream of boarding a 30- to 40-foot vessel bound on a passage way beyond the horizon; certainly not when I account for all that can and all that does go wrong, even before I consider waves, wind and weather—not to mention heaving to in the dark of night in 40-knot winds.
Then, in the case of following Oliver, who’s sailing solo, non-stop and unassisted, you have to take everything up many notches: he can’t leave the boat for eight to nine months nor for that period can he accept food or supplies or have anyone else board the boat. To attempt what he’s doing makes climbing Mt. Everist without oxygen seem like a cakewalk. The only way I can begin to imagine his effort and ordeal is to recall marathon running—the salient feature parallel to Oliver’s feat being that in both cases, the pain and suffering is self-inflicted.
Most of us couldn’t—and flat out wouldn’t—follow any of these solo sailors into the sunset on the open ocean. But in their luck, pluck, fears, ingenuity, failures, courage, inspiration, frustrations, disappointments, perseverance, and accomplishments, we can achieve perspective and learn that as with so many challenges in life, it’s not the tumult of the seas but self-doubt in our attitude that prevents us from living life to its full potential.
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© 2026 by Eric Nilsson
