By Brad Parker

I love sailing and I’ve loved it all my life. When I can’t be out on the water, working on my boat or hanging out with other sailors talking about boats, I like to watch sailing videos and follow forums about sailing. There is so much great content out there right now, and what seems to be a bit of a resurgence of interest in sailing within the general population. I don’t think that’s a coincidence–adventurous sailors sharing their stories have always captured the popular imagination, from the earliest explorers, down to Joshua Slocum and through to the Pardeys. What’s different, and so exciting about right now is the ability of sailors to easily share video and live updates of their adventures with the world through platforms like YouTube and Facebook. Having consumed a lot of this content, it seems pretty clear to me that the early pioneers on those platforms (S/V Delos is a great example), have inspired a new generation to give the sailing lifestyle a try.

About six months ago I was watching a video made by a couple about my age who, inspired by Delos and others, had decided to try sailing and bought a cheap old boat to learn on. This particular couple and their channel were only one of a number I followed, and like many they were doing a good job of recording and sharing their adventures, good and bad. They had a pretty substantial subscriber base and an active comments section, where a common refrain would be something to the extent of: “Great video, thanks for sharing! We’ve been struggling with the same issue and learned a lot from your video.” All of this is great, because there are people getting into the lifestyle I love, creating a community and learning from each other. But in this particular video, they are taking the rig down for maintenance, and long story short, it doesn’t go well. No one is hurt and nothing is badly damaged, but they got lucky. It could have been much worse. My first thought after seeing this happen is, “I wish I could have talked to them before they tried that.” I know what that situation is like; we always put Dark Star’s mast up and down by hand, and there are definitely things that can go wrong. I’ve been lucky enough to learn from an awesome community of experienced sailors (especially my parents), but not everyone has that opportunity.

I want to grow the sport and lifestyle that I love, and to help sailors have a positive experience. There are plenty of potential pitfalls, though, that can make getting started in sailing frustrating, scary, or dangerous, and a couple of bad experiences can be enough to turn someone away from sailing forever. It’s not just dropping the mast overboard or getting hurt, it can be getting a boat that’s too hard to maneuver in the marina, or that heels too much, or that you can’t stand up in, or can’t afford the time or money to maintain. It can also be starting out on a race boat and getting an earful from an intense skipper, or going offshore too soon and getting spooked. It can be taking on a project that’s too big to handle. My Dad’s story about Stardust is a good one, with a happy ending. That project was much bigger than any of us wanted, but we were lucky enough to have the resources to pull it off. In different circumstances, we may not have.

There will always be challenges in sailing, and that’s part of what makes it satisfying. Our goal with this venture is to help people avoid some of the bigger pitfalls that might turn them away, and work out how they can make the sailing lifestyle work for them. We hope to do that by sharing the knowledge and insight we have gained in our decades of experience. So whether you’re just learning to sail, looking to purchase your first boat, are tackling a major project, or moving up to something bigger, we would like to help you have the best experience possible!