🎥 Sailing YouTube Channels — DIY, Liveaboard & Boat Work
Are you a sailing content creator? Post product reviews with your videos, build a media kit, and find brands offering gear to review on For Sailing Content Creators.The best sailing education on the internet is free on YouTube. These channels focus on real work, real boats, real budgets — not aspirational lifestyle content filmed on brand-new catamarans. Whether you want to watch someone fix a 1970s fiberglass hull, learn rigging, or follow a sailor who quit the corporate world to live aboard and restore a classic cruiser, it’s all here.
Jump to: 📊 Subscriber Rankings | 🏆 2026 YouTube Awards | Featured: Living for Sail | Boat Repair & Restoration | Liveaboard & Cruising | Seamanship & Instruction | Technical & DIY | Catalina 30 | Racing
📊 Channel Subscriber Rankings
All channels listed on this page ranked by subscriber count, checked directly against each channel's own YouTube page — updated Sept 2026. 🌲 PNW = Pacific Northwest based. A handful of channels previously listed here have been removed because their handle no longer resolves and no matching channel could be found — see Report / Suggest a Link if you know where one of them went.
🏆 2026 Sailing & Cruising YouTube Awards
Released on the eve of the 2026 Annapolis Sailboat Show, the Sailing and Cruising YouTube Awards rank channels purely on data — no voting, no politicking. The numbers come from the Sailing Creator Analytics dashboard, a custom app built by a father-and-son data science team that pulls daily stats on 1,226 active sailing, cruising, and boat-DIY channels. If you want to know who sailors are actually watching, this is it.
How the awards work
Subscriber count puts a channel in one of six categories. Views over the past 12 months rank it within that category, counted down 3-2-1. To place, a channel must have posted in the last year and be active in sailing, cruising, or boat DIY — because fixing boats is cruising. Clubs, racing groups, and magazines are tracked but not eligible. Shorts views count.
Under 1K subscribers
“Are We Aground or Floating” · 600 channels
- 🥇Szymonidas Sailing — 121K views
- 🥈Floating Adventure — 93K views
- 🥉Sailing Vessel Soletude — 66K views
1K – 10K subscribers
“No Longer Aground” · 342 channels
- 🥇Satis on Trip — 644K views
- 🥈Small Sailboat Cruising — 440K views
- 🥉Sailing SV Cordelia — 361K views
10K – 100K subscribers
“This Might Be a Thing” · 229 channels
- 🥇Sailing Dark Angel — 3.4M views
- 🥈Sailing Zola — 3.2M views
- 🥉Sailing Dawn Hunters — 3M views
100K – 500K subscribers
“We’re Getting Somewhere” · 48 channels
- 🥇Be The Captain (formerly Sailing Zingaro) — 18M views
- 🥈Sailing Parlay Revival — 9M views
- 🥉Sailing KALLI — nearly 8M views
500K – 1M subscribers
“We’ve Made It” · 5 channels
- 🥇Sailing Doodles — 27M+ views
- 🥈Expedition Evans — 18.5M views
- 🥉Sampson Boat Co — 16M+ views
Over 1M subscribers
“The Big Dogs” · 2 channels
- 🥇Sailing La Vagabonde — 24M views
- 🥈SV Delos — 14M views
A few takeaways for viewers
- Views beat subscribers. The awards lean on views per video and views per subscriber over the last 30 days — a better sign of who’s actually being watched than a subscriber count.
- Shorts matter. Several outliers, including Sailing Limosa and Sailing KALLI, built huge view counts largely on Shorts.
- DIY counts. Refit and repair channels compete alongside the cruising channels, which is good news for those of us who spend more time fixing boats than sailing them.
Rankings and figures are from The Sailing and Cruising YouTube Awards (Oct 14, 2026), based on views over the 12 months before the 2026 Annapolis Sailboat Show. SailboatsUSA.com did not produce the rankings and is not affiliated with the awards or the channels listed. Know a channel they missed? Let them know in the video’s comments — or suggest it for this page.
⭐ Featured Creator — Our Pick
His Liberty 458 refit is a masterclass in taking an aging but capable cruising boat and systematically bringing it back to life — electrical, plumbing, engine, rig, interior, and everything in between. If you’re contemplating buying an older sailboat and living aboard, or you’re in the middle of a major refit, Jon’s channel is required viewing. He shows you what it actually costs, what actually breaks, and what it actually feels like to make this kind of life change. No sugar-coating. No sponsorship veneer. Just a sailor doing the work.
- The Liberty 458 refit series — start from the beginning; Jon walks through every major system from the hull up; invaluable if you’re considering a similar vintage cruiser
- Electrical system overhaul — his approach to rewiring an older boat from scratch is methodical and well-documented; great companion to our Electrical Wiring Guide
- The “is this actually worth it?” episodes — Jon’s honest reckoning with the real costs of liveaboard refit; some of the most useful content on the entire channel
- Engine work — diesel troubleshooting, raw water impellers, heat exchangers; practical DIY content you can apply directly to your own boat
- Before & after comparisons — the progression episodes showing the boat’s transformation are deeply satisfying and genuinely instructive
- Support the work: Jon’s channel runs on Patreon support from the sailing community. If the content has helped you, consider a $5/month membership at patreon.com/livingforsail
🔧 Boat Repair & Restoration
Channels focused on real work: fiberglass, epoxy, gelcoat, engines, rigging, and the full spectrum of DIY boat repair. No trust funds. No new boats. Real work on real boats.
Fitzee’s Fabrications
Serious, technically deep fiberglass and gelcoat repair tutorials. One of the best channels anywhere for understanding the material science behind fiberglass work — why things fail, how to fix them right, and what products actually work. Outstanding production quality.
youtube.com/@FitzeesFabrications →Boatworks Today
Fiberglass, painting, gelcoat, and boat restoration — very technical, very thorough. Excellent for understanding how to do professional-quality work at home. Particularly strong on painting and topside refinishing.
youtube.com/@boatworkstoday →Fish Bump TV — Captain Joe
2nd-generation boat builder doing fiberglass repair, laminate work, and boat building from scratch. One of the most practically deep fiberglass channels on YouTube — Captain Joe explains the why behind every technique, not just the how.
youtube.com/c/fishbumptv →Sampson Boat Co
Leo’s epic restoration of a legendary wooden boat from near-wreck to sailing vessel. Extraordinary craftsmanship, remarkable patience, stunning cinematography. Even if you never touch a wooden boat, this channel is worth watching for the sheer artistry.
youtube.com/@SampsonBoatCo →🌲 PNW The Duracell Project
Matt & Janneke refit a legendary Mike Plant Open 60 race boat into a cruising home. Outstanding fiberglass and epoxy work documented in detail. One of the most technically impressive self-funded refit projects on YouTube.
youtube.com/c/TheDuracellProject →Sail Life — Mads Dahlke
One of the most trusted and thorough DIY refit channels on YouTube — 600+ videos, currently restoring Project Antares, a hurricane-damaged 44 ft PDQ catamaran. Mads documents every system in meticulous detail: carpentry, wiring, rigging, plumbing, epoxy. Danish sailor, global audience. If you want to go deep on a full refit, start here.
youtube.com/@madsdahlke →Born Again Boating
A working marine technician documenting real boat repairs from a professional perspective. Practical troubleshooting, systems work, and mechanical repairs seen through the eyes of someone who does this for a living — not a hobbyist. Good complement to the DIY channels for understanding what professionals actually look for.
youtube.com/@BornAgainBoating →⛵ Liveaboard & Cruising on a Budget
The real liveaboard life — what it costs, what breaks, what’s magical, and what no one tells you. Channels where people actually do the work themselves.
🌲 PNW ⭐ Living for Sail — Jon Congo
Featured above. Liberty 458 complete refit — ex-corporate world turned liveaboard. One of the most honest and detailed liveaboard refit channels on YouTube. See our full feature above.
Watch on YouTube →Sailing La Vagabonde
The largest sailing channel on YouTube at 2.0M+ subscribers. Riley & Elayna — Australian couple who have circumnavigated, raised a child aboard, and famously sailed Greta Thunberg across the Atlantic. Primarily lifestyle and adventure content rather than DIY, but the scale of their reach defines what sailing YouTube looks like to the wider world.
youtube.com/@sailinglavagabonde →Sailing Zatara
Family world cruising with 625K+ subscribers — one of the most-watched sailing channels. Documents a family living and sailing full-time with kids aboard. Strong focus on destinations, passages, and the realities of raising a family on a boat while circumnavigating.
youtube.com/@sailingzatara →Expedition Evans
Engaging storytelling approach to sailing content — destinations, adventure, and the experience of extended cruising. One of the faster-growing mid-tier channels with a strong narrative style that makes technical topics accessible to sailors at any experience level.
youtube.com/@ExpeditionEvans →RAN Sailing
Johan & Malin Rydqvist — sailed 30,000+ nautical miles across 27 countries in a home-built catamaran. Strong on the technical aspects of offshore sailing and blue-water passage-making. Underrated for the depth of their seamanship content woven into a compelling cruising story.
youtube.com/@RANsailing →🌲 PNW Allison & James Sailing
Pacific Northwest couple sailing a Catalina 30 on Puget Sound and the Salish Sea. Local, relatable, and sailing the same waters many of our readers know. See also their full feature in the Catalina 30 section.
youtube.com/@AllisonandJamesSailing →SV Delos
Brian, Karin, and crew — the long-running classic of the liveaboard genre. Warm, practical, and genuinely well-produced. One of the original sailing channels and still one of the best for showing what bluewater cruising actually looks like over many years.
SV Delos YouTube →🌲 PNW Sailing Magic Carpet
Maya & Aladino — she bought a boat for $1, he bought a shipwreck off a crane; both got fixed and sailed. Their Northern Voyage series covering BC and Alaskan waters is spectacular. Maya is the author of The Northern Voyage. BC-based. See our book feature →
Sailing Magic Carpet YouTube →Sailing Uma
Dan & Kika bought a wreck, fixed it, and sailed it — documenting the whole thing with exceptional production quality. Strong on DIY boat work, particularly electrical and systems. One of the best channels for watching a couple actually do the refit work themselves.
youtube.com/@SailingUma →Sailing Doodles
Bob and Jessica on a Catalina 42 — coastal and offshore cruising with a focus on the relatable, practical aspects of liveaboard sailing. Good for sailors at the “we just got our first big boat” stage.
youtube.com/@SailingDoodles →Gone with the Wynns
Jason & Nikki — practical liveaboard life with a focus on real costs, systems, and the lifestyle. Strong on solar, batteries, and energy management aboard. One of the better channels for understanding what full-time liveaboard life actually requires.
youtube.com/@GoneWithTheWynns →Alluring Arctic Sailing
Finnish sailors Juho & Dr. Sohvi aboard SV Lumi, an aluminium Nouanni 44 — extreme high-latitude cruising far outside the usual tropical liveaboard circuit. They completed the Northwest Passage from Alaska to Greenland in 2024 and then overwintered frozen into the Greenland ice through the following winter. Juho also contributes to volunteer Arctic research projects along the way. A striking counterpoint to the palm-tree liveaboard channels — this is cold-water, high-latitude sailing at its most demanding.
youtube.com/@AlluringArctic →🧭 Seamanship & Instruction
Sailing Zingaro — Be the Captain (James Evenson)
Offshore seamanship, heavy weather, watch-keeping, and the mental side of ocean sailing. James Evenson has 85,000+ nm of real offshore experience and it shows. Author of Be the Captain and creator of the Captain’s Locker free PDFs. The most substantive seamanship instruction channel in the English-speaking sailing world.
youtube.com/@BeTheCaptain →Marine How To
Electrical systems, rigging, and practical boat maintenance instruction. Partners with MarineHowTo.com — one of the best free marine electrical resources on the internet. Clear, ABYC-standards-based instruction for wiring and systems work. See also our Electrical Wiring Guide.
youtube.com/@marinehowto →NauticEd
Structured sailing education — courses, seamanship instruction, and practical tutorials. NauticEd is a USCG-recognized sailing school; their YouTube channel provides free samples of curriculum that complements formal ASA and CGA training programs.
youtube.com/@NauticEd →Quantum Sails — Sail Trim
Free sail trim tutorials from one of the world’s leading sailmakers. Understanding how to trim your sails correctly is one of the highest-leverage skills a sailor can develop — this channel teaches it clearly and without jargon.
youtube.com/@quantumsails →Lady K Sailing
Practical, no-nonsense guidance on buying a used sailboat and what to watch out for during a purchase — common problem areas, survey red flags, and the questions to ask before you commit. Still actively posting; the channel’s creator also contributes video content to Practical Sailor, and offers paid 1-on-1 buyer consultations through her own site. See our Used Boat Buying Guides for the written companion.
youtube.com/@LadyKSailing → ladyksailing.com → Book a Consultation →📡 Technical, Rigging & Open Source
Pacific Yacht Systems (PYS)
Vancouver-based marine electrical specialists. The gold standard for marine electrical YouTube. Victron systems, lithium battery installs, solar, alternators, NMEA 2000, watermakers. Professional quality, technically precise. See our full feature on the Electrical page.
youtube.com/@PacificYachtSystems →Sailrite
The best DIY sail and canvas tutorials on the internet, full stop. If you want to repair a sail, build a dodger, sew a bimini, or make a sail cover, Sailrite’s YouTube channel has a free tutorial for exactly what you need. See our Sails & Canvas Guide.
youtube.com/@SailriteDIY →West System Epoxy
Fiberglass and epoxy repair tutorials from the people who literally wrote the book on marine epoxy. If you’re doing structural fiberglass work, blister repair, or core replacement, start here. Free and authoritative. See also our Hull & Deck Repair Guide.
youtube.com/@WestSystemEpoxy →Compass Marine
Deep-dive marine electrical tutorials from a professional marine electrician. Technically rigorous, ABYC-standards-aware content on battery sizing, charging systems, solar, and DC wiring. One of the best free marine electrical resources alongside MarineHowTo.com.
youtube.com/@MaineCruising →Rigging Doctor
Specialist rigging inspection, maintenance, and repair content from someone who knows standing and running rigging in depth. Covers wire inspection, end fitting failures, rig tuning, and the kind of specific rigging knowledge that prevents dismastings. A niche channel but essential viewing if your rig is aging. Good complement to our Rigging Guide.
youtube.com/@RiggingDoctor →Après Sail
Best multi-part series on building a complete DIY marine electronics system: OpenPlotter, Raspberry Pi, Signal K, and OpenCPN from scratch on a real boat. Essential viewing if you’re building an open-source boat computer. See our Open Source & DIY Tech section.
youtube.com/@ApresSail →⛵ Catalina 30 & Similar Production Boats
Channels specifically focused on sailing, maintaining, and cruising on the most popular American production sailboats. If you sail a Catalina 30 — or any similar 27–35 ft production sailboat from the 1970s–90s — these channels are especially relevant.
Allison & James Sailing
A Pacific Northwest couple sailing a Catalina 30 — one of the most relevant channels on this page for Puget Sound and PNW sailors on a similar boat. Real sailing in real PNW conditions: the Inside Passage, Puget Sound, and the islands of the Salish Sea on a classic 30-footer. If you sail (or want to sail) a Catalina 30 in the Pacific Northwest, this is exactly the channel to follow. They document the passages, the maintenance, and the reality of sailing the PNW on a production boat most of us can actually afford.
youtube.com/@AllisonandJamesSailing →Sailing Angel
Angelique & family sailing a 1988 Catalina 30 on Long Island Sound and beyond. Great for owners of similar vintage production boats — the maintenance issues, upgrades, and passages are directly applicable.
Sailing Angel YouTube →Sailing Solé
Coastal cruising on a Catalina 30 out of Long Beach, CA — Southern California sailing, Catalina Island passages, and the Pacific Coast lifestyle on a classic 30-footer. Good for West Coast Catalina owners.
Sailing Solé YouTube →Sailing Decision
Canadian couple on a Catalina sailboat documenting life on an older boat — the real decisions, real repairs, and real cost of keeping a vintage production boat sailing. Honest and relatable for anyone with a similar boat.
Sailing Decision YouTube →🏆 Racing & Performance
PredictWind
Weather routing for sailors — tutorials on using PredictWind for passage planning and racing routing, plus meteorology content relevant to competitive sailors. Good companion to our Sailing Weather page.
youtube.com/@PredictWind →GlobeSailor
International sailing content covering regattas, offshore racing, and bluewater passages. Good for following international events and understanding the global sailing race calendar.
youtube.com/@GlobeSailor-FR →