Blue water: Greta Thunberg's Atlantic crew: "La Vagabonde" in an interview

The Australian crew of the "La Vagabonde" were already well-known before they made Greta Thunberg the Transatlantic cruise to Madrid on board: She operates with "Sailing La Vagabonde" currently the most successful sailing video blog on YouTube.

Elayna Carausu, 26, and Riley Whitelum, 34, have been sailing around the world since 2014 - initially on a Beneteau Cyclades 43, and now with their young son on an Outremer 45 cruising catamaran.

Their popular YouTube channel about the couple's blue water life evolved from a spontaneous experiment with the camera at the beginning of the trip: Almost 1.2 million subscribers and over 200 videos now speak for themselves.

In spring 2018, YACHT reported on the crews of the best-known sailing vlogs and spoke to the Australians about their round-the-world sailing as YouTube stars. Excerpts from the interview:

YACHT: The videos on your YouTube channel "Sailing La Vagabonde" have millions of clicks. Do you know where your fans come from?

Elayna CarausuYes, the YouTube statistics reveal that. Most of our viewers come from the USA, Australia and New Zealand - but around eleven per cent also come from Germany.

YACHT: You put a new video online every week. How much time does filming and editing take?

Elayna CarausuWhat we do, sailing and making videos, is the equivalent of two full-time jobs: one for sailing, one for filming.

Riley WhitelumIf you don't enjoy either of them, there's not much point in a sailing vlog.

Elayna CarausuRiley takes care of the boat, I take care of the films. Both are time-consuming: two days a week are spent on editing alone, one day on other details such as music selection and the intro, and then there's often the hardest part: getting the videos online. We've done all sorts of things to get them online in remote places around the world. From bribing teachers to let us use the school network(laughs) up to three days sailing against the wind - from the Tuamotus to Tahiti - just to upload a video.

YACHT: Do you always enjoy this lifestyle or are there also moments of doubt?

Riley Whitelum:In the meantime, we both have a lot of fun with the videos and draw a lot of motivation for our journey from them. But we know we have to do something to make sure something happens in the films, like climbing a mountain on land. We would probably be lazier sometimes if we didn't have the weekly video blog.

"I had no idea about sailing, but I was sure I would love it" - Riley and Elayna on the beginnings of their journey on the Australian news programme "Today Tonight"

YACHT: Is the income generated by your videos enough to finance life under sail?

Elayna Carausu:Yes, as of today, 90 per cent of our income comes from the crowdfunding platform Patreon, which is a relatively reliable source of income.

YACHT: Is there a script or a plan for each new film?

Elayna Carausu:I've never written a script, I always pick out the scenes that are suitable from the material afterwards.

Riley Whitelum:The ticklish situations in which something can go wrong are the golden moments, they can hardly be planned. However, we have made an agreement that we will only keep the camera on if it is one hundred per cent okay for both of us in the respective situation. We now know from experience when that is the case.

Elayna Carausu:In fact, the terrible moments become much more bearable if you can share them, as we do with our viewers. Then filming is a bit like therapy.

YACHT: What advice would you give to others who want to be successful with a sailing video blog?

Riley Whitelum:Just do it. Everyone on board has a story to tell. It would be a shame to keep them to yourself.

Elayna Carausu:However, it is important that the story you want to tell is easy to understand. I grab the camera in the morning and the story develops in my head over the course of the day. You can't pretend either. We believe that authenticity is one of the secrets of our vlog's success. Nobody would be able to keep up a pretence for long anyway.

The report "The logbook as a screenplay" about the most successful sailing vlogs was published in YACHT 7/2018, which can be ordered here.

"Reality check" - The La Vagabonde crew on their everyday life consisting of sailing and video production