Most sailing blogs die the same death: started at the dock with a beautiful template, abandoned three weeks into the first real passage because publishing from the water was harder than the sailing. This guide is about starting one that survives — what to write, how to publish over a satellite connection, and how to pick a platform that works where you actually are.
Why start a sailing blog?
Because the people who love you want more than a position dot. A blog turns your passage into something family can read — the weather call, the flying fish on deck, the landfall — instead of something they refresh and worry about. It is also the voyage’s memory: years later, the blog is what remains of the trip, in a way a camera roll never quite is. And if an audience finds it, that audience compounds; every famous sailing channel started as somebody’s passage notes.
What to write (when nothing is happening)
The secret of sailing blogs that people actually follow: the ordinary days carry the story. You do not need a storm. A post can be three sentences and a photo, as long as it answers the reader’s real question — what is it like out there right now? Reliable material, passage after passage:
- The daily run: position, miles made good, conditions, and the one thing that happened
- The decision: why you rerouted, reefed, or stayed put — readers love the reasoning
- The fix: what broke and how you repaired it with what was aboard
- The galley report: what you cooked in a seaway; unreasonably popular with shore readers
- The watch: night skies, ship traffic, dolphins at the bow, the 0300 thoughts
- Landfall: the smell of land, the first walk, the anchorage report
The hard part: publishing from the water
At the dock, any platform works. Two hundred miles out, most fail. Over Starlink you can publish anything; over Iridium or a marina’s dying Wi-Fi, the platform decides whether your post ships or dies in a spinner. The offshore workflow that works: write offline, in whatever tool holds text without a connection; keep photos few and small — five compressed images, not thirty originals; and let the upload be resumable, queued until the connection allows rather than lost when it drops.
Choosing a platform: the offshore test
Ask one question of any platform: can I publish a post from an anchorage with two bars of signal, on my phone, in ten minutes? Here is how the usual options fare:
| Option | The catch offshore |
|---|---|
| Website builders (WordPress, Squarespace) | built for desks and broadband; heavy admin pages that choke on satellite links, plus hosting fees and maintenance |
| Social media only | easy to post, impossible to keep: the voyage disappears into a feed you do not own, unsearchable in a year |
| Email newsletters | great for family, but there is no place a new reader can start from the beginning |
| A blog built into your logbook | the boat, route, and position are already there; posting is one more step in a habit you already keep |
Every WatchKeeper boat gets a Ship’s Blog, free. A hosted blog at your boat’s own address: write in markdown, add up to five photos a post, and your position is stamped automatically from the logbook. Ten designer templates, one-click sharing, and it works over the same connection your log entries already use.
Proof it works: the Cloud Nine Chronicles
This is not theory — the Cloud Nine Chronicles is our own boat’s blog, published from mid-Pacific: dispatches filed between watches, photos queued for the satellite window, position stamped on every post. The posts that readers responded to most were never the dramatic ones. They were the ordinary days, told honestly. Start there.
Keep reading
Sailing blog FAQ
How do I start a sailing blog?
Decide who it is for (usually family first), pick a platform you can publish to from the boat, and commit to a rhythm you can actually keep offshore — one short post per passage day beats a long essay per month. If your logbook app includes a hosted blog, start there: the boat, the route, and the positions are already in it.
What should I write about on a sailing blog?
The days, not the highlights reel. Weather calls, small failures and fixes, meals, watch-keeping, the moment land appears. Readers — especially the ones who love you — want the texture of life aboard. Position and conditions give every post a spine: where you were, what the sea was doing, what happened.
What is the best platform for a sailing blog?
The one you can update from an anchorage with two bars of signal. Generic website builders assume fast internet and a laptop. For most cruisers the practical choice is a blog that lives with the logbook, posts over low-bandwidth connections, and stamps position automatically — which is why WatchKeeper includes a hosted Ship’s Blog on every plan, free.
Can I blog from the middle of the ocean?
Yes. Over Starlink it feels like home internet; over Iridium it does not, so the workflow matters: write offline, keep photos small and few, and let the post upload when the connection allows. The Cloud Nine Chronicles was published mid-Pacific this way — text-first posts, five photos or fewer, queued until the satellite cooperated.
Do sailing blogs make money?
A few do, through YouTube crossovers, Patreon, and sponsorships — but treating that as the goal is the fastest way to quit. The reliable payoff is different: a calm family, a searchable record of your voyage, and a following that grows because the writing is honest. Monetization, if it comes, comes later.