Salty Podcast #51 | ⛵Circumnavigating with Sailing Songbird! LIVE from New Zealand⚓🌊 - Salty Podcast: Sailing

Episode Transcript
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Capn Tinsley (00:00):
Tonight we have a compelling guest joining us Luke
Hartley of Sailing Songbird.
You may have heard of him.
He has an impressive followingon Instagram north of 900,000.
Luke is currentlycircumnavigating aboard his 1976
Vancouver 27, a vintagesailboat that's seen it all

(00:20):
Starting in Seattle.
He's now in New Zealand puttingin the repair work before
setting sail again on his worldtour.
We'll talk about his journey,the highs and lows of long-term
cruising, and how he's keepinghis classic sailboat in top
shape for the adventure of alifetime.
Before we get started, please,please, pretty please, hit all

(00:41):
the buttons like share,subscribe and drop your
questions in the live chat soLuke can respond in real time.
I'm Captain Tinsley of SailingVessel, salty Abandoned, and
this is the Salty Podcast,episode 51.
Please help me welcome LukeHartley.
Hey, hey, luke.

Capn Luke (01:01):
Hello, how's it going ?

Going good.
Thanks for being here.
Sorry it didn't work outyesterday, but glad you made it
today.
Yeah you were in the little bigproject, huh.

Capn Luke (01:13):
Yeah, I was incredibly busy fitting in my
new engine bears which will holdthe mounts that my new engine
will then sit on.

Okay, might as well talk about that.
So, first of all, you're in NewZealand.
Yeah, sailed there from Seattle.

Capn Luke (01:29):
Mm-hmm.
I'm in New Zealand primarily toescape cyclone season.
In the South Pacific, cycloneseason runs until May 1st and
then May 1st I will set sailnorth for Fiji.
Wow, yeah, right now I'mspending like I'm not really
able to see much of new zealand,um, because I'm just in the

(01:51):
boatyard all day, every day.
Um, getting everything donethat I need to get done in order
to have a successful cruisingseason next.
Um, yeah, next season next yearand when is that next season?
well, so yeah, next season wouldbe like may 1st, when cyclone
season ends, and then it's likethe cruise season begins in in

(02:14):
the south pacific okay, so uh,tell us about the boat.
1976, vancouver 27 yeah, it'san old boat.
Um, I'm really excited for nextyear I'll be able to throw
songbird a 50th birthday partyum wow, I don't know what I'll
do yet, but it'll be good.

(02:34):
Um, yeah, she's a.
She's a beautiful boat, um.
She was built in vancouver, um,in uh 76, um, and the the first
vancouver 27 that ever existedwas sailed from vancouver to new
zealand, where I am now, um,and then back to canada, um, and

(02:55):
when they got back, uh like,people were like whoa, you like
sailed all the way new zealandand back.
We should like take some moldsof this hull.
We should like make some moreof these boats.
If you've gone so far, um, andso I think it's just about two
or three hundred of them weremade before.
Um, the molds were destroyed ina fire in the mid 80s, um, and

(03:18):
like, the boatyard burned downand that halted production
forever wow and so, yeah,there's not too many of them,
but, um, you'll typically findthat they've done some pretty
great sailing.
Um, there's a boat calledfirebird.
Um, that is a vancouver 27 andit's a couple that did I mean an
unbelievable amount of oceanmiles.

(03:40):
They went around cape horn ontheir vancouver 27.
Um, my favorite thing aboutsongbird is just the fact that
every time I mean I meet someoneor I'm chatting with someone
and they're like, oh, what kindof boat do you have?
And I say that it's a 27 footboat, it's so small, their eyes
always get super wide andthey're shocked that I've made
it so far on such a small boat.

But I like is it?
Is it a blue water boat?

Capn Luke (04:06):
I don't know anything about them, yeah I mean, it was
built by robert harris, thedesigner, specifically to sail
from vancouver to new zealandand then back okay, it was
always built for the purpose ofocean sailing um okay, yeah, you
can.
I mean you can cross oceans inin an, in an even smaller vessel

(04:26):
, as long as that's what it'sbuilt for right, yeah, okay, um,
all right, let me go to myquestions over here.

What inspired you to do this the solo
circumnavigation and was there adefining moment that pushed you
to commit?

Capn Luke (04:41):
yeah, I get this question a lot.
Um, I suppose it has to beasked.

Yeah.

Capn Luke (04:48):
Oh, it's a good place to start, um, so I was a middle
school music teacher in Seattle.
Um, and I was teaching, and itwas not as fulfilling as I had
imagined it to be, for a myriadof reasons.
I had imagined it to be for amyriad of reasons, and I was

(05:08):
aimlessly scrolling on YouTubeone day and then found the
YouTube sailors like the sailorsthat are posting their
experiences online, and Delos,specifically, was the channel
that I dove into and from them,I watched every single, I'm like
every one of the videos.

(05:29):
I mean, I watched years andyears of their voyage, um, and
found myself falling in lovewith it and, like, was looking
forward to watching the nextvideo.
And, um, it got to a pointwhere I was like I need to
figure out how to do this myself.
Um, I, I, yeah, I mean, I wasjust so inspired by their

(05:50):
account of theircircumnavigation that, um, it
just seemed like the, thelogical next step for me, um,
and so had you sailed at all?
no, never had been on a boat atall.
No, never had been on a boat I.
When I was.
I was fortunate enough to likego on a vacation to hawaii with

(06:10):
my family when I was younger andI think we did like a catamaran
excursion for a day to like seedolphins with like 60 other
people on the boat, and I thinkthat's like literally, literally
the only other time that I hadever been on a boat.
So, um, yeah, I really jumped innot knowing anything and just
kind of, I mean, I rememberGoogling how to sail and then

(06:32):
like reading the first couplearticles that came up on
explaining points of sale andlift and such like that lift and
such like that, and um, yeah, Iwas into it, I was hooked.
No lessons, uh, no.
So I, the way I like learnedhow to sail was um, I was just a

(06:53):
substitute teacher at thispoint um, and I had like more
money that I'd ever had in mylife because I had like a big
boy job.
You know what I mean.
Um, you know that, like firstadult job that you get, sure,
it's like the most anunbelievable amount of money to
you because you've never had ajob before.
And so I took a couple monthsoff.
I took two months off ofteaching and substituting and I

(07:17):
flew down to Mexico and jumpedon a sailboat.
Oh, one of my colleagues is inthe chat saying best teacher
ever.

Look at that Best teacher ever.

Capn Luke (07:27):
Yeah, one of my old colleagues.
Thank you, leland, tell us more.
And yeah, I flew down to Mexicofor two months and jumped on a
boat that I'd met on Facebookand I crewed for them, for them
for a couple of weeks, and thenI was kind of done on that boat.

(07:50):
So I jumped on the paddleboardand introduced myself to all the
other sailors in the Anchorageand see who had an extra bunk
and where everyone was going,and, uh, found everyone always
had an extra bunk, um, which wasgreat, um, and so I jumped on
another boat and then sailedwith them for a little while,
jumped on another boat, so withthem for a little while, jumped
on another boat, so with themfor a little while, um, and so

(08:11):
just, I just hitchhiked aroundfor two months, um, and then
flew back to seattle.

Where all did you go just around mexico?

Capn Luke (08:20):
sailed as far south as Acapulco in Mexico and as far
north as La Paz, baja, so I dida crossing of the Sea of Cortez
, like a five-day crossing.
Is that how long it takes?
We didn't have an engine, so,yeah, that's how long it took us
to get there.

(08:40):
I haven't been there yet.
I want to.
Yeah, it's incredible.
I think I got maybe like two orthree hundred miles from those
two months sailing.
I mean kind of all I needed inorder to feel competent and
confident enough to get my ownboat, put my own life on the

(09:01):
line, kind of a thing that'sgreat that you had that freedom
yeah, I mean put my own life onthe line, kind of a thing.
That's great that you had thatfreedom.
Yeah, yeah, um, I mean I cancomplain until the cows come
home around the way that Seattlepublic schools is run which is
for a different podcast but, um,I can't really complain about
the, the income.

(09:21):
Um, it's like public knowledgeand such, but was like because
it's all like I was a publicemployee so our salaries are
posted online, but I was makinglike 70 grand my first year of
teaching as a certificatedteacher, um, and had a, had
really cheap rent and I don'treally spend that much money,
and so, um, it was about sixmonths salary to buy the boat

(09:44):
and then do everything I neededto refit the boat and so, yeah,
after a couple of years ofteaching, it kind of made sense
that I mean it was, yeah, I wasable to make it.

So that's great.
So this is good information forthere's a lot of people you
probably get a lot of messages,as I do people dreaming of this,
whether doing it part-time,like me, or full-time, like you,
people want to do this.
So, absolutely right, like theway you managed your money early
on, um, and just decided I'mjust gonna put it all aside.

Capn Luke (10:21):
And then, and then you you bought the boat and did
all the the upgrades and thenyou still had some, some sale
money yeah, I, I had about ifI'm remembering right, I had
about 10 grand saved in the bankthat like that was like my
total net worth kind of a thing.
Um, and I just my, my goal wasto make that stretch for as long

(10:43):
as possible.
Um, and yeah, and then, like myplan was to like find work in
Australia or like New Zealand.
When I eventually got there, um, I'm very glad I had a bunch of
engine troubles, that I sunk abunch of money in when I
shouldn't have Um, and so I'msuper glad that, uh, that I went

(11:04):
viral and like people caredenough about my story to um kind
of help keep me afloatfinancially, because I like 100
of my income right now is likeoff of donations, like maybe 95
of it.
Um.
I make a little bit of moneyfrom tiktok, but that's about it
um and that is on instagram, soI was asking you about that.

We were talking about that.
Offline.
I said how did you get 900,000plus followers and go ahead and
tell them?

Capn Luke (11:34):
Well, I mean, I just posted stories.
I just posted the stories frommy life, you know, and people I
think that they wanted to see ifI was gonna make it, you know
um, and so they, yeah, followedalong, but um, yeah, here's yeah

(11:55):
I just, I work really hard atum weaving narrative and I try,
I try my best to um, to to showthe life.
You know, um, my boat's name issongbird and so, um, I do, I, I
write, I make some videos of mesinging, just because if Jesus

(12:18):
was Polynesian, I was from.
On Christmas Eve I sang all holynight.
But, um, yeah, I like, I likemaking videos.

Um, these are real I haven't watched them all, but
I've watched many and they'rethey're good yeah, thanks.

Capn Luke (12:34):
I.
I put a lot of time and effortin into these um it's.
Yeah, they're a huge creativeoutlet for me.
I'm grateful that the processof creating a video and creating
a reel it's a really creativeprocess for me.
So, while it is, like now, kindof my full time job, I love it.

(12:58):
I really enjoy it.

I understand, yeah , so you were telling a story
about what made you, what reallygot you a lot of followers.

Capn Luke (13:08):
Yeah, I mean the first video I had ever posted.
Like I made a decision oh, I'mgoing to try to get popular on
social media.
Let me like make a videoexplaining hey, my name's Luke
and I'm going to sell around theworld.
Explaining hey, my name's Lukeand I'm going to sell around the
world.
Then I posted that video and Iwent from 300 followers, just

(13:29):
like friends from college andsuch.
I went from 300 followers to100,000 in five days.
I was like, oh, I guess this iswhat I do now.
Then I was at 200,000 followersin like two weeks or three
weeks or something and by thetime I crossed the Pacific I had

(13:54):
hit a million on Tik TOK and Iwas close to not, I was close to
where I'm at now.
Wow, so tell about the video youdid with the videos you did in
the doldrums yeah, I posted avideo of me paddleboarding in
the doldrums which blew up andwent mega viral, which is

(14:18):
hilarious.
It's got 70 million viewsacross platforms, um, and that
video got I don't know like ahalf million followers on TikTok
and I think my analytics show330,000 followers from Instagram
.
So kind of the best way to getfollowers is to just get lucky

(14:40):
and go viral, because it's wheremost of us come from, you know
that is amazing.
Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, and palming around in the doldrums?

Capn Luke (14:51):
Yeah, I mean I had been with that video, I had been
adrift for 10 days, I had beenadrift for 10 days and so
getting hopping on mypaddleboard, which was like my
primary dinghy at that time um,hopping on the paddleboard and
like going for, uh, getting someexercise in.

Was it scary?
No, I had been.
There's my boat over there andthere's nothing.

Capn Luke (15:12):
I had been on like a placid lake for 10 days, like
hopping off the boat to go for alittle paddleboard ride.
There wasn't anything to it, Imean it was colder than every
other Anchorage I'd ever been inanything to it.

I mean, it was colder than every other
anchorage I'd ever been in.

Capn Luke (15:28):
Wow, I can't imagine go to that's why it's called the
pacific yeah, absolutely,absolutely well.

So I asked you, um oh, about your starlink and uh
oh, somebody else here has acomment.
Oh, that's hayden of islandspirit.
Um, congrats.
I just added one more to yournetwork.
He's our fearless leader in theIsland Packet world.
He runs the Facebook group forIsland Packet.

(15:56):
He's our leader.
I asked you about the Starlink.
Did you upload that while youwere out there?
Did you paddle around andupload it?

Capn Luke (16:08):
I lost my Starlink dish on day 19 of my 49 day
pacific crossing um because itwas sitting on top of your boat,
right yeah, I didn't.
I don't really have a lot ofreal estate on my little 27 foot
boat, so there was no placethat I could like mount the dish
, um, and so I just keep it onits like little tripod thing on

(16:34):
the bow, cause that's especiallylike at sea, that's kind of the
only way I can get reception.
And even then, like I typicallyam not able to get a connection
at sea with the Starlink, don'treally know why Don't really
need internet at sea.
I mean, you know, I kind oflike that I can't get internet
at sea with the starlink, um,don't really know why don't
really need internet at sea.
I mean, you know, I I kind oflike that I can't get internet
at sea because then I can justspend the time with the sea and

(16:57):
I'm not like on the internet, um, and so, yeah, typically when
I'm creating videos of me at sea, I just upload them after I get
to shore.
Um, when I'm at sea and onpassage, that time's kind of
just between me and the ocean,um, and I I'm I'm happy to share
the videos that I create andlike that creative outlet once I

(17:20):
get to shore, but, um, I likekeeping it just between me and
the ocean during those times.

Very nice.
Yeah, I like that perspective.
I don't know if you know whoTanya Abbey is.

Capn Luke (17:37):
I'm not sure I've heard the name.
No, she's my hero?

Yeah, you should.
She wrote.
What did she write?
Anyway, I'll think of it in aminute, but in the 1980s, at 18
years old, before GPS, she wentaround the world.

Capn Luke (17:56):
Oh, very cool that's incredibly impressive.

Yeah, she is very famous.
She's written books andeverything.
I interviewed her.

Capn Luke (18:04):
Oh, very cool.
Yeah, the sailors of old thatwere doing all this before gps.
Oh my goodness they have yeahthey have my respect.
I think what I'm doing isgenuinely like incredibly easy,
like because I have, I have likesix different ways of getting
my lat long.
There's not really.
I mean, I have a gps pin thewhole time.
All I have to do is like makesure I don't miss an island,

(18:27):
which is like it's hard to missan Island when you have six
different ways of getting yourposition.
Yeah, I don't know.
I mean it's incrediblyimpressive what they used to do.

Well, the reason I brought her name up is because
she talks.
I read her book years agobefore I bought a boat.
She talked about that time onthe boat by yourself in the
moment when you're doingsomething, you're just doing
that and I never forgot that,because it's hard to for us to
imagine out in the world.

Capn Luke (18:59):
Yeah, with so many distractions so much of our life
on shore is spent outside ofthe present, like outside,
outside of the present moment,you know, and either we're
thinking about the past orthinking about the future.
We just we spend very littletime present and that sea,

(19:20):
that's really all you can do,because you're like feeling each
and every wave like wash overyou and sitting and staring at
the ocean, I think.
I mean, I think it's.
It even has a name, it's calledlike the ocean effect or
something.
Where it's just incrediblypresent when you're at sea.

Yeah, Does it get difficult?
Does?

Capn Luke (19:40):
Yeah, we have some more people Do.
I have a Garmin inReach Makinga track we can follow.
I did not have enough money Tobuy a Garmin inReach when I was
like prepping my boat to to sailand so I got a spot X.
Okay, think that.
But then, like that sat phonestopped working in the middle of

(20:02):
the Pacific, like it was tooremote for even that sat phone
to work.
It didn't really work.
No, if you want to see like thetrack of my boat, you can go on
sailing songbirdcom and underthe ship tab the ship tab I keep
a like a manual log ofeverywhere I go and there's a

(20:24):
map on there so you can see allof the different like places
that songbird has dropped anchor.
It doesn't show my exact routethat I've taken at sea, but it
shows all the places I'vedropped anchor okay, so the the
website is sailing songbirdcomsuper simple okay, and um, his
uh instagram at sailingunderscorebird, which I think

(20:47):
it's also on other channels aswell.

If they want to, yeah, it's all it's I'm.

Capn Luke (20:53):
I'm grateful to have sailing underscore songbird on
pretty much everything Nice.

Okay, so Mike is a new he's, he's now owns and
lives full time, and so he'she's saying I know him.
So he's.
Actually he says that he's hefollows you and it's good to see
you on the Salty Podcast.
Thank you, mike.
Okay, what were we saying?
So we were talking about beingin the present, which I'm so

(21:20):
fascinated with.
Here's a question pertaining tosolo sailing.
Can it be mentally intense?
How do you handle the isolation?
What keeps you motivated duringlong passages?
You know, this is like aforeign concept to me in this
day and age.
Sailing solo no, I love to sailsolo, but just this long
periods of no communication withanybody because I have, you

(21:41):
know, I got in reach explorer,I've got starlink, you know yeah
, as much or as little as I wantyeah, absolutely.

Capn Luke (21:50):
Um, I think part of for me, like part of sailing
solo and doing so without reallyany communication from like
with anyone and without theability to kind of get, like get
information, um, it then likeforces me into a place where I

(22:11):
can really just focus on myselfand focus on my relationship
with the ocean and, um, itremoves, uh, temptation and
distraction from my dailyexperience.
Um, I mean, how, how long haveyou gone without the internet
since its inception?
Like, for me, my answer is likeseven weeks.

(22:33):
I went like seven weeks without.
Well, I guess I had internetfor the first.
I connected to the.
Over the course of the firstthree weeks I connected to the
internet maybe like three orfour times, and other than that
it was just me and my thoughts.
Um, and so, like the thequestion of, like, how do you
endure that time alone?

(22:53):
Um, you endure it because youdon't have any other options.
Like when you're at sea, theonly choice you have is to face
whatever is inside of you, andso there's not really any tips
or strategies to deploy to deal,to be with yourself, other than

(23:17):
just to be present andsurrender to the experience and
just relax and enjoy the ridebecause you're not in control.

Yeah, just relax and enjoy the ride, because
you're not in control.

Capn Luke (23:33):
yeah, it sounds like you were already pretty balanced
person before you did this Iwas hanging out you had a bunch
of demons that came out at youwhile you're well, I mean, I was
hanging out on a boat in tongaand we were having a couple
sundowners and one of the guyswho I could tell was a rather
deep thinker, he, he stopped andall of a sudden looked around
and he went.
Are we enjoying this?

(23:53):
Like?
Are we?
Are we really like?
Are we having a good time?
Like, are you having a goodtime?
Like, not just like this inthis evening, but like are we
enjoying this life Like?
Do we like being sailors?
And it stopped me dead in mytracks and I was like like maybe
I don't know, but I don't, it'sa hard question.
Are we enjoying this Like?

(24:16):
Obviously like yes in many ways, but also no in lots of ways.
Another thing that we said thatevening was like there's not a
single solo sailor that likewent to sea because they were
like happy on land.
You know, no one.
No one goes to sea becauseshore has treated them well.
You know like there's not asingle solo sailor out there

(24:40):
that's just like happy and golucky, full and fancy, fun and
free on shore.
Like we go to like you go tosea to chase, but also to run
from whatever it is you'rechasing and whatever it is
you're running from.
I think any solo sailor thatsays they're not running from

(25:01):
anything is putting on a front,and you know, I don't think that
I mean yeah, certainly couldyou be happy with your
circumstances, but you're sohappy that you're.

You want to seek more good stuff and the sailing
calls you I think the sailingonly calls people that need it
that need.

Capn Luke (25:23):
Yes, I agree with that, yeah you know, sailing
only only calls to people thatreally, really need it.
And so, yeah, yeah, sailingonly calls to people that really
need it.
Michael's asking I can sing.

(25:43):
Thanks, thanks, michael.

He's a music instructor.
Music is very important is editthat equator passing track.

Capn Luke (25:51):
Yeah, um I it took me I don't know an afternoon, like
a day.
Uh, it was pretty fun.
Yeah, that was a cool thing.
I mean I have the.
I haven't heard that one to dothat.
I have the ability to do thatjust from my degree in music and
from my different projects thatI've done as a music educator
and as a musician.
But I use logic to edit thattrack.

That that that track was all created, created
on logic logic, okay, um, what'sthe wildest and most unexpected
encounter you've had whilesailing, whether wildlife,
weather or people?

Capn Luke (26:27):
um, I've talked to in other interviews.
I've told the story of almosthitting a whale on my pacific
crossing um, I'll tell the storyof um, when I rescued a bunch
of mexicans, uh, off the coastof baja.
Um, I was sailing south, maybehalfway down the halfway down
Baja, and we were about likefive or 10 miles out offshore,

(26:52):
which like pretty close to land,you know, we weren't far at all
and then all of a sudden, overlike I squint, and I see on the
horizon there's this panga whichis like a fiberglass production
boat, boat, um, this panga fullof mexicans that are waving

(27:14):
their orange like fishingtrousers over their heads.
And so we like sailed over tothem and we were like hola, como
estas amigos?
And um, their, their engine hadfailed, their battery couldn't
start their engine, um, and sothey were asking for a new
battery.
Um, I didn't have any sparebatteries to give, but I said,
like one of you guys can likecome on board and we and you can

(27:35):
direct us, and like we'll takeyou home and then, when you get
home, you can hop on a buddy'sboat and then go and get the
rest of your guys.
And so a guy named jesus jumpedaboard and I have okay Spanish,
like I had enough Spanish toget through this like situation
and kind of deal in a deal withan emergency, um.
But he was a nice guy, supercool guy and we uh, yeah, we

(27:58):
just sailed them inland um foran hour out, were you like five
or ten miles, something likethat.
We weren't super far.
We were just a couple hoursfrom from shore, um, and so we,
yeah, sailed back and um, as wegot closer and closer to his
fishing village of like 20people, um, another big panga
like zoomed up to us, um and uh,he then jumped aboard like his

(28:23):
buddy's boat, and then theypassed back a bucket of lobster,
um oh wow, that was cool thatwas cool that was good karma.

You got some lobster.

Capn Luke (28:34):
Yeah, it was nice, it was nice.
It was nice to like I mean meand my crew member at the time
we were like dive diving lobsterevery afternoon, so it was nice
to like kick up our feet for anafternoon and not have to dive
for them.

But so you had crew at some point.

Capn Luke (28:52):
Yeah, I, because when I left Seattle I didn't really
know how to sail at all.
I knew that I wanted a crewmember for the first leg, and so
I put an ad out on Facebooklooking for crew.
And this 19 year old kid fromSouth Africa reached out and we
hopped on the phone for likemaybe like three or four minutes

(29:13):
.
And then I was like all right,sounds good, brother, like go
ahead and buy a plane ticket andI'll see you over here.
And then he bought a planeticket.

Was he in South Africa?

Capn Luke (29:24):
Yeah, he was.
He was home in South Africa.
And so he flew all the way toseattle from south africa and he
arrived and he crewed with mefor um the first two months from
seattle all the way down tocabo san lucas in mexico.

So what did you advertise for someone with
experience?

Capn Luke (29:40):
yeah, I was looking for someone with experience, um,
he had done some coastalcruising or like coastal sailing
along south africa, um, andthat coastline is absolutely
wild.
That's a wicked coastline, umokay, so he could probably
handle yeah, and I mean, he's ayoung, strong dude, um, who kind
of has he spent his whole lifein the water?

(30:01):
Um, and so sweet, good fit, andhe was a great fit, yeah his
name is along, oh, here wait,let me actually plug his uh, his
, his instagram.
Um, okay, a couple months ago hewas attacked by a shark in the
gombie of french polynesia andalmost died, um, and I've kind

(30:21):
of helped him um document andlike and kind of express the
narrative of everything that'shappened and he has garnered a
following of his own through hisown.
What's his instagram?
His instagram is the wildescape with uh periods for
spaces, so the period wildescape I'm gonna put it up yeah,

(30:42):
the wild escape, um, and he ismaking great content and he's a
great guy.
He's a great, great guy.
So go check out the wild escape.
He's got a crazy story to telland what's his name?

angus angus like hcdc yeah okay, there he is the
wild I spelled it wrong wildyeah, yeah, he's a cool guy.

Capn Luke (31:11):
Um, when I get to south africa, the plan is to
have him crew for me again so hecan um bring me through south
africa, because that coastlineis treacherous and the currents
along the south africancoastline are particularly
treacherous and you kind of likeyou don't need a local.
But having a local that knowsexactly where the wild currents

(31:32):
are, um is super helpful.

So so this uh angus may be able to help
somebody else if somebody'swatching and needs a a local
knowledge guy in south africa,yeah, maybe I mean there's
knowledge.

Capn Luke (31:47):
There's lots of sailors through South Africa,
you know.

We're going to try to help Angus.

Capn Luke (31:55):
He's a good guy.

Okay, so your route.
So you went from Seattle towhere.

Capn Luke (32:02):
Went to Seattle and, just like coastally, went down
the west coast of the US andthen went down to Baja, did yous
and then um went down to bajaum, did you stop anywhere?
Uh, in like turtle bay and likeum punto or los abriojos, um
stopped in that town for alittle bit, um, but primarily in

(32:23):
california at all um, yeah, westopped in san francisco and
then la, and then we picked upsome fuel in san diego, and
that's about it okay, the bigplaces okay yeah, I mean my goal
it was it was late, it was likewinter.
Uh, it was like it was likegetting into winter, um, very
soon, cold, and so I was tryingto get south as quick as I could

(32:44):
.
Um, and then, once I got tomexico, then I can relax and
spent six months in Mexico,cruising around, bouncing back
and forth in between themainland and Baja.
I did five sea of Cortezcrossings um during that season
Um, and then from La Pazlaunched across the Pacific to

(33:04):
the Marquesas.

And how long did that that?

Capn Luke (33:07):
take that was a 49 day passage because I didn't
have an engine, um, and so whenI hit the, it took me a week to
do my first 100 miles, whichtypically, like I, I average
like 100 miles a day when I havegood wind.
And so it took me a week, aweek to do my first 100 miles,

(33:27):
and then I was adrift for twoweeks in the doldrums.

Now, what were you thinking at that time?
What was going through yourhead?
Did I make a mistake?
No, never.

Capn Luke (33:36):
I mean no, it's great being out at sea with the wind
is the best.
Yeah, because you just get tohang out, it's super calm, it's
super comfortable, you can cooka big meal because you, you have
an appetite, and it's easy tomove around the boat.
Um, I love being becalmed atsea.
Oh, it's the best.

(33:56):
I pity sailors that sail withengines, because then the end
the wind dies and they flip theengine on.
Oh, what a what a terrible wayto spend a day, you know.

What happened to my engine?

Capn Luke (34:10):
Yeah, so I had a Yanmar YSE-12 that was built in
1970.
So old and the it had a lot ofproblems.
I did a full rebuild where Ichanged the piston and did a
full like rebuilt the head anddid a full like rebuilt the head
and everything.
I did that in Mazatlan and Ihoped that that would last.

(34:34):
And then the shifting shaftassembly sheared.
So there's the shaft thatshifts the gears that runs for
the center of the engine andthat sheared.
And so then I was like, ok,that's like a huge fix, so I'll
just cruise the rest of theseason without an engine.
And then, right before I wasgoing to leave Mexico, I got the
part from the factory toreplace that part Um, and spent

(34:56):
two full days with a buddyreplacing that shaft in the
engine, had to pull the engineout of the boat, um, or out of
the like, swing the engine intothe boat from the engine bay to
get the back of the engine offUm, and then after, and then
like made that fix after twofull days of work and then um
put the engine back in its spotand then uh started to back up

(35:19):
and changed anchorages and thenfrom that point, uh, the same
piece broke again and I was likescrew this, I'm done with this
engine.
I need to sail across thepacific next week because
hurricane season is starting, um.
And so then I just launchedacross the pacific without the
engine and made it all the wayto new zealand engine list, so

(35:40):
it worked well, by the way, thattanya abby I was telling you
about, she did the same thingWent across, her engine, quit
working too right before.

So that's awesome, like, oh, I don't need that,
let's just go.
And then, when you got to theother side, you decided to get
the beta.

Capn Luke (36:00):
Yes, I was going.
My plan was to stay with theYanmar and to try to get a
Yanmar 1 GM.
But they were asking I mean,when they told me the price, I
laughed.
I accidentally laughed on thephone.

What was it Accidentally?

Capn Luke (36:19):
Yeah, I accidentally laughed because it was so
expensive.
They were, I think, charging 12grand for the engine 12 grand
Kiwi.
Charging 12 grand for theengine, 12 grand kiwi, and then,
uh, 12 grand for a new gearboxas well, which is ridiculous,
like super ridiculous, um, andso I laughed at them like I was

(36:39):
kind of rude for I felt badabout it.
But I mean, that's anunbelievable amount of money for
a 10 horse and so I got on thephone with one of my sailing
mentors and was like, what kindof mention should I get?
And he said, look at betaengines and there is a beta
dealership in Auckland.
And so bada, bing, bada, boom,the price was right.

(37:03):
Bada, bada, beta.

So it wasn't 12,000.

Capn Luke (37:09):
This one, I think, was $12,000 Kiwi, but for both
the engine and the gearbox, andlike a bunch of other things,
and this is used new brand new.
I knew that I wanted to get anew engine, because I mean

(37:30):
buying a used engine.
You, I mean I have an enginewith a whole host of problems
and any engine that isn't usedand for sale.
The only reason that it's forsale is because it has a bunch
of problems, and so I would beswitching out one engine for
another engine with just atotally new, new set of problems
, and I'd lose a bunch of moneyin the in the meantime.

(37:53):
So, new engine.

There's a video at least one of you talking about
starting the process of changingout the engine.
Now, how did how did you learnhow to do this?

Capn Luke (38:05):
Oh, Google.
I mean, I just YouTubed it.

Yeah, everything this, oh google.
I mean, I just youtubed it umyeah, everything is so awesome.

Capn Luke (38:10):
The information that you need to do literally
anything is on the internet, um,and so you just google it and
then read, and then you figureit out that is great enough,
like you can learn anything youknow.
Um, it's, I mean, it's likeGoogling, and then also like

(38:32):
being in the right place at theright time, like being in the
yard, like being in a in a boatyard, where there are people
that are smarter than you, andlearning how to accept
mentorship wherever you can getit is a huge deal.
Um, I am always on the lookoutfor new mentors, because I just
started sailing you know, I'monly 26,.

(38:53):
Even though I have a bigfollowing and all these ocean
miles, like, I still know verylittle, and so being able to
accept help from mentors is, uh,is is incredibly necessary for
the.
The project, like this projectof learning how to sail around

(39:13):
the world.
You know, um, I'm alwaysavailable and willing and eager
to accept mentorship fromgenuinely wise sailors that have
been doing this for longer thanlonger than mine.

I do the same, and sometimes it's great advice,
sometimes it's not, so you justhave to sift through.

Capn Luke (39:34):
Yeah, learning how to discern who is a good mentor
and who is a bad mentor is animportant thing.

I have my people too, and they're the ones that I
call.
And what do I do?
You know?
Yeah and uh, you gotta havethose absolutely I mean even the
pope has an advisor certainlyand I saw one of your videos
where you said I don't think I'masking for advice, but here's

(40:03):
the situation.
Yeah, I mean I?

Capn Luke (40:07):
I knew that I mean especially with electric systems
.
Like people love to tell peoplewhat to do with electric
systems um and most of thatadvice is people are like that
needs to have a fuse on it.
I'm like it runs to a wholecircuit board, like like a whole
board of circuit breakers, likethat's not like thanks for

(40:28):
trying to help, but like welland it seemed like in that video
of your 12 volt system that youseem like you knew some
electrical.

You had some knowledge, yeah, I mean I, it's
elect like 12 volt.

Capn Luke (40:42):
Electrical systems are pretty simple, like battery
runs to block, runs to load,turn battery on, light turns on.
I mean electricity.
Is there's some simplicity in a12 volt system?
Um, that's not too hard todecode, you know when you were

(41:03):
looking at the panels there.

Um, you were saying, you know, because with a
used boat you don't know howmany people have worked on it
and when you uncover thingsyou're like oh my goodness is
somebody you know, put somethingtogether that might be a fire
hazard.
So when you looked at it, whatdid you see?
Because, well, there's anegative bus.

Capn Luke (41:23):
I couldn't really tell, so yeah, there's a
negative bus bar, which is likewhat you'd expect for a big
electric hub like that.
And then, instead of therebeing a positive bus bar,
there's a positive terminalblock, and terminal blocks are
used for a different applicationthan kind of what should be
there and where all of thatelectric is on the boat.
And so I was like is there?

(41:45):
I just asked Instagram, askedinstagram, like is there a
reason why I'm not seeing a busbar right now?
I'm seeing a terminal block, um, and I got a couple dms that
were kind of helpful and movedthat project along um, and so
yeah, did you make any changes?
yeah, I just daisy chained moreof the terminals together to fix

(42:07):
some broken connections thatI'd had.

Okay.
And you felt pretty good, it'snot a fire hazard now.

Capn Luke (42:15):
Maybe it is, but well , keep going.
Oh good, like four fireextinguishers on board in case
something needs to happen, but Ialso it's only a 12 volt system
, it's not a very complicatedpiece of electricity, um, and I
don't really have any big loadsto like, put, like to use the

(42:39):
electric system for, by design,like I try to sail as simply and
as yeah, as simply as possibleso that, um, I spend more time
out cruising and less time in ayard putting an engine in right.

So do you have a dc fridge?

Capn Luke (42:57):
I do have a dc fridge .
Yeah, I pretty much only turnon the fridge when I catch a
fish.
Uh, okay, that's really all Iuse it for is just for for fish
preservation, because I figureif I'm going to take a life, I
better eat it.
You know, I better do right bythe life that I'm taking nice,

(43:18):
yeah.

And so then you have a radio, which you probably
don't.
I don't know if you even turnthat on while you're out there,
but when you're out in themiddle of the Pacific, you do
turn on.

Capn Luke (43:26):
You got your.

Starlink.
Sorry, you got your Starlink.

Capn Luke (43:36):
Yeah, so my Starlink.
I mean you need an inverter torun Starlink, which I don't have
, and so I have a Jackery like abig external camping battery
that charges on 12 volt 24-7,all day, all night, and then
that can put out AC power, andso I have about like 45 minutes
of internet a day, um, which ismore than enough for me, you

(43:58):
know you're not watching videos.
I'm too busy fixing my boat, orlike chatting with people Um.

chatting with people um I mean, yeah, like
watching videos is not a greatway to spend.
I mean I've I've, I'm gonnawatch your videos that's okay.

Capn Luke (44:17):
Yeah, I mean, I've discovered like, just like
watching.
When I'm left with unlimitedinternet, I waste away.
I just spend all my timewatching TV and watching nothing
.
And then I'm like, oh, wheredid my week go?
Oh, I just watched like 40hours of YouTube.
I shouldn't have done thatNothing.

(44:37):
I don't feel good right now andso, yeah, having such
simplicity.
Part of it is to removetemptation from my own life so
that I can live a morefulfilling and full life away
from things that are wastes ofmy time.

Yeah or don't, make you feel good about
yourself.

Capn Luke (45:05):
Yeah, exactly.

I like that.
If you could go back and giveyourself one piece of advice
before starting the journey,what would it be?

Capn Luke (45:15):
oh, um, I don't know.
I mean, there's so many thingsthat I've like wasted money on,
like equipment I thought I needand didn't need.

There's not really anything.
What is that that's interesting?

Capn Luke (45:34):
Like equipment that I thought I needed, that I didn't
need.
I didn't really understand thatlike propane is like a
relatively unlimited resource,like I'm still on the same
propane can that I left Mexicoand that was like many.
It like one of the big ones,one of the I I it's just a 20
pound can um.
I don't know it's like.

(45:55):
It's like a two, I think a twocubic gallons um one of the big
ones uh, I mean, I don't knowhow big we're talking yeah um, I
don't know if that's if you'redoing that, if that's like long
ways with their length.

It's not one of the little ones, yeah no, it's
not one of those.

Capn Luke (46:14):
They're the big ones.
Okay, yeah, these are ourtechnical terms here.
It's like what you would findunderneath a gas grill.

Okay, yeah, one of those Okay.

Capn Luke (46:28):
But I'm still on the same can and so like I had like
an electric water heater and anelectric rice cooker that could
run off of 12 volt and I likefound specialty 12 volt devices,
thinking like, oh, I have solarpower, I can just like charge
things electrically and save onpropane super unnecessary.
I mean, yeah, my propane haslasted so incredibly long.

Did you get rid of that stuff?
Sorry, did you get rid of thatstuff?

Capn Luke (46:58):
Oh, it's salted, shut and wasted away.
Yeah, it wasted away like along time ago.
Such a contrast as social mediaslash followers, slash viewers
is my income, yet I don't use it.
Very interesting, yeah, I mean,like the, I I love to to share
the narrative of my journey andI love to like share the story.
And I love to share the storyso that maybe it's inspiring for

(47:22):
folks.
Yeah, it is.
And the money that I do make, Iunderstand that like I want to
sail for the rest of my life,like I don't want to have to
ever go back to work again, andso the the less money I spend,
um, it just means that like thelonger I can live.
Sure, well, like every dollar Isend, I spend is a dollar

(47:46):
closer to me.
Having to like go back to a job.
That would suck my soul, youknow, and so I'm killer.
Yeah, I mean, I'm super stingyLike I.
I only spend money on what Ineed and I eat super simply like
bread and eggs and rice I needand I eat super simply like

(48:07):
bread and eggs and rice, andthat's fabulous.
I don't.
I have like a rule that I don'tbuy alcohol for myself, Like if
someone wants to buy me a drink, I'll happily start sipping but
like keep you from being analcoholic.
Yeah, I mean I don't know butlike it's just, it's just a way
to save.
It's just a way to save money.
You a way to save money.
You know there's just a lot, Idon't know.

(48:28):
Like it's a challenge to see on, like how, how few dollars a
day can you survive?
Like when I was in mexico, Iwas um and I was like down to my
last couple hundred bucksbefore, um, social media kicked
off and I got donations.
I was just like spearfishing.
I would wake up and get mywetsuit on and start
spearfishing.
And I would wake up and get mywetsuit on and start
spearfishing and I would stopwhen I caught enough fish to eat

(48:51):
for the day.

So you were anchored.

Capn Luke (48:53):
Yeah, I was anchored and just spearfishing for my
daily meals and doing my bestnot to spend any money and like
living this simply, like whenyou live this simply.
I'm super social, so I love ifanother boat comes and anchors
next to me.
Um, I want to come like, hopover and say hi and figure out
where people are coming from,where they're going, just kind

(49:15):
of what's their story?
they want to know your storyyeah, share stories and um,
typically, when people see howsimply I'm living and like how
with how level, like with howlittle I'm living with, I how
with how little, like with howlittle I'm living with, I'm all,
they always send me home with abag of rice or with juice or

(49:35):
something from deep in theirbilge that's been there for the
past 10,000 miles that they'renever going to touch, and so
they give it to me.
And so there's.
I mean I'm literally sittingright next to a big box of
groceries that was given to meby a German couple German couple
that they're leaving the boatfor 10 months, and so they're
like we have all this food thatwe don't want to sit on our boat
for 10 months here, it's yours.

(49:55):
And so I got like nice fruitsand veggies and some cans of
coconut milk that I'll dosomething with I don't know.

Well, so if you had said that your boat was a
mess right now and you showed mea little bit before, do you
mind showing us the mess?

Capn Luke (50:13):
I live.
It's a big mess.
It's a big mess.
My, my water can is here CauseI'm running a string from my um
like through my stern tube toget the shaft alignment, and so
I mean I'm just living in aworkshop, you know, just living
in a workshop in a tool, shedessentially, but I'm hoping to

(50:34):
have things in the boat.
I mean, I am happy.
You know like it's a good life.
It's a really difficult life.
There's a lot of challenges,but it is a fulfilling life
because I wake up in the day,like I wake up in the morning,
and I work all day, but all ofthe work that I'm doing is for
me.
It's not like for a corporationor for a government, um, where

(50:59):
other people benefit off of mylabor.
It's I'm the only personbenefiting off of my labor, and
that's a fulfilling way to live.
You know?
Um, yeah, and so I don't know,I, I'm, I'm, I'm planning.
The goal is to get the enginein the boat on Monday.

(51:19):
That is, that is the goal,that's.

And then what so?

Capn Luke (51:25):
you have to.

You got a lot of projects to do before may uh,
yeah, yeah, uh.

Capn Luke (51:31):
After the engines in the boat, I then need to hook up
a bunch of hoses and electricto the engine, um, and then I
need to get my new prop, whichshould be coming, I don't know,
in like a week or so, um, andthen I need to throw paint, like
new anti-fouling on the bottom,and I think that's it um yeah,
that's.

(51:52):
That's plenty of work for thenext three yards, for the yard
and then I'll get to the marinaand then in the marina I have a
whole other list of projects.
Oh okay, and I will just.
Yeah, so wait here.
I let me share this for, I mean, for anyone that's actually
listening, um, or anyone that'slistening right now, um, Key
West John.

He's one of my mentors, by the way.
Luke is super inspirational.

Capn Luke (52:14):
Keep your spirit, spirit elevated, Key West John,
so like the way that I organizemy to-do lists when I'm in the
yard or in Marina or at anchor,um, you have all of like the all
of your boat projects that youneed to do, and then you
classify them in as like whatare the projects that must get

(52:34):
done in the yard, what areprojects that must get done in
the Marina, what projects thatmust get done at anchor, what
are projects that must get doneat sea?
And like work in this tieredsystem, and as soon as and like,
you work top down.
So I'm focused on projects thatcan only be done in the yard.
Like I just changed a throughhull, I need to do a new, I'm

(52:57):
putting my in my engine, um, Ineed to paint the bottom of the
boat, the.
And as soon as that list is done, you have to move into the
marina and then you get thingsthat have to be done in a marina
, and as soon as that list isdone, you you have to move into
the marina and then you getthings that have to be done in a
marina, and as soon as thatlist is done, you have to go out
.

You're trying to get out of there, right?

Capn Luke (53:12):
You have to go at anchor.
Yeah, you have to go at anchor.
Like you have to go to anchor,there's so many people that will
finish all of the jobs in themarina and then they find more
jobs that they think that theyneed to be, that they need to do
in the Marina, or they'll dojobs that they could do on
anchor and they do it in theMarina and then they find
themselves years later and theyhaven't got a money.

(53:32):
You know.

I haven't gone anywhere, it's just.
It gets they get realcomfortable.
So Hayden says if I was near Iwould help you.

Capn Luke (53:41):
fun he does, and then Susan says do I appreciate it?

And then Susan says do you have family?

Capn Luke (53:48):
Yeah, I've got family .
I've got my parents and mylittle sister in the US, do they
?
worry All the time.
They used to worry a lot morethan they do, like, when I first
went to see, they were superworried, but then they realized

(54:08):
that I made it, you know, and Iknow what I'm doing.
Um, and so now they worry lessoften.
Um, like, the same way that Igot used to being at sea, they
got used to me being at sea andso they don't really worry about
it or about me anymore becausethey're used to me being at sea
okay, and what companionship youdon't?

have a chick moving aboard or anything.

Capn Luke (54:34):
I would love to have a companion.
Would love to have a companion.
Eventually, I love being a solosailor, but I don't need to be
a solo sailor.
My goal is never to like sailaround the world alone.
My goal has been to just live afulfilling life.

I make sense.

Capn Luke (54:56):
Yeah, I would love to have a companion on the boat.
It's a small boat and it's verydifficult to find, like someone
that would be cool with livingon a boat.
It's also very difficult.
I I'm not, I'm not verydateable right now because, like
I don't know, I might go on adate and then I'm like, so do

(55:18):
you want to move in?
Like that's like not a goodfirst date question.
You would ask it or they wouldask it no, I would, because I'm
like I'm on a boat and I'm likeleaving soon.

So it's like are you moving in?

Capn Luke (55:33):
and that's not a very good first date question, um,
do you want to move in?

and so for that reason I'm not very dateable,
you know, okay, um well, it'sbeen my experience in in my all
my sailing that it's hard tofind a woman that wants to move
on to a boat yeah, especially Imeet a lot of guys out there
that are like I wish I couldfind somebody you know, yeah,
yeah it's, it's, it's, it'sdifficult.

Capn Luke (56:01):
There's not a lot of like beautiful young women that
are walking around boat yards.

Oh really.

Capn Luke (56:08):
Yeah, it's not like I mean that's not really where
they flock to.
You don't really find that, youknow.
Yeah, I mean, it's typicallylike grizzled old men that are
walking around boat yards.
Well, you're at the wrong boatyards, but I'm, yeah, I, I'm,

(56:35):
I'm, I'm looking forcompanionship for sure.

Okay, there we're putting it out there.

Capn Luke (56:40):
It's hard to be.

Okay, it's gotta be the right.
You gotta pass a few tests, youknow, and just meet a few
criteria.

Capn Luke (56:49):
I'm not super worried about it.
I'm not super worried about it?

Well, of course not.
You're 26, you know.

Capn Luke (56:56):
Yeah, I'm 26 and I've been married before.
I was married in Seattle, andso I have done that and I'm not
in a rush to do it again, youknow.
So, yeah, I'm enjoying life atsea, you know.

Well, island Spirit is saying it will happen.
My wife and I have been sailingtogether since 1976 while we
were old.
They are a great boat couple.
They both enjoy it, they bothcan do things.
You know, they're both veryknowledgeable, so that and um,
so vanessa is a friend, also amentor of mine.
She knows everything aboutboats.

(57:35):
Um, well, I know, I know newzealand has a few, uh, women
okay, she's talking about womenwho to sail yeah so, um, you
started off your trip with agreat attitude and has, do you,
has it changed your perspective?
um, going from seattle to newzealand, anything changed,

(57:58):
anything gotten deeper or yeah,I mean it's just it's confirmed.

Capn Luke (58:04):
Like the suspicion that I felt that like the nine
to five, like the suspicion thatI had that the nine to five
like wasn't for me, has justbeen confirmed.
Like I can't imagine going backto a job where I have to like
clock in and clock out, like itdoesn't.
I don't know if that, I don'tknow if I'm built for that

(58:24):
anymore.
You know, like um doing thisand building videos and sharing
narrative.
Um and showing people what asmall boat can do with a
determined skipper at the helm.

That is um speaking of, let me do a quick
um sponsor check, which is me,because I'm a realtor and my
name is Tinsley Myrick.
I'm with Remax of Orange Beachand I was just going to put up a
picture here.
Yeah, here we go.
I sell Gulffront condos in GulfShores in Orange Beach, alabama

(59:01):
.
Also, I'm licensed in Florida,so for anybody that wants to
partake in getting a beachfrontcondo or home, please, there's
my email, there's my phone and Ihave a lot of experience.
I've been doing this since 2001, 2003.

(59:22):
There we go, we got that in.

Capn Luke (59:26):
Very good.

I don't have a regular 9 to 5, so I know what
you mean.

Capn Luke (59:31):
Yeah, absolutely.

My time is mine.
It confirmed the fact that youdid not want to be 9 to 5.
Anything else?

Capn Luke (59:45):
I've picked up a lot of little sayings and adages,
which is kind of funny.
Um, one of my favorite ones isthat cruising and sailing will
take everything you have, nomatter how much you have.
Um, it's really hard to havesplit priorities.
Um, if you're trying to reallygive your life to to sailing,

(01:00:05):
you can't really't.
Really, it's, it's wicked hard,it's wicked difficult to try to
do this and also something elseit will sailing and cruising
and doing it full time and likeocean voyaging, will take
everything you have, no matterwhat you have.
So if you're thinking aboutdoing this and if this is the

(01:00:27):
life for you, you got to askyourself if you're willing to
give it everything, because ifyou're not willing to give it
everything, it will then takeeverything and then you'll
harbor resentments toward thelifestyle and you will burn out,
and so that's an importantthing to keep in mind, I think

(01:00:49):
burnout, um, and so that's animportant thing to keep in mind,
I think.
Okay, good words, um, I wouldlike to hear about your route
afterwards my route after newzealand yes yeah, so my next
season, at may 1st, I'll sail tofiji and the next season will
be fiji, van Vanuatu and theSolomons.
Those next six months, like thesix months of the South Pacific

(01:01:11):
cruising season, will be acrossthose three nations and then
from there I have to decide if Iwant to sail into Papua New
Guinea and Indonesia or if Iwant to sail north and go back
to the Northern hemisphere andhit Micronesia, and then from
Micronesia I could go up to likeJapan and then down into the

(01:01:33):
Philippines and then across toVietnam and Thailand.
That's kind of what I'm leaningtowards, I think, going to to
Micronesia and then Japan,philippines and then Vietnam,
thailand, and then I'll comedown around Singapore and then
I'll launch from Phuket acrossthe Indian Ocean to Madagascar.
But I'll stop for three monthsin the Maldives and a month at

(01:01:56):
Chagolago in the middle of theIndian Ocean.
I'll hit Reunion and Mauritius,those islands, on the way to
Madagascar, and then I'll godown around Cape of Good Hope,
around South Africa.
I really want to see Namibia,so I'll sail north to Namibia
and then cross the SouthAtlantic to Brazil, sail up the

(01:02:19):
coast of Brazil to the Caribbeanand then hit Panama and do the
Panama Canal, and then I have adecision.
I then either run it back anddo it again and I sail around
the world.

Capn Tinsley (01:02:32):
What about the med ?

Capn Luke (01:02:35):
I don't feel called to the med.
I like being and living in kindof less developed nations.
I find that people are happier,you know, in less developed
nations.
I find that people are happier,you know, in less developed
nations.
Um and so, uh, the med isincredibly overpriced and
incredibly crowded, it seems,and don't really need to, uh,

(01:02:59):
don't really need to see that.
I feel like uh, sorry hey, mark, I'm just on a podcast.
I'll be out soon, okay, man?

Could you come and give me a lift at 10 minutes.

Capn Luke (01:03:12):
Oh yeah, as soon as I'm done with this podcast, with
this interview.

Tell him to come on down.

Capn Luke (01:03:24):
And yeah, so I'm not super interested in the med um
okay, I I think that after I domy, yeah, my circumnavigation,
um, I could then do it again, orI could circumnavigate the
americas and like do cape, likedo cape horn, and then go over,
like take the northwest passageover canada would you do that?

oh my goodness yeah, why not?

Capn Luke (01:03:48):
my whole water well, my whole, my hull, was built in
canada and so it's insulated,and so it was built for cold,
cold weather sailing um.
It's incredibly thickfiberglass, um.
Okay, so I could easily doarctic sailing on this boat and
you?

you would enjoy that Maybe.

Capn Luke (01:04:08):
We'll see.
I have to decide if I want todo that in Panama.

You got a long ways, one day at a time that's
years from now, right.

Capn Luke (01:04:18):
Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Okay, so you do the crib and you'll go through
the Panama Canal, and thenyou'll decide what you're going
to do and how long do you thinkthat'll take.

Capn Luke (01:04:28):
I'm planning five to seven year circumnavigations.

Okay, and then you're planning on keeping going
.

Capn Luke (01:04:36):
Yeah, I don't really see any reason to go back to
shore.
I mean, this life at sea hasbeen good to me.
It's been incredibly rewarding.
I love it, um, and so, yeah, Idon't really have any reason to
like go and get a job.
Um, I just want to keep makingvideos and hopefully keep making

(01:04:57):
meaningful content that peoplefind inspirational.
Um, and so my views stay up sothat I can run ads and do that.
Maybe do some brand deals on myInstagram and TikTok so that I
can keep going, but, like I said, I spend such like such little
money If I do a single branddeal that can keep me going for

(01:05:17):
a year.

Okay, so the, the, the website is a sailing
songbird, and is that where Isaw all of your links, your
GoFundMe and all that stuff?
Is it there?
Yeah?

Capn Luke (01:05:29):
I'm running a GoFundMe right now to afford my
new engine and to afford all thework that I'm doing here in the
yard, if you go to the link inmy bio on any of my platforms.

Yeah, that's where all the links are.

Capn Luke (01:05:45):
Yeah in my bio on any of my social media platforms.
Um we'll have a link to that.
Go fund me and go fund me.
It has all of the details aboutall the different ways that I'm
spending my money, because Iwant to be as nice as possible
during this and then on thewebsite on sailing songbird,
you've got different um.

on Sailing Songbird you've got different
memberships $10, $15, $20.

Capn Luke (01:06:08):
That's for my Patreon .
That's for my Patreon.

Oh yeah, okay, and you've got merch.

Capn Luke (01:06:14):
Yeah, I do have merch .
I think the merch is prettycool, honestly, yeah.

I think your whole brand is really cool.

Capn Luke (01:06:22):
Thanks, thanks.
I work really hard to.
I mean it takes a lot ofinfrastructure.
It takes a crazy amount ofinfrastructure to x uh to to
utilize all of the differentpaths of, like online income um
I have, like my own llc andbusiness that I run um all my
income through to try to do theright thing you Did.

You set that up after, after you left and you
and the social media started tokick off.

Capn Luke (01:06:50):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
My goal.
My goal was never to do socialmedia, I just wanted to go
sailing.

What a nice surprise.
A nice income.
Well, congratulations on that.
I'm I'm, I'm happy for you.
Now you it's on that.
I'm happy for you.
It's been cemented that this iswhat you're supposed to do.

Capn Luke (01:07:09):
Absolutely.
Like I said earlier, I have thelargest sailing Instagram and
TikTok.

Amazing Even more than.
Delos.

Capn Luke (01:07:21):
On Instagram.
Yeah, on Instagram and TikTok.
I'm larger than Delos, which iswild.
My YouTube's itty-bitty and,like all of the real money is on
YouTube oh yeah, I'm so like.

What are you going to do about that?
Are you posting on there?

Capn Luke (01:07:38):
YouTube.
Yeah, it's hard.
The YouTube sailing space rightnow is incredibly oversaturated
.
There are like everyone and themothers trying to go to sea and
make videos on youtube um andso the audience is not really as
interested as they once were.
You know, during the pandemicand such sure, and I've found a

(01:08:01):
lot of success on instagram andtiktok and so I'm gonna keep
enjoying that success onInstagram and TikTok, you know.

Well, that's, that's fabulous.
So we'll.
What I like to do is withpeople that are circumnavigating
.
I like to check in with them ina few months or, you know,
after you've left, maybe to thenext destination, and check in
with you.
Have you on again?
You can tell us what happened,since that sounds great you can
tell us?
what happened since that soundsgreat.
All right, if everybody wantsto support him, you can find him

(01:08:30):
on Instagram at at sailing,underscore songbird.
We can go to the websitesailing songbird and find all
the links there.
Right, am I right?
Yeah, okay, well, thank you somuch.
Appreciate you coming on,thanks.
The way I like to end it is saySalty, abandon out.

Capn Luke (01:08:49):
I love it.
Salty Abandon out.
Yeah, Thank you.

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Salty Podcast #51 | ⛵Circumnavigating with Sailing Songbird! LIVE from New Zealand⚓🌊

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Salty Podcast #51 | ⛵Circumnavigating with Sailing Songbird! LIVE from New Zealand⚓🌊