I’m Dave!
WHo am I and What’s “sailing with Dave” all about?
Why I started to Sail
I think I was like a lot of normal middle aged guys in the UK. Slowly but surely working themselves to death and probably getting their life’s priorities wrong. One more blink of an eye and I was going to be 70, probably with ill health and probably stressed out to oblivion!
It took Covid to make me realise that life was too short and so I made some big changes to my life including fulfilling something I had always wanted to do.
I decided to learn to sail.
Sailing with Dave on Youtube
Originally I recorded what I was doing for family and close friends, just to show them what I was up to on my days off messing about on Lake Bala!
But I got increasingly asked by a more and more friends if they could watch too, so I ended up making a Youtube channel for ease of access. I didn’t think i’d ever make anything of it, so didn’t even look at the channel for weeks.
When I did, I found I had 100+ subscribers and loads of comments so I realised that maybe I could help, inspire and create a small community through what I was doing.
“Sailing with Dave” was born!
Just 2 year later we now have 1000 subscribers and 14,000 video views per month and knowing others were watching really inspires me to keep going, knowing I was helping others.
The channel now gives me a purpose and, although small, I feel like there’s a little family of sailors that come with me on every voyage now!
No Experience, No Problem
When I started we were still at the end of the covid lock downs, so no clubs were running and I couldn’t get any training anywhere.
So off I went, book in one hand, tiller in the other and set about learning myself. What harm could I do to myself in a Lake?
My first week was a disaster. I spent most of it in the water, I lost my GoPro Camera, my bailer and anything else not tied down in the boat.
I’d just learnt my first lesson!
How Sailing Has Helped
a new challenge
Sailing is absorbing and doing something that’s a challenge to master and takes your mind away from your work and troubles has revitalised me both mentally and physically.
peace and quiet
Sailing has taken me to lovely quiet places, far from maddening crowds. Being on a lake with absolutely no-one else in sight has been such a cleansing experience.
Choosing my Passion
Taking time out to sail has reminded me just how important it is to do things that you have a passion for. Not only is sailing a great hobby, but it has become important for me.
making new friends
Working too hard for too many years can damage friendships. Sailing has brought me into a whole new slower world of like-minded sailing friends who are so eager to help or simply chat.
learning new skills
You never stop learning with sailing. RYA courses expand your knowledge, boat DIY means you’re problem solving and new sailing techniques or kit take time to learn and master.
a new adventure Every Week
Adventure and wonder has reignited inside me. For me, sailing has brought purpose aswell as a new found sense of adventure in me which has reminded me of who I am.
