🎥 Sailing YouTube Channels — DIY, Liveaboard & Boat Work
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: Featured: Living for Sail | Boat Repair & Restoration | Liveaboard & Cruising | Seamanship & Instruction | Technical & DIY | Catalina 30 | Racing
⭐ 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/@sampsonboat →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 →Stephanie & Sailing
Female solo sailor doing her own boat work — repairs, maintenance, systems — with the same hands-on DIY approach as the best repair channels. Relatable, practical, and genuinely instructive.
youtube.com/@StephanieandSailing →Project Boat Help
Practical repair tutorials across a wide range of boat systems. Good starting point for specific repair questions — the channel covers many common issues that sailors actually face on production boats.
youtube.com/@ProjectBoatHelp →The Boat Zone
Engine and general boat work tutorials. Practical and accessible. Good for diesel troubleshooting and general systems work on production sailboats and powerboats.
youtube.com/@TheBoatZone →⛵ 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.
⭐ 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 →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 →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/@Sailing_Uma →Two Shanties
Bought a cheap boat, fixing it up, figuring it out as they go. The kind of honest, unpolished documentation of early-stage liveaboard life that’s genuinely useful for anyone in the “is this actually possible for us?” phase.
youtube.com/@TwoShanties →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 →Fresh Breeze Sailing
Budget cruising done right — real-world sailing and liveaboard content from a couple who actually watch their expenses and document what things actually cost. Good companion to the aspirational channels for a reality check.
youtube.com/@FreshBreezeSailing →🧭 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/@TargetedInstruction →Clinton Lors Sailing
Seamanship and sailing technique explained clearly. Good for intermediate sailors looking to improve their boat-handling skills, passage planning approach, and understanding of sailing fundamentals beyond the basics.
youtube.com/@ClintonsTube →📡 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 →Rig Rite
Rigging how-to videos from one of the leading US rigging suppliers. Swaging, Sta-Lok terminals, wire inspection, turnbuckle adjustment — practical, specific, and directly applicable. Good companion to our Rigging Guide.
youtube.com/@rigrite →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/@sailrite →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/@compass360 →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.
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 →Lady K Sailing
Great Lakes sailing on a Catalina 30 — walkthroughs, budget refit episodes, and sailing Lake Michigan and Lake Huron on a classic 30-footer. Particularly valuable for Midwestern sailors on similar production boats.
youtube.com/@LadyKSailing →🏆 Racing & Performance
Ocean Racing TV
Offshore and ocean racing coverage — IMOCA 60s, offshore monohulls, and the world’s great races. Essential viewing for following the Ocean Race, Vendée Globe, and other major offshore events.
youtube.com/@OceanRacingTV →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 →