Sailing La Vagabonde

Behind the Scenes: The YouTubers Reveal What Really Goes On!

The famous Australian YouTubers have this time decided to show their followers what goes on behind the scenes. Still in Palau, an island nation located in Micronesia, east of Mindanao (Philippines) and north of West Papua (Indonesia), they continue to explore the surrounding area while carrying out essential maintenance on their trimaran. They took advantage of this stopover to reveal the content of their YouTube activities and share some behind-the-scenes anecdotes. It’s quite eye-opening!

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Published 06/02/2026

By Mary Nicholas

Issue: 205

Published: jan. / feb. 2026

Discover this issue

Who: Elayna, Riley, & their two sons, Darwin & Lenny
Where: Federated States of Micronesia
Multihull: Rapido 60 – La Vagabonde III
YouTube: @SailingLaVagabonde

After exploring a magnificent waterfall in Palau, the crew must prepare the trimaran for the next trip, planned as a triangular voyage: from Palau, they will sail to Raja Ampat, make a stop in Papua New Guinea, and then return to their starting point. All equipment not needed for this leg of the journey will be stored ashore: extra clothing, miscellaneous items… the goal is to lighten the Rapido 60 to improve the sailing experience.
Riley explains the logistics required to repair the multihull: ordered from all four corners of the world, the parts must all be shipped to the same location – somewhere that also allows for a sufficiently long and interesting stopover to explore. Not easy… This is where followers begin to understand that being a sailing YouTuber isn’t just about smiling behind a camera!

As for the children, the subject of schoolwork is also addressed: between apps and practical exercises, keeping them focused isn’t always easy, especially since there is no shortage of distractions aboard the trimaran.
On the logistics side, seemingly trivial matters become fundamental to life on board: managing laundry ashore, provisioning, and purchasing various items such as storage for the children’s toys, a new mirror, and kitchen utensils.
This episode also made the opportunity for our famous YouTubers to reveal how they operate financially and organizationally, the ``BTS’’ (Behind The Scenes), as Riley calls it. Elayna explains how they generate income from their activity, which, as she points out, can vary considerably among sailing influencers. In the case of Sailing La Vagabonde, the primary source of income is from Patreons (which can be translated as “sponsors”), who have been crowdfunding the project for 11 years, contributing between $3 and $50 per video. The second source of revenue for these star sailors is generated by YouTube, particularly through advertising - the ``annoying but useful breaks,’’ says Elayna - which earn them a percentage of what brands pay YouTube.
A specialized agency, UTA, with a team of four remote employees, handles brand sponsorships: finding sponsors and approving videos that promote brands, services, or products. As for the merchandise sold under the La Vagabonde brand, such as books, clothing, hats, and accessories, it actually represents only a small portion of their revenue.
Elayna and Riley therefore need help to manage all of this: We discover that two people are employed in video editing, another handles posting the films at American times - but from New Zealand! Yet another person manages the administrative side from the Philippines.

A graphic designer creates the video thumbnails, while two illustrators produce cartoon-style animations, which are then inserted into some of the films.

Numerous production and approval stages therefore take place before, during, and after the filming sessions led by Elayna and Riley. Brainstorming, recording scenes and voiceovers, uploading the videos after editing and sponsor approval… Behind this family adventure and these idyllic images, shared by nearly two million subscribers, lies a truly complex and international business.