How you make Free Range Sailing possible
Free Range Sailing would have ended in 2018 for lack of funds while we returned to our respective professions but support from patrons has made it possible to continue to bring you all our weekly adventures and, hopefully, inspiration for some of your own.
Filming and uploading our adventures has meant that we have had to do some expensive upgrades to the boat to supply the energy required, replace and upgrade cameras damaged along the way, buy microphones that can handle the wind and purchase better computers and storage devices to handle the demands of video editing. In addition to the usual costs of boat maintenance, we could not have funded this out of our own pockets.
If you are wondering how it was made possible it was through support from our fans via Paypal and Patreon.
What is Patreon?
Patreon is a crowdfunding a website that allows us to get paid in exchange for the many hours of work that goes into our videos on YouTube. It works by getting a large number of people together each pledging a small amount of money for each episode we produce. In most cases, though there are some exceptions, for less than a cup of coffee a week our patrons each keep Free Range Sailing delivering weekly episodes and get early access to our videos in the bargain.
By receiving funding directly from our fans we have avoided corporate sponsorship and we plan to keep it that way!
We set up Patreon via request of some of our fans so it was easy for them to make contributions to ensure the continuation of Free Range Sailing. Patreon also supplies us with a simple way to give thanks in return, by providing rewards on the website.
Everyone has access to our free videos but only patrons get additional material like our ship‘s log, exclusive recipes, patron only updates and live chats, additional cruising resources, collaboration opportunities, patron only meet-ups and early viewing of each episode and our future e-books.
Because the Patreon pledge is only for episodes we produce, there is no contribution to us if we skip a week which is a great incentive to deliver on time, every time. If we can‘t we will always give our patrons a reason, usually in advance because sailing can throw us the occasional curve-ball. It has given us the opportunity to make film-making our profession and to improve what we do.
As our audience grows, our days stay the same length and we can‘t get to everyone’s questions, as well as, keep producing a high quality video each week. We do however, make it a priority that we read and answer any questions sent to us by patrons and respond to their comments on our videos. We also take on board their feedback about our videos and suggestions for improvement.
As we travel further and pull into various ports, we post messages on the site to arrange personal meetings with the people that support us and offer free access to any paid events we conduct in your area. Talking with our Patrons and being introduced to their families has been a real highlight of the Free Range Sailing experience for us.
If you want to give something back and become a patron it‘s easy simply click here or on the button below to find out more.
If Patreon is not for you and you would like to make a contribution towards our video productions via PayPal then you can do so here or by clicking the button below.
We look forward to welcoming you as part of the Free Range Sailing crew.