Case Studies & Interviews
Matt
Interview Date
July 2024
Current Location
Vero Beach, FL
Age Range
Between 40 & 49 years
Profession
Videographer
Upholsterer
YouTuber
How long have you been
working remotely from your boat?
Just less than one year.
What type of boat do you live and work on?
⛵️ Endeavor 40
Workspace Setup
What productivity tools or apps do you rely on?
As primarily a videographer/Youtuber, my main tool is the Adobe suite of programs.
LINKS
You can find Matt and his family’s YouTube videos on their channel, Sailing the Atlas (youtube.com/@sailingtheatlas)
What internet solutions do you use to stay connected?
Mostly Starlink.
Sim Cards or various providers when needed.
LINKS
Many boaters will use the Starlink Roam (starlink.com/roam) options.
What communication tools do you find most effective for remote work?
I try to get most communications to be email-based to have the least data and be slightly more flexible for response times when we are trying not to work.
Describe your typical workspace setup on your boat.
My Nav. Desk is beautifully set up with a second monitor, a high-end gaming laptop, and multiple drives.
Work-Life Balance
What strategies do you use to manage your time effectively?
Can’t say I've perfected this one.
As a creative, I try as hard as I have time for to embrace the mode/mindset I happen to be in and go with the flow.
How do you balance work and leisure time while living on your boat?
As an early riser surrounded by late risers, I am thankful most days for a 5 am start and 3-5 hours of undisturbed work time.
How do you handle business travel or meetings that require your physical presence?
Thus far, I haven't needed to jump that hurdle.
Challenges & Solutions
How do you overcome these challenges?
Wellllll... I committed early on to sticking to a weekly release for our YouTube channel, and I set time-based deadlines for my goals on a daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis.
Having a deadline, even if it is self-imposed, really helps me to focus and redirect my efforts based on priority.
What are the biggest challenges you face working remotely from a boat?
MO-TI-VA-TION.
It is exceptionally hard some days to want to work when I could just go to the beach, or snorkel, or dive.
Can you share a specific incident where you had to troubleshoot a major issue related to remote work on your boat?
Much of my video work relies on hard drives to store all the video data. We are talking Terabytes of files. I use a series of drives for redundancy purposes.
One of those stages uses something I call a SATA Toaster. Basically, I dock two regular spinning hard drives into it. The kind you'd likely find in your Desktop.
This allows me to clone one drive into two drives, which is a crucial step in backing up the files.
Unfortunately, these SATA Toasters are unable to deliver files to the computer fast enough for me to edit at full speed.
So, I had to add another layer of drives to my system by integrating UBS-powered SSD Hard drives to edit on because they are fast enough but not as expensive as internal Laptop NVME drives, which are very pricy at the sizes needed.
Personal Experience
How has this lifestyle change impacted your personal and professional life?
It has changed everything.
Doing the commercial cinematography jobs I used to would not be efficient with all the travel time/expense involved.
We decided to try to see just how little we could live on, on the boat, while starting the long-term goal of having a YouTube channel income become self-sufficient.
While taking whatever contracts, we needed to make that hurdle.
As far as personal life, We left many friends and family behind wondering if we'd made the right choices.
What do you enjoy most about working remotely from your boat?
The freedom to work when I want and not to if I don't. Within reason, of course.
Self-mastery of time management is absolutely crucial.
Do you have any tips for others considering remote work from a boat?
I would recommend finding and trying whatever you plan on doing before you move aboard.
But if that doesn't/didn't work, trust that things will sort themselves out.
Put yourself and your skills out there in conversations; there will be many, and something will work out. It always has my whole life.
Future Plans
What are your future plans for continuing to work remotely from your boat?
We plan to keep at our YouTube experiment, take contracts for more traditional film work and/or upholstery as needed, and keep living our dream until we've seen the whole world—or until it's not fun or we don't enjoy ourselves anymore.
Would you recommend this lifestyle to others? Why or why not?
Absolutely!!!
Not the word in this language for how much I think if this is your dream, go for it!
I think it was somebody famous (in the sailing world), but I can't remember who, that said,
“Start now Now! Start with what you can afford. But start now. It will NEVER be perfect.”
- Somebody :)
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience working remotely from your boat?
Nope, just do it!
If this is your dream, DO IT!
Learn more about Matt and his family on their YouTube channel, Sailing The Atlas!
We are a family of three from Canada learning to sail and become live-aboard sailors. We want to see and show our daughter the world, meet as many cultures as possible, travel, and experience as much as possible. More than anything, we want to live a life full of adventure instead of “stuff.”
Matt originally came from the Yukon but has been in Alberta for many years. He has done many jobs and hopes all the skills he has picked up will help keep them going. His passion for adventure, survival skills, and an overwhelming desire to live a simpler, greener, memory-rich life have come together in this lifestyle.
Kim is an Alberta girl. She is strong-willed, fierce, and wildly compassionate. In her 20s, she traveled extensively and volunteered in Africa. She has many years of experience helping others through her work. She is a great mother and homemaker and has adapted well to living in a small space.
Aria is the light of their lives. They think you'll get a kick outta her, too.
