Phil Johnson talks about working from your boat looking at the best tech and skills needed to make a living while at seaIn late 2018 my wife, Roxy, and I took a few suitcases of belongings and moved aboard our 47ft Cheoy Lee monohull to start the cruise of a lifetime. So far, a familiar start to a familiar sounding story. Except unlike most liveaboard cruisers, we took something else with us onto Sonder: our careers.
\nWe are not sailing vloggers, or working in the marine industry, but 30-something entrepreneurs running a consumer retail business who stumbled onto the realisation that we can do what we do (running a company making pop-up 3D greetings cards), from literally anywhere.
\nPhil Johnson has proved that with the right connectivity you can work on board from almost anywhere in the world. Photo: Phil & Roxy Johnson\/@sailingsonder
\nThere have been digital nomads working from beach bars and converted vans for years, but the combination of improved digital infrastructure and huge swathes of the previously office-based workforce now working remotely has created a unique opportunity for sailors to take their jobs with them on the water.
\nOver the last couple years of cruising, we\u2019ve talked with similar \u2018workaboards\u2019 with careers as varied as real estate, engineering, tech start-ups, and even airline pilots who have taken to the seas when off rotation. This is some of the advice we gleaned on combining cruising with a career.
\nReality bites
\nPicture the scene: you\u2019re walking down a narrow, sandy path, lined with overgrown Bahamian shrubs, heading towards the sound of reggae music. You come upon a beach with a legendary rum bar, dotted with a few dozen sun-drenched partygoers dancing around a jumble of tables and hammocks strung up between palm trees.
\nIt all sounds lovely, except it\u2019s Monday and you\u2019re just there to grab the wifi password and try to concentrate on getting some work done.
\n\u201cWe learned some valuable lessons,\u201d said Victoria and Mike Stenhouse about their first season blending work and cruising life.
\nMike and Victoria Stenhouse run a UK-based property development firm from their 40ft Fountaine Pajot catamaran. Photo: insidepropertyinvesting.com
\nThe Stenhouses run a real-estate development firm based in the UK and produce a podcast on property investment (Inside Property Investing) while cruising in the Mediterranean aboard their 40ft Fountaine Pajot catamaran, Havanesey Day.
\nThey moved aboard in 2019 to be able to work from any location of their choosing, but quickly realised that the pace they\u2019d set for themselves in that first year \u2013 some 5,000 miles from La Rochelle, circling the Med \u2013 simply wasn\u2019t sustainable combined with the day job.
\n\u201cTrying to move too quickly or see too many places will lead to far more stress than is necessary,\u201d Victoria explained. There\u2019s real value in travelling slower and at a pace more in-step with your work life. It might mean not circumnavigating in a year, but instead you have the flexibility of time to explore the places and cultures you\u2019re sailing to more deeply.
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A work-from-anywhere mindset allows for this flexibility, expressly because you\u2019re not taking limited time-off from jobs on land and trying to cram it all in before the money runs out.
\n\u201cWhen we moved aboard, we didn\u2019t see it as a time-limited project, but as a way of living,\u201d says Greta H\u00f6ller, an Italian industrial engineer and researcher who works full-time while sailing in the Caribbean on a Beneteau 393, ForTuna. Her partner, Michael Hofer, also does consulting for startups. \u201cWe chose this life because it allows us to travel the world in an eco-sustainable way, on our own terms,\u201d says Greta.
\nindustrial engineer and researcher Greta H\u00f6ller works full-time aboard ForTuna in the Caribbean. Photo: Michael Hofer
\nSo how can anyone manage to fit sailing in around a job that requires them to be logged on from 9-5? Roxy dealt with this in her previous job when we cruised part-time in the Bahamas. \u201cIt was difficult sitting inside a hot, stuffy cabin on Zoom calls all day, missing out on the best hours of the day for swimming and exploring,\u201d she recalls.
\nHer strict schedule led to some ill-advised sunset swims \u2013 during, what locals like to call \u2018shark feedin\u2019 time\u2019.
\nOne solution is to pick a cruising ground in a time zone that allows you to work afternoons and evenings. We know of 9-5 cruisers who plan well ahead to find the best connected and sheltered anchorages, and do all their passages during weekends.
\nAboard Sonder we plan around just the most immovable variables \u2013 weather predictions and scheduled calls. Even for guests looking to come visit us, we can offer a time or a location, but generally not both.
\nWe fit our working time into when it works for us. Sometimes that means working late at night, during rainy days at anchor, or early mornings over breakfast in the cockpit.
\nFor the crew of ForTuna, setting milestones between passages instead of traditional work schedules helps with time management and productivity. \u201cWe\u2019ve definitely learned that work gets done much more easily when you\u2019re in the right mood for it, instead of working in a time frame established by someone else,\u201d says Greta.
\nThe pair has managed to combine their work with sailing from Israel to Martinique last year, and are now bound for Mexico and Cuba.
\nDivide and conquer
\n\u201cThe boat itself can be a full-time job,\u201d was something all of the cruisers we spoke to for this feature said. Dividing tasks between each other to be done independently can help with time management.
\nOn Sonder, I tend to manage the yacht maintenance schedules, while Roxy manages more of the day-to-day operations of our business. This works well for us because it gives full autonomy in our own domains, but we still come together for big work projects.
\nThe Stenhouses enjoy the opportunity that passages create to disconnect from work. \u201cIt\u2019s an amazing time to think, plan and just enjoy each other\u2019s company without the usual distractions of modern life,\u201d Victoria said.
\nMike and Victoria Stenhouse recording a regular podcast from their boat. Photo: insidepropertyinvesting.com
\nWhile offshore, most sailors are limited to satellite-based plain text emails and texts for business communications, so having a friend, relative or office manager filter email and messages can be extremely helpful.
\nWe employ a virtual assistant who manages all our emails and customer inquiries, forwarding along only the most urgent messages through our IrdiumGo sat phone which we monitor 24 hours a day.
\nHow does moving aboard affect the employer-employee relationship? \u201cWhen you work remotely, flexibility is needed on both sides\u201d says Greta. The occasional dropped video call or a rescheduled meeting is inevitable, but with careful prioritising more problems can be pre-empted. \u201cWhen we know we have an important call, we\u2019ll move to find the right spot with good cell reception,\u201d she adds.
\nFor longer passages, such as a transatlantic: \u201cWe go on holiday \u2013 even remote workers can take time off,\u201d explains Greta.
\nGet connected
\nSuccess as a \u2018workaboard\u2019 all comes down to connectivity. There is always the option of going ashore to a cafe or marina for land-based wifi, but for full-time work that\u2019s usually not a practical long-term solution.
\nHot-spotting a wifi network to your laptop from a phone using local or regional SIM cards is usually the fastest, cheapest, and most reliable data you can get aboard.
\nIf your work requires video conferencing or large data transfers, unlimited data plans are a necessity. However, purchasing and signing up for a contract can be difficult when moving frequently between different countries so it\u2019s good to supplement that with an international data plan.
\nBoosters such as Digital Yacht\u2019s 4G Connect Pro (right) can improve mobile and wifi connectivity for around \u00a3350-\u00a3550
\nThere are lots of international plans to choose from. Google Fi (for US customers), is the one that we currently use. It has one SIM card that works with partner networks in over 160 countries. It\u2019s not a truly \u2018unlimited\u2019 data plan, but we can reliably get connected upon entering inshore waters of our destination well before we can research and find a local solution. SkyRoam (for European and US customers) is another international hotspot solution.
\nTo boost weak mobile signal or marina wifi bandwidth down into the cabin, there are a myriad of signal extenders on the market. Wifi extenders will work anywhere there is a 5GHz or 2.5GHz network, pulling weak signals from far out in a harbour anchorage while using a negligible amount of power.
\n\u201cFor cellular, there are two categories of long range extenders,\u201d says Richard Anderson, owner of SeaTech Systems based out of Seattle, which specialises in communications solutions for sailors. Boosters operate on select frequencies that are region specific, which is why the unit I installed on Sonder stopped working when we left the US.
\n\u201cThe other way you can do it is with a dedicated cellular modem and router,\u201d he says. This is basically a fancy hotspot with a multiband antennae on the mast and wifi router in the cabin that can work globally. This setup switches seamlessly between compatible cell networks giving you a more a \u2018home office\u2019 experience, even as far out as 20 miles offshore.
\nAll of the workaboards we talked with found that 4G data plans cover most of their connection needs, but for data offshore, and in more remote areas like those in the South Pacific, a satellite internet system will be needed.
\nOn the market right now are essentially two categories. First, polar-orbiting Iridium satellites operate on a global network, reachable with a passive antennae, but provide extremely slow download speeds (2.4kbps) that limit you to things like plain text emails, or weather-grib files. While Iridium recently launched Certus, its latest generation satellites with 700kbps download speeds, it also carries much higher contract fees and equipment costs.
\nThe other option is high-frequency, geosynchronous satellite networks such as Vsat or Inmarsat. Traditionally used by the commercial industry, these products can deliver true broadband speeds, but the hardware costs alone are $25,000-$35,000.
\nRichard Anderson said the reason for this is the active, tracking antennas that use a gyro-stabilized satellite dish to get signal from a moving deck. While you can lease the equipment for around $400 a month, contract fees can run to $1,000 a month or more. These units are also heavy, power hungry and the service options still have dead zones around the globe, so for most workaboards on a budget, this isn\u2019t a practical option, yet.
\nElon Musk\u2019s Starlink satellite internet service holds promise for yachtsmen \u2013 but isn\u2019t ready yet
\nMike Stenhouse is holding out for Starlink, the pioneering new satellite internet service from Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX. Many of the workaboards I met with are hoping that this is a panacea for internet at sea.
\nThe promise? True broadband, low-cost, satellite internet, delivered to even the most far flung regions of the globe. A solution like this could allow working while tucked into tight, remote anchorages, which are typically signal dead zones, or take video conferencing offshore. The ultimate liveaboard goal is to simply have consistent internet across all cabins.
\nHowever, Starlink may take longer than we think, Richard Anderson cautioned. \u201cYou have to have a ground station that\u2019s within the view of the satellite AND your boat.\u201d That means no internet connection once you\u2019re several hundred miles out to sea. Even if you\u2019re closer to shore, it will be affected by the weather, and will still probably need expensive, gyro-stabilized antennae hardware.
\nSo Starlink comes with its own unique set of challenges, but then again, that\u2019s what workaboards are adept at dealing with.
\nSeize the moment
\nCombining cruising while continuing a career or running a business can mean you don\u2019t have to wait until retirement to head off on a grand adventure. \u201cPeople often seem to think the only way to afford cruising full-time while you\u2019re younger is to become a YouTube phenomenon or live off of savings, but that\u2019s not the only way, and we have the receipts now to prove it,\u201d says Roxy. We are on track to meet ambitious business goals this year while continuing to sail from the UK to the Mediterranean.
\nThere may still be plenty of logistical hurdles to taking your job or business aboard, but the potential freedom you gain, and the opportunity to sail and explore places you\u2019ve only dreamt of, is well worth the effort.
\n\u201cIf you have the opportunity to do something you love now rather than waiting for retirement, jump in with both feet,\u201d says Victoria Stenhouse. \u201cFiguring out how to make it work for your own circumstances is all part of the adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Phil Johnson talks about working from your boat looking at the best tech and skills needed to make a living while at seaIn late 2018 my wife, Roxy, and I took a few suitcases of belongings and moved aboard our … <\/p>\n