Sunday 20 January 2013

What's the purpose of this blog?

Why do we have this blog?

As with so many other "sailing" blogs, we originally started this blog as a way to let our friends and family know, while we were away cruising, how and where we were, what we're thinking and planning, and to see photos, etc. This still remains a key purpose for the blog (though not the only one).

However, delaying our "leaving for Mexico" for one year resulted in this blog being less about our sailing and more about our travel (and skiing, and hiking...), especially over the past 6 months.  As we haven't left Vancouver yet (at least, not "long term"), perhaps the blog is not (yet) so important as a provider of information to our friends and family. Certainly seems so, as few of them have ever looked at the blog and they certainly don't "follow" the blog.     sigh....  

https://deborahrosereeves.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/thank-you/

But we are not alone in this. Just google "Why does no one read my blog?"  (yes, David actually did this),  and a very long list of links comes up. However,  most of these write about how to attract new   (i.e., unknown) readers to a blog.  Most seem to take a "marketing your blog" perspective. But that's not our issue: as the above notes,  the frustration lies with those we know (friends & family)  not reading the blog and thus not knowing what we are (or have been) up to....

http://www.thetwincoach.com/2012_05_01_archive.html
It's OK, we know they are busy and, perhaps just as important, they're generally not "blog readers". (Indeed, of the two of us, David is the regular blog reader -- Michelle rarely reads others' blogs.)

On the other hand... it is pretty cool to see we get readers from around the world -- as many as 23 different countries. 

 
We didn't think of them when we started;  but they are now also on our minds when a new piece is written.  Hopefully, the few readers out there who have chanced upon this blog will find at least something of interest or of use (maybe they were interested in Sceptre 41s, or sailing in British Columbia, or perhaps hiking/trekking). Of course, we welcome comments and questions. We certainly don't get many (but that too apparently is common for most blogs) -- perhaps that's a blessing as some blogs attract some pretty off-the-wall comments.

There are many reasons to write a blog. We don't try to be controversial (in contrast to a column in Forbe's suggesting bloggers should be "controversialists" ). And the idea that blogs need to conform to some specific standard or purpose (or frequency) seems wrong; such a view seems narrow and perhaps "elitist"). Whatever.  It's our blog. 

In the end, it seems the main, albeit unexpected, purpose of our blog is that it provides, for us, an easy-to-access (and read) repository of when and what we've been doing (and, occasionally, thinking). If, and when, others read it, that's great. They are very welcome.

11 comments:

  1. Hey guys, thanks to your comment I got a chance to explore your blog, really cool, I will follow your adventure and hope we meet on the water somewhere:-)
    Dan and Catherine s/v White PearL 1983

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment! When do you guys expect to leave? (I can't quite figure out when the "leave in 5 years" begins/ends). To the Caribbean -- or ship back to SF (just kidding)?

      Reading your post about the cold in Ottawa brings back memories ... David did his PhD in Ottawa (U of O) in the 80s -- 4.5 COLD winters (and 4 hot summers)!

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  2. I've just subscribed to your blog, so I'll be reading it. We'd love to meet you when you get to San Francisco. I tried your new email address (from the Sceptre Newsletter), but it didn't work.
    -Shirlee s/v Solstice (Sceptre 41 #12)
    San Francisco

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    Replies
    1. Hi Shirlee,

      Great to hear from you! We (well, David) were regular followers of your blog (until you finished your travels and returned home to SF) -- how could we not, as yours was one of only 2 Sceptre "offshore" blogs at the time (Saeta was the other one).

      We'll definitely be in touch as we get closer.

      The Sceptre newsletter misprinted our email address -- simply replace the erroneous dash ("-") with an underline ("_").

      Cheers, David

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  3. Hey you two, i've now officially got you on my radar, although my home base doesn't change very often I know yours will and i'll look forward to keeping track of you this way. Hope to hear many a tale, controversial or not and see pics too!

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    1. Hey Laurie -- Welcome aboard! If you "subscribe" to the blog, you will automatically receive notice whenever we post something new.

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  4. David,

    You hit on the whole point right at the end of your post - we write our blog mostly for US. It not only helps us keep a record of things, but the main benefit is in working out our feelings, sorting our thoughts, making a timeline for future projects, and keeping a perspective on things. Only a couple members of our family read our blog. Some of them don't because they say it's too technical and they have no interest in sailing, some of them are (I say this with love) jealous because they want to be elsewhere than they are but don't have the courage to try, and some of them just don't ever read anything but TV Guide.

    Both Tim and I enjoy writing just for writing's sake, for telling a good story, for exploring ideas that many others won't touch, for capturing a moment that photography just doesn't do justice. Keep at it in any regard. I, for one, will be following you in my Google Reader.

    Deb
    S/V Kintala
    www.theretirementproject.blogspot.com

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  5. Hi Deb, thanks for your thoughts! You guys certainly have a different entry into cruising: on a small lake (well, to us, at least), with significant refit/upgrades to Kintala... I've found your blog interesting for a long time. So I guess we'll follow each other's journeys on greader :-) David

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  6. oh, and good luck with the sale of your condo! Ours goes on the market next week :-O

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  7. I accidentally found your blog when I was searching out a reference to Roscoe Bay. I have just bounced around a few of the entries and will focus on it a bit more later.

    What caught my eye was the cartoon in this post. I snaffled it and popped it into mine for obvious reasons. Thanks in advance.

    Brenda
    http://nanapapastrachan.blogspot.ca/

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    1. Roscoe Bay is a great place... we miss it as we prepare for Mexico.

      As for the cartoon, if you post it, you should give credit to the cartoon's author -- i.e., cite the source: http://www.thetwincoach.com/2012_05_01_archive.html

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