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.