Hi Lindsay and Matthew, thank you for your email and I apologize for the late reply. We get a lot of emails regarding sponsoring and I regret that I haven't replied to these questions earlier. Simply put, which can be applied on any project/business idea: Find your way to go, create a clear vision of what you will do, how to achieve it, what way to go. Make sure to be unique in some way, do not be only a copy of everyone else, find something that makes you stand out from the rest. Companies and brands are always looking for new ways to market their products and will most probably not choose you as partner if your project is just like everyone else. You also need to believe in your ideas, treat your project like a baby, work hard on it and prove that you take this serious. Because it is not before you self believe in your ideas to the max that you can convince others to do so too. You must also almost certainly be able to guarantee that you will bring new clients, more publicity to the company, that your idea will generate something for the brand that will sponsor you. With a blog, your weekly/monthly traffic is important to mention. The more readers you got, the greater the chance to be interesting for the company you approach. If the larger, more commercial brands doesn't reply on your inquiry or doesn't show interest in your ideas, try the smaller ones in the same field. Perhaps you can find companies that are brand new, new businesses are always looking for getting their products out on the market and those are often great to approach. When you have everything clear, send the company an email, tell them who you are, what you're about to do. Tell them why you'd like to get sponsored by their brand and what they could gain from sponsoring your project. Make it simple but clear. Shorten the email to the most relevant and add a link to your website. If you already have some other sponsors you should mention these too, the first one is always a bit tricky but as soon as you have a reference, it should get easier. I could go on forever about this but these are the basics I believe. Good luck with your plans and travels!

Your second question about sailing experience: Alex has been sailing all his life, he's been racing when he was younger and he is an extremely accomplished and experienced sailor from who I myself have learnt everything I know about sailing. I didn't know anything before I met him for two years ago but Alex brought me out to the sea quite immediately after we met. We have now sailed more than 10.000 nautical miles together during these past two years and we both look very much forward to continue our travels for many years to come.  

More FAQ's coming soon.... you can find some of the other most common questions here.