Crew to Learn to Sail ?

[jdegan]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum, and my husband and I are planning on buying a liveaboard - probably power - in the next year or so - in San Diego. Eventually, we'd consider a sailboat, but we definitely lack the experience and skills necessary. We have both sailed and "crewed" some, but we'd like to sail more and really improve our skills. Are there ever any people who need help on say a coastal cruise, where we could help crew? Maybe this sort of thing isn't possible, but I thought I'd ask!

Thanks - any other suggestions are welcome!:
Jdegan

[Dreaming Yachtsman]

Welcome to Cruisers Forum. You have come to the right place to gather information about sailing and cruising.

Your question has already been answered many times on this forum so I'll be brief in my reply: yes, many people will gladly take you along sailing to help you learn. A good place to start is the Crew Wanted section of this forum. You can also "walk the docks" in busy marinas or join a Yacht Club (I would personally recommend Southwest Yacht Club in San Diego as their members are very friendly and helpful).

I sent you a PM on a related topic.

[speciald@ocens.]

The Cruising Rally Association maintains a list of volunteer crew for their off shore rallys. Boaters doing the rallys are always looking for crew with some experience. Sign up and maybe you can get a ride to the Caribbean.

[nautical62]

The best internet crew finding site for me has been floatplan.com, but I've even had success with craigslist. I have 5 others linked on my webpage:

bahamasmariner

[lokas0506]

what to think of Do-It-Yourself Sailing & Cruising Database

[rgscpat]

JD Egan & hubby...
Tucson has the Tucson Sailing Club, which is well known for its expertise about sailing in Mexico and the Desert. Sloop Dog and all the other Tucson sailors would be happy to meet you.

And, up the Interstate in the Valley of the Sun, the Arizona Yacht Club is very inexpensive to join and owns some dinghies that members can "adopt" (once Tempe Town Lake gets its water back, grin!). And, the AYC is associated with the Arizona Sailing Foundation, which has some sailing instruction. The folks at the Sailboat Shop at Lake Pleasant NW of Phoenix are another great resource, plus looking at the bulletin boards in the West Marines in south Tempe and on W. Bell Road in Peoria.

In addition to what was mentioned before about the Southwestern YC, San Diego has several other clubs in different price ranges and interests, plus commercial sailing schools and charter and livery agencies, and lots of small-boat sailing and instruction in Mission Bay's protected waters near Sea World. The Mission Bay Sports Center is a good example.

Plus, if you join one of the local Arizona clubs, many of these folks are open to new crew and some of them even have boats on the coast and can give lots of good advice.

Arizona's sailing season peaks in the cooler months, most spectacularly with the Arizona Yacht Club birthday regatta, which in the last few years has had 70+ boats and hundreds of sailors raising many tens of thousands of dollars for medical research. They always need people to help with the regatta, including on the race committee signal boat, which would give you a really good look at all the boats.

Also in California, most yacht clubs on their web sites maintain crew lists. And for an even better adventure, the Baja HaHa has a "crew list party" before the HaHa.

Hope this helps, Pat