Would you do this to cut sailing cost?

[cal40john]

Originally Posted by zboss

Coastalyfe On-demand Boat Ride Sharing

On the information for drivers page one of the requirements is that you are a licensed captain.

If you are a licensed captain and have insurance for carrying paying passengers these seem to be an easy way to generate customers.

For the rest of us, I don't think it is going to work well.

[JPA Cate]

To be clearer, and answer the OP's question, NO, I would not consider it. I'd rather wait tables or tend bar. Actually, I'd probably rather clean latrines than take unknown crew.

Of course, others' mileage may vary.

Ann

[Time2Go]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

In fact, imho, taking on unknnown crew, or being crew for an unknown skipper are both quite potentially dangerous, life and limb dangerous. It just isn't that simple.

Ann

Truer words have never been spoken
I crew a bit, usually 4 or 5 trips per year.
There is no feed back loop for either skipper or crew.
I've stepped on boats where both the the boat
and skipper were not quit right;
A skipper who can't communicate without yelling
A skipper with Aspergers
A skipper who deviates from the passage plan
and changes waypoints without informing the crew coming on watch
How about a life raft with no painter
A brand new SSB with no antenna
Sat Phone for weather with no working interface for a computer
Water maker with no power source
Incorrect size lines that slip in clutches
No Jacklines, and on and on

This is not limited to just skippers but crew also,
Folks turning up with no gear
Not knowing how to tie a bowline
Not knowing how to use a compass
Not knowing what a "sheet" is
Not knowing how to tie off a cleat
Getting scared shitless when the boat heels a bit.

A better service would be a rating system
for both folks who want to crew and skippers looking for crew.

Even though I know how to sail, I got tired of explaing to prospective
skippers my ability, so I spent a month in the UK at a RYA school
and qualified all the way up to Coastal Skipper/Tidal
I want skippers to have a formal baseline of my abilities
However there is so such formal way of evaluating potential skippers.
This holds true for crew adds here and Ocean Crew Link.
At least half the crew wanted posts say No Experience Needed
As a result I've been on boats with a skipper and 5 crew, where 3
thought they were on the QE2, This made life hard for all and flat out
stupid dangerous in a blow crossing Biscay
Cheers
Neil

[brianlara 3]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

To be clearer, and answer the OP's question, NO, I would not consider it. I'd rather wait tables or tend bar. Actually, I'd probably rather clean latrines than take unknown crew.

Of course, others' mileage may vary.

Ann

For all of Time2go's reasons and many more, I'd rather clean latrines FOR FREE than even have to contemplate the potential nightmares. Beatnik.....the message should be telling you something...even as agent you could well do your ass, at least.

[Beatnik]

AnglaisInHull - Yes, You're right. This is not a taxi type of venture, but rather boat sharing. You don't change the course of your journey, but pick up folks along your journey to share some sail expenses. Double-sided review system is one of the key benefits that this service will have to put more trust between both sides.

I guess you're referring to Covoiturage pour le Qu?bec, le Canada et les ?tats-Unis - AmigoExpress. It's strange that you have to pay a fee to be in their system. I say that because they are very similar to blablacar which has a commission based business model. I guess they take 10% per transaction that goes through them.

[boatman61]

I seem to remember someone trying to set up a Boat Swop a few years back.. similar to the house thing where one exchanges home's with someone in another country you'd like to visit & Vicky Verka..
Instead of hauling your boat vast distances you could cruise the world on OP's boats while they cruised your little corner on yours.. seems a fantastic idea.. No..???
It was not a success to my knowledge.

[Beatnik]

Originally Posted by zboss

Coastalyfe On-demand Boat Ride Sharing

Seems like they are closed or still in beta. Have you had any experience using this service?

[Beatnik]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I seem to remember someone trying to set up a Boat Swop a few years back.. similar to the house thing where one exchanges home's with someone in another country you'd like to visit & Vicky Verka..
Instead of hauling your boat vast distances you could cruise the world on OP's boats while they cruised your little corner on yours.. seems a fantastic idea.. No..???
It was not a success to my knowledge.

I guess you answered your own question - It is a fantastic idea which didn't take off. I guess it wasn't success because nobody wants to pay when swapping
the boats.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Beatnik

I guess you answered your own question - It is a fantastic idea which didn't take off. I guess it wasn't success because nobody wants to pay when swapping
the boats.

Not really..
It was an annual Club Membership fee if I remember correctly which got you posted on the web with your boat details.. size, equipment, condition and pictures, area etc along with the places you wanted to go to.. and membership allowed you to contact owners of boats in areas of interest.
The funny thing with boats is they are personalised by some/many folks and letting someone else sail one's boat is akin to taking up the Eskimo custom of sending one's wife to warm the visitors bed.
There's a few here when given the choice of Wife or Boat chose the Boat..

[30yearslater]

Well Beatnik the idea is great in theory but in practice it might be a bit trickier. The minute price enters the equation a whole can of worms gets opened. The licensing requirements when carrying passengers for hire in the U.S. are quite clear. I am the organizer of a local Meetup.com group for this type of purpose without requiring pay for service. Some of my members have inquired why I don't charge a fee. It is precisely the regulatory requirements. Then you have the issue with a license/past performance does not guarantee similar outcome for the skipper. Vestas Wind comes to mind as does the Costa Concordia. Professional sailors with hundreds of thousands of miles logged putting a boat on the rocks in the middle of an ocean or sea is a formula for litigation. Nice idea if there is a big enough insurance policy. Personally I'll stay with no charge since I will have the boat and costs of using it anyway.

[belizesailor]

Swapping boats would work legally, but how many are actually willing to turn their boat over to an unknown. Ive let other captains I know and trust use my boats, but some Internet unknown...nah. I think this is one reason this never took off.

I started a thread a while back as spin off of this idea...an "in kind" exchange. For example, I assisted with a yacht delivery and delivered some training at cost (hard expenses only) in exchange for an expenses only guided trek in Nepal. Works for me, but no profit involved so wont do the OP much good. You could set up a site to broker such exchanges and charge a fee.

Hooking up paying passengers with recreational boats presents legal issues. Many already run illegal charters, but for obvious reasons try to stay off the radar. Registering and advertising on a web site, puts them on the radar. Im guessing not many will sign up for that.

Legitimate guided fishing buisnesses (I know a few owners and guides) already spend lots of money to promote their web sites and have relationships with travel brokers etc...so dont have a need for a service like proposed by one post..probably the business reason its not being done...no demand.

A model that does work is fractional ownership. See viable businesses built on this model like SailTime.

[Suijin]

Sounds like Crewseekers.net.

[astokel]

Originally Posted by brianlara 3

In my country, OZ, if someone trips over a sheet and twists an ankle (even) the insurance will drop you like bag of spuds. Or the client, and they ARE paying passengers, ("no person is competent to waive any rights conferred upon them buy the Act.), will sue the pants of you.
I think the idea is "no brainer" risky.
There are people who actually aquire an injury, lawyers......helloooo, America, with a view to making a slightly painful but quick dollar.
Or am I being skeptical?

Same in Canada. You will require commercial insurance, register the boat differently and many marinas won't touch you.

I'd look into all this first.

[Lancerbye]

A boat does not compare well to a car and traveling does not compare well to cruising. If you want to cruise on a schedule to a strict route, you are not going to enjoy it. If I plan to go from point A to point B and it depends on, wind conditions, how much I like a particular anchorage, what island I might want to visit at that particular time, it becomes very difficult to accommodate anyone even if all the numerous other pitfalls can be overcome .

[kismet]

Originally Posted by Suijin

Sounds like Crewseekers.net.

Or Floatplan