Crew Wanted: Immediate crew needed Dominican Republic to Miami

[tomfl]

It is normal for what I will call volunteer crew to have food supplied while on the boat. I have been on both sides of this situation and as a skipper I would certainly want absolute control over anything brought on my boat food included. I also know other skippers who have absolute rules about no cardboard on the boat (even if food is in it). So the simple way to solve this is the skipper provisions the boat. On the other hand I just got finished helping move a boat (up the ICW) and the skipper bought dinner every night at decent places. He was from the West Coast and his new boat was on the East Coast, where I live, so I did have some local knowledge. I also only had to drive 30 minutes to get to his boat and he drove me the ~150 miles back to my car.

There have been several threads about what I will call inexperienced crew flying to distant locations and many of them have bad endings. Maybe I have just not seen some of the better outcomes.

I notice some posts from folks who view this as a chance to get experience. My advice would be to walk the docks close to your home. If the truth be known there are a lot more folks with boats looking for crew than folks without boats looking to crew. It is fairly common for inexperienced boaters to buy a pizza and beer/soft drinks for a day sail; and sometimes dinner after as well. It is a lot cheaper than paying to charter.

I know the OP mentioned he was leaving this thread but I would point every place I have kept my boat there is a place to post crew wanted. And there is usually a Tiki hut/what ever where folks gather and shoot the whatever. These are probably the best places to look for crew looking to get out of Dodge.

Another consideration lots of folks seem unaware of are responsibilities of the skipper. In some jurisdictions the skipper/owner is responsible for returning crew to the departure point if there is an unhappy break up. There are other laws as well that while seldom invoked can be a real pain if they are.

But the bottom line for me is this whole sailing thing is suppose to be fun and this trip does not sound like fun.