Crew Available: Two cabin boys to cross the Atlantic

[MarioVarbanov]

Hello lovely people,

We are 2 young boys that are always ready for an adventure and we figured out why not cross the Atlantic on a sailboat?

My name is Mario, 27 years old and my friend is Ivan, 24 years old. I just got my captain's licence but neither I nor Ivan has any serious sailing experience. We are really quick learners and by the end of day 3, the captain will be able to sleep like a baby while we watch the night shifts.

Our initial plan is to hitchhike a boat from Las Palmas somewhere at the end of October when everyone is preparing for the ARC, help with preparation, get to know the boat and the crew and sail towards the Caribbean. We've watched some Youtube videos where a lot of people just go at the marina and ask around if someone needs additional crew for the Atlantic crossing.

Could someone shed some light on the logistics of our adventure and explain if this is a viable option to cross the Atlantic, what would be the costs involved and if we have a good chance to find someone that needs crew? Any details would be really helpful as we haven't done this before.

[nixontankgirl]

Hi,



Your plan is sound. Lots of people do the same thing. Though I would suggest you get there early to 'beat the rush' and also take your time to pick the right boat and crew combination.

[Malfoi]

You can’t go there without visas, the borders are guarded reliably. Getting there without true love and true friendship / service is impossible. Impossible.

[stevensuf]

Yuu will struggle to find a boat in the canaries, there are literally thousands of people looking for boats, find one online first , if you can, but dont go and hope.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by MarioVarbanov

Hello lovely people,

We are 2 young boys that are always ready for an adventure and we figured out why not cross the Atlantic on a sailboat?

My name is Mario, 27 years old and my friend is Ivan, 24 years old. I just got my captain's licence but neither I nor Ivan has any serious sailing experience. We are really quick learners and by the end of day 3, the captain will be able to sleep like a baby while we watch the night shifts.

Our initial plan is to hitchhike a boat from Las Palmas somewhere at the end of October when everyone is preparing for the ARC, help with preparation, get to know the boat and the crew and sail towards the Caribbean. We've watched some Youtube videos where a lot of people just go at the marina and ask around if someone needs additional crew for the Atlantic crossing.

Could someone shed some light on the logistics of our adventure and explain if this is a viable option to cross the Atlantic, what would be the costs involved and if we have a good chance to find someone that needs crew? Any details would be really helpful as we haven't done this before.

Small detail here, but to me, you're young men. Boyhood stops around age 12-19, depending on the person.

You will need to have valid passports. For some countries, the skipper takes all the passports ashore to complete the immigration formalities, while the crew stay on the boat.

I agree with the post above, that you should make yourselves known as soon as possible, and see if you can work something out with your prospective skipper.

Incidentally, if something doesn't feel right, don't go. Cruising with strangers can be risky business. It's all experience, what doesn't actually kill you, but crewing with unknowns is dangerous for skippers and for crews. Mostly it's abuse, only, but it is a possible factor of which to be aware.

Ann

[MarioVarbanov]

Thanks for the tips guys! We have valid passports and we are European citizens, so no problems with staying in the Canaries until we find what we look for We'll try to find some captains online prior to going there, for sure.
For the like-minded people - here are 2 very good articles explaining what we're up to and how to do it:
- https://www.yachtmollymawk.com/2011/...-the-atlantic/
- https://paulinaontheroad.com/boat-hi...o-get-started/