Crew Available: Hard time finding opportunities...

[Wannabe-007]

Now it says this thread has five pages, but when I click on page 5, it just comes back to page 4. Something in this thread is seriously fubar!

[NoQuarter79]

Originally Posted by Wannabe-007

As someone has already said, these are terrible answers.
You've said that these are 'easy questions', but you have not answered a single one of them

I have clarified that my partner and I are currently in WV. East coast destinations we could probably easily make it there ourselves. Nearly anywhere else, we couldn't fund our trip there. I may have been a little vague on my answers, because I felt my answers could divulge some personal financial information about ourselves, that we are more willing to discuss with a serious inquiry. I am sure we are all sailors here, and nothing more, but it's still the internet, and it can be a dangerous place.

We're a young couple three years into sailing that want to continue sailing and diving as a career. I'll post my FindaCrew link, but I'm not willing to pay for that website. We can't afford it. Nor could we afford to pay to crew. The financial situation is a complex issue that can't really be generalized here in this forum.

https://www.findacrew.net/en/crew/255305

[kiwiladysailor]

Without being able to pay or contribute anything toward the expense of the trip I think you might be expecting a bit much dear young people.
Boat owners usually want people who know what they are doing , and can be of practical help with proven experience and references or they need people to share costs with or without experience . It can be a bit tricky because if a boat owner engages a couple for a length of time and the couple is not competent to the level required of them then the boat owner will himself be out of pocket and inconvenienced if they jump ship.
As a couple also , often one partner is of higher competence of the other so sometimes that can create friction. If a couple would be "surplus " as in they are not needed to assist , then why would anyone take them on if they cannot contribute to the cost of the trip.
It costs a lot to sail a boat , inexperienced crew can stuff up easily ,can be a danger to have on board etc etc, so the risk to boat owners is quite high , thats why its not easy for you to get a ride . Also if you were on land you would have to pay for your food , so why not be willing to share costs for that on board? Marinas cost money , water and electricity cost money as does gas to cook with and fuel for the engine, just the time the skipper needs to register you in new ports takes time and effort on your behalf.
If one wants good experience , its like taking a lesson , so I think its reasonable to expect to contribute towards gaining that experience.
Personally i would rather pay double to be with good crew and on a good boat than be with someone for free on a dodgy boat .

[SailRN]

Aye, there's the rub. How to get experience when you're inexperienced, and what are the costs? I know how much it costs to eat and can budget for that, but I have little idea of other costs involved in cruising. And how to have an income, short of being independently wealthy, while on a boat moving to different locales? I'm a registered nurse, and earning an income is not something I can do over the Internet. I'm curious as to how cruisers make an income while cruising.

[Wannabe-007]

There's a handful of threads here about making money while cruising, as well as lots of articles and what not on blogs... use the search tool/s.

For me it's largely an either/or question. I'll either go cruising, or make money. Trying to do both at once feels like it just takes the fun out of it all.
For now, im cruising. I'll go back to work when I run out of money or love.
Its useful to have some property.

This is waaaay off track!

[NoQuarter79]

We don't have the college degree to get the kind of job that will fund a cruising trip, and that we can up and leave and come back to whenever we want. Going out onto a boat and learning hands on was supposed to be our college, but with certain obligations, we can't afford to donate our time or pay to work. Again, when it comes to whether or not crew should be paid or pay, is a sticky situation that everyone obviously has a differing opinion about. That is why this isn't really something we can sum up in this thread. It is an issue that needs to be worked out between the crew and the captain/owner personally. As SailRN has already said, and as I have seen and heard many a time, this is a Catch 22 situation where we can't get onboard without a lot of experience, but how do you get experience when you are low income and can't crew because you can't afford to pay to work!?

We're not expecting to be pampered when we're crewing. We expect to work hard and learn a lot while doing so. I've mentioned earlier that we are not inexperienced sailors. All I've tried to do is admit that we still have a lot to learn, and that we are not air heads who think we know everything about sailing. We may not have 15 years of experience, but we do know how to sail.

[mrlee]

Bravo for you!!! I wish you great experiences when you do get a chance to get out there...Many of the boat owners I have spoken with seem to have a bit if an ego thing going on...Hey, I respect their abilities as seamen to the max, but please don't make me, or try to make me, feel inferior because I have not been as fortunate as you to be able to do it hands-on...God bless us ALL!!!
I gotta go to work so I won't be on here for a week or so...peace to all and thanks to all for the great advice and input...

[Wannabe-007]

If you want to get paid real money, you will need real qualifications, and real experience.
As a bare minimum you'll need to get your STCW to work as crew.
Also getting your six pack is pretty easy - especially if you've been sailing for a few years already, and will look better on your CV than a blank space.

However, you don't want to spend money, and these qualifications cost money...

So, option 2, is join a club and race. Do lots of racing. You'll learn a lot by being part of a race crew. Skippers are often in need of more crew for social racing.

Word of mouth is also very useful, so if you're in the race scene and people need a hand with a delivery or passage or something, you can be there and a known entity etc...


I'll PM you about your crew profile.