Panama > Tahiti > New Zealand - Crew Wanted Immediately

[Rangiroo]

I am looking for an extra crew member to help sail my boat from Panama to New Zealand this year.

I am 52 years old and have been sailing off and on since I was 19. I am a kiwi (New Zealander) and learnt to sail on Auckland Harbour and after that in Sydney (lived there for 12 years).

My boat is called Arielle and has a full Raymarine chartplotter setup including radar. She also has a very heavy duty Simrad autopilot which takes the load off the watch captain. I have built in
redundancy in several of the systems including GPS (2 fixed and 2 handheld) and VHF radio (again 2 fixed and 2 handheld). We also have SSB long distance radio and a small modem that allows us to
receive and send email over the radio. It has all the safety gear required for a voyage through open oceans around the world. I have owned her since July 2007.

The boat is a Stevens 47, a monohull cutter rig with a full yankee headsail and a staysail as well as mainsail, storm jib and spinnaker.

I spent several years finding the right boat for me to live on and paramount in my requirements was a good solid SEAWORTHY vessel that would protect me and anyone else on
board. She certainly lives up to that as well as being roomy and comfortable to live on and sail.

I am now in Panama where I am transiting the Canal on Saturday 14th follwoed by 2 weeks in Balboa/Panama City then leaving there for the Galapagos then Tahiti and so on to New Zealand by November. I have some guests joining the boat in Tahiti on June 18th for a couple of weeks then we'll be resuming our trip to New Zealand via the Cook Islands and Tonga. I am interested in visiting a few of the more remote islands along the way so it is going to be quite an adventure.

So...the deal is this....

I have the boat and pay for any maintenance issues etc. as well as my share of food and drink.

You pay for the following....
Your airfare to and from the boat wherever you join/depart the boat.
Your part of the food costs and any immigration costs etc and for any alcohol you might want as I do not drink at all.
Any of your own shoreside costs e.g. hotel, drinks, restaurant dinners etc

You will be expected to be a part of the crew in all respects, taking watches, sailing the boat, turns with cooking and cleaning up day to day stuff....just as you would in a roommate situation on shore as well as having a great time sailing and snorkeling and cooking and eating freshly caught fish and so on!

What you get is return is a chance at an extensive offshore voyage with all the sailing experience and skills involved...and enough miles to qualify for almost any Capt's license.

A couple of rules...there's no smoking at all on board at any time....and as a safety precaution there is no alcohol consumption while underway...at anchor or off the boat is no problem.

I'd need you to be in Panama by mid to late March (25th) if that's possible and you'd be flying home from either Tahiti or New Zealand or somewhere in between if you don't want to come the whole way. You would have an incredible time in between!!

You would need to bring your own snorkel gear and some wet weather gear of some sort. I have lifejackets etc for everyone.

As far as costs go so far we have been averaging a bit less that $100 a week per person so I'd count on $100 a week just to be safe with the costs. That includes all food and any diesel we use for the boat. I'm conservative with the motor, preferring to sail as much as possible.

So to recap...the itinerary is this...

20-27 March Leave Panama for Galapagos (approx 7 days sailing)
2 weeks in Galapagos
Sail to Marquesas arriving around 12-15 May (21-24 days sailing)
Arrive Papa'etee Tahiti around June 12-15
Saty around Tahiti for about 3 weeks to entertain guests
Sail to NZ via Cooks and Tonga arriving NZ somewhere late October/early November.

You would be free to leave the boat wherever you wished. I really need someone for the long sails to Tahiti but you are very welcome to come all the way to NZ if you wished.

If you have any other questions please ask them all.

Please understand that time is now of the essence so I cannot afford to wait days and days playing email tag.

Email me at mike (at) aboutarielle (dot) com

Michael
S.V. Arielle

[Charlie]

sounds like a great trip Michael. I would love to go but I think that family would get upset if I took off. Good luck finding someone compatible.

[PS37]

Hi Mike,

Stevens 47 is a great boat, solid as a brick and really comfortable for crew if the pilot berths in the crew cabin arent claimed by gear. I am fairly experienced sailor, have my own boat. A teacher by trade, good company, summer is mine and so if you need a crew around June/July - let me know. I have never sailed Pacific but had plenty of nice days/weeks on the Atlantic side. Fair winds, Vlad vy1013@yahoo.com

[Rangiroo]

Thank you SO SO much to all who responded. I am now sorted and have someone joining us next week.
Several asked why I was wanting crew at such short notice and it is a very fair question. I had my crew all lined up but at the last minute before joining the boat one of them tore a knee ligament and had to have immediate surgery. So that is why...

Michael