Skipper & Crew Pricing?

[G-RELLY]

Hi all,

I am new to this website and looking forward to spending a great time sailing through the site pages.

I need some input from those experienced in crewing up a sailing yacht for a rather long voyage. I will shortly own a 1999 Hunter 340, and plan to move it from Florida to Curacao(Caribbean). First off, I am not experienced. I will be looking for a skipper to manage the trip, with me as a "learning" passenger. Although I have a lot of questions I would like to ask, I will leave the questions to those related to this specific forum.

1. How much can I expect to pay for an experienced skipper ?

2. Do I pay by the nautical mile, or daily rate?

3. Apart from the Skipper, how many crew members would be an acceptable minimum?

4. How much time will the voyage from St. Petersburg to Curacao take.

By the way, I will outfit the yacht with whatever instrumentation and equipment would be required to allow for ease of navigation, overall operation, and safety.

Any real world input would be greatly appreciated!

[GordMay]

WELCOME aboard, G-RELLY.

You might want to look at "Crew Positions: Wanted & Available":
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/sitemap/f-30.html

Or try a custom Google search of the CruisersForum at:
Cruisers & Sailing Forum

You are indeed planning a longer trip, so might do a little better than the typical “daily” or per mile published rates, especially if you hire more than the bare minimum of Captain only.

Good luck!

Gord

[ughmo2000]

Welcome and congratulations on your new boat!

Others may offer differing opinions but in answer to your questions,

1. How much can I expect to pay for an experienced skipper ?

Captains range from 200-500+ usd per day although as mentioned, you could undoubtedly negotiate a flat fee.

2. Do I pay by the nautical mile, or daily rate?

Typically daily rate or flat fee.

3. Apart from the Skipper, how many crew members would be an acceptable minimum?

I prefer a minimum of three.

4. How much time will the voyage from St. Petersburg to Curacao take.

Depends on route, weather, et al.

By the way, I will outfit the yacht with whatever instrumentation and equipment would be required to allow for ease of navigation, overall operation, and safety.

Always a good idea!

Best of luck and fair winds!

[bvimatelot]

Flat fees are always a bit difficult on long trips - If the boatbreaks down in Outer Bong-Bongo Land and the crew have to stay onboard for weeks waiting for spare parts - who pays? If the crew "mend" the boat (I mean stuff Above and Beyond the Call of Duty) - should an extra rate be paid? These factors should be thrashed out and put in the Delivery Contract.

A Hunter 34 is quite small and will therefore take a bit longer than, say, a 40 footer. The trip from St Pete to Curacao is a bit of a pig over the first bit ( you should try to get quite a bit of East into the early part of the trip so that you can take advantage of the Trade Wind Belt further on down - otherwise you can end up with a long old bash.)

I've done it a couple of times: once in a catamaran and once in a 49ft mono: we took about 12 days.

"Owner Assisted Passages" - which is what you are asking about - normally get charged on an agreed daily rate with the owner picking up all the costs of food, fuel, customs clearance and spare parts. It can be done with 2 people but you'd be better off with a 3rd hand (who would have a smaller daily fee).

Hope this helps! Tony