Considering life as a deckhand

[nicanica123]

Thanks for all the info. Its so helpful. I am at a point right now that I don't want to make money. I'd rather see the beautiful ports and make peanuts as long as my daily needs were taken care of. My dream is to be able to go see beautiful places and learn to be a great sailor, not to make dough. That being said, I can see the wisdom in getting a degree and serious certs. Life and

[frazerhalliday]

If you don't need the dough, hit the major circumnavigation routes and travel that way... That'll allow you to hit all the major ports people have on the radar and there are always plenty of people going in the same direction so you can jump between boats if you don't like the crew you're with. Might see you on my rounds when I finally get round to setting sail sometime next year.

[nicanica123]

I truly hope so. It seems like it is possible to travel the world and at least make enough to cover daily expenses? If you jump from ship to ship is it still easy to track how many hours you've sailed? I'm sure there is a log or something like that?

[captain58sailin]

Keep your own personal log, with as many details as you can.

[jeremiason]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

Keep your own personal log, with as many details as you can.

A Personal Sailing Log is useless for USCG licensing purposes, unless you own the boat.

The correct way to log seatime for licensing, is either have the Captain of the vessel write you a Seatime Letter or carry blank USCG Seatime forms with you for the Captain to sign.

If you own your own boat you can sign the Seatime Form yourself and provide proof of ownership (Registration/Documentation) for the times covered.

[Agape39]

[QUOTE="nicanica123"]I truly hope so. It seems like it is possible to travel the world and at least make enough to cover daily expenses? If you jump from ship to ship is it still easy to track how many hours you've sailed? I'm sure there is a log or something like that?[/QUOT
Have the captain sign your log after each leg, also the document no. of the boat.

[captain58sailin]

The OP did not seem to be interested in holding a USCG license.

[Agape39]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

The OP did not seem to be interested in holding a USCG license.

True, but having the skipper sign his log adding a comment or two can go along way in proving sea time to potential employers.

[ArtM]

No one has mentioned the "crew wanted" forum. I think this forum is often used as a singles site, but there are people who are circumnavigating or traveling between ports who would like a deck hand for company, and/or to take turns at the wheel.

Example: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1054700

What I don't know is how many of these will take a guy with no money and provide food and laundry services to you.

Also, this doesn't answer the question of what you will do between boats. You will need some form of support for those times you are not on board. How will you enjoy those beautiful ports if you have no money, income, or ability to be legally hired?

Cruise ships are harder work and limit your port time, but you can get hired with little or no experience and you will get a paycheck. Judging from my last three or four cruises, the main qualification appears to be a willingness to work for nearly nothing - a qualification you've already stated you have.