Visit our Popular Forums

hvkelley · 20-11-2020, 08:32

I have had good luck crewing on two NICE sailing yachts with sailopo.com, one an owner and his wife and one other crew non-stop from Norfolk to St. Thomas, and the second a professional delivery captain and two other crew from St. Thomas to Newport with one weather-delay stop in Cape Canaveral. In both cases, my financial obligation was travel to/from the boat and personal expenses while ashore. Both were very good experiences with enjoyable and talented sailing crew. To be accepted by the owner or delivery captain, you usually (but not always) need some off-shore sailing experience.

PSea · 20-11-2020, 08:38

no need to pay for the typical crewing opportunity. travel to/from boat are negotiable. I won't turn down a crew opportunity based on those negotiations. I don't pay for the privilege of helping someone else. but I also believe they're getting a sound crew member: good attitude, good under pressure, listens well & follows directions and cares about the boat as if it were my own, willing to help with just about anything reasonable, experience in big seas, friendly & honest.....should get you what you want.

find some rallies like the salty dog. ken geleao runs crew placement. minimal fee (I think $10). great, great guy. fun rally too. great networking opportunity for future crew opportunities.

good luck!

merrydolphin · 20-11-2020, 08:57

My wife and I were usually the only crew that we had for 90% of our cruising. With the following exceptions. And yes, up front honesty is key!

1. We ran honest fully blown charters 1-2 week long. We were paid good money and the GUESTS were waited on hand and foot.
I have a 100 ton Masters license and insurance for chartering. My wife an RN and a semi-gourmet cook.

2. We would occasionally take crew on a passage or trip of a thousand or two miles. We didn’t pay them and they didn’t pay us. We had an IN ADVANCE agreed upon arrangement that was a win win.
As a Captain and a US Sailing instructor, my crew usually came from the sailing school that I was teaching for. They came to gain the experience of offshore voyaging and the adventure. I would continue to act informally as instructor. Because they were students that I knew, I could pick compatible people whose company we would enjoy and it was nice to have the extra help. They did normal light crew duties and at the beginning of passage only, would contribute to the initial food provisioning. We don’t drink so they could bring there own. We sometimes had the problem of holding them back as they were so gung-ho to help. I think that the key is to have it all up front and make it a win win. They get something and you get something. If it is otherwise, compensation in the applicable direction is in order. And yes, at least ideally, if you are going to take money as in pay per passage deals, you should have the proper licensing ( and again ideally) insurance. I found that my insurance company would offer a very reasonable rate for the occasional charter. When we were in the more serious charter business, doing months per year of chartering, we had to have full charter insurance. And as I offered Scuba diving on charter, I had PADI instructor insurance too.
Another good idea is get medical information and questionair for crew and guest up front in writing. Finding something like diabetic coma while on passage is nothing that you want to be surprised with.

jojolimited · 20-11-2020, 09:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lost Horizons

I think it was quite self explanatory. An example of a crewing experience where one is expected to pay $15k for a privilege to wash dishes on a boat.

They are a sailing school. You pay to learn, just like any other private school. Not the same as someone looking to mooch off of others to cover their expenses.

jrau18 · 20-11-2020, 10:08

The reality is that all the youtube videos have made the sailing lifestyle really exciting and glamorous. A lot of people don't have the skills to realize that for themselves, but they do have money to pay. They don't want to do a traditional charter, they want to "be a cruiser." So they're willing to pay to "be a cruiser."

Then you have to think about the flip side. Most people who own a boat have no problems getting friends and family to come join them for passages. So there is no need to go onto the internet and find people they've never met to join them for weeks at a time on a small space. So the majority of the people advertising online for crew either can't find friends/family to come on their boat (a red flag), or they can, but they are trying to finance (in a legal grey area) their cruising lifestyle.

Then combine all that with the fact that there isn't any proactive enforcement of what is essentially an illegal charter, because the owners doing this know to keep the money amount low. As long as their isn't an incident, they're able to get away with it. If somebody is injured or killed, you can bet they'll be on the losing end of a lawsuit and/or prosecution.

So basically its supply and demand: very few people who just want to meet random strangers by committing to having them on their boat for weeks at a time for free, and lots of people who want to live the dream for a short bit of time before going back to the real world. It is what it is. We can be offended by people skirting the law, but there are better things to get worked up about, IMO.

That all being said, I've crewed on other people's boats who I hadn't met before I replied to their online post. Anybody who brought up "cost sharing" I said "thanks, but no thanks." Every other time, it was one of two situations:

1) essentially the owner was a sailor who didn't like doing longer passages alone, so wanted an extra crew member or two. In these situations, I've had my airfare and food paid for by the owner.

2) it was a "fun" trip, and the owner genuinely just wanted another person along, wanted to make some more sailing friends, and I paid my share of food only, owner paid for any fuel costs, etc.

Before going onto a stranger's boat, I've always made sure we at least had a couple of conversations on the phone to hopefully minimize the chance they're nut jobs, or that we just have personality conflicts. So far its worked out great. The people I've been out with in both of those situations I am friends with now, and they ring me first to see if I'm available before they post online. Normal/cool people who use the internet to make new sailing friends actually do exist, they're just very much outnumbered by the people who are really just looking for money, or have personality issues that force them to use the internet to attract strangers to their boats.

On my boat, I've only ever had friends and family aboard, so I've always paid for everything. They usually will buy some food and drinks, but it isn't a requirement, unspoken or otherwise. If they offer to pitch in for fuel, cruising permits for the country, I always say no, I'm just happy some friends are willing to use their vacation time hanging out with me somewhere awesome.

Kaimana · 20-11-2020, 10:32

When I was on my boat in the Marquesas, I saw an increasingly-desperate series of bulletin-board notices posted by a female yachtie whose boat had gone in a different direction than she wanted to go.

She had sailing experience, knew how to navigate with a sextant (this was back in the day, yeah? Everyone did), could cook while underway and so on. She didn't get any takers, so the final message said:

"Attractive young crew woman willing to sc**w her way around the world"

It shouldn't have to come to that.

About two weeks later I was looking for crew for a passage from the Marquesas to Hawaii. I looked for a week, gave up, and took off singlehanded a day before my visa expired. Hey, that's why they have self-steering, yeah? It was a nice trip, with nobody yakking in my ear all the time.

I have no use at all for the current version of cruising people who try to get others to pay for their extended vacations. Look up "begpackers" on Google and you'll see what I mean; these people are just begpackers with boats instead of backpacks.

Kind of like parasites on a big animal; and you wonder when the animal's owner will dose them with some kind of wormer that removes them all.

With Warm Aloha, Tim

BluePeter · 20-11-2020, 10:48

I paid 100 a week for food for a 12 week passage and was on deck whenever needed. Shared in all work. Worth every penny.

BluePeter · 20-11-2020, 11:01

Any chance you have her number?????

cpisz · 20-11-2020, 11:16

I understand that the US laws do not allow for any compensation at all and I understand why they swt it this way. They want to prevent people from circumnavigating the need to have a proper captain for a commercial operation. However the US laws also prevent perfectly normal behavior. Perhaps I can't afford to cruise by myself but if I take on a cruising partner then we both can afford it. The US laws prevent this perfectly normal transaction from taking place.

john manning · 20-11-2020, 11:16

I have never asked "crew" to pay or contribute for being on my yacht. Most have been willing to cover their own costs relating to food. Some have gone further and bought additional things. I have never paid for their transport to or from the yacht. Often international travel.

As crew I have been willing to cover all my own costs including transport. I do not accept that paying for the yacht or its upkeep is my responsibility. Because of my background in engineering I have carried out significant repairs on yachts on which I was crew. I think I should make a contribution but in the form or work not cash.

There is another side to this. When a yacht enters a foreign country the owner is responsible for crew welfare. That might mean medical costs or possibly a repatriation flight. The key thing is to be clear about who is contributing what, before you start.

CaptJimFrei · 20-11-2020, 11:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by markpierce

Should not crew expect compensation from the boat's owner rather than the opposite?

If sailing in USA waters, and the captain (boat owner) demands money in exchange for passage, then the captain needs the proper Merchant Mariner Credential (i.e., OUPV aka 6-pack license) w/ sail endorsement.

GrowleyMonster · 20-11-2020, 12:12

The legalities are pretty clear, to me. You are not allowed to ask for money or other considerations. That is the law. The prospective crew member is allowed to make a completely voluntary contribution and the owner or skipper may not ask for it, but may accept it if offered. That is the law. It's not voluntary if the skipper or owner demands payment for allowing the person to make the voyage. It is illegal, unless all normal conditions are met for a legal charter.

As for wannabe crewmembers, why get upset about being asked to pay? Just don't go of you don't want to contribute. Just. Don't. Go. If you have an irresistible compulsion to be a big mean tattletale, by all means, whatever blows your skirt up. But I think the CG has other things to be concerned with that are more pressing. And feel free to buy your own boat and see what it is like on the other side of the coin.

Nobody but family or very good friends will ever go anywhere with me on my boat. I would no more ask them to help with expenses than I would expect an invited houseguest to help with expenses. I like to think that anyone able to do so, would step up to the plate and ask what they can help to pay for, but I would never be such a low class host as to ask them to do so.

EarlWer · 20-11-2020, 12:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrowleyMonster

As for wannabe crewmembers, why get upset about being asked to pay?

Nobody is getting upset about being asked to pay..

I was upset because their request for 'crew' was false advertising.
'Crew' is assumed to be semi-skilled help, for whatever reason.
'Passenger' is a paying position, no work required.
'Student' is paying to learn the ropes...

They advertised for crew when they clearly didn't need help, but instead wanted to finance their cruising lifestyle.

Only once we started communicating about details, did the crew contribution come up. At that point, I said 'thanks, but no thanks' and that was it.

I have crewed passages before and the agreement was my time, expertise & commitment in exchange for added experience and seeing new places.

If they don't expect to be out of pocket for the small amount to feeding crew, then that should be clearly stated up-front.

Legally, they are not in the US and may not be registered in the US, so that US laws probably don't apply. I certainly would have no intention of reporting them.

Personally, I am in the 'grey' zone. I have some offshore experience, I know how to sail, have good mechanical skills and I am realistic about the demands of sailing BUT that was years ago (remember Loran).

I want to get back on the water, but don't have my own boat (yet), so 'crewing' seemed the best way to refresh my skills before buying a boat...

My wife and kids are really not interested in cruising, so it has to be something I can single-hand with enough space for the occasional family member or crew-mate.