Suggestions would be very similar to the "learn to sail" suggestions...
-- crew lists on yacht and sailing club web sites
-- meeting and hanging around with sailors at yacht and sailing clubs -- some Chicago boats do sail oceans and some
Great Lakes sailors would have boats on the ocean or friends with boats on the ocean
--
learning about professional
crewing on superyachts
-- corresponding with the Latitude 38 folks about the Pacific Puddlejump
--
learning enough sailing skills to combine that with your chef ability to be attractive crew on smaller boats
-- corresponding with sailors in popular jump-off
ports on the Pacific Coast and developing
references and referrals from local
Great Lakes sailors
-- volunteering to help with regattas,
race committees,
cruise rallies, etc.
-- joining a relatively inexpensive community sailing program, sailing club, yacht club, boating group such as the Coast Guard Auxiliary, etc., to network, learn skills, and learn sailor talk and concerns
Skippers risk a lot in picking up strange crew, and crew risk a lot in signing up with skippers whose personalities and skill they don't know. So it's really good to get to know someone before you commit to spending weeks or months with them in tight quarters, and it's golden to develop
references who can speak to what it's like to be on a boat with you. And, of course, you should get a really good feeling about the personality and skill of your
captain and fellow crew members, since they will be the whole world to you during the voyage and you must be able to not only tolerate each other but depend upon one another when conditions get tough. And, in the confines of a small yacht, little annoyances that you could easily escape from on shore -- are something you're stuck with with no hope of escape. So, in addition to skills, work ethic, common sense, the ability to obey orders, and tolerance, all the lifestyle preferences stuff is important. And, of course, all the who does what and who pays for what stuff should be worked out well ahead of the voyage.