Any owners on Crewseekers?

[dedwards]

Hi,

I've signed up to crewseekers as crew 'cause I'm a relative newb to this game and really want to build up my experience.

Problem is it seems a bit hit and miss with only being able to contact three owners at a time. (eg, dont know which are on the hard or the reasons why they are advertising and I have a suspicion that some get inundated with requests while others are struggling to find anyone)

So I was wondering: are any of you owners registered and do you have any experiences that you'd like to share with someone searching for crewing opportunities?

Cheers.

 

[snowleopard]

when i was planning our atlantic circuit i signed up on crewseekers. they make a big point about saying it's free for skippers. in reality they try to sell you an 'mproved' service for which you pay. i chose to stick to the free service.

despite offering berths for the ARC i only received one reply and the applicant neither had the experience i was asking for nor wanted to do the passages i was offering.

i am always on the lookout for crew but after that experience i haven't bothered with crewseekers again. i don't know whether others have had more luck.

 

[machurley22]

I signed up as an owner a couple of seasons ago (see Crewseekers North) but have never had a single enquiry!

I suspect that crew who have paid good money to register are looking to sail on something a bit bigger, though before buying Silkie all my experience had been on larger boats and I would have jumped at the chance to see what the Pocket Cruiser experience was like.

Dave

 

[Stingo]

I've had similar experience to both you and snowleopard. As an owner I won't go near crewseekers again.

 

[StellaGirl]

I used Crewseeker when I first started sailing and found it great. I had a couple of crap skippers - one who shouted all the time on his Bavaria 34 - (wanna be racer but not sure why in that boat) and the other who couldnt sail.

However I have made some excellent friends through Crewseekers and do recommend it for getting started.

PM me as I can tell you which ones not to contact!

 

[Das_Boot]

I was thinking of taking on someone for the first leg Hartlepool to Med. However getting the wrong person might lead to a murderous voyage.
Apart from the notice board at the Marina where should I look.

 

[dedwards]

ahh, I remember you mentioning something about that when i searched the archives.

Is that paid service where you can do an active search for crew or am I only able to search through paid members?

I kind of got the feeling that a lot of the advertisers were deliveries or racers whom I expect are the ones most likely to be prepared to pay to advertise.

It is strange you didnt get any take up on the ARC as I had the feeling there are always hangers-on wanting to join in. How did you get your crew in the end?

thanx for the response. Oh, and nice boat - how on earth did an IT bod manage to build that!? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Darren.

 

[StellaGirl]

try www.crewfile.com

The most important thing before setting off for anything more than a couple of days is to meet your crew first, have a drink, chat and if possigle go out on the water for a couple of hours. This way you will get a fairly good idea about whether you could sail with them on a long passage.

 

[dulcibella]

I've had a couple of useful recruits for weekend crewing over my first 4 months in the Crewseeker system. Seems useful to me.

 

[Das_Boot]

stellagirl
I suppose getting someone local to you is the best way out. It is what I have been thinking. However looking arround my locality the woman are all a little on the portly side and no blondes. Perhaps I shold move to the South.

 

[snowleopard]

i got my crew for the ARC from the ARC website, there are always hundreds of would-be crew looking for berths. i did however find that only about 1 in 3 were serious prospects, the rest were dreamers and timewasters.

i insisted on meeting prospective crew beforehand. if you're going to do a long passage you need to be sure you get on. all my ARC crew came for at least a week's sailing beforehand. there was one who wouldn't and dropped out and from what i later heard we had a lucky escape,

for short trips, e.g. around the uk, it's not practical to meet first but you're never far from a port if you have a disaster.

there are plenty of crewfinder websites for long-distance trips but there is one place i've found better than any other for short-trip crew - here!

to date i have recruited 7 crew members from scuttlebutt all of whom i would be happy to sail with again and some have become good friends.

incidentally i would advise caution when dealing with ads in the personal columns of YM etc. there are sometimes hidden agendas.

and while i'm on the subject, we'll be afloat in a few weeks and looking for more crew for west country & cross channel trips.

 

[dedwards]

I thought here is a good place for finding people because at least you have something to gauge (thats a horrible word to spell!!) what people will be like (if nothing else, reading this forum is one thing in common straight away).

Saying that, I have avoided touting myself on here because it doesnt feel like that sort of forum and it would get a bit tiresome if every other topic was "Crew Offered".

Maybe we need a scuttlebutt crewseeker roster?

<<we'll be afloat in a few weeks and looking for more crew >>

if that was an offer then I would def be interested in following it up.

 

[Talulah]

I used to be a member of Crewseekers a few years back and had some great sails. One crew member I met is now good friends and shares the current boat. Since then I have been a skipper/owner on Crewseekers and never had a bad experience. I have fended off one individual on the phone before ever meeting them.

 

[snowleopard]

the 'correct' place for crew ads is in the 'wanted' forum. having said that, it doesn't really seem to work because there's much less traffic there. as you say, blatant 'crew wanted' ads will make you unpopular but you won't upset too many by slipping it in with a discussion on a related topic.

oh dear - re-reading this makes me wonder if i'm setting myself up to be 'kimmed'!

and yes - it was an offer, if you're prepared to travel that far. PM me. if you search back for 'west country rally' you'll see the sort of thing that goes on.

 

[peterb]

It's worth trying the Crewing Service of the Cruising Association. Have a look at this

 

[ongolo]

You can try 7knots.com, that is really free or crewfinder, a south african service also free,

7knots.com seems to be really the most active.

regards ongolo

 

[Sea Devil]

Crewseekers are excellent!

It is interesting how different people have entirely different experiences with the same organisation....

I have used Crewseekers for ages - crews for several Biscay's - Med - Atlantic - west Indies - after that it became less useful but still had enquirers and some crew.

The point about applicants from Crewseekers is that they have paid money to join so are serious - want to do it. I have had them fly out to the West Indies, ABC islands - Trips from Trini to Cuba and Key West.

I think it works for me as I really only want crew for a longish passage - once I have done the miles I am happy to single hand or whatever for local - 48 hour passages... I love having young people on board - normally very 'cool' and do not require me to play 'host'. Frankly the fewer qualifications the better - There are several ways of doing most things in sailing but in my boat the only right way is my way and that is not always the RYA way...

Meeting before hand is of course OK but not certain to make a success of the mix.
As a friend of mine remarked "you have to live with someone for a while before you find out if they fart a lot"

The deal I always offer to crew is that there is no deal. They can get off the boat anytime they like and I can ask them to leave any time I like. I have asked 2 or 3 to go - nicely I hope but they had to go - Had one or two leave for various reasons before the intended time - No problem - No crew ever lasts more than a couple or three months - seems universal -

Crews and skippers/owners have somewhat different agendas - but to return to the point - I have found Crewseekers excellent - particularly their short notice board!

 

[poter]

West Country trips!!.......yers please, how about in return for South of France trips?


poter

 

[janie]

Re: ARC?

[ QUOTE ]
It is strange you didnt get any take up on the ARC as I had the feeling there are always hangers-on wanting to join in. How did you get your crew in the end?

[/ QUOTE ]A Club member got his crew for the last ARC through Crewseekers, and continues to use it.

 

[snowleopard]

Re: ARC?

question for those who had success recruiting through crewseekers - did you pay the fee or did you find the free service worked???