CrewSeekers - Your thoughts?

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Bazzaman96

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10 Feb 2006
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I'm currently studying for my Day Skipper theory (should have it within the next month) and am going to take the practical as soon as possible after that.

I want to build up my experience bit by bit once I've got this qualification, by crewing where possible at the weekends (since I'm busy during the week).

I've found the website 'www.crewseekers.co.uk' but I'm very reluctant to part with my money before I know if it's any good. Does anyone have any experience of this organisation?

Finally, do you think that I am likely to find any crewing work at the weekends? I'm fairly new to sailing, hence my desire to build my experience up slowly in this way. Would a Day Skipper be too basic a qualification?
 
I've crossed both the Pacific and the Atlantic with Crewseekers. They seem to deliver genuine contacts. I'm not currently a member but would recommend them. I had Yachtmaster Theory but not practical and around 2k miles experience. The pacific crossing was a delivery from Professioinal Deliveries Worldwide and met expenses but not flights.

Ed
 
1. Do you belong to a sailing club? Many clubs keep a register of members who want to crew; it has the advantage of the skipper/crew being able to meet before a comittment is made.
2. I should think that most skippers would be delighted to have a day skipper on board as a crew.
3. You may find that some forumites can assist with local knowledge if you fill in your profile a bit more, for example: location, bio.
 
Ah, apologies Lord Nelson - I've only just signed up.

Age - 23. Strong, strapping lad type.
Location: West Sussex (Can reach most places: Southampton to Hastings, though closest to Shoreham or Brighton, I'd imagine - have never checked!)
 
I suggest you try asking around here for starters. I have had crew from Scuttlebutt for several deliveries & cross-channel jaunts and always found it worked out well.

Officially you should post in the 'Wanted' forum but far more people look in Scuttlebutt so try there first. Probably best to wait until the season is getting under way.
 
The Sussex Yacht Club at Shoreham maintain a crew register for members. However you can always try putting a card on their noticeboard, I do not think anyone would object to that. It might be worthwhile joining the club, there are one or two members who offer crewing positions with training at weekend (mainly round the cans cruiser-racing, but some cruising)
 
Club noticeboards and websites also a good idea. As are any contacts you met though the theory course. Also walking the dock chatting to people can help. I helped bring back a Farr40 from the med belonging to a forumite last year so keep a look out here too. It's fairly easy to get a feel of whether a skipper is worth sailing with or dodgy.
 
My plan is to try and get something as regular as possible, but on the small yachts so as to be as hands on as possible.

I enquired about the possibility of crewing on a beautiful tall ship that used to sail out of Portsmouth, but as pleasurable as it would be I think it's perhaps not a logical step from the Day Skipper to this 80ft+ beast. Perhaps it's quite a shame that I'm saying that, though I'm not sure how similar a tall ship is to seat-of-the-pants sailing, so to speak.
 
Sailing isn't always as regular as we'd like it to be what with weather and gear not always working etc. Try to get regular contacts for sailing but don't rule out the odd delivery. It's a cheap way of building miles and the bigger companies won't set out in a knackered old tub - they tend to be quite expensive and geared towards the higher end of the market. The pacific trip I did as deckhand was on a 60 footer and very hands on as there where only 4 of us. Whilst you might not want or have time for that kind of trip, a cross channel delivery would be good fun for a couple of days and should be easy enough to find for a 30-40 footer. The main requirements that the agencies are looking for in a deckhand are reliability and the ability to keep a solo watch. Might be worth considering for a bit of fun anyway. Incidentally you can view the crewseekers site to see if there is anything you fancy and only need to join if you want to get further details.
 
If you want some Sunday morning racing, turn up at the Brighton yacht club at 8.45 and ask to crew. The crusing section meets up during the week, I can't remember which evening.
 
The Cruising Association maintain a crew/skippers and a skippers/crew listing .They also meet in Limehouse Ist wednesday of month.No charge to members and fee refundable if you join.World wide crewing opportunities.
www.cruising/org.uk
 
All the above posts offer sound advice.
However re. Crewseekers, I also avoided paying for membership of crewing lists etc. when I was in a similar situation to yourself. However since when I was delivering yachts I have used Crewseekers to find crew and they always matched you up with pretty good crew, they are genuine.
 
I've been a member of crewseekers off & on for 6 years, both to be crew and seeking crew for my own boat ... my general opinion is that they are a useful service and one boat owner I met thru them in 2000 I still sail with as a friend ... but I would caution you to be wary of the delivery companies who lurk there with multiple opportunities (such as "professional" yacht del) in order to poach unsuspecting newbies as free labour in their business ... building sea miles is necessary for experience and for your RYA certs but the delivery companies make a profit by not paying you, by feeding you on a per diem less than the prison service and rarely paying your expenses, my experience same as saxifrage ... frankly, I'm amazed that in this day & age the delivery companies are allowed to treat crew the way they do ... but that's for another forum.
 
Just to pick up on the last point. Of course delivery companies are going to make a profit out of you. That's capitalism. I was lucky in that we had a very good skipper who did not scrimp on the food budget: not that food was a problem (see photo). Also we had an extremely generous owner who kept us in luxury at both ends of the trip and tipped us more than enough to cover any losses. But I can see it might not always be like that. Certainly for me it was a much better deal than paying a contribution towards expenses on a non delivery.

bigfish.jpg


Ed
 
Er, didn't mean to focus on the victuals, saxifrage, but rather on a warning about delivery companies preying on the uninitialted who might pay money to crewseekers; after all, a delivery is NOT a holiday, but business, or, as you put it, capitalism; ... however, last time I read my economics texts, capitalism noted labour as a COST item, not a freebie ... nevertheless, gotta say, Good photo, BTW! ...
 
This is all excellent advice, so thank you. I will definitely look into Brighton YC as they would be the closest to where I live. My 'back-up plan', so to speak, would have been to invest in a yachtshare with others so that I can build my miles up and gain experience, but crewing seems a better alternative since I would probably get more exposure, more regularly - and it's fun and cost-effective.

Once again, thanks for your advice.
 
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