Delivery Crew Experiences

[Vid]

I have a potential opportunity to spend a couple of months this summer on a yacht delivery from Cape Town to the UK.

Does anyone have any experience of yacht deliveries and/or of this route?

Cheers

Vid

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[tcm]

Beware, beware the Bight of Benin
There's few come out though many go in!

Seriously, it sounds jolly fun. If it's in summer it should be fine. If in late October onwards, it could be quite horrible.


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[Deleted member 478]

Who built the boat? There are some very dodgy boat builders in South Africa (some very good ones too it must be said)

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.stingo.co.uk>http://www.stingo.co.uk</A> <font color=blue>- still showing at a computer near you</font color=blue>

 

[jamesjermain]

Who's the company and what's the boat.

I have had v good experiences as a client of Reliance Yacht Deliveries and as a crew with a Professional Yacht Deliveries Worldwide team.

<hr width=100% size=1>JJ

 

[Vid]

The delivery is for Reliance and it's on a new Leopard 47 catamaran - which doesn't sound too bad!

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[themount2]

I wish I had the opportunity to spend a couple of months this summer away from work let alone a yacht delivery!!!

Good luck and enjoy.

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[Peppermint]

I've done a bit of that sort of thing and really there's only one rule. If at any time before you leave your not comfortable walk away. Don't think your letting anybody down or get any of that macho nonsense going if your starting with doubts walk away.

So really just be watchful at the outset and have a good time.

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[Viceroy]

Vid...try this site for general seagoing list and the section on delivery...scroll down 'till you hit the list.
<http://www.cruiser.co.za/crewfinder.asp>
Cheers.

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[snowleopard]

difficult to walk away when you've just flown to south africa (but i agree, you must do so if you feel things aren't right).

a suggestion to help you filter out a cowboy operation: ask for a full inventory of safety gear or better still send a list of the things you'd hope to find on board to be ticked off and returned. make it clear that if the items they tick are missing or unservicable you'll turn round and fly home again.

here are a few items to get you going:

quantity of fresh water carried
in how many tanks
gps sets
ssb
satcom
no of in-date flares
epirb (frequency)
no & type of lilfejackets & harnesses
medical kit
liferaft type, service date
skipper's qualifications

and so on. shouldn't take a well-prepared skipper more than 1/2 hour to complete and he would respect you for it. if he ducks, so should you!

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[jamesjermain]

Relax and enjoy.

Reliance is a good company - well established and with a good reputation. Its skippers are all self-employed freelances who are responsible for arranging their own crew and logistics so you are to a very large extent dependent on the abilities of this guy. However, Reliance only deal with experienced and reliable people so you should be fine.

I have never sailed a Leopard but I understand they are comfortable and fast in the right conditions.

<hr width=100% size=1>JJ

 

[wpsalm]

see a lot of these South African cats arriving in the West Indies the only problems I,ve heard about usually boil down to conflict of personalitys ...when the captain starts telling you what a lousy bunch his last crew were beware...

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[Vid]

Someone else got the job....

Thanks for all your comments.

David

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[oldsaltoz]

G'day Vid,

Have done a few deliveries myself, the first point is don't rush, I make sure the vessel is in reasonable condition with all the right gear aboard, and double check everything, this is the most important point to get right, and don't rush, be thougher.

Safety equipment, condition of rig and sails, engine and when last serviced, spare parts, up to date charts.

Also have a look at how much rubbish can be off loaded, most seem to have heaps of old, broken, out of date or useless bits stored on board, get rid of it, she will sail better and you will have less to worry about.

Check experience on board, skipper and crew.

And, what you do have a good time, I haven't sailed the coast of Africa (Yet) but envy anyone who is about to on a delivery trip.



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