General Advise on Yacht Delivery as Crew

[RunAgroundHard]

An associate wants to do yacht delivery to fill a career gap. They don't have any spare funds of significance. They have experience of sailing big yachts and RYA CC and DS as Watch Leader, DSC VHF. I advised that likely they will have to pay for travel to / from the vessel, perhaps contribute to food and will not be paid. I did not think it was good idea and recommended sail training volunteer work instead.

However, my advice is based on hearsay rather than fact. Would anyone know what the reality is for people interested in crewing on yacht delivery, with a company that specialises in providing this service?

 

[capnsensible]

It's a good way to discover if you get and importantly, get over, seasickness.

Otherwise there's all sorts of different companies and people with their own ideas. Contacting a couple of reputable firms like Halcyon yachts...owner posts on here.....wpold be a good start.

 

[Tranona]

On the one occasion I had a delivery crew I paid for the skipper and for the crew I paid flights and food. I was the third crew. However, as above there are all sorts of different arrangements. Whether it is of value depends on the person's objectives but it does give experience of being a crew and maybe sailing on some nice boats and to nice places (maybe!)

 

[RunAgroundHard]

He can sail and doesn't suffer from sea sickness. What the replies show is that my assumptions are not accurate and individual deliveries or companies may at least pay his expenses. I'll pass on the information that he needs to check out companies and ask what they offer.

Thanks for the info.

 

[dunedin]

It may be worth finding out about insurance. It was a very rare event, but from reports on here on one occasion a delivery skipper and crew got sued for damages after a boat was lost - skipper was insured but crew wasn’t and lost a lot of money.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

I have also heard of a delivery crew who bailed out halfway and paid flights home as owner skipper was unsound and boat worse. Rare but boats have been lost on delivery as boat may be not fully fitted out or brought back to working order and folks will often be sailing into waters no one on board knows.

Find a reputable delivery company instead and it could really set you up to gain experience

 

[PeterV]

I did yacht delivery to fill a gap. All expenses paid but no pay. Contact a reputable firm and sign up with them.

 

[ean_p]

I did yacht delivery to fill a gap. All expenses paid but no pay. Contact a reputable firm and sign up with them.

Yes I have done the same with Halcyon some years ago......all costs of travel to and from the boat and on board food....off the boat then you pay for your own food. To be fair as I could sail and just fancied the trip then I would never dream of 'paying' to crew on a delivery.

 

[B27]

I don't think there's a huge market for 'casual' delivery crew.
If you want the experience of sailing a big boat somewhere nice, you may find you are competing with people who can afford to buy their own plane ticket home and even those who are happy to contribute to food on board.
If you are experienced and a commercial YM and people know you as a good hand to have on a boat, you get better offers.
Some boat for instance are delivered between regattas by members of the race crew, it can be less formal than an agency. Offering to pay your way as an extra person is a way to get experienced and known.
Just make sure everyone has the same understanding of what the deal is!

 

[MontyMariner]

Contact 'them' and ask what the deal is, then it's your 'associate's' choice.

 

[RupertW]

I did this for a year once and it was fairly easy to get deliveries and great experience in just eating up the miles efficiently instead of cruising short distance from one pretty port to another.

I was never paid but got all travel expenses and basic food.

My sailing was far more relaxed and competent afterwards even though I had 20 years crusing experience before then.

 

[Laser310]

I have done many deliveries - often pretty long; 1500-3000nm.

As mostly a racing sailor, i really like deliveries, because it is an opportunity to just enjoy being on the ocean in a relaxed and fun way, without the stress and rigor of racing.

every situation is different

I mostly just help friends, and I am very fortunate in that some of my friends have very nice yachts.

With friends, I do not ask for any expense money. Sometimes they insist, and if the airfare is high - say transatlantic -, and everyone is getting airfare, then i accept. If it's modest, I just say no thanks. I do not want to have any sort of an employer-employee situation intrude on the friendship: "I'm paying his air fare, why isn't he scrubbing the deck?" Now, I am always happy to do whatever work is required, but misunderstandings can arise, and I'd rather keep money out of it.

I also have a few friends who are professional yacht captains. They sometimes ask if I want to help; usually on boats that they captain full time. In this case, usually the owner is not on board, and i might not have ever met them. Generally the whole crew is getting expenses and a daily rate, so i am happy to accept that.

Because I can be really picky a bout the boats i deliver, i don't mind if i am out of pocket for some expenses: the boats are interesting enough, and the crew are a good group, so it's worth it.

I would probably never just sign on to some random boat that needs to be delivered. You just don't know about the state of the boat, the crew, etc., but I know that people do this all the time.

There are many FaceBook groups that exist to put crew in touch with boats that need delivering; if you look through those, you will get a sense of what the present custom is. I would say that fewer that 1/2 of the boats are willing to pay travel expenses.

Rather than finding spots on random boats, I think that his individual should try and hook up with established delivery companies, or professional captains. He is more likely to get expenses paid, and the boats might get some level of inspection before leaving the dock.

 

[davidej]

Good advice.

I have abandoned two delivery trips with random “friends “ because the yachts were really not up to scratch for the intended journeys. I joined to sail, not spend time in ports fixing problems which the skipper should have already sorted out.

 

[Halcyon Yachts]

An associate wants to do yacht delivery to fill a career gap. They don't have any spare funds of significance. They have experience of sailing big yachts and RYA CC and DS as Watch Leader, DSC VHF. I advised that likely they will have to pay for travel to / from the vessel, perhaps contribute to food and will not be paid. I did not think it was good idea and recommended sail training volunteer work instead.

However, my advice is based on hearsay rather than fact. Would anyone know what the reality is for people interested in crewing on yacht delivery, with a company that specialises in providing this service?

Yacht delivery is an excellent way to gain experience and to sail a variety of boats in very different places.

As a volunteer most companies or individual delivery skippers will insist that you are capable of standing a solo nightwatch. At Halcyon, we use Day Skipper as a minimum qualification for our delivery crew. In reality, our crew are often at or close to YM level. Gaining extra RYA tickets will certainly help your chances of being chosen.

Travel costs and onboard food should be provided. It is unlikely you will get paid crewing work unless you are at YM level. As well as yacht delivery, we have a crew supply service for people to hire professional crew.

We have extremely high standards with our skippers and we insist that the yacht has all SOLAS equipment as a minimum. If you are nervous about sailing on a yacht delivery then you can always ask the skipper or delivery company to provide more info about the yacht; age, service history, inventory, survey info etc or the skipper; experience and qualifications, knowledge of the yacht and route and to check references etc

Here is a short video that we made with one of our crew a few years ago. It was her first trip with us:

I'm always happy to have a chat if you want any more advice or help.

Pete

 

[RunAgroundHard]

… As a volunteer most companies or individual delivery skippers will insist that you are capable of standing a solo nightwatch. At Halcyon, we use Day Skipper as a minimum qualification for our delivery crew. …

Pete

Thanks Pete. I have not been in touch with the person over the holiday period. However, I will pass this onto him.

Appreciate the feedback.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Thanks everyone for the information, my post queries have been answered. I am sure my acquaintance will appreciate the advise.

Personally I am aware of Halcyon, I follow them on YouTube and based on threads posted here they are very reputable.

If there are any shoddy delivery companies that should be avoided from a crewing perspective, please drop me a PM and I will pass that on.

Thanks.

 

[RupertW]

Thanks everyone for the information, my post queries have been answered. I am sure my acquaintance will appreciate the advise.

Personally I am aware of Halcyon, I follow them on YouTube and based on threads posted here they are very reputable.

If there are any shoddy delivery companies that should be avoided from a crewing perspective, please drop me a PM and I will pass that on.

Thanks.

The endless reinventions of Reliance get a lot of poor coverage here but I did three deliveries with them a few years ago and got two good skippers and one not so good (on a cross Atlantic ) and learnt from every trip.

 

[Stemar]

I'm currently reading the Sea Wolf by Jack London. Now there's a skipper you don't want!

 

[MontyMariner]

I'm currently reading the Sea Wolf by Jack London. Now there's a skipper you don't want!

I listened to that a few days ago on R4extra, a good story. Probably not as good as reading the book.