Hoping to crew, need advice!

[john_morris_uk]

So you think sailing around the Greek islands on an expensive yacht is work .If that is the case, are people masochists if chartering in the same area ? .

I sail my own boat for pleasure (and it costs me...)

When I sail other peoples boats its often work. I either deliver or train or examine. The fact that I'm often at sea in extremely pleasant places is a bonus. I can understand that some people are happy to take the occasional trip and contribute towards their food and keep, but these are occasional trips for pleasure. However if my full time job was acting as crew at the beck and call and whim of some owner I would expect to be paid. Therefore I don't understand your line about suggesting that sailing around Greece on an expensive yacht not being work?

Or am I misunderstanding your meaning?

 

[TQA]

Yes you can see the world as a temporary crew. I know of single men single women and couples who are doing just this. They mostly look for ordinary boats doing the 'milk run ' circumnavigation as with owner and partner on board who want extra crew. A cheery easy going personality and a willingness to tackle anything is more important than any certificate. Proof of some offshore watchkeeping helps. Smokers find it hard to get berths. Users of mind altering substances other than moderate alcohol will find it even harder.

Good places to find boats are the the jumping off points for the big crossings like Falmouth Lagos to Villamoura Grenada Antigua St Marten all are dependent on the cruising calendar.

Marina noticeboards cruisers bars and VHF radio nets often carry ads from people looking for boats.

 

[Mr Cassandra]

I registered on Crewbay and Crewseekers yesterday just to see what was available ,as to be honest I would not mind having a go at this malarky.
I found lots of Single men wanting female crew because of their inability to find women that would stay with them .Others needing help because of age and difficul sailing area ,mostly these position were free or low costs .
In the Med and Caribbean where I am interested there was usually a hidden cost in the advert of around 20-30euro/$ pd, with additional shared cost, so not exactly free but a fair contribution to costs. imo

I applied for some work in the caribbean so will see what comes back

 

[laika]

The owner of a £150,000 yacht ought to be able to pay for crew when required.

Are you doing that thing people do here of assuming that people distribute their wealth in exactly the same way that you do, so the owner of a £150k yacht has a £1.5m house, a £100k car, £600k pension etc etc?

 

[JumbleDuck]

Are you doing that thing people do here of assuming that people distribute their wealth in exactly the same way that you do, so the owner of a £150k yacht has a £1.5m house, a £100k car, £600k pension etc etc?

No. But I am assuming that anyone spending that much on a boat will have considered their crewing requirements carefully.

Can I really get £15k for a 1999 Golf with dodgy third gear, damp passenger footwell and an engine which has been on "limp home" mode since 2013?

 

[Mr Cassandra]

No. But I am assuming that anyone spending that much on a boat will have considered their crewing requirements carefully.

Can I really get £15k for a 1999 Golf with dodgy third gear, damp passenger footwell and an engine which has been on "limp home" mode since 2013?

You are obviously not the type to have on board then ... ;-) probably steal the toilet paper

 

[Angele]

Am I missing out on something here ? The owner has a of £150 ,000 yacht and people think the can sail for free ,or a small contribution of £15 a day .

Why do it ?

rtboss, I'm struggling to understand to whom the "why do it?" comment is aimed. Is it to the owner of the £150,000 yacht or to the crew who are willing to do it for free (or even to pay a contribution)?

And what is it that you find surprising? That the boat owner is not willing to pay crew? Or even that he/she needs crew in the first place? Or is it that the crew are willing to provide their services for free?

As the owner of a yacht who has had several people from crewing websites come out sailing with me, none of this seems at all surprising. That is why I am struggling to understand what you meant by the post.

 

[JumbleDuck]

You are obviously not the type to have on board then ... ;-) probably steal the toilet paper

I friend of mine who ran a hotel once said "When you realise that people really do steal the disinfectant cubes out of urinals, you learn a lot about human nature."

 

[laika]

No. But I am assuming that anyone spending that much on a boat will have considered their crewing requirements carefully.

3 responses. Firstly you must be applying some kind of formula to calculate total wealth from boat cost and I contend that that's a rather bad assumption. Secondly £150k would get you (roughly) a new bottom end 12m boat or as 25 year old 12m swedish boat, both of which could easily be handled by a couple so why does this require careful consideration of crewing requirements? Probably most importantly though this is all rather off topic and like you I disagree with rtboss1's assertion:

Am I missing out on something here ? The owner has a of £150 ,000 yacht and people think the can sail for free ,or a small contribution of £15 a day .

Why do it ?

some reasons would be
- because you're doing a long passage and could do with an extra watchkeeper
- because you're going somewhere and happy to do someone a favour and give them a lift
- because they're interested in learning to sail and you wish someone had done that for you when you were in their shoes
- because you're an older couple and could do with some jobs done requiring strength
- because you just like meeting new people

would you pay them though as the OP seems to be wanting? I suspect that's rather beyond £150k 12m yacht territory...

so still off-topic. sorry

 

[JumbleDuck]

Secondly £150k would get you (roughly) a new bottom end 12m boat or as 25 year old 12m swedish boat, both of which could easily be handled by a couple so why does this require careful consideration of crewing requirements?

Dunno about you, but before buying a boat I'd give some consideration to whether I could manage her.

 

[laika]

Dunno about you, but before buying a boat I'd give some consideration to whether I could manage her.

Well yes, but manageability is a function of size, sail plan etc., not cost. How big do you suppose a boat needs to be before one starts to require "staff"?

 

[mjcoon]

Well yes, but manageability is a function of size, sail plan etc., not cost. How big do you suppose a boat needs to be before one starts to require "staff"?

If you want instant reactions, perhaps a whipstaff? ;-)

Mike.