Yacht Delivery crew advice please

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mickyp168

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Hi
Hopefully this is the right forum to pose my question. I am interested in registering as crew with yacht delivery companies serving the Mediterranean theatre, preferably from the French or Italian coast as I live in southern France. Quite happy to pay my own way as my motive is to learn and get the sea time in. I own a small cruiser so I want get the experience to be able to make my own voyages with confidence. Does any reader have and advice , experience , recommendations on how best to proceed please? Is it even a viable idea??

Thank you
Mick
 
Don't know if things have changed in recent years, but Sunsail's new boats used to be brought overland to St. Raphael and launched and rigged there for delivery to their bases in the E Med and Adriatic. St Raph is obviously handy for you. They used various companies for deliveries with PYDW (google them) to the fore. If you can get on PYDW's books, you should be ideally placed. Deliveries generally used to build up from early March.
 
I have done a few deliveries now as crew, these are a few things From my experience.

You need some experience. Most delivery skippers go with three on board and they need someone who is confident doing solo night watches.

Limiting yourself to south France will limit opportunities, if they are paying your flights I don't see why UK departures are a problem.

Most deliveries are short notice things, you will need to be flexible to take time off at short notice.
 
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If you go down the Crewseekers route make sure you do some research on the skipper and boat before joining as crew.

I did a delivery trip back in 2010 from Portugal to Falmouth across Biscay. It was not until we were well into Atlantic and we were hit by force 9 winds and heavy seas that I realised neither the skipper nor the boat were really up to it. The trip came to an end 40 nautical miles off Falmouth when we had to send out a mayday and get picked up by the fantastic crew of the Falmouth lifeboats. We were in the shipping lane with no battery power (alternator had packed up), last few drops of fuel for the engine, a six inch rip in the mainsail that was threatening to pull across the entire sail, no long range radio and no mobile phone reception. The mayday (initially a pan pan) was prompted by the forecast that was for an imminent force 9 with a sea state high or very high, and the skipper had 'lost his nerve'.

Our only means of communication was a handheld VHF with a broadcast range of 5 nautical miles. Our choice was either to call for help while we were in the shipping lane and have a mayday relay sent, or risk trying to get to Falmouth, but with the risk of having no means of communication once outside of the shipping lane if anything went seriously wrong.

I was a bit naive and had trusted the skipper (who I met through crewseekers) who held himself out as a 'yachtmaster'. He did in fact turn out to be a yachtmaster (he'd done a zero to hero course eighteen months earlier), but had never crossed Biscay before and was not at all confident on board. The boat also turned out to have had a sorry history while he'd been in Portugal before I arrived, and he had even relied on the Portuguese coastguard/lifeboat crews the week before I arrived when his engine packed up and he started drifting towards some large rocks.

It was a situation which a more experienced skipper would have probably been able to cope with; however, when they found us the lifeboat crew were relieved we'd called them when we did and not chanced it.

My advice would be to speak to the skipper and ask what his experience is beyond the simple headlines such as 'yachtmaster'. Also ask if he can give you the details of any crew he's sailed with before (as recently as possible) so you can get some objective advice as to how seaworthy both he and his boat really are. Also, make sure before you set off that there is adequate safety equipment on board. Remember, if it's a trip of any distance you're doing, you're going to be trusting the skipper and his boat with your life.
 
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Caution needed

It is certainly a viable idea and one with which I have had some (limited) experience. Here are some things you might bear in mind when signing on for a trip of any distance.

No matter how good the delivery company or how prestigious the client, in the end you are placing your trust in the delivery skipper. Don't be afraid to ask about his or her experience and ideally contact people who have crewed with them before.

Often the delivery company pays the delivery skipper a fixed fee for diesel, all crew food and incidentals. A good skipper will spend wisely and buy quality food and plenty of it. They will make sure they don't skimp on diesel, (knowing they can keep the unused fuel money), resulting in a reluctance to motor when it would be prudent to do so.

Find out whether you will be hand-steering all the way or does the boat have autohelm. It makes quite a difference on a long trip.

Does the boat have appropriate safety equipment - EPIRB, radar reflector, liferaft, Man-overboard kit? Is it all in-date and fully operational?

Are you expected to provide your own lifejacket? If so make sure it has crotch strap and "D" ring to attach your own lifeline and a spare gas canister in case of accidental (or, heaven forbid) intentional inflation.

Does the boat/skipper have adequate paper charts for the trip, at an appropriate scale? A single chart of the entire Western Med is not, in my opinion, sufficient.

If relying (practically speaking) on electronic navigation, is there a backup/crosscheck system?

Whatever your position in the crew 'hierarchy' you should not be afraid of speaking up if you have concerns about weather, safety or crew fitness. If you feel unsure or uncomfortable about any aspect of the trip, make sure the skipper satisfies you with a sensible and reassuring response. If not, think carefully about whether you want to set off - you don't have to!
 
Really interesting post. There's a few agencies out there. Best to contact some of the delivery companies. Seaway jumps to mind and PYD as mentioned already. I would invest in the following: 1. decent oilskins 2. decent lifejacket 3. personal locator beacon attached to your lifejacket or waterproof jacket.

You will find that you sail in weather which if you were in your own boat you would be in port in the pub.

Also wear you lifejacket at night - however cool the people are who don't! If you are on solo watch and go over the side at night its game over as it will be up to 4hrs before your crew mate comes to relieve you. Meanwhile the boat will be sailing itself away from you.

I have done a lot of deliveries and yacht cruising. I have also worked on a large number of yachts over 24m.
 
Some very good advice above.

A perspective from the other side, as I've paid skippers to deliver my boat and organised crew.

As we sail as a family we do some chartering so are fully coded, and take it seriously, which judging by the reaction we get from people about our kit could well be a rarity, so as others have said, make your own checks of safet kit. Mgn280 is a good check list.

As an owner I would ask crew to a) take care of my boat as if it was their own, b) be flexible, stuff happens at sea and if the trip is anticipated to take a week don't book your return flight for the evening of the anticipated arrival day, it won't happen! And most off all have a sense of humour as you will meet some "interesting" people you will need to get on with!!!

There is loads of delivery trips about. Another route that I have done is to contact local charter companies. They always need boats moving about!

Good luck,
 
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