Elaine Bunting gets tips from crew on how to hitch-hike your way around the oceans, and from skippers on how to take on extra handsSharing a boat, whether you\u2019re crew going places or a skipper requiring extra hands, can be a worthwhile experience for all. Photo: Tor JohnsonAs a boy, Darroch Tait always had his head in a book. He was fascinated by adventures and the discovery of new lands. In his early 30s he decided to quit his job as a teacher, buy a boat with his best friend and go sailing for a few years. He set off in his 35ft Trident Warrior Hitrapia in 2013 and cruised the Mediterranean, until Hitrapia was wrecked near Sagres after the mooring buoy he had tied up to snapped its chain.
\nTait didn\u2019t want to abandon his plan. So he decided to walk the dock and find a skipper who would take him on as crew. It led to him being crew for a transatlantic crossing and then sailing around the world in 2016. Today, over two years of sailing and three different yachts later, he has completed the circumnavigation, and written three books about his travels.
\nIt has given him adventures to rival the most vivid of those childhood books. \u201cActive volcanoes, catching a 100kg marlin, surfing monster waves, freediving with whale sharks, sailing through the midst of the humpback migration off the east coast of Brazil\u2026 these are just a few of the many highlights,\u201d he says.
\nDarroch Tait crewed other people\u2019s yachts for two years
\nJoining the village
\nWhen Karen Slater lost her job with the Fire Service after 21 years she decided to go sailing. She had no background in yachting and limited knowledge, but she spent two seasons crewing for a charter skipper in Greece before signing up online in 2018 to find a yacht to sail on round the world. She finished up crewing on four different yachts. \u201cYoung or old, it\u2019s a fantastic experience,\u201d she says.
\nSlater had a crew position for the World ARC in 2018, a rally that attracts \u2013 and needs \u2013 a group of travelling crew. Her experience illustrates that even careful plans often fall victim to events, so you must be prepared to hatch Plan B, C and even D. She initially set off from St Lucia with an American couple, but three days later was struck down with pneumonia and had to be taken off.
\nSlater rejoined the boat in the Marquesas Islands and sailed onwards to Vanuatu. Then, she jumped ship \u201cwith the say-so of the captains\u201d, and continued to Australia on another boat on the rally. Next, she joined a Swiss skipper who had an injured crew.
\nClose to Mauritius, however, she was injured herself after being thrown across the cabin and concussed. She was evacuated, and again returned home, but rejoined the same boat in South Africa for the final legs across the South Atlantic and up to Grenada.
\nRallies such as the World ARC provide lots of these opportunities and are a great way to form connections and build a reputation. The benefits lie in both directions: becoming part of the rally \u2018village\u2019 can offer lots of crewing opportunities, and when the unexpected happens to a skipper\u2019s plans, the same community can supply an experienced helping hand for a leg or more.
\nArticle continues below\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tBoat hitching across the Atlantic: 10 tips for choosing the right boat<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSuzanne Van Der Veeken is the author of Ocean Nomad: The Complete Atlantic Sailing Crew Guide, which she launched at\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tFinding crew: How to hire the right help for your ocean crossing<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEvery November, hopeful crew gather in Las Palmas in the lead up to the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC). In\u2026<\/p>\n
How to get a ride
\nTime was when the only way to get a ride on a yacht was walking the dock, and many travellers still do that. But as with dating, crew searches have moved online, and if you have sailing experience to offer this is a better way to seek a boat or crew. Sites such as OceanCrewLink.com and crewseekers.net are great places to start.
\nAs with online dating, however, don\u2019t take owners at face value, and don\u2019t expect them to do so with you \u2013 sailing has its fair share of bluffers and eccentrics. Karen Slater\u2019s first ever cruising experience was with a solo sailor who turned out to be \u201ca huge drinker\u201d who made unsafe decisions at sea. \u201cI think what he wanted was a sober driver and that was beyond my skills,\u201d she says. She quit, never to make that mistake again.
\n\u201cTalk to someone face to face, not just by email. Have a few conversations and get a tour of the boat if possible. They can list all the sailing experience in the world, but you need to know what that means,\u201d says Slater. If you can have a few days sailing with someone beforehand, even better.
\nKaren Slater completed a World ARC on multiple boats
\n\u201cGo with your gut feeling. You will be stuck in a very small and confined space for a long time, so I would always suggest spending as much time before setting off as possible to see if you get along,\u201d says Tait.
\n\u201cIf you don\u2019t like or trust the skipper on land, they will be a nightmare at sea. Never get on a yacht with a skipper who skimps on safety. Lifejackets, liferafts, flares etc must be serviced and in date. If they\u2019re not, I wouldn\u2019t trust the skipper \u2013 these are basic necessities for survival if it all goes wrong.\u201d
\nAmerican sailor Tina Crabtree has sailed around 20,000 miles on ten different boats with more than 50 crew mates in total. \u201cWith the exception of two people, everyone worked together and was a joy to sail with,\u201d she says.
\n\u201cMy advice is safety first. I left one boat because I was not safe. Somehow before I joined I had failed to notice the chafed jib furling line and many other signs.\u201d
\nCrabtree also advocates joining boats in races and rallies \u2013 in her case the PacCup and World ARC. \u201cThese boats have had to pass inspections in order to join the race and thus were very well maintained.\u201d
\nMartin Booth and Helen Doody have also sailed round the world on different yachts taking part in a rally. He says: \u201cSafety is important: 100%. Travelling in a rally means a huge amount as people doing it tend to have a goal in mind, have done the preparation and have a minimum level of safety. But not knowing the owner is a big factor and I don\u2019t think you\u2019d ever know the answers until you\u2019d sailed with them for a few weeks.\u201d
\nMartin Booth and Helen Doody sailed the world as a couple on five yachts
\nIt is possible to find crew places as a couple, and Martin and Helen did just that. In 2015 they were invited by a friend who had bought a new 46ft catamaran to join a crew of four for a circumnavigation. They helped with the preparation and sailed as far as Fiji, but there the skipper\u2019s plans changed and the voyage ended.
\n\u201cBy then we had met everyone on the rally and were asked to help another couple, and later other yachts asked us to help.\u201d The couple completed their round the world voyage on four different yachts and then joined a fifth to sail across the Pacific once again.
\nIn their experience, some skippers will prefer a couple. \u201cIt\u2019s very circumstantial,\u201d says Booth. \u201cIt depends on the owner and the existing crew, and us. A single owner or skipper with other individuals on board might be seeking a single person. A lot of retired couples like to have another couple. For us, being a couple is advantageous because you always have a buddy.\u201d
\nThe skipper\u2019s rule is final: joining crew should fit into the boat\u2019s routines. Photo: Tor Johnson
\nWho\u2019s the boss?
\nWhile you need to be careful of an unknown skipper\u2019s experience level, many problems actually arise with more experienced crew who think they can adopt an advisory or even \u2018co-skipper\u2019 role. This is particularly true of people who\u2019ve been boat owners and skippers themselves.
\n\u201cYour boat, your rules, is a useful motto,\u201d says Tina Crabtree. \u201cIt\u2019s startling how every boat is run so differently.\u201d
\n\u201cCrew should always keep in mind that they are guests aboard what is, in essence, somebody else\u2019s floating home,\u201d says Darroch Tait. \u201cMany new skippers are quite insecure in their abilities and don\u2019t take kindly to any sort of criticism.
\n\u201cIt is a very fine art of persuasion to try and get a skipper to make a sensible decision without hurting his ego. Sometimes on the circumnavigation, I got it right but sometimes I didn\u2019t and left two boats as I\u2019d lost faith in the owners\u2019 ability to make the right choices.\u201d
\nThere are two ways of looking at this comment. As crew you have to accept that skippers have every right to run their boat in the way they please and that it is not a democracy. No one knows how to sail oceans until they\u2019ve done it, and a skipper, too, is always learning along the way. It\u2019s not a crew\u2019s place to criticise, and pushing for unsolicited input \u2013 or, worse, giving feedback after the event \u2013 will not go well.
\n\u201cYou are living in someone else\u2019s home and they have put in the time and money to it. Be respectful and open minded,\u201d says Martin Booth.
\nIt\u2019s important to set clear expectations before the start of any voyage to avoid conflict. Photo: James Mitchell
\n\u201cThere can only be one person in charge,\u201d Karen Slater says. \u201cThe skipper is the skipper under every circumstance. There is no perfect answer to how to do things, and if you are a skipper yourself, get on as crew. I always ask: \u2018How do you do it here?\u2019 After all, it\u2019s always worked for them. You have to be able to accept that.\u201d
\nWhen it goes wrong
\nThere are some real horror stories about skippers and crew at sea, from minor differences that got out of hand to irreconcilable rifts. But most issues can be avoided if you set the right expectations.
\n\u201cThe problems we have seen along the way were people who haven\u2019t presented themselves properly,\u201d say Martin Booth and Helen Doody. \u201cJust be you. An owner has got to like you, understand you, trust you. If you\u2019re not honest then that dishonesty will always show.\u201d
\n\u201cYou have to be adaptable and able to get on with people,\u201d says Karen Slater, \u201cAnd you have to be able to have frank conversations. I talk a lot, so I say that if you like quiet contemplation I\u2019m not for you.\u201d
\nWhen it goes well, lifelong friendships can be formed among crew who share an ocean passage. Photo: Tor Johnson
\nWhen a friend confessed her skipper was a bit of a bully, Karen admitted one of hers had shouted a lot too. \u201cWe talked about it. He used to shout at me things like: \u2018Pull it, pull it! Hurry up!\u2019 I\u2019d say: \u2018I have only got these arms and this strength and if that is any good to you that\u2019s great, and if not I\u2019ll get off at the next port.\u2019 You have to nip that stuff very early on. You can\u2019t treat me like that.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve heard horror stories of people frightened to come out of their cabin, and it\u2019s not all male to female, it can be the other way round. You need to be tough and gritty but you don\u2019t need to be aggressive. Be honest.\u201d
\nShe adds this important point about alcohol on board: \u201cA good boat is a dry boat when underway. If nobody\u2019s had a drink, you know who they are and have consistent behaviour. If people are predictable you only have the weather and the sea to worry about.\u201d
\nLiving in a confined space with strangers best suits tolerant personality types. Photo: Tor Johnson
\nThen there are lesser irritations that may chafe. \u201cDon\u2019t sweat the little stuff,\u201d says Slater. \u201cThis is a skill you can develop. The more people you meet, the more you do it. I would put tolerance in huge capitals. If you have no tolerance of people maybe crewing is not for you.
\n\u201cBut if it\u2019s really gnarly, you have to voice it. I shared a cabin with a guy who didn\u2019t believe in deodorant and never washed his clothes or used the shower!\u201d
\nMartin Booth says you need to be aware of anything that smacks of unfairness. \u201cIt can be things that get to you after two weeks at sea. If, say, you\u2019re the one always doing the washing up or making lunch, it will begin to grind. They are not the things that ultimately will end it, but they will contribute to a crew not getting on.
\nSome owners welcome the practicality of having a couple join them for long passages. Photo: Tor Johnson
\n\u201cNo owner or crewmember wants a situation where someone is not wanted on board. Sometimes times are going to be hard, maybe there\u2019s bad weather, and you all need to pull together.\u201d
\nCounting the costs
\nThe biggest bonus of crewing on someone\u2019s boat is the cost, even though this can vary wildly. During their round the world trip, Tina Crabtree joined Dan and Em Bower on their 51ft charter yacht Skyelark of London (the authors of our Bluewater Sailing Techniques series).
\nEven paying a crew fee on a commercial charter yacht represents a considerable saving compared to taking your own boat. \u201cBeing a paying crewmember is a great way to cross oceans and cruise islands. Anyone familiar with the cost of marine hardware knows it\u2019s a bargain,\u201d she says.
\n\u201cOwning and maintaining your own yacht is costly, however frugal you are,\u201d adds owner-turned-crew Tait. \u201cCrewing for other people removes this from your budget as you are generally only required to pay your portion of food, visas, sometimes mooring fees, etc.\u201d
\nDomestic chores and food sharing can be a flashpoint. Photo: Tor Johnson
\nTait says almost all skippers expect to pay the costs of running their boat but on a rally there might be per person crew fees (around \u00a32,000 for a full circumnavigation) and other costs are commonly split, usually food, but sometimes also gas, fuel and sometimes even mooring fees.
\n\u201cSometimes skippers will pay for everything including meals out, but that\u2019s not the norm. Most require your contribution,\u201d says Tait. \u201cEvery owner is in a different financial situation. Some may need [a contribution] to make it happen. Some may want to create a line. Either way, there isn\u2019t a right or wrong,\u201d says Martin Booth. \u201cIt makes no difference so long as it\u2019s clarified at the outset.\u201d
\nAdditional costs depend on how you want to live ashore. Tait says he spent just \u20ac250 a month while sailing in the Med, but \u20ac1,000-1,500 a month during his round-the-world trip. \u201cIt was cheap at sea but in French Polynesia you might want to go diving or stay in a hotel. This is a once in a lifetime trip. My reasoning was I may never get the chance to visit most of those places again. Experiences are what count in life.\u201d
\nCrewing can offer unbeatable life experiences at relatively little cost. Photo: Tor Johnson
\nMartin Booth estimates that he and Helen spent around \u00a320,000 as a couple sailing around the world, adding: \u201cIt is an absolute bargain. You couldn\u2019t go on holiday to all the countries we visited for a tenth of that. But remember, you are on duty and on call 24\/7.\u201d
\nSailing around the world is by no means a vacation in the conventional sense. Whether skipper or crew, long-distance sailing is almost a job. \u201cDon\u2019t approach it as a holiday. You are getting to see amazing things but it is a stage of life you are undertaking,\u201d says Helen Doody. \u201cYou can\u2019t be partying and not doing the jobs.\u201d
\nMartin and Helen have now returned to work. \u201cI think,\u201d he says, \u201cyou learn from this how to cope with having a jobs list that never ends. In work you can be used to ticking things off and getting things completed, but on a boat you always have something on.\u201d
\nPhoto: Hugh Johnson
\nThe Skipper\u2019s perspective
\nFinding good crew, says Hugh Johnson candidly, is \u201ca total crapshoot.\u201d Johnson is a lifelong sailor who has sailed across the Atlantic himself as crew. He now owns an Oyster 625, which he has sailed in the Med, and across the Atlantic and Pacific to New Zealand. To help on the crossings, he and his wife have taken on ten different crew, mainly found through the Ocean Crew Link website.
\nOf those, he says: \u201cFour were great.\u201d The other six he wouldn\u2019t let back on board. He recalls two who couldn\u2019t cook (including a 40-something who only knew how to cook rice and one woman who spent the whole time sunbathing), a Frenchman who \u201ccontributed nothing but ate and drank as much as possible\u201d.
\nThere was a Scandinavian guy, and his girlfriend \u201c[She was] a secret drinker, who hid whisky bottles in their cabin. The rows late at night coming out of that cabin were horrendous.\u201d A couple who sailed with them and looked after the boat while ashore also turned sour. \u201cThey blew up the battery bank and that cost us NZ$27,000. The deck is completely ruined because he scrubbed the teak with the grain and we\u2019ve had to repolish the galley where he blistered it.\u201d
\nThe four individuals who worked out well are still very good friends, and include one woman who joined in the Marquesas at the last minute who turned out to be \u201csuperb\u201d.
\n\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what qualifications you see in potential crew, you really have no idea who you are dealing with until you get them aboard, and even then you need time to watch them in practice. On the other hand you can get so lucky and find people who become lifelong friends,\u201d he says.
\nOne of the best crew came with a strong recommendation from another very experienced skipper, and Johnson would in future consider Oyster Yachts\u2019s paid crew finding and vetting service. \u201cThe finder\u2019s fee is equivalent to one week\u2019s salary. But with hindsight, when we consider the value of damage, that is something I\u2019d think about.\u201d Among the worst aspects are people who don\u2019t respect your treasured boat.
\n\u201cWhen you build a boat, you invest a lot of love in it, and it hurts when things get damaged,\u201d he says. Johnson\u2019s advice? \u201cSometimes you get lucky, but expect it to fail. Don\u2019t get cut up too badly when you put a lot of effort in and they are ungrateful. You have to be pretty thick-skinned. And if someone goes sour on you, take the first opportunity to put them off.\u201d
\nThe R\u00f6lker family own a Lagoon 380 called Kirlana
\nBorrow a boat
\nIf you don\u2019t have all the funds to buy a boat, or don\u2019t want to use the capital, you may be able to lease a yacht on longer-term basis. The owners of Lagoon 380 Kirlana are offering just that in between their own sailing trips.
\nGerman special education teacher Kathrin R\u00f6lker and her husband Tom bought their 2001-built Lagoon 380 for \u20ac160,000 in 2019 and spent last year from July to December on board, mainly in the Balearics, with their two children, aged 10 and 12.
\nThey had been planning their sabbatical for three years and are planning another in just under three years\u2019 time. In the meantime, they are talking to friends and acquaintances who may be interested in borrowing the boat on a long-term basis.
\n\u201cWhen we thought about how to get sailing on a catamaran we would have loved to charter one but it was expensive. In the end we bought this boat, but it took us one-and-a-half years to find it so we don\u2019t want to sell it,\u201d says Kathrin. \u201cWe\u2019d love to see another family or couple take our boat and use it for several months. And if we rent it to someone we can invest the money.\u201d
\n\u201cThey will need to take care of maintenance but not necessarily the costs so we\u2019d have to find a way to deal with it. But it definitely makes sense, and anything up to two years would be OK. It would cover the finance for the boat and the maintenance, and we won\u2019t have the storage and marina costs.\u201d Other owners and some yards are also beginning to explore longer leases and part shares, and Dream Yacht Charter can offer season-long charters.
\nSee Kathrin\u2019s blog at dereigeneweg.net
\nFirst published in the November 2020 issue of Yachting World.
\nThe post Boat hitchhiking: How to sail around the world without owning a yacht appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Elaine Bunting gets tips from crew on how to hitch-hike your way around the oceans, and from skippers on how to take on extra handsSharing a boat, whether you\u2019re crew going places or a skipper requiring extra hands, can be … <\/p>\n