How to get on a boat as crew — from day sails to race boats to offshore voyages

I started sailing at the beginning of 2019 and have managed to sail over 13,500 nautical miles mostly by crewing for others. Here are my top tips on how to get on boats and bonus etiquette tips to make sure you’re invited back by captains.

I was on a luxury catamaran vacation in Micronesia in 2016 with a now ex-boyfriend when I first learned about ‘hitchhiking by boat’ from the first mate and now ex-girlfriend of the Captain. She told me that many sailors travel the world by hitching rides on boats, going from island to island, on a quest to find Paradise and presumably themselves. At the time, I was not a sailor but was fascinated by the concept. I joined the Captain and the Skipper in 2018 for my first delivery and equator crossing from Papua New Guinea to Palau. I was hooked!

Since that trip, I have since sailed with over 70 captains and twice as many crew. It’s important before getting on a boat, knowing what your hopes are and what the captain’s expectations are of you. This means knowing what type of sailing you’re about to embark on, because the circumstances will dictate what skill set you will need.

LET’S START WITH DAY SAILING.

If you don’t belong to a sailing or yacht club or don’t know anyone with a boat, how do you get on a boat? American Sailing Association (ASA) created an app called GoSailing. Download it on your smartphone and search your location for sailing excursions in the destination you’d like to sail, whether it’s local or across the country or anywhere in the world. It’s a social networking app for power boaters and sailors. Some will be free and others cost money to join. If you’re in the USA, beware of boat owners who are not licensed captains who request payment, especially if it’s not an official charter. You can also use MeetUp to find sailing events and groups. In most cities with a marina, there is likely a community sailing club, charter club, or yacht club. In the San Francisco Bay, Cal Sailing Club and Tradewinds Sailing School are great places to get into sailing relatively inexpensively. Modern Sailing has two locations in Sausalito and Berkeley. If you live in Southern California, you can join Fairwind Yacht Club, Marina Sailing or Women’s Sailing Association (open to men and women). With these sailing clubs, once you join, you can get on their crew lists as you learn to skipper. I recently went sailing with the owner of LA Sailing which is a private sailing club that offers skippers or crew memberships.

If you’ve been out sailing and would like to be invited back, make sure you’re participating as crew by being helpful and understanding procedures and guidelines. It’s helpful to know the weather ahead of time and prepare accordingly. It’s always a good idea to ask the Captain what, if any provisions to bring. On day sails, some skippers don’t drink underway so they might prefer Happy Hour on the dock. Always ask about their preference on whether they allow red wine because if it spills, it stains. Some captains don’t mind if you bring a friend, but ask first. If it’s a small boat, no, but if it’s a big boat, the more the merrier. Some captains may enjoy your company and keep you on a crew roster and send invitations out on a first-come basis. If you’re meeting a captain for the first time, it’s helpful to send a brief paragraph or two about your sailing experience. We’ll get into sailing resumes momentarily.

Aside from sailing clubs, if you feel ready to skipper a boat, there are also boat sharing clubs like Sail Time, Carefree Boat Club or Freedom Boat Club which is slightly different than a yacht charter like Dream Yacht or Marina Sailing.

HOW DO I GET INTO RACING?

Now that you’ve been on some day sails, you might feel the need for speed. If so, racing might be your jam. By now, if you’ve been on some day sails, you’ll likely have been inside a few of the yacht clubs. Some yacht clubs host racing programs and regattas. If so, they will have a race chair and a calendar of events. The Association of Santa Monica Bay Yacht Clubs (ASMBYC) has a calendar of events in Santa Monica Bay (12 clubs) and the Southern California Yachting Association puts out a calendar for Southern California. (80+ clubs). In the Bay Area, check the calendar at Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay. (YRA).

Oftentimes, the race chair will know if some boats are looking for crew. You can often hop on a boat at the last minute so feel free to cruise the docks on race day to see if anyone has room on their boats. Bring a six-pack, it increases your chances! Some yacht clubs will have separate public facing Facebook pages like Del Rey Racing or the MacGregor Venture Fleet for their racing program, if so, get on their list and watch it like a hawk for opportunities. After races, the yacht clubs are often open to the racers for happy hour. If so, that’s a good time to meet other racers and meet captains.

I’ve also been in yacht clubs and on my way to the restroom, will see their notice board with crew lists. Jot down the captain’s numbers and don’t be shy about calling them. Each race team has a core group and a roster for a B team in case it’s heavy weather and they need ballast or the core team is out of town and they need fill-in crew. It took me about 1 year to find a race team so I raced as a substitute for several boats before I found a team that I resonated with.

At the beginning of the season, many clubs will host race clinics, make sure to go to those and network. The Newport Ensenada Race hosts several clinics before their annual regatta and you can meet people there or they have a crew finder on their website. For national and international regattas, there’s a new website called RailMeets and search by location, regatta or even position. I love that play on words. If you didn’t know, race ballast is often called “rail meat.” It doesn’t sound very appealing, but sometimes, when you’re new, sitting on the rail is the best way to get on a team and train your way up to a different position. One of my favorite memories is when a friend and I walked into Hawaii Yacht Club on a race night and walked the dock with a six-pack and found a TP52 that needed extra crew. We raced to Diamond Head and back in 20–25 knot winds sitting on the rail with an epic double rainbow overlooking Honolulu and the beach!

OFFSHORE RALLYS, PASSAGES AND DELIVERIES

Now that you’ve caught the sailing bug, you’re reading for some serious adventure!
As a Californian, one of the best rallies to join is the Latitude 38 Baja Haha which starts in San Diego and ends in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. There are two crew parties to meet captains and crew as well as an online crew list. I’ve done 3 Hahas and met some of my favorite sailors on this trip.

There are several web based crew finder sites which have both free and premium membership. I primarily use Findacrew and found many trips that way. I’ve heard Crewseekers is good as well as Crew Bay. These also list paid opportunities. On Facebook, there are several private groups where people post opportunities and you can post requests and resumes.. Crew Finder boasts 71K members. Find Crew Be Crew has about 29K members. Sailboat Crew Finder about 39K members. Another great group is called Sailboat Hitchhikers and Crew Connection. You can also use the search bar and find crew sites for specific regions as well.

I haven’t done it yet, but I’d love to do the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. (ARC) They have five different rallies and journeys around the world. They developed a special crew link website — it’s a $5 monthly subscription which is pretty good considering the access you get to all the boats traveling around the world.

There are programs called mileage builders where you join as crew — some are paid passages but supported by a captain who will give you some instruction. Sail Offshore Passage Opportunities is a high-quality matching and networking service that matches crew with skippers.

No matter what site you use, if you plan to go on a trip with any stranger, be sure to consider safety issues as well as putting together either a written paragraph or two about yourself, wishes and skills or an actual sailing resume, especially if you wish to be paid.

SAFETY FOR OFFSHORE

Before going offshore, you should ask yourself if you haven’t yet, how you would feel if something were to happen and could not get back to land. Things do happen at sea, and The Great Ocean should be respected. Many people who are day sailors and have never been ill, suddenly get sea sick or cannot handle the many days at sea mentally or emotionally. Once you cast off, there’s no stopping until the next port. Having said that, basic EFR or CPR training and if you plan to spend a significant amount of time away, safety at sea is a good idea too, and for some offshore races, required. But there’s nothing like the feeling of being away at sea for days or weeks and spotting your first sight of land and then entering a new island country and going through customs and check-in knowing you sailed there by wind and sea! If you plan to do any seatime offshore, I suggest getting your own offshore PFD with a D-Ring. West Marine sells a good starter one and then here’s a comparison of top of the line offshore PFD’s. If you’re just starting your offshore journey, don’t worry about any extra gear unless the captain requires it.

ROMANCE — wanted and unwanted.

Sailing off into the sunset is a dream for many, myself included. While I haven’t found the one to sail off with yet, I’ve shared many sunsets with carpe diem lovers, long time partners and somewhere in between situationships. It’s not uncommon to meet someone passing through while you’re passing through, but you should make sure it’s mutually consensual. For many reasons, it’s better to be upfront with your wishes and expectations. Many of the above listed sites have a checkbox for seeking or not seeking romance and clothing optional checkboxes as well. KNOW THYSELF. On my profile, I always check not-seeking romance and state that I’m not looking for a party boat. I’ve interviewed some unsavory characters who have said they only sail with women and that’s a red flag for me, personally. The best captains I’ve sailed with don’t care what gender I am, they care about whether I can sail. Note: Sometimes, if a sailor has been away at sea for a very long time, and they haven’t been socializing on land, “chances are good, the goods are odd.”

QUESTIONS FOR CAPTAINS

Here are some questions for captains. What kind of boat is it? Where have you sailed? How long is the trip? Who else is on the trip? How do you usually provision? Will there be opportunities to go ashore? Depending on the size of the boat, it’s perfectly reasonable to ask how much space there is for luggage. Never bring a hard suitcase and always ask before bringing fishing, dive gear or any other toys or equipment.

What are the cost expectations? Shared provisions? If it’s a paid delivery, make sure that’s clear beforehand — per diem, food, airfare? What safety equipment do you have on board? Depending on the trip, it’s not unusual for some captains to share what maintenance has been done recently. I wouldn’t ask though if it’s going to go over your head because many captains will talk your ear off! But you should be prepared any time you’re on a boat, whether day sailing or long voyages for anything to happen. This may mean that your ‘vacation’ is cut short because of maintenance issues. I was in Panama and had planned to go to the San Blas Islands but due to mechanical issues, I never got to go on that trip, but managed to hitch a ride through the Panama Canal on a different catamaran and went backpacking in the rainforest instead.

QUESTIONS FROM CAPTAINS

Here are some questions I get from captains before crewing. What’s your experience level? Where have you sailed? Have you taken any classes? Have you ever done a night watch? What type of foods do you eat or don’t eat? Some captains will not accommodate special dietary requirements, especially if you’re in a remote location, some foods may not be available. So if you do need specialty items, be prepared to bring them if you can, depending on customs and logistics. When does your passport expire? What medical conditions do you have? What medications are you on? Many captains will not tolerate drugs or partying and will make that clear and many will not allow you to bring strangers you meet on shore back to the boat. The best question from Captains is, “what is your shirt size?” This usually means, they’ve enjoyed your company well enough and consider you a part of the team. Many captains have crew shirts that they’ll give you as a souvenir for the time you sailed together. Others have baseball hats with their boat logos on them too. I have a few treasured boat shirts! But my favorite question of all is, “would you like to see the engine?” When I first started sailing, I thought it was a creepy question. I thought it was code for some hanky panky. I’m happy to report, I was completely wrong. When a captain wants to show you their engine, they literally want to show off their pride and joy. You can tell in 30 seconds or less what the condition of the engine is. If a captain takes care of their engine, they will most likely take care of the boat and you.

BOAT ETIQUETTE

Cleaning the boat and cooking are usually appreciated by the captain. Ask about cleaning schedules and find out how to use the head properly. Ask what the captain likes to eat and whether the meals are going to be on-board or on-shore. On some trips that I’ve been on, the crew pitch in and provision so the captain doesn’t bear the cost of everything like boat, fuel and docking fees. Other trips, everything is paid for by the Captain or Owner. Bring any specialty items and bring gifts. Ask if they have an alcohol preference and bring that, especially if you’re going to a remote place because alcohol in checked bags or duty free are always more cost effective than paying ten times the local price. Ask about coffee and bring any specialty coffees and chocolate! If you break something, definitely offer to fix it, pay for or replace it. Lastly, be the person with the best attitude on the boat. If you don’t have any skills, but can spin yarn, sometimes that will be your ticket to ride.

Stay tuned for the next article: How to create a sailing resume?