Curiosity About These "Crew Wanted" Posts

[reraesh]

quote luke 14, 28
...Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you...

...check 'em out first...

[reraesh]

Originally Posted by youmeandthed

I have no certificates, or references. But I'm pretty sure I would be good crew on a passage.

....
hi comrade in arms...didn't know they existed outside my home-turf (=eg waters)

Originally Posted by youmeandthed

I don't throw up, but I get queasy/easily agitated for a few hrs

my experience:
..get the green wallpaper-thing,
throw up as quick and as much U can,
then (+that's hardest thing in line) : eat as soon + as much U can...
-got over it usually within 2-3 hours with rough weather

Originally Posted by youmeandthed

... scare me is crew that is too confident in their abilities...

;

Originally Posted by youmeandthed

I stay well away from people with big egos,

Captain or crew.[/QUOTE]
-? ever met a cptn with low ego? (except foresters hornblower.../sorry, got no better more recent example)
whereas crew:
1. too timid
2. too confident within nxt 2-3 beauford
3.too bored within nxt 0-1 beauford
4.too scared >4 bfd
5 exhilarating ego restored at bar/after 1st beer on anchor

Originally Posted by youmeandthed

,,,,or not scared a bit about going offshore.

who is (deep-within...) the 1st dozen miles at a long-range törn...

[xxuxx]

I have been a captain looking for crew as well as crew looking for a boat. In short....it works but with "caveat emptor" The screening process starts with e-mails, then phone calls, (as you can tell alot about a person by their voice), a lot of references and reference checking, hopefully one may actually know some of the references ,then a face to face and at that moment of getting to know someone, after all due diligence a decision is made, to go or not go. Sometimes people misrepresent....its kinda like a job interview where one has to read between the lines about a person. I had one crew who represented themselves as a seasoned sailor and then got scared and wanted us to turn back 400 miles out!!! Hope this helps.

[reraesh]

well, I myself find me once in a while, that:
1st step: over-enthousiastic
2nd step (>bfd 7-8): dead-sober
3rd step (after a 6 hours watch, with a stiff Mistral): cooled down to the point of: " how the heck human beings ever get the idea of travelling the seas?"

...but, I know what you mean- prefer to get there with a huddled together crew & good humoured cptn instead of shipping them back (preferably) within the 1st 3/4 of an hour

[robcan]

re: seasickness, I think it's pretty easy for ANYONE to succumb given enough time and circumstances...on long passages I always recommend doing/taking something 'just in case'. Especially when shorthanded.

Given enough time, I have been 'picked up' as crew for racing, and I always recommend doing 'practice days' or 'shakedown cruises' if possible to get to know the people. Setting expectations is another key success factor.

[reraesh]

as for us,racing down the road to get on board (8hrs), doing shopping, preparing to lift anchor brings us into a situation where the "stormy-stomach" is our most intimate mate on board

[billyruffn]

The only crew I've found on SailNet was for a trip from Newport to Cape Cod -- Bene505!
He was very "compatible". In fact, he brought a case of beer with him. Now given that it was a two day trip, that's a type of compatibility that's hard to beat.

[davidpm]

Originally Posted by WanderingStar

The duty as lookout is most important at sea, I want them to be able to tell whether a tanker will cross ahead, astern, or amidships.

Many captains have standing orders that if you see anything wake me up.
Solves the above problem.

[WanderingStar]

Certainly if they have any doubt they should call the skipper. And I have been awakened. But going up and down the US coast one may see several contacts every watch. The skipper needs to sleep sometimes.

[svzephyr44]

Originally Posted by DRFerron

Offshore or coastal. I'm not so curious about the people who want to hitch a ride on a day sail or participate in races on OPBs, I get that and I suggest it frequently. I'm more curious about the people who want to go distances.

Offshore and Coastal are two different worlds.Coastal is actually easier than picking up race crew for long distance races (e.g. Chicago Mac, Newport Bermuda) In coastal you can always head for shore if someone doesn't work out. At most you are likely to be two or less days from shore - consider direct Beaufort - Miami. In racing dumping bad crew means abandoning the race so the stakes are higher. In offshore (e.g. an Atlantic transit) you are days from shore and so the stakes are the highest. You are stuck with the person no matter what. If you have multiple people on board one can really mess up an entire trip.

More importantly, I have found that offshore is nothing like racing or cruising. After many years of sailing I started doing coastal transits that got me 500 NM offshore. Knowing you are 5 days from land has massive psychological impact. I soloed the Atlantic, figuring that I had enough experience with offshore. A 5 day passage is very different than a 21 day passage.

I would never take an nubie offshore no matter how motivated (OK, young, pretty, rich, father owns a liquor store - no, not even then.)
The down side is just too much risk.

I use Find a Crew™ by NAUTYCAL™ - Worldwide Reasons:
1) There is a built in recommendation system. As a Captain I can provide feedback on crew, the crew can provide feedback on Captains.
2) There is a system for validating identity. When traveling from country to country passports, visas, criminal history become very important. More than one boat has arrived in port with the Captain having "fallen overboard." Not the way I want to end my life.
3) Since it is menu driven I get the same fairly comprehensive information about each potential crew member. It makes it easier to compare.