Newbie looking to join a crew

[JustinMorin]

Hi,

I have recently taken interest in joining a crew in order to sail across the ocean. I have no previous experience whatsoever on sailing, but am dying to learn. I am currently looking for a crew that would sail the Atlantic and leave from Montreal, Canada. I do not really care as to where it is going. I just want to live the experience and learn something new.

Justin

[Scottyrocket]

It is probably prudent to get some sailing experience via a local yacht club before you even consider crossing an ocean. I've been sailing a few months in protected waters but am currently sitting in the saloon of yacht off the NSW coast with 5 mtrs of swell and can tell you that it takes some getting used to.
Since being out in the Pacific we've had a few issues with the boat ( it's a delivery ) which were potentially dangerous and, in my view at least, not the place for a newbie.
Best wishes for your sailing endeavours though.

[reraesh]

hi justin,
got some "crew-wanted-forum" in the netherlands. perhaps there's something similar in Can or the Lakes?

[reraesh]

in NSW the "yngling"-community has the best parties* after real professional races (which they proofed in EU (WC) and elsewhere-
& there are real valuable female crews as well
mr
*hopefully not only in EU while being abroad

AIYA - Yngling Down Under

[jkrause]

Ditto on the "get experience" advice. What do you have to offer them other than being willing? You should have some experience and be able to offer practical contributions (money, be able to fix things or people, cook, navigate, play music, tell jokes, etc.).

If you want experience/education, consider an offshore school. A week or two on a learning cruise will be quite an education and help you decide to move on or not to the next level.

Good luck!

[rgscpat]

Justin, do you perhaps have some sort of similar experience in a potentially stressful, confined, but physically challenging environment? Perhaps heavy duty backpacking or bicycle packing, or multi-week paddle trips would be that sort of thing, or maybe something like longer-duration technical spelunking (cave exploration at the more intense level of the sport) for confinement, ropework, team work, and alien environments.
Also, if you've been some sort of serious athlete and are still at a high level of conditioning and training, your body might much more readily adjust to the physical / kinesthetic demands of the ocean despite lack of any sailing experience.