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Strong young man looking for adventure. Experienced and Hearty.

4K views 28 replies 9 participants last post by  billyruffn 
#1 ·
Hello all,
I am a 23 year old male from the northeast, looking to go forth into the world again. I have made small forays into the sailing world, having one bad experience with a VERY mismatched crew. I am looking to sail to warmer climes, working my way on your boat. I am willing to work ALOT, as I do that now (construction worker, drummer in a few bands) but would not be able to contribute much in the way of food (although, I am an avid angler!). To be clear; I am looking for a work for food and board setup. If this at all interests you, email me (due to the forum rules, I must be crafty) at twelvegaugedrums AT hotmail. and we will see how it goes.

P.S. I am EXTREMELY adaptable, and have lived in many different places in my short life. I can, and will, do anything required of me.

Michael J. Wood II
 
#2 ·
It would help if you said what your sailing experience has been, and what other applicable skills, like First Aid, CPR, Celestial Navigation, etc that you bring with you. Do you have any ASA certifications?
 
#3 ·
thanks for the advice!

Hello,
Thanks for the heads up. My sailing experience is as follows; Years of sailing on my lake with family, 6 weeks to sea with a cruiser down the east coast. While on this cruise I was the go to guy for anything physical (youngest on the boat by 30 years). I am extremely well spoken, can weave in and out of many different socio-economic groups. I do have CPR and first aid training, but no other certificates (Does a private pilots count?). I hope this makes it easier to see where I am coming from, as I am yearning to be back out on the water.

Michael
 
#4 ·
Mike,

You've got some good experience and a positive attitude. Now you just have to find a boat that needs crew.

You might consider contacting the Atlantic Rally For Cruisers and other cruising rallies to see if they have a "crew wanted/want to crew" list. Another option is to poke around some of the larger sailing/yacht club websites in your area to see if they have the same sort of lists. They may be looking more for race crew, but that is a good way to get practice and make connections.

Good luck to you!
 
#5 ·
thanks for the advice

Thank you for the advice. It seems that I will be doing this D.I.Y. (do it yourself) Style. This has always been my way of life, so I figure that I will continue posting on these FREE sites, and will hopefully stumble into something worthwhile. Now, I do know this can come with some problems, and I have dealt with them before. Thanks again!

Michael
 
#6 ·
position available

Hi Mike, I am a captain here in Greece, I am of US origin.
I have German friends looking for a able bodied person to generally help out help crew their 65 foot vintage schooner. They have two small children.
This would be an awsome experience. They are charterning in Italy from July 1, but if you could come immediately to Greece it would be better. They have just launched yesterday after a major refit, all done by the owner/captain, Christian. These are super people, we are older cruisers and have enjoyed their company.
reply asap!
 
#8 ·
Interested, travel might get in the way

Hello!
Thank you for the message, although I may need a little more time to get to Greece/save up cash for the ticket. That is unless of course travel would be provided, but as this is off the cuff, I find that unlikely. If I could get there, I would be willing!

Michael
 
#9 ·
july sailing

Hi Mike, it is possible that you could join the boat in southern Italy the first of July.
Please send a brief curriculum vitae and I will discuss the possibility of you joining the boat with the captain this evening.
I will need contact information from you, so please send me a private message via this site, as I cannot post my email address here.
Best regards,
Capitanissa Christy
 
#14 ·
Hi Mike, it is possible that you could join the boat in southern Italy the first of July.
Please send a brief curriculum vitae and I will discuss the possibility of you joining the boat with the captain this evening.
I will need contact information from you, so please send me a private message via this site, as I cannot post my email address here.
Best regards,
Capitanissa Christy
Capitanissa,

This certainly sounds like an interesting opportunity.

However, in Mike's place, I would want to see some specifics about the vessel and owners before I submitted my personal credentials and info to someone that claims to be representing them or acting on their behalf. I'm not saying that there is anything untoward happenning here, only that the offer as presented lacks the kind of details we normally associate with authenticity.

My suggestion is to present more concrete details about the vessel and owners, or better still have the owners sign-on here and represent themselves. Alternatively, they can get in touch with Mike via telephone after making a contact here, or you can forward their contact info to Mike directly.

If you need more posts to use our Private Messaging system, you can go into our "Off-Topic" forum and post some gibberish to the "Song Thread" and thereby boost your post-count to the required 10.
 
#15 ·
your advice is well founded and well taken

Thank you for the advice, it has not fallen on deaf ears. Fortunatly (well, it is now) I have run into some less than honest people doing this before and have figured out how to avoid problems. I am always sure to nail down the real story long before I ever decide to leave. Thank you, honestly.

Michael
 
#21 ·
being prudent

Dear Sailingdog:
I have supplied Mike with full details, contact with the captain and the website for his charters. I did not feel I should do this online.
this may be last minute, but it is only because we did not discuss the possibility of looking for crew online previously; I offered to help out because I am always on line for my multiple businesses. The captain of Anna, a vintage 1880's schooner, is not an internet type, he also has his hands full running his boat.
I may be new to sailingnet, but I am a veteran sailor/captain and liveaboard, having captained in the Med for over 16 years.
I understand your wish to keep things above board, I only regret that even in the sailing world these days people cannot go on good oldfashioned trust. I signed on an Italian boat crossing with the ARC, then I "hitchhiked" my way around the Caribbean and across the Atlantic, then through the Med -18 years ago, it was an irreplaceable experience. I would do it again.. if I had the stamina!
Regards,
Capitanissa
 
#28 ·
Dear Sailingdog:
I have supplied Mike with full details, contact with the captain and the website for his charters. I did not feel I should do this online.
Wise decision...
this may be last minute, but it is only because we did not discuss the possibility of looking for crew online previously; I offered to help out because I am always on line for my multiple businesses. The captain of Anna, a vintage 1880's schooner, is not an internet type, he also has his hands full running his boat.
I may be new to sailingnet, but I am a veteran sailor/captain and liveaboard, having captained in the Med for over 16 years.
I understand your wish to keep things above board, I only regret that even in the sailing world these days people cannot go on good oldfashioned trust. I signed on an Italian boat crossing with the ARC, then I "hitchhiked" my way around the Caribbean and across the Atlantic, then through the Med -18 years ago, it was an irreplaceable experience. I would do it again.. if I had the stamina!
Regards,
Capitanissa
Bueno, Welcome to Sailnet. I'd highly recommend you read this POST to help you get the most out of sailnet.
 
#23 ·
Capitanissa,
Thanks for the clarification. When you send info out, do the owners/captain provide references ? Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. This sounds potentially like a great situation for Mike and I hope he gives it a shot.
Mum
 
#24 ·
working out the details

I have put the captain and Mike in contact.
The captain of Anna is a friend who does not do internet so I have posted his need for crew on Crewseekers and Bolina in Italy as well as having responed to Mike's post.
Being that they are both grown men they can make their own choices as to the need of references.
This is not a service I provide, just doing a friend a favor.
 
#25 ·
I have put the captain and Mike in contact.
The captain of Anna is a friend who does not do internet so I have posted his need for crew on Crewseekers and Bolina in Italy as well as having responed to Mike's post.
Being that they are both grown men they can make their own choices as to the need of references.
This is not a service I provide, just doing a friend a favor.
Captainissa,

That's great! Hopefully this will work out well for the captain of Anna and Mike.

Mike is a "strong young man" and will have to watch out for himself now. But we try to be careful here about folks popping up and persistently seeking information. I am happy to believe that your intentions were nothing but helpful. However, if you go back and read your first six or seven posts objectively, I think even you will agree that they would elicit a cautious response from anyone with common sense.

I had a similar opportunity during college where I signed on as crew with someone I essentially knew nothing about. We hopped around the Med for several successive summers aboard that boat and had some of the most memorable experiences of my life.

So yes, it can work out well under the right circumstances. And trust as always is still important. But with the advent of the Internet, the initial contacts tend to be impersonal so it's always best to begin with a skeptical eye until the situation becomes more clear. The additional info you provided here (and presumably to Mike) goes a long way in that respect.

P.S. Welcome to Sailnet.;)
 
#26 ·
Mike sounds like a great guy and really willing to be of all around help, so I hope it works out with my friends, it would be great for both of them, they are also very special people doing something very different and challenging, not every one owns a 18 meter schooner from th 1880's!
 
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