Is Crewing Safe?

newuser · #1 (**permalink**) 03-06-2003

Hello! My wife and I are contemplating crewing for passages. It seems that there are always boats looking for crew, and we wanted some insight on how safe crewing is, things to watch out for, and in general, the experiences of others that have crewed for boat owners who were strangers. We believe for the most part that the sailing community is comprised of honest, trustworthy individuals, so we''re not overly concerned. I guess we''re looking for insight on being crew, and how prevelant crewing is on the sailing scene. Thank you.

DAVIDMASON · #2 (**permalink**) 06-13-2003

Hi 808,

It may be worth speaking with your local offshore sailing club - they will be able to put you in touch with some cruisers looking for crew and advise you of any dangers... As to the question "is it safe" - you should let your judge of character tell you that. You would hope that any person leaving to go offshore would be Cat 1 - the surveyor looks for strength of vessel and owner alike before issuing the certificate.

Have fun - and don''t let the salty sea dogs scare you!

salnan · #3 (**permalink**) 07-29-2003

Read the "Crew Tips & Advice" at:

http://www.cruiser.co.za/crewfinder.asp

This will go a long way to assisting you.

Good luck

Stede · #4 (**permalink**) 07-29-2003

salnan,

Read the "Tips and advice for spamming someone elses board at "http://www.biteme.com" Good luck.

jbarros · #5 (**permalink**) 08-01-2003

hey man, he''s on topic, and relevent, and it''s not machine posting. I hate spammers more than anyone else in the world, but i dont see the problem with this.

back on topic...

Crewing is as safe as going on a road trip with the other people on the boat. You dont stand by the docks with your thumb out, you meet people, talk to them, look over the craft, discuss plans, and then go sailing.

So meet them, and talk to them.
Do they seem to be at your level of sanity? are you comfortable with them, and their attitudes etc?

Go to the boat, look it over. Is it safe for the type of cruising you''ll be doing?

then go on a day sail with them, and see how things work on the water.

from there, the only thing left to do, if you havent run screaming from the psycho, is to go sail with em

-- james

-- James

jbanta · #6 (**permalink**) 08-03-2003

Am I thinking of something else? Isn''t the crewing we are talking about the letting of someone else use your boat when you aren''t there with them? I think you can see there are alot more dangersz in that but it is still doable.

DuaneIsing · #7 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003

Jim,

Crewing on passages usually means the owner (or the captain in charge) needs additional hands to help with watches and general boat handling. I don''t think there was any mention of using someone''s boat.

Duane

808state · #8 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003

Hello all. This is "808" the originator of this post. Thanks for all the replies, I''m suprised that this post is still getting attention. My wife and I did crew on a 40'' Island Packet, from Tampa, south to the Dry Tortugas, up the Keys and back. Great skipper, great first mate, great boat, great trip! We have crewed one more time after this trip on Lake Erie and it was a different story entirely... When we arrived the boat was not ready to go, very dirty, no VHF, or GPS. The skipper was about as fast as a 3 toed sloth! Needless to say, we left early. Our advice for crew is this... If you cannot meet the skipper / boat prior to departure, ask for references from previous crew. If we had, we would''ve known not to accept berth on the 2nd boat. Good day all!