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Has anyone had any experience with the OPO (Offshore Passage Opportunities: Halesite, New York) web community? I am looking for ways to expand my knowledge and experience with longer passages before the big day of leaving this all behind and cruising. Although I am not against paying for passagemaking experience with Mahina etc.... I was wondering if a site like OPO would give someone with limited experience offshore actual opportunities.
BTW,
Anyone willing to take on a relatively new sailor for a boat move, delivery, or any passage, let me know. Short resume is ASA certified through 105, emergency medical trained, not a bad cook, opinionated but always up for a good respectful disagreement and discussion. Able to pay my own way in return for the education and experience.
it doesnt look to bad from what i can see from the site they have extensive forms for you to fill out so it seems like they really care about matching you to the right boat and captain its not just another site of boats looking for crew its like the eharmony of boats, the thing that caught my eye was its 5 min from my house, small world
This seems like a well organized site. Based on the $200 annual fee I assume it keeps the postings to only those that are sincere. Im curious if there are other opinions out there...?
I've used SailOPO to get extra crew for a couple of passages (one transatlantic and one down to the Caribbean), and both the crew and I have been happy with the results. I think Hank tries to do a good job weeding out the problem boats and crews.
That being said, my OPO crew for a December 1 passage from Beaufort NC to Puerto Rico just bailed out on me and I am looking for a replacement like you. I will PM you with the details.
I've been a member of OPO for over a year and impressed with the number of oportunities which are posted. Recently did a passage from Newport, RI to Saint Martens. A great way to gain experience.
Sailor,
Thanks for the feedback, do you find that most opportunities are short notice or is there a significant number of opportunities with at least 6 weeks notice?
Most opportunities are short notice. There are opportunities with lots of notice but most of these you will pay for the passage, $1000 to $2500 per week. These very from trans atlantic to a week cruising in the Caribbean.
This has to be a better way to go than simply answering an ad... as we have seen here in these pages such escapades can go very sour in a hurry.
I am personally aware of 3 of 4 such sad stories... sounds good at a distance, you arrive at the boat - it's "not quite ready".. just a few days (weeks) of work, stick around.... the experienced, nice guy in the email turns into Capt Bligh with a lecherous eye. The lucky applicants are those who bolt before leaving port.
Presumably this outfit will do some vetting, giving you security in deciding to go - the testimonials above are encouraging.
But even so, setting out to sea on a boat you don't know with a captain/crew you don't know is still a bit scary to me......
i agree it can be a bit scary as well, however after your first trip the captains send hank an informal eval of you. For the most part hank knows the captains and once you are a member he will give you honest feedback about weather that particlar captain would be a good fit. Hank does the same for the captains.
It really is a great way for people to get experience, honestly i have learned more from my opo experience and sailed more with opo than i did when i had my own boat.
If you don't know people to crew with you or if your looking to crew i can honestly say this is the best and "safest" way to go. It certainly beets all the adds by male captains here "looking for female crew"...great fantacy but jesus get real.
I was a member of OPO for 2 or 3 years. The only reason I dropped out is that I returned to work, yea it's sad.
OPO did a good job in both screening captain and crew. Trips are posted from overnight moves of a boat to multimonth cruises... one I particularly remember was to Antartica.
I'll join again once my schedule becomes more flexible.
I joined OPO to get bigger boat experience than just the daysailers I was familiar with. Gained the knowledge & experience to bareboat charter in the BVI.
After you join, you regularly receive emails detailing the immediate opportunities as well as voyages that are planned for the near future.
Hank is a well respected delivery captain and I can recommend OPO without hesitation.
I've been with OPO for a couple of years. I've sailed about half-a-dozen times as crew and few times taken crew on my own boat. Overall I'm impressed. If you're going to join only one crewing organization I think OPO is the way to go.
Thanks for this post.
I am also interested in OPO but I am not ASA certified. Do you know if certification is required to join OPO?
I race my San Juan 21 keelboat in Oklahoma, Kansas, & Missouri. So far I have not needed any kind of certification.
Look at this from the other side as owner/captain. Basic problem is to date have found no relationship between ASA levels and actual compentency or presence of common sense. Other issue is you don't know if individual has these attributes until passage is underway.
My preference is to have myself and one other in whom I have no concern. A third recommended by someone I trust. This allows a unproven forth. With that passage done they either become a second or third or are dropped.
Ideally I would like to at least daysail or do a short transit with any prospective crew before a significant passage. Find this is good for them and me.. However, this is difficult to arrange given people's work schedules. Hank is a wonderful guy and provides an excellent service. I will probably use him again in the future with the above guidelines.
We will do the sdr in the fall. I have my second. There is a berth open. The OP or any other interested party can PM me.
We will head to Maine / new foundland late summer. Again you can PM.
Lastly think having to pay to be crew is ridiculous unless it's a boat with professional crew or unusual passage such as high latitude.if you are a compentent, personable sailor you should be welcomed onto a boat.
I've once been crew on my own boat. He was the captain I was the crew.
I've been captain on passage where the other two crew were more experienced and on another passage had a very experienced licensed pro captain as crew.
I was the captain they were the crew.
This issue has never been a problem. Biggest issue is hubris. This has no place at sea. If there is a hint of this either they or me are off the boat before we leave.
hi guys you are welcome to come in my sailboat for a trip if you have time website cruisesailboat com right now in the med, crossing atlantic end pf the summer around November from canaries
see you soon
steph
I have gotten great experience sailing through OPO. I have met great people and long lasting friends. The site offers a wide variety of opportunities, from day sails or,overnight sails,to long passages.
Going home end of May. 1500m. Wife, me, one crew from here and one from OPO. Have had good and bad from OPO. Have learned as capt/owner to make sure boat can run if unknown crew is live lumber. Have learned to call not just email each and every reference. Think the world of Hank. He's a good guy but remember he's there to place people it remember it remains your job to choose.
It is just me or OPO membership (not the free that doesn't do anything) with $199 initiation plus $125 annual renewal seems a little excessive? I mean, if with that purchase you just get the contact information from skippers looking for crew...like could happen completely for free in sites like Sailnet. I understand some cost: I am member of other skipper/crew finder places...only ~ $10, that can be spend in maintaining the site, servers, etc... Also, you can go to sites like Marion-Bermuda, Marblehead-Halifax races where they can post about crew needed. I don't know, maybe I am missing something in the big picture.
BTW, in OPO, no new sailing opportunities since December.
OPO provides a lot of good opportunities with good skippers on good boats. Many OPO members appreciate not having to do the alternative research you cite.
Hank is a very personable person. Think over time he gets to know his skippers and their boats. He does give good feedback in trying to match crew to appropriate boats.
I tried and continue to try to take one newbie on each passage. But want the other two crew to be proven experienced crew. To this end post here and at OPO. Realize there are multiple crew lists competing with Hank and most rallies like sdr or arc also have crew lists. Skippers aren't going to pay with there being multiple ways to find crew so the burden falls on crew. Realize you are betting your life when you get on a sailboat as crew and do a blue water passage. A couple of hundred bucks to find a safe boat is peanuts.
I had the opportunity to make my first offshore voyage in Dec 2017 through OPO aboard a beautiful Outbound 44 from Norfolk, VA to Tortola, BVI. It was a great adventure with an interesting couple (the owners) and a fourth crew about my age (all in our 60s). The weather turned out to be quite calm, necessitating a SINGLE tack in 1400 miles and 2.5 days of non-stop motoring in the middle out of 8 days overall, so it was not very challenging. It was my pleasure, not only with the boat owners but also working through Hank in setting up the opportunity. I would highly recommend getting involved with OPO.
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