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A lot of people have asked me how to crew on a yacht. And others don’t even know its possible. In this post I will be discussing how I have sailed on yachts for free, as a volunteer crew.
There are thousands of yachts sailing the ocean at any one time. Each yacht needs to be crewed. It is possible to sail a yacht by yourself but its a lot of work. You pretty much have to be awake every 2 hours while on ocean passages. (A passage is going from one port to the next.) If you are a couple you can share and so only have to be awake half the time. If you have a few people on board, everyone can take a turn at “keeping watch.” (Being awake and keeping an eye on things). On a 15m yacht you can have up to 6 people on board so you only have to be alert for perhaps 6-8 hours a day. Much easier.
Some captains have lots of friend who will help them crew their yacht but many need extra hands from time to time.
This opportunity came out of the blue for me and my partner at the time, Graceie. I received an email one day from an Alaskan guy looking for crew. He had bought a yacht on the east coast of the USA and needed to sail it back to Alaska. Being an adventures guy, he wanted to sail across the top via Greenland and the North West Passage rather than the warm easy way through The Panama Canal. His friend pulled out last minute and he needed crew. He saw my advert on Latitude38 sailing blog that I had made previous and reached out to us. He managed to find 4 young crew members in the last month before we left.
After 48 hours flying from New Zealand to New York we arrived at the yacht near Baltimore. In the next 3 months we sailed from Baltimore, through the icebergs of Greenland and across the very top of Canada through the sea ice of the notorious North West Passage all the way to Alaska finishing in Kodiak.
SV Hawk navigating through icebergs at Illulisat, Greenland at the start of the notorious North West Passage
From learning to sail in the remains of a hurricane to watching a young polar bear walk along a desolate beach at Beachey Island. For sure this was one of my craziest adventures! You can read my blog about this trip HERE.
Everyone on board share food cost (as you would at home) and paid their own travel expenses. The captain paid the rest.
This came about after my girlfriend Sarah sent a few messages to captains advertising for crew on Crewbay. Within 2 days we had an offer to sail to Fiji and Australia. We opted for Australia and 2 weeks later stepped aboard the 15m SV Bomoh in Nelson Marina.
The end of 5 days of rough westerly winds in the first half of the Tasman Sea. I had just spent the last 3 days terribly sea sick.
The captain had found 5 crew through CrewBay to help him sail his yacht back to Australia after cruising around the South Island for 2 months. The forecast wasn’t looking good but we left anyway. For the next 4 days we smashed into 35kt westerly winds with 5-6m swells. I was severely sea sick for 2 days and couldn’t even get out of bed. Luckily, the other 5 people on board were better off than me and they were able to keep the yacht sailing through horrendous conditions. I swore to myself that I will never set foot on the sea again….we will see…
Everyone on board paid $25 AUD per day for food cost. All other expenses were paid by the captain.
Crewbay seems to be one of the best websites for finding crewing options. It does professional positions as well but I’ve just used the unpaid side of it. It seems to be very good in New Zealand/Australia/Pacific area as well as the rest of the world. Simply go on and make an account/profile and start scrolling through the countless destinations that yachts are sailing to.
Latitude 38 is a little harder to find the crewing section. (This link will take you straight there) I created a little advert for myself under “crew looking for skippers” and every once in a while I receive an email from someone looking for crew. So far I have been offered The North West Passage, Japan to Alaska, Cross the Pacific, NZ to Fiji and a few others in the gulf of Mexico.
I haven’t much experience on this site but it seems to be mostly for experienced sailors with STCW qualification looking to get into the sailing industry in a paid position.
And some other sites I have been recommended but have never used myself…
For all of these websites, the chances of finding something increases with your experience. But don’t let that put you off. If you have no experience and just want to go sailing this is the place to start. Before my North West Passage trip I had no experience. Skippers are generally looking for personality. They can teach you how to sail. But they can’t teach you how not the be a dick.
So if you have ever wanted to crew on a yacht and sailing the ocean. Or perhaps you just dreamed of cruising the coast somewhere in your country. Go on one of these sites and make an account. Post a your little advert and your dream is a step closer to becoming a reality! Good luck!
Hi I’m Chris,
I grew up super isolated 2 long days hike from the nearest road in the wilds of South Westland, New Zealand at a place called Gorge River. We live off the land and try to be as sustainable as possible in a really unique and wild part of the world.
After leaving home I have set out to explore the world. I have been on the road since 2011 and have worked and travelled in so many incredible places including working with husky dogs in Arctic Norway and teaching extreme survival skills at -40°C in Antarctica.
Along the way I make videos for my YouTube channel. This way you can join my adventures not just around the globe but also back at home at Gorge River.
Order your signed copy of my autobiography, The Boy From Gorge River direct from the author!