How can you navigate the world without owning or buying a boat? Hitchhiking aboard sailboats, of course!
Would you like unlimited adventure, seeing hard-to-reach places, reef diving in faraway places, enjoying different cultures and learning new skills, all on a tight budget? In some rare cases, I even get paid for it! I eat?
Easy! Let me answer some of the immediate questions on your brain!
what Do you need navigation experience?
HAS. No…all you need is the right attitude, easy going, and a willingness to learn and do your part.
what. How much is it likely to cost?
HAS. A donation for food, sometimes fuel, but remember that the wind is free… which you would have to pay for anyway and it is very cheap compared to the cost of a plane ticket and accommodation in the destinations!
what Where can you find a yacht that needs crewing?
HAS. Marina bulletin boards, yacht clubs, online, on bulletin boards in backpacker hostels and going to marinas and talking to the sailors there.
Did it catch your interest? Want to learn more!
My three experiences:
1. I needed a crew to accompany me across the Tasman Sea from New Zealand to Australia, so I posted an ad at a Yacht Club in the Bay of Islands. A young backpacker from Israel answered; Orit had no sailing experience and was hitchhiking around the world… it was a great asset on the trip. Orit’s attitude and her willingness to learn, participate at the helm and stand watch for her made her a very valuable crew member and she cooked great meals.
2. In Australia, when I was cruising up the east coast to the Whitsunday Islands, I advertised a couple of backpacker hostels and before long I had a couple from England to accompany me. They had no experience.
3. Sailing to the Pacific islands on someone else’s yacht, there were five of us, one of them a young hitchhiker who had applied online, traveled from Auckland to Tonga, and then jumped off the boat onto another yacht to continue her round-the-world trip . Her only experience was a trip on one of the Tall Ships where she learned some basic skills.
It is that easy! The main thing you will need is time and the right attitude!
How to become a desirable crewmate:
Go to the local yacht club or yacht club and find out when the mid-week regattas or any other ‘fun’ regattas are and get there early… I guarantee there will be several yacht owners happy to hire extra crew.
If you have the time, go out a few weeks in a row and let it be known that you feel like crewing a sailboat… even coastal. Like those who hitchhike from one city or island to another. Many skippers make deliveries for the owners, you could take one of these delivery sailboats…and some pay or provide meals.
Learn all you can about being on board a sailboat… the skipper will have you do basic boat “stuff”… hoisting a sail or winching pulling some sheets… And that brings me to something else …
Learn the terminology… because it’s a whole new language… you can learn some of this online so you won’t be a complete fool when the skipper asks you to pull the main sheet or adjust the traveler!
Do you have any usable skills to make yourself more desirable? Are you a good cook or can you at least prepare a hearty meal? Do you have any other unique skills as a hairstylist or massage therapist, scuba instructor, or anything else that puts you above the rest? Maybe speak another language or know fun card games? Do you like fishing and can you catch some meals?
Keep in mind that most of the time you won’t be sitting around drinking cold drinks. Everyone on board helps with daily boating tasks. Keeping the boat clean and in good repair, cooking, sailing and even taking the helm/steering wheel and steering the boat via autopilot will be on most of the time.
One of the most important things is the list watch, keeping your eyes open for boats or anything else you need to avoid, as well as weather changes. This is something the crew does 24 hours a day.
Respect that a yacht can be someone’s home treat it that way, keep your ‘stuff’ tidy, space is important, watch out for heads (toilet) etiquette, nothing worse than unblocking a marine toilet.
The most important things when hitchhiking aboard sailboats:
You must be easy to get along with!
When I crossed the Tasman Sea with Orit, an inexperienced backpacker, I also had a guy with a lot of racing experience on board. He was an absolute pain, a true know-it-all who didn’t go all out and we couldn’t wait to get rid of him on Lord Howe Island off the coast of Australia.
Orit by this time had learned to steer the ship, she was very good with GPS after all, she was 24 and it’s just another computer and she could plot a course on the chart. She had acquired many new abilities.
Experiences teach you a lot in life… don’t they?
The other situation I ran into was on the trip I mentioned above to the Pacific Islands with 5 of us on board. The young hitchhiker paid for her trip in a different way, we paid only our daily food at that time $20A per day and helped with all navigation tasks.
She slept with the 50 something year old skipper and the very loud ‘bonking’ kept us up at night and it was a feud with the rest of us doing our best to sail and maintain the boat. She was dizzy for half the trip and rarely did the dishes or any other chores.
Crew harmony is above everything else on board, especially on the smaller ships. There aren’t many places to hide on a small yacht when people don’t get along.
My experiences weren’t ‘that bad’, but I have heard of some terrible situations where the Captain and crew…to put it mildly, didn’t get along! As the captain, she had to be careful who she took on board as a crew, so keep this in mind when showing up for the crew.
The sailboat and the captain:
It can be easy to get caught up in the excitement of travel and finding a ride, but take a step back! Meet the Captain and spend some time talking to him.
How much experience have you had?
Have they sailed along the coast or on the high seas?
Is the Captain easy to talk to and ‘transparent’?
How long have you owned the boat?
How do you manage night shift rotations?
What are the captains’ expectations of you?
If you are a young girl and the Captains are men… consider whether you would trust him alone miles away at sea… best to travel in a group!
What season are you sailing in, eg not hurricane/cyclone season?
You’re going to be spending a lot of time together, weeks, maybe months, so make sure you’re comfortable! Avoid the idiots and those who tend to be a Captain Bligh!
And… make sure you see the ship!
Does it look sailing-worthy based on the ones you did at the yacht club?
Ask another skipper if it’s a boat worth sailing!
Did it seem well equipped? Ask about the safety and navigation equipment!
Best of all is going on a shakedown cruise… Are you comfortable?
This is all on the hitchhiker’s side, but the Captain needs to get comfortable with you. Present yourself clean and tidy and be courteous. Explain to the skipper why you would be an asset on board and offer to help prepare the boat for the voyage at no cost of course…and do it! This is a good way, along with a test cruise, to see how you’re doing before you lose sight of land.
Put yourself in the Captain’s shoes… it’s his ship… why would he want to choose you to cross the ocean as a crew? What can you do for him/her?
Happy with the captain and the sailboat… And now what?
Sell yourself:
You’re not a sailing superstar, but you’re willing to fit in with the Captain and the other crew! You are happy to learn and do navigation tasks and cover the night watch! Promote your other skills to set yourself apart!
Yes, sailing isn’t just about sitting down with a cold drink… there are sailing chores to get done, but there’s also plenty of time to relax and have fun. Bring some music and books to read. A musical instrument if you play one to sing!
There will be times when you feel one with the environment. The constant current of water as the ship cuts through the sea, the sound of the waves and the blue of the sky during the day and the canopy of stars at night is incredible. Catch your dinner from the stern of the ship and have a feast that night.
One morning at Minerva Reef 3 days sailing from the island of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean, we traded beer for lobster with some native fishermen. We had champagne and lobster for breakfast and then dove in the coral.
Sailing to a new port or island after hours of trying to get a glimpse of land is very exciting. By exploring and mixing with the different cultures you encounter, you are accepted in a different way than if you were just a regular tourist.
And if this is where you stop your yacht, many ports are like a truck stop for backpackers hitchhiking aboard sailboats… you can change ships and sail to new destinations.
It’s an amazing way to travel full of adventure! You will access places you never could otherwise and have an experience that will stay with you for life! The good news is that you don’t even need a lot of money or own a yacht or have any sailing experience… So what are you waiting for?