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→Sailboat Hitchhiking Routes: Add route
===Communications===
Once you're a few dozen miles from shore you'll have no cell phone reception, you're much to to0 far from land to swim back, and it's unlikely there will be any other boats near enough to notice you need help without a call from the ship's radio. On long passages, there might not even be ships in radio range - you could go a week or more without even seening another boat. Boats at sea almost never have onboard internet access, except sometimes an option to send short emails or text messages through a sattelite satellite phone (which would normally be is likely controlled by the captain).
===Safety Strategies===
One safety benefit over car hitchhiking is that with a boat, it's easier to share the boat and captain's identifying information with a friend or family member before you leave. Boats have their names and often registration numbers painted on the side, and you'll have plenty of time to get the captain's full name and any other details you might want. Your family and friends might even be able to track your GPS position throughout the trip - most larger boats (and some smaller ones) have a system called AIS that regularly reports their GPS position to a public server so anyone can look up their current location on a map online. And captains who don't have this might still have another method, like a Garmin GPS system that reports back to a password-protected website. Others might have nothing.
You can, of course, bring your own safety equipment - life jacket, harness, even your own GPS/satellite phone (Garmin has good devices for a few hundred dollars plus around $50-100 per month for a satellite communications subscription). But check what the captain already is providing before you go out and spend a lot of money.
Also be aware of weather-related hazards. It's the captain's responsibility to avoid sailing into a dangerous storm (another reason to choose the captain wisely), but you may be held responsible for your own personal preparations. On a boat you're more exposed to rain, wind, sun, and cold than you would be in a house or even a car. Most boats have an indoor or covered area, but you may not have access to it for long hours of the day and night that you're standing watch or otherwise working on deck. In other words, make sure to bring a rain jacket, warm clothes, a sun hat, and sunscreen. Expect conditions at sea to sometimes be much colder than on land, and possibly sometimes hotter as well.
==Requirements and Useful Skills==
*'''Positivity and humility''': No captain wants to give a ride to someone who will be complaining the whole time, acts entitled, or thinks they know better about everything. You have much to learn, young grasshopper.
*'''Can-do attitude''': There's a lot of work to be done on a boat, and the captain knows better than you about how things work at sea. Enthusiastically follow instructions first, and ask questions later. Be ready to work hard, including on unusual schedules.
*'''Patience and flexibility''': Unless you're on a super-nice boat, life aboard is sometimes surprisingly simple, austere, and even harddifficult. Be prepared to endure hardship and find your inner peace, especially if you'll be at sea for more than a few days.*'''Interest in sailing''': Captains are generally much more enthusiastic about taking on people who want to learn about sailing than people who are just trying to get from point A to point B. Cruising the seas is their passion and hobby, and they want to share it with like-minded people. Presenting yourself only as a "hitchhiker" is often can be a way to get a quick "no".
===Money===
===Abilities and Knowledge===
*'''Ability to swim''': Not always required - some captains supposedly can't even swim - but generally useful, and honestly pretty critical for your own safety.
*'''Knowledge about sailing''': Most captains prefer a total noob to a know-it-all, but it doesn't hurt to learn a little bit about sailing in advance. Useful knowledge and skills incldude tying knots (specific ones used on boats), international collision regulations or "COLREGS" ("rules of the road" for how to avoid crashing into other boats), understanding of how to interpret ship lights, ability to understand the symbols on a navigational chart, knowing how to go fishing and clean fish, etc.
*'''Tolerance to seasickness''': Most people get motionsick on a boat in rough weather, and some even in calm weather. But often the body gets used to it after a couple of hours or days. A few find out they can't just take it and must break off their trip. It's important that you find out how you deal with seasickness (and eventually find your own tricks to cope with it), and let the captain know it. The best cure is usually to stay above deck and watch the horizon, or to lay down flat in your bunk. Running to the toilet is strongly discouraged - it's cleaner and less smelly to vomit into the ocean, and you won't risk clogging the toilet either. On catamarans (double-hulled boats) you will likely experience less symptoms of seasickness than on monohull sailing boat (which is designed to rock back and forth without tipping over). There are drugs to cure some symptoms, or some people use ginger. Better pack some in advance especially in case you're planning a longer cruise and you don't yet know your reaction to exposure. Seasickness is no fun at all and can actually be dangerous for yourself and annoying for the rest of the crew, since you wont be able to fulfill any tasks below deck.
*'''Physical fitness''': Most work on a boat includes some physical effort, and even walking around may take some extra energy and good balance when the boat is rocking back and forth. There's no need to be super-buff, but captains will generally expect you to be reasonably in-shape.
*'''Cooking''': Being a good cook isn't a free ticket to a life on the seas, but it often helps a little. Many captains either prefer not to cook themselves, or like themeselves and the crew to take turns cooking meals. If you can't cook at all, expect to you better be enthusiastic about washing the dishes.
*'''Sailing experience''': Experience in sailing is often not necessary - many captains will tell you it's easy to teach someone to sail if they have the right attitude. But the more experience you get, the more doors will open to you.
*'''Language''': Obviously all foreign languages can help, but for the Atlantic crossing speaking at least some French can make a huge difference, since over 60% of sailors on this route are French-speakers. French is also useful in the Caribbean and parts of the South Pacific, and many recreational sailors are French, so that may be the next most useful worldwide sailing language after English. Local languages in the countries where you're making port will also be highly valued, of course.
*'''Technical know-how''': Rarely required, but captains love people who know how to help fix, maintain, or upgrade the boat: diesel engine mechanics, carpenters, electricians, etc.
*'''Medical qualifications''': Also not a requirement, but who wouldn't love to have a doctor or nurse aboard their boat just in case?
*'''Pack light''': There's usually very little storage space on a boat, after fitting in necessary equipment, stocks of food, and other supplies. You may even be asked to store all your luggage in your bunk with you. A backpack should be okay, especially if it's not the biggest kind, but you may have a hard time finding a boat that will let you bring a large musical instrument or a bicycle, for example (even on top of the boat there's not much extra space, and a bicycle not security packed up will quickly rust).
*'''Passport or ID''', even when you're just travelling within Europe! The skipper must be able to provide identification documents for all crew members. Entering a country by boat requires passport checks and (often) visas just like entering any other way, though the details of the procedure may be different (don't be surprised if you have to give your passport to the captain so he can take it to the immigration and customs people).
*'''Equipment''': Head lamp (ideally with a red light option). Waterproof boots and good shoes are recommended, though some boats may provide them and others may ask you go barefoot anyway. All-weather clothing and sun screen. Ask the captain for a list of what to bring - some things may be provided already, and other things may be specific to that boat. If you do need to buy equipment for an Atlantic crossing, the Canary Islands are cheaper when compared with mainland Europe and in Gibraltar for example apparantly . Apparently there are sailor’s “jumble sales” so you might pay less.
===Lifestyle===
====Dedicated Websites====
* [http://crewbay.com CrewBay] has much fewer boats than Find a Crew, but is easy to use with very simple search options and you can share and see most contact details for free, and some users have found that its simplicity makes it easier to use than other sites. It does have some premium paid features (£1.63/week subscription), but you can easily get by without themif you need to. Crewbay is by probably the best crew site if you're looking to find boats for free or without spending very much. [[User:Treefrog]] found a boat from Florida to Panama this way, and his crewmates also found the boat using free CrewBay accounts.
* [http://crewseekers.net Crewseekers] is the oldest crew site of them all with many boats as they don't have to pay to register or use the site, but there is a fee for crew to register to make sure they are committed to finding a boat. Many captains and their boat are UK based, but there are some in other places too.
* [http://findacrew.net Find a Crew] is by far the largest website for finding crew and boats around the world, but very difficult and maybe your best chance to use with complex, unnecessary search options, privacy filters, safety features, and very expensive find a boat quickly if you want to become Premium can afford it (starting at AUD75 for 30 days only, less if you pay for a longer period in advance, down to AUD28/month if you pay for one a year but why would anyone want to do thatin advance). A Some users have found it a little overly complex or difficult to use, as it has lot of members also have their Personal Identity Verified different features and very detailed profiles (PIV) with exact locations and many of them don't allow you contact details hidden to contact them unless you verified your identity toofree members). As a free member you can't do anything then contact captains unless by "wavewaving" to captains them - if they have a paid account, they can then start a message conversation with you; if they have a free account like you, they can reply with a "yes", "maybe", or "decline" message but no additional text. The site also provides does provide some ways for captains in search of crew to find you, but unless you have sailing experience a competitive resume or the captain is attracted has some other reason to be interested in youspecifically, this is probably a very long shot . A lot of members also pay to have their Personal Identity Verified (PIV) and many of them don't allow you to contact them unless you verified your identity too. ([[User:Treefrog|Treefrog]] had no luck with this finding a boat after several months with a free account, but it seemed like there were a lot of possibilities for paid members.).
* [http://www.vogavecmoi.com Vogue avec moi ]
* [http://www.bourse-aux-equipiers.com Bourse aux Equipiers], in french.
====Facebook Groups====
For people aren't able or willing to pay for help finding a boat, some of the best options today are Facebook groups. There are many captains posting sailing trips in these all the time, and many don't expect any experience. It generally works best to search the group for your desired place of departure, or closely follow all new posts, and comment or message when a captain posts a trip that looks suitable to you ([[User:Treefrog]] got five or six potential offers out of Florida this way in early 2020, and only ended up turning them down because something sooner and surer came up on CrewBay). You can also post an ad for yourself, describing who you are, where you are, and what you have to offer, and hoping hope that a captain in your area will see it and contact you. But don't expect this to work very well great unless you're very experienced or a young woman (usual caveats apply). Also expect to be laughed at for your naivety - try to take it in stride, as many captains have a "sailors will be sailors" attitude and expect you to have a "thick skin".
* [https://www.facebook.com/groups/sailboatyacht/ Sailboat Hitchhikers and Crew Connection] is the largest such Facebook group. Lightly moderated, so don't expect people to be polite, but hey, at least it has "Hitchhikers" right in the title!
Most boats leave from Hokkaido, Kushiro but as there is no marina they will most likely be in Hakkodate before.
'''Also make sure you got your B1 or B2 Visa for the US before departure as the Visa Waiver Program does not apply for private vessels and you would illegaly enter the US just holding your visa waiver.'''
===Caribbean Island-Hopping===
Many recreational sailboats and yachts spend their time cruising around the Caribbean. Hurricane season is May to October, so there are very few boats sailing during this period. Cruising north along the string of islands in the eastern Caribbean is more of a thing than going the other direction, but the boats have to get south somehow. Many captains in the US head south to the islands at the beginning of the season (November or December) and spend the next few months cruising around.
== Experiences ==
