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Hitchhiking a boat

2,607 bytes added, 19:41, 26 May 2020
How to Find a Boat: Better organization, and added a lot more info
===Online===
There a several online marine crew websites available that specialise in matching crew with boats. Find a Crew [http://findacrew.net] is the largest. Other options are Crewseekers.net [http://crewseekers.net] and Floatplan.com, or Vogue avec moi [http://www.vogavecmoi.com] and Bourse aux Equipiers [http://www.bourse-aux-equipiers.com], in french.
* Find a Crew [http://findacrew.net] is by far the largest website for finding crew and boats, but you can barely do anything without paying a steep fee (US$70/month). The main thing you can do as a free member is "wave" to captains - 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 only "wave" back. You can also just hope that captains scouring the site for crew will find your (rather detailed) profile, but unless you have serious sailing experience or the captain is attracted to you, this is pretty much a long shot.
* CrewBay [http://crewbay.com] is probably the most useful free dedicated crew site as of 2020. Much fewer boats that Find a Crew, but it's free. It does have some premium paid features, but you can easily get by without them. [[User:Treefrog]] found a boat from Florida to Panama this way, and his crewmates also found the boat using free CrewBay accounts.
* Crewseekers.net [http://crewseekers.net]
* Floatplan.com [http://flaotplan.com]
* Vogue avec moi [http://www.vogavecmoi.com]
* Bourse aux Equipiers [http://www.bourse-aux-equipiers.com], in french.
* Others (just do some web searches)
 
However, 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 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 that a captain in your area will see it and contact you. But don't expect this to work very well 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".
 
* Sailboat Hitchhikers and Crew Connection [https://www.facebook.com/groups/sailboatyacht/] 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!
* Sailboat Crewfinder Worldwide [https://www.facebook.com/groups/cruisingopportunities/] is only a little bit smaller than the above group, and a bit more moderated. Definitely worth trying both of them.
* Sailors Find a Crew or Be Crew [https://www.facebook.com/groups/sailingcrews/] is quite a bit smaller, but you might still find something there.
==Requirements==
autopatrolled, Administrators
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