Coastal crew resources?

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Bonzai

Bonzai

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Jun 23, 2009
250
Chris-Craft SailYacht 35 St. Simon's Island, Ga.
I am looking for ideas/advice on how to locate good crew for coastal trips this summer. I intend to be able to single hand my boat but want 1 or 2 crew for the first season, figure I'll do less damage that way while I am learning :D. Thanks!
 
Roger Long

Roger Long

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Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
Actually, unless you take quite experienced crew that is explicitly teaching you, learning to do everything single handed will make everything easier down the line.

Communicating and coordinating a crew effectively is actually a more difficult mental challenge than thinking ahead to how to manage the situation with just yourself. That's one reason you hear so much yelling around the docks.

I often have little screw ups docking and un-docking with guests or crew on board and realize later that I probably would have done it more smoothly without the distraction of trying to explain to them what to do or expecting them to do something like fend off a piling and it then being too late when I realize they didn't remember what I told them five minutes before.

You'll do much better and appear much more competent when you do start taking crew and guests if you spend that first year alone. OTOH, a few trips with a very experienced person to show you so some of the tricks would be an excellent investment even if you have to pay for it. Just be sure it's someone with a single handing mindset who understands that's what you want to learn and who won't just be teaching you how to crew.
 
Bonzai

Bonzai

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Jun 23, 2009
250
Chris-Craft SailYacht 35 St. Simon's Island, Ga.
I ultimately want to single hand the boat. I have James Baldwin doing work on her and he has offered to go out and teach me the single handing tricks. As with most of my life's pursuits I will learn to go solo. My kayaking career taught me that, I always figured one idiot in a boat was plenty...lol. I plan on the wife joining me for certain legs of trips but she has no desire to be a sailor. I have a good wind vane :). That being said, I would still feel safer for everyone with one good crew onboard for a while at least. I have a whitewater buddy that may come help but he knows nothing about a sailboat yet. Either way, I AM going this year!
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
With respect, you are kind of doing this backwards. You might want to gain some experience as CREW on someone else's boat, with an experienced skipper. Information and knowledge flows a lot better in that direction. Also remember you as skipper are legally, morally, and practically responsible for the well-being of crew and boat. You can't really put that off on other people.

The other option would be to find someone that would come on as skipper for your first trips, and you sail as crew. But this might cost money.
 
Stu Jackson

Stu Jackson

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Feb 26, 2004
23,353
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Bonzai said:
I am looking for ideas/advice on how to locate good crew for coastal trips this summer. I intend to be able to single hand my boat but want 1 or 2 crew for the first season, figure I'll do less damage that way while I am learning :D. Thanks!
Click to expand

Where are you going? "Coastal" cruising can be defined a number of different ways. Two weeks ago my son and I did a five hour trip from Half Moon Bay back to the Golden Gate. It was an early morning dull motor sail. Other times we've been out in much higher winds sailing and enjoying ourselves.

Point being, if what you're planning on doing is only essentially long daysails, from Point A to B or even A back to A, then there are only two sections to the trip: docking/undocking and sailing/motoring.

If you want to learn to single hand, then you NEED to learn to dock. The midships spring line, assuming your docks have cleats, is what you'll need to learn to avoid jumping off the boat or having it leave without you.:) There are some links in this topic: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5445.0.html Please read page 2 of that topic, too.

The rest is sailing, right? How long to do you plan to be "out there?" If it's more than 24 hours, buy a kitchen timer. If you don't have one yet, buy an autopilot. These are the two most important items for me as a singlehander. The wind vane will help while sailing, not so much when motoring.

I think you're overdoing this "teaching moment" approach.

To BE a singlehanded sailor, YOU have to do it.

Go try it, if you feel you need assistance, then by all means get it, following the good advice from the other skippers who have shared it with you here.

Practice docking. Endlessly.

Go out and come back. Go out further the next time.

Good luck.
 
RECESS

RECESS

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Dec 20, 2003
1,509
Catalina 27 . St. Mary's Georgia
You really should single hand your boat while becoming crew for another boat. There are some sailing clubs (yacht clubs) in your area. Go to a meeting and introduce yourself and explain what you are doing. You will learn more by being a crew member in some local weekly fun races.
 
Bonzai

Bonzai

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Jun 23, 2009
250
Chris-Craft SailYacht 35 St. Simon's Island, Ga.
Thanks Jack and Stu. I agree Stu that the most challenging part to me is docking/undocking. I have sailed lake boats nearly as big as this one alone many times. The currents, tidal streams and tides really demand a much more thorough knowledge of docking than I have, but I am working on that very thing. I've done well and I've scraped the bejeezus out of the piling when a big cross wind was adding to the current etc. I just need practice once I get enuff info. I will learn this in as short a time as possible. I do have a lot of experience with self teaching and self reliance in tight situations. Everyone had to start somewhere right?
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Bonzai,

I think you are off to a good start... the key is to have a good grounding in the fundamentals, be SMART, and know your limits.

On lasting piece of advice.. Stay ahead of the boat. Its only moving as fast as you can jog. If you think ahead, few thing will be able to sneak up on you. Always be thinking ahead. Like airline pilots, develop a systematic 'scan' of your key indicators (weather, wind, depth, fuel, time, tide, speed, crew, food, water, nearest shore, destination, etc) and work them in rotation until you do it subconsciously. This gets more important as boats, crews, and voyages get more complex. It will keep you out of 99% of potential trouble. Now go have fun!
 
rgranger

rgranger

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Jan 19, 2010
12,943
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Bonzai said:
That's exactly the one I have been studying Granger. Thanks guys for all the help.
Click to expand
Small world...

... well it has been said... and proven true many times....

"Docking is a spectator sport":D
 
Bonzai

Bonzai

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Jun 23, 2009
250
Chris-Craft SailYacht 35 St. Simon's Island, Ga.
rgranger said:
Small world...

... well it has been said... and proven true many times....

"Docking is a spectator sport":D
Click to expand
Ain't it the truth! More fun to come when I start dropping the hook solo!:eek: And then of course comes flying that spinnaker...hoping the windvane helps me there.
 
Warren Milberg

Warren Milberg

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Dec 1, 1999
2,391
Hunter 28.5 Chesapeake Bay
I'm also a "mostly" solo sailor. I think that if you can sail a dinghy, you can sail most anything. It was an interesting experience for me to learn this factoid when I once took the wheel of the tall ship "Pride of Baltimore" some years ago. Solo sailors are always thinking ahead and dealing with all the possible -- and impossible -- "what ifs."

The thing I worry most about when solo cruising is fatigue and how it affects your decision-making ability. The way to deal with it is, like reefing, when you first think about it, do something about it. I also worry about the knowledge and abilities of all the other boats out there that are in my path -- and so I don't really care about who is burdened and who isn't: I get out of the way and I do it early.

Finally, if you have an autopilot or wind vane, make sure you not too dependent on it or let it take over when you are tired. Find a way or place to stop and rest.

Successful solo sailing is really satisfying and I wish you luck.
 
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