How many crew do you cruise with?

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,918
- - Bainbridge Island
When you take your boat out for an overnight, how many people are typically on board?

Some singlehand, or sail with their SO, but others bring a pack of friends and family. What does your passenger manifest look like at anchor on a summer Saturday night?

loaded.jpg
 
Oct 24, 2010
2,405
Hunter 30 Everett, WA
Usually just the wife and I but we also invite others. Cockpit size usually keeps us to 5 or less. Interestingly when we sailed a MacGregor 26D we could easily take 6 because the cockpit was so much larger.
Ken
 
Mar 3, 2003
710
Hunter 356 Grand Rivers
Wife and I. We’ve spent 1148 days on our 2003 Hunter 356, many at anchor on KY Lake and have cruised the Tennessee and Cumberland River. Also made a six month cruise from Kentucky Lake to Punta Gorda, Fl and return via Tenn-Tom waterway. Perfect crew size and perfect couples cruising boat for us.
 

dwcory

.
Nov 27, 2013
10
Catalina 30 Salem, MA
Mainly just me and my wife for overnights. We've had our kids several times, and try to encourage them, but they are teens, so don't really want to hang with us very much. The only extended cruising we've done has been just the two of us.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Usually just Jodi and I. But often with another couple (good friends always/only)... Give the ladies a break from the sailing chores and let them hang out and sunbathe! Also handy for the occasion with more then 2 is handy on the boat. Med-mooring for instance, can be a real PITA with just two.
 
Jan 5, 2017
2,263
Beneteau First 38 Lyall Harbour Saturna Island
Usually just Bev and I though we do have guests join us on various parts of the coast for a week or so. Have never done just an overnight and home cruise or just a day sail in many years. When you're away for 5 to 6 months every year it seems more important to get ready for the next cruise.
 
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capta

.
Jun 4, 2009
4,766
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
We operate the boat with just the two of us when we do charters. We also do all interisland sailing when not on charter with just two, as we don't need the help and we don't want any potential immigration problems.
However, on passages of 6 days or more I prefer to have 4, three as watchstanders (4 on/8 off) and that gives me more free time. However, it rarely works out that way, so we sail with 3 and I'll stand a watch.
We crossed the Indian Ocean, around 3.5k nautical miles, with just two watchstanders. We did 2 AM to 2 PM shifts, but we had a completely reliable vane gear that did 99.99% of the steering on that trip.
On the other side of the coin, we had 13 crew on the Wanderer and it was a blast when we all turned out to get that old 130' sailing ship charging down the California Coast at 12 to 15 knots.
 
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Dec 29, 2008
805
Treworgy 65' LOA Custom Steel Pilothouse Staysail Ketch St. Croix, Virgin Islands
Usually Bev and I, plus another couple, when anchoring out overnight. On extended cruises, possibly a third person. For local overnights, we would typically anchor at Buck Island, on the North coast of St. Croix. However, last month we took 8 days with good friends and my sister Barb, who were our offshore passage crew, for a cruise up to St. John, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Norman Island. Conditions were ideal for sailing on the way up and back. We averaged 8 kts on the passage back to St. Croix!

With respect to overnight passages, as Capta addressed, we like a third or fourth watch stander. However, for our 12 day passage from Virginia to Tortola, we only had three of us and it worked out OK, though a fourth would have been nice.
 
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Oct 1, 2007
1,856
Boston Whaler Super Sport Pt. Judith
Two people, our golden retriever, and our dachshund. So either 2 r 4, depending on your counting method.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,990
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Usually solo, but for a couple of days cruise my wife or a friend might join in, providing the weather promises to be warm and rain free. It is not always a joy to sail through squalls, unless you are a little addicted. An affliction I seem to have caught as looking back at photos of me at the helm, I have great big grin and the weather is sporty...

Here is me sharing ideas about guiding Mahalo through 6-8 foot seas across the Strait of Georgia last February... 20 knot wind in our sail, WardH at the helm, Spray in our face and Les's Mahalo.
Enjoying the ride.
IMG_0111.jpg
 
Jun 14, 2010
307
Seafarer 29 Oologah, OK
Usually single handed. Occasionally some combination of my wife, granddaughter, & 1 to 3 gr.daughter's friends, but they typically perform few crew duties. Once or twice with my brother when he's in town, and he sails some himself so we crew for each other.
 

TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
We'll load the decks with guests for a day sail. Unless you're family, you need at least a PHD in sailing to go on an overnight with us. :)

We've taken a few special friends (mostly friends of our kids), over the years on overnights but our boats have always been on the small side for anything more than family.

Sailing is easy, but the rest of the life that goes with it, takes time to learn to do well.
MJ TT raft up (1 of 1).jpg
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,990
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
@TomY PHD. Is that in image selection to tell the proper story of the experience?
Photographic
Holistic
Discrimination.
 
Nov 1, 2017
635
Catalina 25 Sea Star Base Galveston, TX
However many wanna go! The maximum I will allow is six, including myself. The minimum is of course just myself, but it's always nice to have at least one other person to head up on deck to haul up and lower the main!
 
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