Sailing guides for crew and captains
Plain guides for the questions people ask before a passage: finding crew, becoming crew, sharing costs, joining a delivery and what to ask a skipper. Every fact in them comes from a named source, shown beside it with the day we saw it, and for dates, fees, deadlines and entry rules we link the organiser or the authority instead of stating them ourselves.
The guides
- Atlantic crossing crew: how to find crew and be found
How captains find crew for an Atlantic crossing and how crew get found: when to go, the safety kit one organiser requires, entry rules and what to agree first.
Updated 1 October 2026.
- How to become crew on a sailing yacht
A beginner's route to crewing on a sailing yacht: how to find positions, what the RYA Competent Crew course covers, seasickness, and where to go next.
Updated 1 October 2026.
- How much should crew contribute?
The four arrangements a crew-matching body recognises, the only figures we quote and their source, and a calculator that does the arithmetic and nothing more.
Updated 1 October 2026.
- How to join a yacht delivery as crew
What a yacht delivery is, what deck crew can expect, how delivery miles are logged for the RYA, and how to apply. No claims about liability or insurance.
Updated 1 October 2026.
- Questions to ask a skipper, and a checklist for crew and captains
Questions for crew to ask a skipper before an ocean crossing, the reverse for captains, and a checklist, with the source behind each one that has one.
Updated 1 October 2026.
- Build your Yachtmaster miles as crew
How crew build qualifying miles for the RYA Yachtmaster on passages and deliveries: what counts, asking a skipper to sign your logbook, and where to apply.
Updated 4 October 2026.
- Do you need a certificate to crew on a sailing yacht?
Do you need a certificate to crew on a sailing yacht? What the RYA reports, what skippers often prefer, and what to put on your profile if you have none.
Updated 7 October 2026.
- Can you hitchhike on a sailboat? How boat hitchhiking really works
Can you hitchhike on a sailboat? How boat hitchhiking works: it is shared-cost sailing where crew work watches, what it costs, and how to find a boat safely.
Updated 7 October 2026.
For boat owners
- Leaving your boat for the winter: checklist and finding a boat-sitter
A checklist for owners who leave a boat in its marina, and how to find and choose a boat-sitter: what to list, what to ask, and what to agree before you go.
Updated 5 October 2026.
More to read
Free to join. We never handle money between captains and crew.