Atlantic crossing crew: how to find crew and be found

Post your passage with the route, the dates, the berths that are free, the cost terms and what you need crew to do. Crew see all of it before they apply, so the people who write to you have read it. If you sail with a rally, tag the passage with it and crew who look for that rally will find you from its page.

Meet before you commit. A call or a short sail shows more about fit than a profile can.

What the rally organisers say about crew:

• Reported Ocean Crew Link is World Cruising Club's own crew-matching service. It is free for owners, and crew can browse for free but pay a monthly subscription to contact boats.Source: Ocean Crew Link (crew-matching service), seen 1 October 2026.
• Reported World Cruising Club rallies require at least two people aboard. Its ARC summary says two adults (18 or over) and no single-handers.Source: World Cruising Club (organiser or official source), seen 1 October 2026. Check with World Cruising Club: crew before you rely on it.
• Reported World Cruising Club advises crew and skippers to meet in advance, ideally for a trial sail, and to be honest about experience. It says personality matters as much as skill, and that skippers look for fit, a relaxed attitude and willingness to cook and clean.Source: Ocean Crew Link advice (crew-matching service), seen 1 October 2026.

Where to look and where to post:

• Atlantic crossing passages
• Crew based in Las Palmas
• Find crew for a passage from Las Palmas
• The ARC rally page
• How we vet members and passages

Fill in your profile first: what you have sailed, the certificates you hold, the roles you would take and when you are free. Then apply with a message that says why this passage and what you would bring. A specific message helps the captain see whether you fit.

On Find passages, narrow the list to ocean crossings, to a rally, to passages that welcome learners, or to the dates you can do.

• Atlantic crossing passages
• Passages in the Canary Islands
• Find a passage from Las Palmas
• How crewing works for first-timers

Some captains welcome crew who have never crossed an ocean, and some passages are marked as welcoming learners. Read the passage, ask the captain what they expect of you, and start with something shorter if you can. The beginner guide and the learners page show a way in.

• How to become crew on a sailing yacht
• Learning to sail: training bodies and courses

Boat hitchhiking is an informal name for getting a berth on someone's boat without a formal arrangement. On this site you apply to a captain for a place on a posted passage, and the passage states its cost terms up front, from nothing at all to a shared contribution. Read how costs are labelled and agree what is expected in writing before you travel.

• How much should crew contribute?
• Costs and crew agreements

Weather decides the real departure date, and captains change plans. Ask each captain how flexible theirs is.

The usual season, the duration and the hurricane season, each with its source and the day we checked it, are on one page only, so they are not repeated here.

• Atlantic crossing: season, duration and entry rules

• Reported World Cruising Club's safety equipment requirements for its rallies ask for an ocean liferaft for all crew, a 406 MHz EPIRB, an AIS receiver, email at sea (satellite or SSB with Pactor) and man-overboard equipment. Every person needs an inflatable lifejacket-harness with spray hood, crotch strap, whistle and light, a three-point tether (2 m at most) and a personal AIS beacon. Safety inspectors check the boats before the start.Source: World Cruising Club (organiser or official source), seen 1 October 2026. Check with World Cruising Club: safety equipment before you rely on it.
• Reported World Cruising Club rallies require at least two people aboard. Its ARC summary says two adults (18 or over) and no single-handers.Source: World Cruising Club (organiser or official source), seen 1 October 2026. Check with World Cruising Club: crew before you rely on it.

These are one organiser's requirements for its own rallies. A boat that is not in a rally sets its own standard, so ask the skipper what is aboard.

• Questions to ask a skipper, and a checklist
• The ARC rally page

• Visa-exempt non-EU nationals may stay in the Schengen area for at most 90 days in any rolling 180 days. Arrival and departure days count. A passport must also have been issued within the last ten years and be valid for three months after leaving.Source: European Commission (organiser or official source), seen 1 October 2026. Check with European Commission: Schengen area before you rely on it.
• Reported The Canary Islands are part of Spain and of the Schengen area, so time spent there counts towards the 90 days. They lie outside the EU customs territory and VAT area.Source: Noonsite (article or trade press), seen 1 October 2026. Check with Noonsite: Canary Islands, what to know before you go before you rely on it.
• Reported The EU Entry/Exit System began on 12 October 2025 and became fully operational on 10 April 2026. It replaces passport stamping with biometric registration (face and fingerprints) for non-EU short-stay visitors.Source: European Commission (organiser or official source), seen 1 October 2026. Check with European Commission: Entry/Exit System before you rely on it.
• Reported ETIAS, the EU travel authorisation, is not yet in force and its start has been reported as delayed. Check travel-europe.europa.eu for the current position.Source: MileLion, reporting the delay (article or trade press), seen 1 October 2026. Check with European Union: travel-europe.europa.eu (ETIAS and EES) before you rely on it.

Check your own passport and your own days with the authority before you plan a crossing that starts in the Canary Islands.

• Reported Crewseekers advises a written crew agreement that covers expectations, finances, that arrival cannot be guaranteed, crew repatriation, and insurance on each side.Source: Crewseekers (crew-matching service), seen 1 October 2026.
• Reported Crew should check passport, visa and return-ticket rules, keep an emergency flight budget, and arrange travel or medical cover that covers ocean sailing.Source: Crewseekers (crew-matching service), seen 1 October 2026.

Write the agreement down in the chat of the application, where both of you can find it later, and settle who pays for flights home before anyone books.

• What to agree in writing