Corfu-Athens NOW
We're arriving at Corfu later today and will stay there at least until the 5th of January as we have disembarking crew with a flight the 5th. We've been three persons on our way from Dubrovnik, I consider that to be optimal for longer distances and night sailing. So far we're two persons going from Corfu, but there is space for more.
Boat is a relatively comfortable 43 feet sailing vessel built from wood and epoxy, Norwegian flag.
THE PLAN
The corinth channel is closed, so obviously we'll do the detour and sail around towards Athens. I expect to do relaxed sailing with plenty of stops. I have a flight from Athens the 25th.
COST SHARING
I expect crew to pay any extra costs. Food is the most obvious "extra cost". Some crew prefers to count every cent of it, personally I prefer that we just take rounds doing the grocery shopping, but I'm flexible.
If the crew prefers expensive guest harbours rather than anchorages, or prefers motoring rather than sailing, then I hope we can share harbour dues and fuel costs as well.
There is always equipment breaking on a boat, sometimes due to carelessness or negligence from the crew. It's anyway my responsibility to assess if the crew has sufficient competence for the assigned tasks and give clear instructions, so I never hold my crew accountable for such costs. (When the season gets better and when the crew decides the route, I will probably consider to ask for some money for an "unexpected expense and maintenance fund". Sailing is definitively the most expensive way of travelling for free!)
CREW EXPECTATIONS
You're welcome on board regardless of age, gender, qualifications and experience, as long as you're prepared to give a hand when it's needed. I've once had a dad joining together with his toddler - that did work out very well. I've also many times had helpers on board that had absolutely no experience with sailing. Either you learn, or the primary task on your shifts will simply be "wake up the captain if anything happens".
If we decide to sail throughout the nights, we'll put up a duty plan where we share the burden of staying awake at the helm. I still expect to be woken up when I'm "off-duty" if needed.
I expect that we share doing the chores (like cooking, dish-washing as well as maintenance tasks - there are always things that needs to be fixed on a boat), but be aware that I also need to spend some time on my day job and have a bit of reduced capacity due to that.
Two persons on board will work out fine, three persons are optimal when doing night-time sailing, four will work out, five and it starts getting crowded (we have double beds, so 3 persons plus a couple works out quite well).
I'm flexible when it comes to diet, I eat almost anything. If crew has special requirements (i.e. vegan diet) I will try to adapt. I can do some cooking, but I'm not very good at it. I've had crew members on board cooking food only for themselves - that's faux de pas, in this ship we try to eat together when possible.
REFERENCES
I'm relatively new at crewbay, but I've been hosting travelers both at home and on the ship for decades. I may provide references from earlier crew members if needed.
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Thumb's up
Together with an other crew, I had an enjoyable time on Solveig. It's a unique ship with a welcoming skipper, who made me feel at home immediately. While doing a mix of short trips and longer passages, including night sailing. I had the opportunity to test my sailing skills under supervision of the skipper. In four weeks we made around 500 miles. I had an exceptional good time and learned plenty about life aboard.
13th Feb 2024