South African Couple looking to gain experience and build miles.
Hi! We’re JJ and Demi, a South African couple who recently completed our Day Skipper course in Knysna. We’re looking to build our sailing experience, get more miles under our belts, make memories and hopefully connect with the right boat and skipper to learn from.
One of our long-term dreams is to eventually cross an ocean on our own boat, so we’re hoping to find opportunities where we can gain experience and become useful, capable crew along the way. We’re not looking to get paid — we’re mainly looking for the experience, and we’re happy to contribute towards food, fuel or other reasonable costs where feasible.
We’ve been together for 6 years and have spent a lot of our lives around the ocean. JJ grew up surfing and fishing and has spent two seasons working at Telo Island Lodge, just north of the Mentawai Islands, as a surf guide. Demi also worked at Telos as a host and yoga instructor. As it’s a remote island where boats are the main form of transport, being comfortable on and around boats was part of everyday life and work.
JJ studied Motion Design in Cape Town and currently works in visual marketing for a real estate company. Demi previously studied herbalism and nutrition and is currently studying Computer Science remotely. We’re both used to working hard, living simply, adapting to new environments and being part of a team.
When it comes to sailing, we’re still very much beginners. We’ve done one sailing trip in Greece, and gained practical experience and miles during our course. We know there’s a huge amount still to learn, and we’re approaching it with humility, enthusiasm and a willingness to listen, learn, have fun and get stuck in.
We’re happy to help with watches, cooking, cleaning, provisioning, maintenance, or whatever else needs doing. We’re not looking for a holiday or expecting to be passengers — we want to be useful and learn as much as we can from experienced sailors.
We’re particularly interested in longer passages and eventually offshore sailing, but we’re open-minded about where the right opportunity might take us.
If you think we could be a good fit for your boat, we’d love to hear from you!
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