Chuck Rose's Page

When we wanted to sail a tall ship, we just searched on line until we found one we liked. On the sail training square rigger, HM Bark Endeavour I , being over fifty years old, had to get a doctor's release. All crew members had to climb the ratlines to the t'gallant yard and down the other side before the ship left the dock. Other than that, a positive attitude and willingness to pitch in are all that is required. For this type of ship you pay a fee to join the crew. There are a good many vessels of various types with various programs ranging from near luxury cruises that allow you to take an occasional trick at the wheel to hardcore sail training ships that will require full participation in the operation and maintenance of the ship. Some are restricted to young people but many will take any age if you can get a doctor's release. The duration of the cruise can be anywhere from a weekend to almost indefinite. After our initial cruise in Endeavour, three weeks for me, six for Laura, we were invited to rejoin the crew for a six month voyage from Freemantle to the UK via Cape Corn. Regrettably, we had to decline. But former shipmates and friends went. You can see footage from that trip in the movie "Master and Commander"

When Laura crewed for the delivery of the schooner Spike Africa from San Diego to Kauai, we found out of the crew opening through our yacht club, Nawiliwili YC on Kauai. Laura was interviewed over the phone by the captain and paid her own way to San Diego to join the ship but no money exchanged hands.

It is fairly easy to get a return delivery crew berth on a racing yacht going back to the mainland from Hawaii after the Trans-Pac or Pacific Cup races and sometimes on private cruising yachts if you can document your skills or if you volunteer to do the cooking. You just have to be hanging around the right port with no commitments for a few weeks when the opportunity presents it self.

Another option is to join a large private yacht. Often these boats post notices on bulletin boards in the marina or in the crew list in magazines like Latitude 38 advertising for crew to some port or other. Typically, you will be required to purchase a return airline ticket and sometimes contribute to the grocery bill. Requirements, conditions and shipmates vary widely. Choose carefully or you may find yourself sailing with Captain Bligh or worse (At least Bligh was a good seaman).

I've been riding motorcycles for more than forty years. I've been sailing for perhaps thirty, owned my own boat for almost twenty. Bikes are far more risky than boats but for some reason, people generally seem more comforted by the fact that an ambulance can come pick up your remains shortly after you slam into a bridge on the way home from a night of drinking than they are with the idea that if they get scared and uncomfortable in bad weather at sea they may not be able to call for a helicopter to come pluck them off their perfectly good boat.

Bad weather at sea may be uncomfortable but there is really nothing to be afraid of in a well found boat if you have plenty of sea room. It's when you are close to land that you need to worry.

We have a motorcycle crate of stuff we couldn't bear to part with in storage and a friend is holding a motorcycle for me. We are finding that we have too much stuff that we don't need on the boat and we are gradually getting rid of it. Incredibly, a lot of people won't take the plunge and go cruising because their stuff owns them instead of the other way around. A garage full of junk that hasn't been touched in years is the anchor that keeps them from living the dream.