WANT TO COME SAILING?

​​DETAILS:

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We had to say goodbye to our crew member of three years due to issues outside of our control; this is a permanent departure so we’re seeking someone new to join the adventure. We are on an almost new and fully setup Leopard 45 catamaran which is currently on the hard stand in Trinidad. We will cross from Trinidad to Panama around the end of January/February, going through the Panama Canal and applying for French Polynesia long-stay visas (Initially 1 year) in Panama City. We’ll then cross the Pacific to French Polynesia. After that the plan is to do the SEA circuit (Philippines, Indonesia etc.) for as long as we like.

 

It may sound too good to be true and in many ways it is. You get to board an almost new, fully tested yacht, set up for remote area cruising. We are looking for someone who’d become a trustworthy friend aboard, not a short term hitch hiker or someone looking for sea miles. We’re happy to teach boat specifics, but only with the intention of you staying on long term.

 

We bought this boat and set it up as a home, not a charter, to explore areas of the world only accessible by sea. We are looking for a single male crew member between 25 and 37, who wants to help with boat jobs, maintenance, cleaning, watches, be an adventure buddy, sailing the boat - basically anything required, as if the boat were your own. Assistance with the entire experience is the value to us of housing and cooking for someone occupying a main cabin. The yacht requires a certain amount of work to operate and maintain so with three people it’s much easier. For you, you'll get to live on an almost new yacht without any significant financial investment. You will have a double bed with a private bathroom. We have a VERY good liveaboard chef (me!) who cooks most meals and organises provisioning for the yacht, you just need to clean dishes and assist with carrying shopping.

 

Highlights of what we have aboard include:

 

• 3x Halcyon/X-Deep scuba diving sets, 6x tanks, and a dive compressor

• Large aluminium tender

• Assortment of spearfishing, fishing, and kiteboarding gear 

• Honda petrol scooter

• New generator and 800ah 48V 10KW Victron system with 3200W rigid solar

• Starlink internet and an office with 4K monitor

• Guest bathroom and outdoor hot shower

• Large tool kit

• Exploration gear for land adventures

• 3x separate navigation systems for redundancy

• Watermaker, barista coffee machine, ice maker, clothes washing machine, ice maker

 

Essentially the best of everything in this catamaran size class. 

 

Our interests: Spear fishing, exploring remote areas, urban exploring, ancient ruins, SCUBA, kite boarding, wake-boarding, hunting, camping, beach bonfires, live music, dirt bike tours as we travel.

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WHO WOULD SUIT THIS LIFESTYLE AND VESSEL:

 

The opportunity would be suited to a smart, ocean experienced digital nomad who is seeking a long term experience of a year or more; Trent and I work online via Starlink. We understand that this will not suit the majority, but we would rather have the right person for this lifestyle and our home. None of the criteria are unreasonable or difficult if you understand the nature of living on an international yacht, where responsibility stops with the people living on it and nobody else.

 

We’re not initially opening the opportunity to couples as we only want to trial one person at a time. That said, we don't mind who you meet during our travels; after they have been on the boat for two weeks or before an international crossing there would be criteria they must meet to join us long term. 

 

Food, fuel, consumables and random operational expenses (e.g. dinghy fuel) are split on an accessible spreadsheet, which makes it very easy to track costs and easily see who owes who what. We have covered the hull insurance. 

 

There will be a trial period on the hard stand in Trinidad at the start of January before we launch and go to Panama. You can fly yourself here, it’s an easy location to get in and out of. We are currently finishing up the last of the boat jobs and upgrades into early January and the cabin is now vacant.

 

Some things we are looking for:

 

1. Minimum 2 year passport validity and able to apply for the extended French Polynesia visa, as well as visa on arrival for Trinidad & Tobago, Panama, and various Pacific islands.  

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2. Set watch shift of 11pm until 4am for long crossings. The rest is flexible. We do not do or like rotating shifts, we could not care less what RYA does.

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3. No "recreational drug" use on the boat - we do drink and party on and off the boat.

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4. No smoking on the boat, including weed - not super harsh on guests, we just don't want to live with a regular smoker hanging off the back.

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5. Dog person who is not allergic; our dog lives outside and is toilet trained (better than some humans). No additional pets.

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6. Living on a yacht is inherently high risk, you are fine with signing a no liability contract for hull and captain. 

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7. Sense of humour required - if you’re easily offended or identify as a squirrel or whatever, this isn't the boat for you.

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8. Scuba experience is a plus because we have very little. We primarily free dive, but aim to do a lot more scuba.

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9. No restrictive diets (e.g. vegan,  gluten free) and like eating seafood. We eat as much fresh, non-synthetic food as possible, but don’t want the additional work of catering for restrictive diets in remote areas. 

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10. A proactive person we don't have to chase and constantly actively manage - the harder we all work, the less we all have to work.

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11. Basic mechanical aptitude.

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12. No divisive people or liars - do not apply with the view of a short term position for sea miles, we will work out if you are lying very rapidly so you will waste the cost of a flight.

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13. Someone who is sociable with positive and constructive energy. We don’t want another crew member who has to constantly be convinced to get off the boat.

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14. Have comprehensive private health insurance for visa reasons.

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15. Ability to follow instructions under pressure without ego or argument while operating the yacht or dinghy.

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16. No diagnosed psychological or mental conditions

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17. We dive on all mooring balls or don't take them without a continuous watch.

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18. Don’t get seasick in normal sea states.

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19. Will work in confined spaces, possibly in open ocean if required (rare). 

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20. Doesn’t freeze under pressure or in a stressful state.

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21. Able to provide proof of funds via bank statement for the long-stay French Polynesia visa. The equivalent to around 17k euro savings with a three month history of it in the account or an income of around 1400 euro per month with a three month history. If you have a fixed budget of less than 10K USD and no form of income this is not the boat for you and you do not meet visa criteria.

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22. Not afraid of heights (will go up mast)

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23. Clean and hygienic, considerate of others in a limited space. No foot or toenail fungus (We have seen it around the yard and don't want it on the boat.)

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24. The boat is on Youtube. You can decide how involved in that you want to be and if you would like a split of the income. The Youtube's primary purpose is a scammer shield. Marinas, government’s and "tradesman" usually refuse to mess with the hull that is on Youtube. It is an unfortunate but useful tool in a world where there is very little accountability to deter fraud. That is primarily why I maintain it.

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25. You agree to replace anything you or your guests you may bring back to the boat break outside of normal wear and tear. 

 

We have learned a lot from past crew and observation of crew on other hulls and are very clear on what minimum attitude criteria we want on the boat with us, so as not to have repeat issues.

 

- We have simple, yacht specific rules which mitigate any conflict in advance. They are practical and easy to follow. Eg. Don’t leave your things spread around public spaces when not in use. 

 

- If you're a person who passively watches what others are doing and then throttles your contributive output to what you perceive that they are doing, this is not the yacht for you. 

 

- If you are happy to have others think for you and have convinced yourself that everyone makes constant  mistakes on repeat tasks, this is not the yacht for you. You may break things we can not easily replace due to location.

 

- If you need every aspect of reasoning behind an operational instruction delivered to you before you will follow it under pressure, not the yacht for you.

 

We are happy and easy going but after our last crew member departed, we realised that this is a valuable opportunity and we are better off with no crew than the wrong crew.

 

If you think that you would be a good fit and want to explore paradise with us, please forward a summary about yourself or resume to travelsketchsailing@gmail.com

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