Specialising purely in ocean sailing opportunities, OceanCrewLink.com is our new online directory of sailors and sailing opportunities, which aims to connect boat owners with offshore sailing crew.
At World Cruising Club we wanted a new way for captains and crew to be able to contact each other; somewhere for ocean sailors to meet ocean going captains and provide an easy way for crew and captains to see if they "like the cut of your jib" when judging whether to join a boat or choose a crew member. So we talked to crew and captains and used our extensive knowledge gained from organising transocean sailing rallies to provide a better way to connect sailors.
OceanCrewLink.com is a database of crew and opportunities - think of it like an index card system. We've tried to make it simple, but to include the key questions about experience and abilities, dates and locations that often get left out of online ads. The new website has replaced World Cruising Club’s previous Crewing Opportunities Forum and can also act as an online store for your sailing resume. Users can opt-in or out of the system without needing to re-enter their data each time.
Registration is easy and free! Just visit the website at www.oceancrewlink.com and click the registration icon. You will need to add some basic data to your profile before you can view other opportunities or crew in full. Then you can go back when it suits you to add more detail. You can even add a photo! Remember the more detail you add about your own experience, voyage history or skills, the more you will stand out from other sailors.
Captains can find crew by adding an opportunity – a boat sailing on a route at a specified time. Again, we’ve thought about the standard information a potential crew might want to know, so opportunities have to include dates, locations and some basic details of costs, sleeping arrangements and experience levels sought. Crew seeking boats can then filter the opportunities list by a number of variables such as region, rally and costs. Captains can filter the crew list a similar way.
Contact is made via the site, so your personal details are not published directly and can’t be “spammed” from the site. A captain and crew need to exchange an electronic “handshake” before the website passes on each person’s contact details.
We have been working hard to remove the initial bugs and to smooth the way the site connects users since opening it for registration in December. Now with over 1,000 sailors already signed up to use the service and over 100 opportunities to sail currently available, oceancrewlink.com offers a unique meeting place for those who love ocean sailing.
Salty-Dog Tags
Look out for the "Salty Dog-Tag" - a wheel shaped marker that shows up on the crew list to highlight someone special. All our salty-dogs have sailed in 7 or more rallies and keep coming back for more. They are keen and experienced so make a great addition to any crew.
