How to Sail and Volunteer Around the World for Free

Sailing the world provides the ultimate feeling of independence, adventure, and freedom. Whether it’s the foreign countries you’re visiting, the endless horizon, or the camaraderie with your volunteer sailing crew, sailing around the world can be an eye-opening experience.

Best of all, volunteering and sailing around the world on a boat can be done on a budget. Sailing for free offers one of the most unique – and inexpensive – ways to see the world. Read on to find out how you can sail and volunteer around the world for free!

Whether you’re after personal, practical, or spiritual benefits, there are many reasons to join a volunteer sailing crew.

• Gain new skills: Sailing around the world and volunteering can help you gain new skills and refine current ones. There are plenty of opportunities from learning how to maintain a ship or navigate the ocean, to developing soft skills such as communication, organization, teamwork, and so on.
• See multiple countries for free: When sailing around the world, each harbor is an opportunity for cultural immersion and insight into a new country! This is a convenient – and affordable – way to travel the world. Don’t forget to consider the visa requirements for your nationality and destination when sailing to new countries.
• Meet new people: Not only do you get to meet new people, but you get to live with them and form a greater connection. Being a sailing crew volunteer allows you to foster camaraderie and a strong rapport with others who you depend on when at sea.
• Disconnect and unwind: Sailing volunteer opportunities can help you detoxify from the stresses of modern life. Forget your office job deadlines, doom scrolling, and lack of vitamin D. Sailing and volunteering the world will allow you to embrace nature which can nourish the soul.
• Expand your worldview: Sailing around the world can expand your worldview significantly. The expansive ocean and the various countries and cultures you’ll encounter will make you realize just how small and familiar your home country is.

There are a range of different sailing volunteer opportunities which will cater to different travelers. Would you rather sail and volunteer in a more hands-on and intimate environment? Or would you prefer to work on a luxurious yacht in a different capacity?

Here are the some of the most popular types of sailing volunteer opportunities around the world:

• Volunteer sailing crew: As a volunteer sailing crew, you can expect to play a pivotal role in your crewmates’ journey. Whether you steer the sails, clean the hull, or cook the meals, you’ll always have something to do as a volunteer sailing crew member.
• Yacht sailing: If you’re volunteering on a yacht or a catamaran, you can expect to work on a larger team. Sailing on a yacht often involves working in a more private and personalized environment. Common jobs and responsibilities for yacht crew volunteers include being the deckhand, engineer, steward or stewardess, chef, and more.
• Cruise volunteering: Volunteering on a cruise typically means that you’ll work in a more commercial environment. The people who travel on cruises enjoy a wide range of activities, whether it’s entertainment, dining, gambling, and so on, which means that many workers are required for a cruise to deliver to its customers. Cruises can also specialize in being family-friendly, adult-only, for retirees, and so on.
• Tall ships: If you want to don an admiral’s hat (even figuratively), why not work on a tall ship? Although less common than the previous options, tall ship captains require volunteers – often those who are experienced – to help them maintain their ship and navigate the sea.

Depending on your experience, qualifications, and the type of boat you’re sailing on, there are a variety of duties expected of a crew sailing volunteer.

• Steering: Whether you’re on a boat that has a steering wheel (e.g. a motorboat) or one that doesn’t (e.g. a tiller), someone will need to navigate the wavy ocean. Often, you’ll need experience to perform this role, but entry-level volunteers can observe and learn from their captain in time.
• Watch leader: Think of the watch leader as a supervisor. The watch leader will ensure that everyone is safe and performing their duties correctly. To be an effective watch leader, you must have plenty of experience in sailing.
• Deckhand: The deckhand is responsible for a range of tasks, including but not limited to maintaining the boat and equipment, docking and undocking, securing cargo, and more. The deckhands are the unsung heroes of a well-maintained ship!
• Engineer: A marine engineer ensures that the ship’s mechanics are functioning at their best. This is particularly important on bigger ships which have larger machinery and engines.
• General duties & maintenance: Many entry-level volunteer crew members can find jobs in general duties and maintenance. Whether you keep the ship tidy, cook the meals, cover shifts, or provide additional support when necessary, entry-level volunteers can perform a variety of tasks on a boat.
• Hospitality & entertainment: On larger ships such as yachts and cruises, people require services in the form of hospitality and entertainment. Much like on land, duties can vary from waiting tables or providing childcare to being the evening’s main form of entertainment (e.g. singer or musician).

Many of these jobs require crew to work in shifts over a 24-hour period so prepare yourself for potentially working at night or in the early am!

1. Define your goals: It’s important to first understand what you’re hoping to get out of your experience sailing and volunteering around the world for free. Do you want to gain practical skills, see new countries, or merely embrace the ocean? This will help you find the right opportunity.
2. Assess your abilities and preferences: It’s important to understand what you can offer your crewmates and captain. While there are many opportunities for entry-level sailors, some positions may require you to have accredited qualifications or experience.
3. Find volunteering opportunities: Sail volunteer opportunities can be found in many different places. While you can certainly find sailing volunteer opportunities right here at Go Overseas, other websites such as Seashepherd, Workaway, Crewseekers, and Seas Your Future
   offer opportunities to sail and volunteer around the world.
4. Apply: Once you’ve found the perfect opportunity, you’re ready to apply! In your application, you can attach your qualifications and experience, or write a letter of intent explaining why exactly you want to sail around the world.

While people tend to romanticize the idea of sailing the world, it’s not all sunshine (although you will get a lot of it). Here are some of the things you’ll need to consider:

• Long trips: The long trips from one country to another can evoke feelings of isolation, homesickness, or “cabin fever”. While it isn’t always permanent, you’ll likely experience some form of discontent at some point during your trip.
• Lack of personal space: Since you’ll be sharing the same space as your crewmates for weeks or even months at a time, it can be hard to find personal space.
• Adverse weather events: Hope for the best, but always prepare for the worst. It’s important that you anticipate and prepare for adverse weather while sailing around the world.
• Night watches: Sailing around the world requires work, maintenance, and alertness 24/7. While you’ll of course have time to rest and recuperate, you may need to complete night watches during your time aboard.
• Seasickness: You may feel “under the weather” from time to time. Consider how you respond to the rocking motion of the boat. At first, many people may feel uneasy and unbalanced but quickly acclimate to the boat’s constant motion.

Volunteering around the world is something not just anyone can claim to have done. Sailing around the world is even more rare! Sailing and volunteering around the world is a soul-nourishing way to gain experience, see the world, and form lifelong connections with new people in a unique environment. Better yet, sailing for free is affordable!

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