OceanCrewLink.com is a unique way for ocean sailors and offshore captains to meet each other. The website 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 adverts. Users have control – store your sailing resume online; opt-in and out of the service without needing to re-enter your data; advertise boating opportunities anywhere in the world.

Getting Started

Registration is easy, but you will need to add some basic data to your profile before you can use the site, and pay the US$5 per month recurring registration fee. This subscription can be cancelled at any time.

Register:  add your first name and family name, plus your email address and password, and create a username.

Login: using your email or username

Create your profile

All users – crew and captains – start by adding a simple profile. This includes contact details, age and sailing experience (years, miles offshore/coastal and nights at sea).

Once all mandatory data is added, the “Save Profile” button will become active. You can edit or add more information to your profile at any time.

Crew or Captain (boat owner)?

Once you have created your profile, activate it as either Crew (users who want to meet boat owners) or Captain (users who want crew to sail on their boats).

Click the orange button to become either a crew looking to meet captains or a captain wanting crew.

Using the Site

With a valid profile, Crew members can view Sailing Opportunities and make contact with captains.

Captains must have a boat and an open Sailing Opportunity before they can contact crew, or be contacted by crew.

Sailing opportunities can be marked as Full (crew spaces taken), Archive (close for contacts), or Cancelled (removed from your profile). Once updated this way, the opportunity is removed from the public listing and no further contact requests can be made via the opportunity.

Crew – Find Boats to Sail On

Go to Find Boats to view Sailing Opportunities. Use the list filters to find opportunities by date, region, rally, experience, or financial arrangements that meet your preferences.

Click View Details/Contact Captain to read full details about the opportunity.

Click Contact Captain to send a contact request to the boat owner.

Captains – Contact Crew for your Boat

Captains need to add a boat to their profile, and then add a Sailing Opportunity (where and when the boat will sail).

The captains can then search the crew lists and make contact with crew.

Use the list filters to find crew by sailing region, rally interest or experience levels that meet your preferences.

Click More Details/Contact to view the full user profile or send an Invite (contact request) to the user.

Making Contact

We value your privacy, so captains and crew need to confirm a contact before each person gets to see private details; think of it as a virtual handshake.

To contact a user, click the “Contact/Invite” link on a profile or opportunity page. This will send an email to the user with a confirmation link (the virtual handshake). Once the recipient has clicked the confirmation link in the email, each person will be sent an email with each other’s contact details. Use the “not interested” link to decline a request.

Profile Tips

Your OceanCrewLink profile is your sailing resume, so be honest and accurate. Use the self-rating skills section to display your competence, and add your key voyages to the history section. It is also a good idea to add a clear portrait photo to your profile