You are keen to travel by sail! But what if you don’t have a boat (yet;)) and you would like to experience ocean magic by sail? The adventurous, purpose-driven, and eco-minded way. In this blog post we highlight how Ocean Nomads can support you with making your ocean adventure and impact dreams real. 

Who are we? We are a footloose global sea vagabonding community of impact-driven oceanminded travellers,  entrepreneurs, environmentalists, activists, creatives, sailors, (free)divers, surfers, overland explorers, and active salty souls passionate about the ocean. 

What do we do? We connect people, sailing vessels, projects, and environmental action to help you realize ocean travel, adventure, impact, and a more ocean-conscious way of life. Check out the About Page to learn more.

Here are 10 waypoints to get out there as sailing crew with Ocean Nomads:

Check the Latest Crewing Opportunities from Members

Check the latest opportunities in sailing ‘Crewing Opportunities‘ on the memberhub. We currently have +70 sailing vessel members navigating all over the world who are often eager to share the sailing experience.  

Snapshot of some of our current sailing crewing Opportunities (May 2021)

• Tania & Wolfgang are welcoming eco pirates on board for sailing Gran Canaria – Fuerteventura – Lanzarote. June / July 2021. Learn more & Connect with Wolfgang. In 2023 they sail across the Atlantic and started the networking for it already.
• Gianluca is reCREWting for outdoor, forage and freedive fanatics to explore the Sporades with him. And citizen science research with Surfrider & Medplastic project.  Learn more & Connect with Gianluca
• Keith is looking for adventure buddies to explore the Canary Islands and to sail Canaries – Azores – Galicia. Connect with Keith. 
• Captain Tomaatje is reCREWting for sailing in Portugal and to the Canaries. Minimum Stay 1 month.
• Claudio is making a documentary about the past, the present and the future of the Mediterranean with his boat Sam and is looking for someone who want to sail and make videos

Stay in the loop and be the first to know about new sailing crew opportunities by exploring the Member Hub and joining the family. 

Introduce yourself

Introduce yourself. Post what you’re looking for in the ‘Hands on Deck Available‘ topic. The more we all know about each other and also the more specific you are the better we can tag and connect you to relevant people who may have or know about an adventure opportunity. 

Explore the Ocean Nomads Map

Explore the Ocean Nomads MAP and see if there are any sailing vessels in the area you’re looking for. You can connect with sailboat captains accordingly. Also, make sure your profile and location on the map are up to date so the system works and vessels near you can find you. 

4. Connect with fellow nomads and captains in our network

Join one of our online events like ocean nomads speed networking, Member Intro’s & Q&A’s, Boat talk, or Journey to Boatlife, to connect with fellow nomads, captains and impact entrepreneurs. The online happenings are all about planting some seeds. Relationship building takes time and the better we know each other, the better references and invitations we will all make. 

5. Join one of our Sailing Expeditions

Join one of our Expeditions which accelerates everything. Members can now apply for Sailing around the Atlantic and/or across the Caribbean with us.

“Ocean Nomads makes you feel really connected. The trips are amazing and the connections are unparalleled. So much of my journey in conservation, with this lifestyle and also as an entrepreneur, has been about finding those people who understand and who can share the experience alongside me. With the Ocean Nomads online hub, I don’t feel like I’m shouting into a giant void of the internet with tons of people who don’t get it or are not interested. I feel like I have solidarity of people beside me. I’m really excited to see where that goes. I can feel the positivity leaking into my life already.” Caitlin – Founder of the Sustainable Tourist 

Explore the Sailing Crew & Sail boat ride resource

Be aware of what it means to be crew, what responsibility captains take by taking you on board, and that it’s important that you show your value, mindset, and character. Which goes way beyond sailing skills. More on all this in the resource ‘ Find a Sailboat ride’  It’s one of the member resources you can access as a member where we share crew considerations, websites, ideas, and more ways to find a ride. Show that you understand what it means to be sail boat crew. Whatever boat you jump on, it has to be HELL YEAH, or just don’t…

New 2024: Join the Complete Ocean Nomads Crew Course.

Show your value 

Give, share, contribute and show your value. Engage and interact within the Ocean Nomads network. The more we learn about each other the better matches and introductions we can make. People will sooner remember you. Make sure your profile is up to date too.

Ask your crewing questions

Don’t hesitate to ask your nomad questions and curiosities on the member HUB. We are an active and engaged group of salty souls, walking the extra mile for a fellow Ocean Nomad. We have so much to learn from each other. 

Read Book Ocean Nomad

Looking for a ride across the Atlantic in particular? Check out Suzanne’s book: Ocean Nomad (30% discount for Ocean Nomads members) 400 pages of ocean adventure considerations, tips, and stories. Ocean Nomads organically has developed from this book. Read more about how it all came about in the Ocean Nomads background story here. 

We amplify your message

We amplify our members’ voices in our new moon and full moon newsletter and on Social Media. Tag us and we repost on our channels and Facebook groups totalling +25.000 people of which mannnnny are sailors, liveaboards, boat owners. As a member, you can also repost from your pages in the groups. 

Show your soul and member badge

It’s not just about finding a boat, it’s about finding the right boat and captain which makes you all feel happy and safe. By being in the Ocean Network shows that you’re more serious, dedicated, and share similar values. On the member hub, you can download your Ocean Nomads member badge and put this up on your website, crew ad, or anywhere. We already have seen many members teaming up and inviting other members on board. Let your soul shine through on the member platform, in the meet-ups, anywhere really :). We also screen members to the best we can and have a blacklist too but we can never guarantee a happy ride. There are many variables and there’s always a risk. Trust your intuition. 

“The big opportunity of this platform is, that we all are driven by the same spirit. That makes it easy to build up a team aboard, for me the most important thing out on the ocean. Sailing skills are not as important as many people believe, you will learn everything you must know in less than one week, I promise. ” – Vessel Member & Captain Wolfgang

And let us know how you go! Share your stories! (Like for example Hendrik did here who went sailing with Keith, Anna did here who took Dom racing, and, Boris did here who took Willemijn sailing, and Wolfgang did here who took Johannes sailing)

Questions? Comment! We keep searching for ways to connect you and get you out there. That’s our drive: connecting you to nature! Read more on our Impact page why we do what we do. 

What some of our Members say:

“After having sailed with Captain Keith, I have finally started to learn all the practical skills I believe are necessary to become a truly independent and confident sailor down the road. Great thanks to Keith for generously and patiently sharing his extremely extensive knowledge and experience on everything related to practical sailing! Through Ocean Nomads I have found an incredible sailing mentor and friend, I am very thankful! :)” – Henrik

“Authentic, enthusiastic, caring and sharing: the Ocean Nomads community is all about living a conscious life on this beautiful blue planet in real life, using the platform what is meant for: connecting to each other.” – Marjo

“We are a growing bunch of awesome, nice and caring people that have the most different backgrounds, stories, nationalities, or even views. But this even enriches our community as we share thoughts, tips and much more about the most different topics around sailing and sustainable living. But what actually brought us together, is a deep and strong connection to the oceans, wanderlust, interest in adventurous traveling around the seven seas and the intention to make a positive impact “- Andy

“I absolutely LOVE what Ocean Nomads is about and how you are building this network! Getting connected to fellow ocean lovers who thrive on and close to the water has been a real pleasure so far. Going on spontaneous boat rides with similar minds has really helped to keep the nature spirit alive!” – Willemijn – Founder of Searious Business – Accelerator of circular economy in plastic use.

“I had the privilege to sail on two of Ocean Nomads impact adventures. Where I met a lot of beautiful people with whom I shared a lot of inspiring moments and so new friendships created. I’m very thankful and proud to be a part of this awesome community. Who introduced me and M.Khalid Ibrahim to each other when we sailed under the nomads flag in the Mediterranean for three weeks. We became friends and he joined last year November with me to rainy Holland to help out with the mayor refit of my boat: Windfall. Now one year later the refit is done our friendship even better en we are starting this month to sail around the world. so we can meet all of your nomads out there!!”  Thomas – Sea Gypsie and Founder of NGO By the Ocean we Unite