CrewSeeker
Join the Crew. Discover the Voyage.
Want to sail offshore, explore the Pacific, and experience real bluewater adventure — even if you don’t own a boat? Our CrewSeeker service connects sailors like you with skippers in our rally fleet who are looking for crew.
Island Cruising rallies are friendly, adventurous and supportive — and many boats love to welcome extra crew aboard.
Why Sign Up?
- Real offshore experience — not just coastal trips
- Access to active skippers looking for reliable crew
- Automatic email notifications when new opportunities open
- Full access to our cruising preparation workshops
- Discounts from marine sponsors & training providers
- Connection with a friendly Pacific cruising community
How It Works
- Become a Member (NZD 129 / year)
- Send us your sailing experience and a photo
- We create your crew profile on CrewSeeker
- You start receiving crew opportunities from rally skippers
You choose the opportunities that fit your timing, budget, comfort level and adventure goals.
Who Is This For?
Perfect for sailors who:
- Want to cruise the Pacific
- Have some sailing experience and want to go further
- Travel light, are adaptable, positive and team-oriented
- Love the idea of shared adventure
If you're brand new to sailing — just start with a local course or day sailing first, so your first ocean passage is enjoyable and successful.
Safety & Matching Support
We’ll help you:
- Understand what questions to ask skippers
- Know what gear to bring
- Prepare for offshore conditions
- Feel confident, capable and ready to contribute
Ready to Start?
Your next big sailing story starts here.
Become a Member & Join CrewSeeker
The Sailing Season
The Pacific Rally departs New Zealand and Australia in May each year and spend six months cruising in Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu or New Caledonia. They return to New Zealand or Australia in October.
Many skippers take on extra crew for the ocean deliveries and sometimes crew are also taken aboard to cruise for longer throughout the Islands. With over 130 vessels registered for the 2025 Pacific Rally so far, our CrewSeeker service is the best way of finding a position on board.
November–April is South Pacific Cyclone season and vessels typically do not sail offshore during this time. However, we often have people cruising around the coast of New Zealand or Australia over the summer and there are still lots of great opportunities that come up.
Tips for People New to Sailing
While crossing an ocean might seem like a fun and possibly cheap way of getting from A to B, if you have never been sailing before - an ocean crossing is probably not the best place to start. Offshore passages from Australia & New Zealand are at least one week or more at sea. The passage can be rough, and it is very unpleasant and unsafe for both yourself and the rest of the crew if you find you get seasick.
You will also want to get some of your own personal safety equipment - such as decent wet weather gear, a life jacket, tether, gloves, perhaps your own satellite communications device, like an InReach for example, so you can keep in touch directly with friends & family when you are at sea. You'll also need your own seasickness medication, to be flexible with timings, to wait for a suitable weather window, have all the correct visas and an onward air ticket out of the country you are sailing into.
Skippers are generally looking for helpers who know their way around a boat, and can help with sail changes - night watches and the day-to-day running of the vessel.
A good place to have your first sailing experience is to go along to your local yacht club and ask if they have any learn to sail courses or race boats looking for crew. You can often get a spot racing around the harbour and learning all kinds of skills, such as handling lines & winches, safely moving around the boat and, most importantly - whether you enjoy being on board or not.
If you don't have any luck at a yacht club, there are lots of great companies offering hands-on Learn To Sail courses as well with a structured curriculum and giving you lots of important skills & knowledge for your adventures ahead.
Staying Safe
Before joining a vessel or taking on crew, it is VERY important to do some thorough due diligence on the skipper/crew member before agreeing to go aboard. We provide lots of suggestions on how to interview each other to ensure you are going to be safe while at sea, as well as tips on what kinds of personal safety equipment you might like to consider purchasing and tips on how you can communicate with your friends & family while you are offshore.
We also recommend that crew do some additional safety training before heading offshore. Your CrewSeeker membership gets you access to all our online cruising training content, as well as a 10% discount on Advanced Sea Survival, Offshore Medic, RYA Navigation theory and VHF Radio operators courses. These qualifications will give you more confidence, ensuring you know how to keep yourself and the others on board safe, and be a more useful crew member while on passage. You can quickly recoup your membership investment with these excellent savings.
Join Now!
If you are interested, you can find some more information about all the inclusions and how to become a member on the link below.
Once you are registered, email us a few paragraphs about your sailing experience, qualifications and a photograph, and we'll get your profile all loaded up. Then you'll start getting notifications of all the opportunities as they come through.
Already a member? Sign up as a Crewseeker for free to create your listing
