Now I seek my own volunteer crew or even better... my permanent sailing companion

Well, I have now been here one month...arriving December 9.  After I determined the ‘leaking’ water tank isn’t actually leaking?  Or so it appeared and I’ve yet to take the floor access panels up to have a look roughly 3 weeks after discovering it’s not really leaking, at least not enough to be a concern.  Soon I will have a look.  Next I removed the boat name vinyl lettering and prepped and painted the areas on either side of the bow and discovered I’d made a mistake not to bring enough yacht enamel to do the whole hull toe rail to bottom paint. Then I heard about a woman in Tucson who has various boaters needing boat stuff send it to her and she brings it down.  I’ve ordered a gallon of primer/undercoat and two gallons of yacht enamel and a few other things.  2 packages have been deliver a third might not get there before her next trip down.  That’s ok as I might also order a quart or so of a colored yacht enamel I recently discovered.  Epi...

As I write this recap, I'm still in Playa Del Carmen another couple nights. This was the second winter in a row of seeking volunteer crew positions and while quite different experiences neither ended up being the kind of thing a sane person would volunteer for. Certainly I've gained new insights and perspectives on spending an extended amount of time living on a sailboat of a size I'd likely end up getting to live aboard for my near future. One thing that keeps me interested despite the negative aspects is what I hear time and again from various other people cruising and living aboard.... "Don't base what you decide on being volunteer crew, it's a whole other world and far better experience when you're on your own boat". No doubt. Anyway I chose the captain seeking crew to help sail from the Florida Keys to Rio Dulce Guatemala. At the time I had emailed interest but passed on another boat heading from North Carolina to Puerto Rica. That was a ...

Today is has been one month since arriving to Marathon Florida and living on the sailboat I've volunteered as crew. I've gotten a good taste of living on a boat on a mooring at a popular live aboard marina. It's become routine, even the 6 or 7 weather window postponements. I'm not sure if that includes the most recent one...tomorrow. We were to set out tomorrow but again the window shortened and this time what follows beginning Monday will be the strongest winds we've had. I've heard possibly as high as 40 knots. It's clear to me the captain is not interested in any kind of a batten down the hatches and take waves crashing into the cockpit (which lacks a dodger) kind if crossing. The day we turned back after actually heading put a couple miles into a light south headwind seems like a mistake to me but what do I know? It's not my boat and I'm doing this to learn. One positive thing is we've been waiting for the illusive weather window long...