Hitchhiking boats
Photo: El Coleccionista de Instantes, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Apart from making your way round the Caribbean or Polynesia by offering a hand on board yachts which seems to be common and easy, the most common route is the Atlantic crossing from Europe to the Americas (mostly to the Caribbean or Brazil). See Cruising on small craft for more general information on yachts.
Getting startedThere are stories floating around of people who always know someone else who managed to go for free on a freighter, but the only reliable stories really date back to the 1970s.
Atlantic CrossingBoats go with the trade winds that start to move from East to West across the Atlantic in autumn, so the season is from September to January or February. Top season is as from November.
Pacific crossingThe Pacific being about 6 times larger than the Atlantic, this is a crossing that is never done without a stop over on at least one of the Polynesian Islands.
Between Asia and Australia or OceaniaPassages from Australia to Asia can be made with the Sail Indonesia Rally, which takes place annually in July. The other way round it is more difficult.
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Hitchhiking boats" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: El Coleccionista de Instantes, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons