Crew
Crew changes in the UK made simple: the documents, the visas, the travel and the hotels, arranged around your arrival and departure so joining and leaving crew are looked after from door to gangway.
What we arrange
- 01
Signing on and off
We sign crew on and off, and time each change around the yacht's arrival or departure.
- 02
Travel
Flights or trains for joining and leaving crew, planned as part of the port call.
- 03
Transfers
Joining crew are met at the airport or station and brought to the yacht, and leaving crew are taken to their flight or train with their luggage.
- 04
Visas and authorisations
We check what each joining crew member needs before they travel, and arrange visas and Electronic Travel Authorisations through a specialist.
- 05
Hotels
A hotel near the port where the timing needs one, after a passage, or while the yacht is in a yard.
- 06
Medical and dental
Appointments with private clinics whenever they are needed. The nearest hospitals are listed on each port's pilot notes.
Every port we serve has a rail link to London or an airport within reach.
Documents
- Joining crew
- A passport or seaman's book, their contract, and a letter from the owner or agent confirming that the yacht will leave UK waters.
- Visa nationals
- A Joining Ship visa as well, unless they hold an ILO seafarer's identity document.
- Electronic Travel Authorisation
- For joining crew it depends on nationality and documents, and we confirm the position before they travel.
- Crew with the yacht
- Crew who arrive and leave with the yacht need neither an Electronic Travel Authorisation nor permission to enter.
- Leaving crew
- Crew leaving the yacht in the United Kingdom are normally given up to seven days to travel home.
Travel from each port
- London
- Central London stations
- Heathrow, Luton, Stansted and London City
- Dover
- Dover Priory to St Pancras, about an hour and five minutes
- Heathrow 95 minutes, Gatwick 78 minutes by road
- Southampton
- Southampton Airport Parkway to Waterloo, 69 minutes
- Southampton Airport
- Portsmouth
- Portsmouth Harbour to Waterloo, about an hour and fifty minutes
- Southampton Airport, about half an hour by road
- Cowes
- Red Jet to Southampton, then rail
- Southampton Airport
- Poole
- Poole to Waterloo
- Bournemouth Airport
- Dartmouth
- Totnes to Paddington
- Exeter Airport
- Plymouth
- Plymouth to Paddington
- Exeter Airport, Cornwall Airport Newquay
- Fowey
- Par to Paddington
- Cornwall Airport Newquay
- Falmouth
- Branch line to Truro, then Paddington
- Cornwall Airport Newquay
Questions
What documents does a crew member need to join a yacht in the UK?
A passport or seaman's book, their contract, and a letter from the owner or agent confirming that the yacht will leave UK waters. Visa nationals also need a Joining Ship visa, unless they hold an ILO seafarer's identity document.
Do yacht crew need an Electronic Travel Authorisation?
Crew arriving and leaving with the yacht do not. For crew joining by air it depends on nationality and documents, and we confirm the position before they travel.
How long do leaving crew have to travel home?
Crew leaving a yacht in the United Kingdom are normally given up to seven days to travel home.
