Being a part of the Suva’s crew is easy and fun! No experience is necessary….we will teach you everything you need to know to be a safe and effective member of the Suva’s crew. Being a part of the crew requires that you :
- Be at least 16 Years old.
- Be either a current member or become a member of the Whidbey Island Maritime Heritage Foundation.
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- Be physically capable of mild exercise such as raising and lowering of sails.
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Being a crew person on a vessel that sells tickets requires participation in a random drug testing program. The WIMHF contracts with a third party to conduct our Coast Guard compliance program, ensure the randomness of the program and compliance with current US Coast Guard regulations. Unfortunately, there is a cost to belong to this program, which we ask our volunteers to bear. This is the reason for the additional Crew membership Fee. The crew membership fee is $180 for the first year, and $120 for each subsequent year, which includes WIMHF membership. If you do not participate for a year as a crew member, it will cost $180 to be eligible again.
A First Aid/CPR certification is desirable. If you do not already hold a First Aid/CPR certificate, we regularly hold training classes for Red Cross First Aid/CPR, which is good for two years. The training coordinators can assist you with getting scheduled for this training.
Crew training is held weekly during the late spring, and bi-weekly later in the season. But don’t worry – you are not expected or required to participate in every training event! You will be provided with both a list of tasks required when sailing Suva, and a Personal Qualification Standards check off sheet to mark your progress from Deck Hand to First Mate. Experienced sailors can expect to qualify as First Mate pretty quickly, and even members new to sailing can rapidly become valuable members of the crew! As your skills increase, so will your 
opportunities to crew aboard Suva!
If you hold a USCG Masters License, and are interested in qualifying as a Suva captain, our Lead Captain will work with you to get qualified as one of our Captains.
As a member of the Suva crew, you will receive a weekly email about crew and training opportunities. To volunteer for these events, just reply to the email and the Schedules Officer will assign the appropriate crew based on availability and qualifications.
Any questions about the Crew Membership Application may be directed to:
Crew Training Officer at training@schoonersuva.org.
You can join online as a crew at Whidbey Island Maritime Heritage Foundation.
Some handy references for aspiring Suva crew members:
(requires a PDF reader such as Adobe Reader or Foxit PDF Reader)