Offshore Passage Opportunities offers three services all focused around matching experienced crew with qualified skippers -- and helping those who seek more sailing experience to safely acquire it.
Delivery skippers and private boat owners quickly realize their friends and family have jobs and cannot always sail with them. So they call us looking for crew. We collect their information and pass it on to our members to help them get aboard. Since you are helping to deliver a boat, you get to go sailing for free. Many are repeat skippers or members so we pre-qualify a majority of the opportunities for you.
If you've ever considering deepwater sailing but were not sure how to jump start your sailing career, our Swan Program is for you.
Our Swan Program was specifically designed to introduce people to the world of offshore sailing by providing hands-on crew experience under the watchful eye of an professional skipper on a proven boat. During your tenure onboard, you’ll learn to keep watch, make log entries, navigate, use the radio, steer the boat and perform tasks that are essential to safe offshore sailing. The Swan Program offers a fixed price for everything you’ll need aboard—you just pay for your travel to and from the boat. The Swan Program sails south from New England to Bermuda and the Caribbean in the fall, and north from Bermuda and the Caribbean to New England in the spring. Summer trips are also available.
After your first Swan Program experience, you’ll have the skills to sail on other boats. Please view the video below to learn more.
Dear Sailors,
We like to speak with potential Swan Crew before they sign up for any of the following passages. Please let me know if you have any questions before placing a deposit online or by mailing a check.
A deposit is required for any option.
I am in or near the office most of December and January at 631-423-4988. E-mail works very well at hank@sailopo.com
Once we have agreed you are ready to join us, you can make a deposit online at www.sailopo.com/store or pay by check made out to Offshore Passage Opportunities and mailed to OPO, PO Box 2600, Halesite NY 11743.
Best Regards,
Hank Schmitt
OPO
Annapolis Boat Show - Sail Aboard our Flagship Swan 48 Avocation (6 Days)
October 5 to October 11: Sail from New York to the Annapolis Boat Show and then stay aboard for two days and see the show.
October 11 to October 16: See the show on Saturday and Sunday and then sail back to New York.
The price is $2,000.
Newport to St. Maarten: October 30, and Returns on November 18
We know we will have at least 10 berths on two Swans sailing from Newport to St. Maarten this fall 2025. A Swan 65 and a Swan 48. The dates are for crew to arrive Thursday, October 30, for planned departure on Saturday, November 1. In the fall we need to add several extra days just in case we have a possible weather delay. We allow 18 days for the ten days of sailing.
If we leave on time we may spend up to four days in Bermuda and have a day or two in St. Maarten. If we have a three-or four-day delay in Newport, we may spend only two days in Bermuda and only one day in St. Maarten. Plan to fly home no earlier than Tuesday, November 18. We are only taking crew who can commit to two legs in the fall since it gets too complicated trying to accommodate people who do not have time to make both legs.
The price of $5,500 is all-inclusive accept travel to and from the boat and meals and drinks ashore.
Oban Scotland to The Med: August 3 for approximately 3 weeks with Murray Jacob (only one berth left)
Crew arrives in Oban Scotland Sunday, August 3, and depart a day or two later for Olbia Italy. Murray and weather will help decide the route and stops along the way. Usually it is good to get a lot of miles in early in the passage so there is no pressure to catch up.
The plan is to arrive in Italy one or two days early so you can enjoy a day or two before flying home Wednesday, August 24.
The price of $4,500 includes everything accept travel to and from the boat and any meals and drinks in port. But it does include almost three weeks on a Swan 68 and all onboard provisioning, dockage, customs fees and of course boat expenses and crew wages. There is a captain and mate on all the big Swans.
Palma to Las Palmas: October 20 to November 8 (3 weeks) with Tania Aebi (only two berths left)
Captain Tania Aebi and First Mate Maurizio have been teaming up to co-skipper the boat for this passage from Palma Mallorca to the Island of Madeira and then to Las Palmas to position the boat for the ARC Rally in November. This is a rare opportunity to sail on a big Swan covering good open ocean miles with a celebrity skipper and primo Italian chef to cook diners.
We have two berths left to join them for three weeks in the fall at $4,500 each.
Hank Schmitt is profiled in the several episodes of a new series entitled "Tips from the Pros." Regardless how long you have been sailing, you will learn something new by watching Hank share some of his techniques based upon decades of sailing.
Please contact Hank with any comments and feedback!
Hank Schmitt provides an overview of Offshore Passage Opportunities to the Blue Water Sailing Club, complete with Q & A.
The discussion shares how you can learn to sail offshore, how OPO has helped countless sailors gain blue water experience, and the benefits of crewing on a boat delivery. Importantly, Hank also discusses the Swan Program, the annual NARC Rally (North American Rally to Caribbean) and other rallies. Enjoy!
 | Hank, thanks again for connecting me with crew and running an excellent rally. I needed the support and appreciated all the hard work you put in to make the rest of us safe and confident. Thank you, Ruth, for crewing on Lady Slipper (this feels so inadequate for the gratitude I have for your support on the passage, thanks). -- Doug, SV Lady Slipper, Owner/Skipper |  |
| Almost immediately after your sending out my crew request, I received 6 qualified responses. Through Christmas Eve and day, I have received an additional 4 responses. In a word: Wow.... This is a terrific service that you are providing. | |
| Thanks a ton for your help. I received a lot of responses from very capable seamen and have filled out my crew. You run a very good organization and I have given your contact info to a couple of broker friends of mine. Great job! | |
| The OPO announcement we put out earlier this year produced several very well qualified crew for my voyage from Annapolis to New Zealand. I’ve filled my crew needs from Annapolis to Galapagos and have one crew for the remainder of the passage to New Zealand, but I would like one or two more for Galapagos to New Zealand. | |
| The response for crew has been fa-nominal !!! I just wanted to say "thank you" and I am sure we will have crew thanks to you. Keep in touch. | |
| Hi Hank, First of all, I would really like to thank you for your kindness. I have been emailing and calling every contact I could find since November, and no one has come close to being so genuine and helpful as you have been in just this one email. It really means a lot to me that you would be willing to put in your own time, energy, and offerings into helping me pursue this journey. I think it is so cool that you were able to participate in such an intense level of competitive sailing at the age of just 18 - that must have been such a great experience. | |
| Hi Hank! Just saying "Ahoy". Your OPO has changed my life, I showed off my sailing passage list to a friend the other day and he was impressed, I was too! | |
| So nice to get to see you again — and to get a look at Avocation — in Newport and in Bermuda. You and OPO are responsible for me racing with Marcus, and I’m grateful. In the last 8 years or so I’ve gone from a pretty novice cruiser to steering a race boat at night through 30 knot squalls and big seas! | |
| Joining OPO has been great for me. I have had great trips and each has taught me a lot. Most recently I joined Jon on his Swan 40 trip from Southport, NC to Fort Pierce. This was the perfect trip for me in this stage of getting prepared to get our own boat. It was just the two of us and I really enjoyed getting to know him. All of these people became friends and we stay in touch. One day I will get a chance to meet you but in the meantime I want to say Thanks for doing what you do. -- Ken | |
| Thank you for all you do to create sailing opportunities for others and to create such a creative community. When I first called you I could have never imagined what OPO would mean to me. I have lifelong friends and lifelong memories. You make everyone feel welcome and valuable. Thank you! I appreciate you!! | |
| Hank - Just a note to say I had a great experience with skipper Chris. I know he has used OPO before and I would expect him to say I was a well qualified crew member. Nice boat, great guy and an excellent sailor. I only wish I had more time to spend offshore. I am sure I will be looking for another berth. I think the OPO service has been worth every penny for me already just a few months in! -- Chad | |
| I received a good response for a very short notice transatlantic passage crew spot and was quite pleased with the whole process. I confirmed a very experienced fellow after reference checking him with one of the Captain with whom he regularly sails. Thank you. I am sold on OPO! Of the 8-10 hits, at least 4 filled the bill for this particular spot (needed watch captain level experience) but all of them would have been fine to fill a berth and be able bodied crew. -- John Youngblood, S/V High Cotton | |
| You have a wonderful organization. I wish I knew of it earlier. I've made a number of solo passages that I'd rather not have done alone. Offshore Passage Opportunities is great. Thank you! -- Phil | |
| As this was my first true deep offshore experience, I really did not know what to expect and I came prepared for "anything". Capt. Woody and the first mate were amazing and very knowledgeable and patient. The 5 other crew members on the first leg and the 3 replacement crew on the second leg were all pleasures to get to know and sail with. Nothing like a challenge like this to develop a common bond and camaraderie. The entire rally and organization was well done and the activities in Bermuda especially were a blast. So many great people there. Your organization and the folks that participated in and help organize the rally were amazing and my Captain and crew were first rate and for all of that, I am thankful. -- Doug | |
| One of my new crew mates asked, "Are you always this happy? Is there ever a time when you don't have a smile on your face?" The freedom that sailing a Swan on the Atlantic Ocean gave me to be my own person, and to be happy. To test my limits. I'd been putting off making a life changing decision for some time. I realized that I wanted to remain being this person who was at peace and happy. So, when I returned to the mainland, that's what I chose. -- Jim | |
| After my kids went off to college and did their thing, I started sailing again, ASA Classes and by luck found your site hoping to land crewing opportunities. The Swan Program (Sint Maarten to Newport with Jonathan I. on Aurora) during COVID was my first "long distance" ocean passage. He asked all the crew what our goal was for being aboard and making that trip. I told him then that the purpose for me taking that trip was one of two things: either reinforce fulfillment of my bucket list dream of sailing by teaching me about the world of ocean sailing OR kick the crap out of me and so that I never want to do it again. Jonathan's approach to teaching meshed with me perfectly, unlocking the mysteries of the boat systems, handling the seas and what it meant to be confined with others in a small space for days and be safe on the sea.I am still in touch with some of the crew. I haven't stopped sailing. Whereas I may not fulfill one goal of someday buying my own boat. I will fulfill another this year by applying for a USCG Six-Pack Near Coastal License. With the above trip with David and others planned this year (highlight being (800) NM around the Aleutian Islands in Alaska this July). I will meet the (360) day threshold of days sea. That more than half of the journeys have been on the open waters. I will approach 20K NM out on the water covering both sides of the Atlantic, the Great Lakes, The Mississippi River, the Caribbean, the Pacific, and the Mediterranean. None of it would have happened without that first Swan Trip aboard Aurora. Thank you for running such a great program and letting guys like me get our feet wet and a taste of the sea. -- Fair Winds | |
| Your Swan Program made my goal/dream of experiencing a multi-day offshore passage a reality! From the first time I contacted you, your communication, follow up, and detailed logistics planning for the trips has been fantastic. The captains were eager to share their extensive knowledge, focused on safety, and made the trips fun with their stories of cursing the world. My fellow crew members were from widely diverse backgrounds and ages, and we all had an awesome time getting to know each other, and coming together as a crew. I'm already looking for my next OPO trip! -- Steve | |
| Thanks for letting me be a part of Aurora's crew in last month's St. Maarten to Newport run. It was a great adventure. I think that Jonathan Ishmael is a very good captain and the crew you put together was a fun, congenial mix of men. I have been working toward this trip for four years and it exceeded my high expectations. -- Charlie | |
