No hand-for-a-bunk trip is currently advertised. New places often appear at short notice, so check back soon. Until then: mile building trips cover long distances, often with night watches, and every pair of hands on board counts.
Trip type · Sailing as crew in exchange for helping out
Hand for a bunk: sail for free and help out on board
Hand for a bunk means that you sail for free, or only in return for a contribution to the boat kitty and travel costs, and help out on board in return. You pay nothing for the bunk itself. Typical examples are deliveries, long passages and owners looking for crew for watches and manoeuvres.
Updated: 2 November 2026 · Editorial team toernfinder.de
Offers direct from the skipper
The essentials at a glance
Season
Year-round, deliveries mostly in spring and autumn
Duration
From a few days to several weeks
Most common departure ports
Depending on the route, often the Mediterranean, Canary Islands, Caribbean and Baltic Sea
Requirements
No licence needed; for offshore trips, experience is usually required
Price for the bunk
none, plus the ship's kitty and your travel
Current hand-for-a-bunk trips
Here you can see the trips that providers have advertised as hand for a bunk. Places like these are rare and get taken quickly. You'll find alternatives such as mile building further down.
How does hand for a bunk work?
Hand for a bunk is an exchange: you contribute your work on board, and in return the skipper or owner provides your bunk. The running costs of the trip are usually shared by the whole crew.
Help is needed above all where a yacht requires more hands than the owner has on board: on deliveries from one sailing area to another, on long passages with night sailing, or when preparing for a regatta. You are then a full member of the crew.
What "help on board" means
- Sailing and watches: Setting and lowering sails, helming, keeping a lookout and, on long passages, standing watch, including at night.
- Manoeuvres: Handling lines and fenders when berthing and departing, anchoring, reefing.
- Daily life on board: Cooking, washing up, shopping and keeping things tidy below deck.
- Maintenance and repairs: Depending on what is agreed, also work on the boat, for example before the start of the season or at the boatyard.
How much of this falls to you depends on the trip. A delivery with a fixed schedule involves more sailing than a relaxed trip with swimming stops. So make sure you find out exactly what is expected before you agree to join.
Hand for a bunk, cabin charter or berth charter?
With the classic Cabin charter or a berth charter, you pay a trip price for your place on board and can decide for yourself how much you help out. With hand for a bunk, there is no such price, but your help is firmly built into the plan.
Is cabin charter on a hand-for-a-bunk trip really free?
You pay nothing for the bunk. Even so, the trip is rarely free: usually the crew shares the boat kitty, and everyone pays for their own travel there and back.
- Boat kitty: Food and drink, often also diesel, harbour and berthing fees. The skipper decides how it is split.
- Outbound and return travel: Flight, train or ferry to the departure harbour and home again from the destination harbour. On yacht deliveries, the two are often far apart.
- Your own equipment: Oilskins, deck shoes and, depending on the trip, your own lifejacket with a lifeline.
- A buffer for waiting days: If the weather isn't right, the start or the arrival is pushed back. Allow time and money for a few extra days.
The box shows what the boat kitty typically covers.
What's included in the price and what goes into the crew kitty
Included in the trip price
- Your bunk on board
- The vessel
- The skipper
Usually via the crew kitty
- Food
- Hafengeld
- Diesel
Usually around 150–300 € per person per week, depending on what the group agrees, for example whether restaurant visits are included. On some boats, meals are already included in the price.
It is best to clarify in advance with the provider exactly what is included.
Where and when you can find hand for a bunk
Most places come up on yacht deliveries, that is, when yachts are moved between their summer and winter sailing areas. If you are flexible, you will find them in spring and autumn.
In other sailing areas too, such as Greece or around the Canary Islands, owners regularly look for crew. Last-minute places come up when someone cancels at short notice. Then it's whoever can commit quickly and travel at short notice who gets the spot.
Mediterranean
Spring and autumn
Deliveries between Croatia, Greece, Italy, Spain and northern Europe, plus trips to boatyards and winter storage.
Mile building in the Mediterranean →Atlantic and Caribbean
Out in autumn, back in spring
In autumn via the Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands to the Caribbean, and from April back via the Azores. Long passages with night watches.
Mile building in the Atlantic and Caribbean →Baltic Sea and North Sea
May to September
Shorter deliveries, trips to regattas and owners looking for crew for individual legs.
Mile building in the Baltic Sea and North Sea →Hand for a bunk as a beginner: what do you need to bring?
For many trips you don't need a sailing licence, but you do need time, a good pair of sea legs and a willingness to pitch in. For long offshore passages, skippers usually expect sailing experience.
- Experience: On coastal sailing trips, skippers often take beginners along too. For crossings and night watches, experience or a licence is usually expected.
- Sea legs: Be honest with yourself about how you cope with rough seas. Anyone who is seasick for days on end can't help out.
- Time and flexibility: Deliveries depend on the weather. Allow a few days' buffer.
- Team spirit: Life on a yacht is lived in close quarters. A good mood, tidiness and reliability often count for more than sailing skills.
- Language: English is often spoken on international yachts. There, hand for a bunk is usually called "working passage" or "crew wanted".
What to clarify with the skipper before the sailing trip
Because no trip price is paid with hand for a bunk, there is often no travel contract either. That makes a clear agreement all the more important, ideally in writing.
Talk beforehand about the route, start and finish dates, the tasks on board, the amount and use of the onboard kitty, and what happens if the sailing trip is postponed or cancelled. Ask about the skipper's experience, the safety equipment on board and whether there is insurance. A short phone call or a meeting before the sailing trip will quickly show whether the chemistry is right.
Affordable alternatives to hand for a bunk
If there is no suitable hand-for-a-bunk place available right now: on mile-building trips you also sail long distances with night watches and log plenty of nautical miles. In the cabin charter exchange you will find free berths on many other sailing trips.
CREW WANTED
Mile building
122 current trips
Long passages and night sailing, also for nautical miles towards your next licence.
week usually 690–1,200 € per person
View mile-building trips →
cabin charter exchange
2,552 current trips
Free berths on sailing trips worldwide, enquire directly with the skipper.
Usually a week 700–1,250 € per person
Find free berths →
Cabin charter
1,602 current trips
Book a berth on a cabin charter and help out as much as you like.
week usually 690–1,400 € per person
More about cabin charter →
What should you pack for hand for a bunk?
Above all, good oilskins and warm layers for the watches, plus things you need for a few days' buffer.
- Oilskins with jacket and trousers, sea boots and sailing gloves.
- Warm layers of fleece or merino wool, it gets cool at night even in the south.
- A headtorch with a red light, remedies for seasickness and a small travel first-aid kit.
- Your own lifejacket with a lifebelt, if the skipper expects it.
- Passport and flexibility for the journey home, in case the destination harbour changes.
- A soft bag that fits into any bunk.
Frequently asked questions about hand for a bunk
Short answers to the questions that come up most often before a first hand-for-a-bunk sailing trip.
What does hand for a bunk mean?
Hand for a bunk means that you sail for free, or only in return for a contribution to the boat kitty and travel costs, and help out on board in return, for example with sailing, watches, cooking or work on the boat. You pay nothing for the bunk itself.
Can you sail for free?
Yes, with hand for a bunk you pay nothing for the bunk. It is rarely entirely free, though: you usually contribute to the boat kitty for food, diesel and harbour fees, and you pay for your own travel to and from the boat.
Do I need sailing experience for hand for a bunk?
Not always. On coastal trips, some skippers also take beginners along if they lend a hand. For offshore passages with night watches, such as across the Atlantic, experience or a sailing licence is usually expected.
Where can I find hand-for-a-bunk offers?
On Törnfinder, you will find all the trips that providers have listed as hand for a bunk in the list above. Places come up mainly with deliveries in spring and autumn, as well as before Atlantic crossings in the autumn. If you are flexible, you have the best chances.
What is a yacht delivery with hand for a bunk?
On a delivery, a yacht is taken from one sailing area to another, for example from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean or from winter storage to the summer sailing area. The skipper needs a crew to keep watch around the clock. With hand for a bunk, you do not pay a trip price for this.
What is hand for a bunk called in English?
In English, people usually talk about “working passage” or search for “crew wanted”. English is the usual language on board international yachts.
What is the difference between hand for a bunk and a cabin charter?
On a cabin charter, you book your berth at a fixed price and only help out if you want to. With hand for a bunk, there is no trip price, but your help on board is firmly planned.
What should I clarify before a hand-for-a-bunk trip?
Clarify the route, dates, your duties, the boat kitty and what happens if the trip is postponed or cancelled. Ask about the skipper's experience, the safety equipment and whether insurance is in place. It is best to put the agreement in writing.
Find your hand-for-a-bunk sailing trip
Check back regularly: new places often become available at short notice. Your enquiry goes straight to the skipper.