Interview with ‘Join The Crew’ founder Dominik Grotowski: ‘Discover breathtaking places by boat!’

AUTHOR:

IBS Publishing Team & Dominik Grotowksi

Join The Crew

Dominik Grotowski is a passionate sailor. In 2007 he moved from Poland to Heidelberg for his studies. Relatively quickly he realized that sailing was hardly common among young people in Germany. And so it happened that sailing among young people in Germany to make more popular eventually became his life mission.

In an exclusive interview Dominik tells us in more detail how Join The Crew was founded, what the sailing trips with specialization on relaxed sailing look like and what you can experience with a boat.

Dominik Grotowski, Gründer

InspiredBySports: How did the idea come about to offer sailing trips for young people?

 

Dominik: In 2007 I came from Poland to Germany to study in Heidelberg. When I asked the other students if they were sailing, they told me – if at all – about sailing clubs with old sea bears. Then I quickly realized that sailing is not very common among young people in Germany. Since I had experienced many special, magical moments while sailing in Poland and had gained formative insights, my mission was to became sailing more popular among young people in Germany. So in the same year I bought the domain “join-the-crew.com” and made the first website myself.

Join The Crew

Make friends on the sailing trip and have fun together. (Source: Join The Crew)

What were the biggest challenges to bring this concept to life?

 

Dominik: There were two big challenges. The first was to build a website. At that time there were no ready-made solutions like WordPress. Therefore I had to acquire the html basics, which was not very easy for a sociology student. But with the help of the helpful neighbours from the dormitory it worked.

Wow, not bad! And what was the second big challenge?

 

Dominik: The second obstacle was to make people aware of the new concept. I borrowed the old car from my father, drove from university to university for over two weeks, even slept in the car and hung up advertising posters on two or three universities every day. This was the first sailing summer with 8 sailing weeks in Greece and almost 80 participants from Germany.

 

That’s a very great thing you doing there! Of course we keep our fingers crossed for you that the Join The Crew will continue to run as well. How many members are with Join The Crew and do you also work with external partners?

 

Dominik: Our team consists of ten people. Four of them work in a stationary office in Wroclaw, Poland, and six work from Germany via home office. We do not work with any external agencies.

Join The Crew

With a lot of fun! (Source: Join The Crew)

 

Who can you recommend such a trip to and which trips do you offer?

 

Dominik: We have noticed that sailing is good for almost everyone. You should like nature, like the fresh air, want to spend your holidays away from mass tourism, be open to new and special places, which you can only discover by boat and like to meet new people. Then you have come to the right place. Our offer is wide. From Croatia, Greece, Spain, Corsica, Italy, France, the Caribbean, across the Indian Ocean to the South and Baltic Seas. We offer many great places.

 

That sounds dreamlike! How many tours take place during the year?

 

Dominik: Currently we offer 38 different sailing trips. Almost every week of the year we offer a sailing trip. So that there really is something for everyone.

 

Last three questions: Where can I book a trip, how does payment work and how can I imagine the trip from departure to arrival in my home port?

 

Dominik: The easiest way to book the trip is online through our website join-the-crew.com for young people (20 – 35 years) and limeways.com for 30 – 45 year olds. Under “Dates, Prices, Booking” you can see all dates, yachts and the current availability. Simply select a date and enter the necessary data in the booking form. Payment can be made using all common payment methods. At the beginning a deposit of 30 % is desired. The rest is paid six weeks before the trip.

 

A sailing trip with Join The Crew is about sailing, of course, but what makes every trip so unforgettable is much more. It’s about meeting new people, experiencing exciting group moments together, learning new things about yourself and just coming down. Then you return with new energy, new insights and new friends. On most sailing trips we sail after breakfast around 10am and moor in the afternoon/evening. In places that we especially like, we can take a day off. We will spend the nights mainly in picturesque bays or in exciting harbours. If you want to know more, please check out our FAQs.

 

If you want to learn more about Dominik and Join The Crew, you can also visit the YouTube channel or the homepage to get inspired by the exciting sailing trips and adventures around the world.

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We wish Dominik and his crew continued success with Join The Crew and limeways and above all great new experiences. Of course we are happy to have him as an expert in the InspiredBySports community.

Source: Join The Crew.

 



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