With reference to the article concerning Seaman's Discharge Books and the necessity for crew to have them [“Seaman's Book a must-have”, page A1, February 2010], I have a few helpful hints. Although I hold a British passport, I have been responsible for obtaining Seaman's Discharge Books for our entire crew of 12 (within 24 hours) and researching/obtaining visas for several different nationalities to many different countries.

The French Consulate in Miami is extremely helpful when obtaining Shengen visas for yacht crew. You are supposed to go to the embassy of the first of the Shengen countires you will enter, or of the country where you will spend the most time. But as we all know, yacht plans change daily and hey, we all thought France was going to be the first country, didn’t we?

The Web page is www.consulfrance-miami.org, which has application forms and all the information you need for your Schengen visa. With all the correct papers (yacht registration, crew list, letter of employment and yacht itinerary plus additional documentation outlined on the Web page) a Schengen visa can be issued in 24 hours.

Whilst I was not able to talk to someone live on the phone, in person they went out of their way to accommodate our crew. They are used to dealing with yachts and understand the urgency and difficulties we encounter.

Obtaining Cayman Island Seaman's Discharge Books has also been simplified greatly. The Cayman Islands Shipping Registry located in Ft. Lauderdale at 1500 Cordova Road, Suite 312 (two blocks North of 17th Street in the Luke Brown building) will provide you with application forms and, provided your paperwork is in order, can issue your Seaman's Discharge Book within 24 hours; in some circumstances, the same day. Kevin Washington is extremely helpful and accommodating and again, is used to dealing with yacht crew.

As full-time yacht crew:

1. Ask your captain before the season starts which countries he thinks you will be visiting, and then use common sense. Greece is pretty close to Turkey, so if you are going to one of them, there is a huge possibility that you will go to the other;

2. Always have all the correct paperwork (yacht registration, crew lists, letter of employment, Seman's Discharge Book);

3. You should always have at least six months left on your passport before entering any country;

4. You should always have a few spare pages in your passport that have no trace of any stamps because you need clear pages for visas;

5. You do not need to wait for your passport to expire or fill up to apply for a new one. With your old passport in hand, obtaining a new one is straightforward, even in South Africa (which is actually one of the easier countries because it lets you keep your old passport whilst processing the new one).

6. Get a Seaman's Discharge Book. They are becoming more and more recognized throughout the world. My partner was unable to get a Croatian visa because his passport was full. We called our agent in Croatia (LP Yacht Services, ex-yachties so they're aware of visa problems) who said “no problem,” took my partner's Seaman's Discharge Book and about 20 euros to immigration, and came back with a shore-pass.