hanalin
17.06.2021 15:25:07
According to Mark, the captain of a 114-foot yacht, billionaire owners are just like normal vacationers. Kind of.
See full version: 9 superyacht crew members share what it; s really like working for a billionaire on board
According to Mark, the captain of a 114-foot yacht, billionaire owners are just like normal vacationers. Kind of.
She added: "Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, and lots of smiling. Behind the scenes, a lot of running around and working at high speed, throwing stuff into drawers and sorting it out later when you have time, laughing, and keeping crew spirits high. Never-ending laundry." here
He said he then has to be available for whatever the day brings, whether guests want to take the tender out or play with water toys, the interior crew needs help with service, or any maintenance issues need to be addressed. here
"Bear in mind that the captain is every bit as much your boss as the owner is, and sometimes the captain is a bigger pain in the ass than the billionaire owner," she said.
While working on a superyacht sounds glamorous, in reality it can be anything but.
Insider polled superyacht crew members to get an inside look at life on board. When asked what working for a millionaire or billionaire is really like, they agreed on a few things, like long hours.
Alex agrees that the job is not always how it appears to the outside. “My boat went to the Monaco Grand Prix, which sounds amazing,” she says. “But during the race I watched the cars going by on the boat’s CCTV while I was cleaning loos below deck.” Other tales are simply of excess. Everyone has at least one ridiculous story and it is impossible to tell which are true and which apocryphal. The pig flown in from Denmark because someone wanted a hog roast. The owner who hires dwarfs to waterski around the boat for his amusement. The dry cleaning sent to Paris by Learjet. The artificial beach assembled on the back of one boat each day. The deckhands sent into the ocean to manually clear the area of jellyfish before a guest went swimming. Anything and everything procured on demand. [links]
‘Stop dancing and go and clear the sea of jellyfish’: a ballet dancer goes through her steps on board a superyacht. Photograph: Jeff Brown/Superyachtmedia, courtesy of Heesen yachts Photograph: Jeff Brown/Superyachtmedia, courtesy of Heesen yachts
‘Stop dancing and go and clear the sea of jellyfish’: a ballet dancer goes through her steps on board a superyacht. Photograph: Jeff Brown/Superyachtmedia, courtesy of Heesen yachts Photograph: Jeff Brown/Superyachtmedia, courtesy of Heesen yachts
At the end of the gangplank a steward stands with his hands behind his back. The boat is 124m long, he explains. He doesn’t own it himself. They are waiting for someone. He won’t tell me who. No, I can’t have a look around. That’s enough, thanks. His tone makes it clear that he does not want scruffy tourists loitering and that he has ways of enforcing this wish. As I leave I take a final wistful look up at the decking. It does look rather nice, I think, but then again that’s the whole point. More than any other status symbol, these boats are the ultimate projections of global hyper-wealth: floating embassies of a world that is highly visible but impossible to touch.
Perhaps because of this, relations between crew and guests are unusual, if not unheard of. “That’s what skorts are for,” laughs Alex, referring to the harassment preventative qualities of the short/skirt hybrid favoured by female crew. “I heard of one stewardess who married their owner, but those kinds of relationships are rare.” [links]
The diversity and opportunities to work aboard superyachts around the world are endless. The yachts range in size from 60ft to 600ft with crew of 1 - 100 crew members in four primary departments. Each department is responsible for a unique set of tasks aboard and is suited for individuals with specific skillsets and experience. Explore professions within each department.
"Luxury Yacht Group provides sales, charter, management and crew services to luxury yachts and their owners around the world." [links]
Yachting is a fabulous industry, one I wish I had heard of years ago. It’s not for everyone, but the benefits outweigh the downsides.
If you want to work on a superyacht, you should get used to the terminology of being referred to as a yachtie. This is what anyone who works in the industry is referred to as.
Personal space is another thing that becomes a luxury when working on yachts. You are living and working in very tight quarters so you have to be ok with not having any personal space. [links]
Everything on the boat belongs to the boat owner, you are just able to use it. [links]
He wanted to test us and ensure that we were still a capable crew. In yachting, you are never truly off the clock. You could be expected to work at any time and you always have to be in a condition to do so. [links]
It is like living in an episode of the rich and famous and you get to be a part of it.
Charters generally earned tips of up to 18 per cent which would be divided among their seven-person crew. Salaries, which range from $75,000 to $195,000 for a captain or $24,000 to $51,000 for a deckhand depending on the size and type of boat, were tax-free with accommodation and utilities also taken care of.
To apply, a STCW95 certificate covering personal survival, fire fighting, first aid and personal safety is essential. [links]
Seasonal work can last for three to six months starting in June, with permanent contracts usually lasting one year. Global meccas include Antibes in France and Palma de Mallorca in Spain. Fort Lauderdale in Florida and Caribbean islands are also filled with boats all year around.
“They’re travelling with the world’s rich and famous. They have adventures, it’s well paid . There’s a lot of glamour attached to it too which is undeniable but it’s absolutely a lot of hard work,” she said.