| A
TYPICAL DAY ON A MEGAYACHT - WHAT TO EXPECT | | |  |
HAVE
YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES?
Do our quiz… What
exactly is it like working in the megayacht industry?
Think
of a megayacht as a very smart hotel on the sea and your job is to look after
the yacht and the guests. The good news is, the better you look after the guests,
the bigger the tips - and we're talking US$ and Euros here!!! | Generally
guys will do the physical work and girls will do the administration and hosting,
however there is no hard and fast rule.What happens on the yacht depends whether
you have on board the owners or guests on charter, or just have the crew on board
with no guests and no owners.
|  | ON
CHARTER OR WITH THE OWNER ON BOARD
Let's
talk about the hard work first. Quite simply, when on charter with guests or the
owners on board, as one of the crew you're at their beck and call. Pretty much
24 hours a day, although there are shifts. |
The
day starts early because you have to prepare the yacht for the guests. This means
the deck crew cleans and polishes the boat - it has to be kept absolutely immaculate
- and the chef and stewardesses get ready for breakfast, all very quietly so as
not to disturb the guests. |  |
| Once
the owners and/or guests are up and breakfasted, they'll probably want to play.
So it's get out the toys and your job is to help them with snorkeling, scuba (if
you're qualified), waterskiing or ferrying them to the nearest taxi point to go
shopping. And of course they want to do this all at once and with no coordination
on their part, so the crew jumps! On some yachts the toys include a fishing boat,
a submarine and even a helicopter (seriously), so your pilot's license will come
in handy!
Meanwhile, the hostesses are tidying up below deck, which usually
includes the aftermath of another party. Beds get made (clean sheets every day),
laundry gets done. Including the same towel that you just washed earlier and has
no more than dabbed a lightly perspiring brow before being nonchalantly tossed
on the deck!
Or the plan for the day may be to land on a tropical island
beach to set up for lunch or sundowners and a party by moonlight under the palm
trees.
So basically it's smile, fetch, serve, smile, make cocktails, clean
up, smile, "Can I get you anything, sir?", "Are you comfortable,
your ladyship?" And no fraternizing with the guests by the way.
You
get the idea… basically you run around after them while they have fun.
|  | BUT
WAIT…. Don't give up. Here's the
good part.
First of all, the loot, the moolla, the tom. The average wage
for a basic crew member at entry level is between US$2,000 and $2,500 a month.
| On
top of that you'll get an equal share of the tips of 10% of the charter fee. At
10 - 15% of a fee of US$100,000 for a weeklong charter (that's correct, $100,000
for 1 week) divided equally amongst ten that's a tip of $1,000 to $1,500 per crew
member!
And remember that's for 1 week. Multiply by the typical cruising
season of 15 weeks chartering and suddenly all that hard work and those over-exercised
smile muscles become worth it, because you can save up to $18,000 in less than
a year. (For South Africans that's about R120,000 in the bank at an exchange rate
of under R7 to the $!!!)
And this is only in your first year. Carry on
for a year or two with advanced training and you could become in demand to crew
on the super megayachts with charter fees of US$350 000 a week and 12 crew (do
the sums on those numbers… 10% = $35,000 divided by ten crew = $3,500 per
week!!).
Oh, and did we mention that your office will be in some of the
most beautiful places in the world?
|  | ONLY
CREW ON BOARD
This is when there
are no guests on the boat and it's a little like role reversal. Although you still
have work to do (like cleaning, any maintenance and prepping for the next charter),
it's like a normal Mon - Fri, eight to five job. | And
you're anchored or cruising around on this multimillion baby with all its toys
that you need to, umm, make sure are all in good working order.
Come sundown,
it's into the local quayside tavernas, meet your friends, and basically you get
to live it up for a while. Come the weekend, take time out for a little tourist
culture.
Oh, and did we mention, that you hardly put your hand in your
pocket because you live, eat and sleep on board? So that means the bank balance
is building up very nicely, thank you.
At the end of the charter season
there will be a chance to have a week or three break, and that's when you can
fly home (amazing how cheap it will seem because you're earning $ or Euros), to
do an advanced course (to be able to earn more money) or to head to your own glamour
spot where you get to play at being the rich and famous for a while because you
can now afford to!
Is
it safe and respectable?
See it as the 7 star boutique hotel
industry on water. Crewing on these luxurious boats ("ships" may be
a better description) is as highly regarded as working in a top hotel. In all
the European Union, Caribbean and United States areas the industry is highly regulated
and licensed and skippers and owners respect the law. Any vessel found with any
form of contraband or illegal substances will immediately lose its licence and
could face serious confiscation of property (who wants to have their 300 foot
multi million megayacht seized by customs officials while they're trying to enjoy
the sunset with a bottle of Bollinger?).
In fact, they take it so seriously
that as a crew member you probably will have to unpack all your belongings for
scrutiny before boarding to check you're legal.
Should your parents be
concerned about the respectability of this glamorous industry - bring them along
to chat to owners Keith Stewart and Colin Schwegman. Both have family with successful
careers on megayachts overseas and will quickly put them at ease.
Where
will I stay when I'm not crewing?
Wherever megayachts are based
there are facilities for crew. These usually take the form of crewhouses which
are basic, but comfortable, safe and relatively inexpensive places to stay. Often
these have good relationships with the yacht owners and management companies and
know where the jobs are.
Is
it hard work?
Yes. The reality is this is a job and not a holiday
and it is a very disciplined industry. Also, like any job in any profession, you
will be starting at the bottom of the ladder and you will come across clients
and colleagues that are extremely demanding and others that are a real pleasure
to be with. However, the benefits are immediate and enduring. You'll earn $ fast,
see the world and build up hundreds of travel stories to tell your friends and
family. |
| | _______________________________________ Top |
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Proud
to be an SA company
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Welcome
to Professional Yachtmaster Training (PYT)
in Durban, South Africa - one of the world's
leading megayacht academies and the only
one in the Southern Hemisphere directly recognized
by the MCA. PYT provides MCA recognized
courses from beginner up to Master level,
and our graduates are in demand worldwide.
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get booked
far in advance, so
and
go, go, go!
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