6 Misidentified Truths About The Life Of A Yachtie

When a friend or family member starts talking about their job, explaining the nitty gritty details of, for example, being an insurance broker in the city – do you properly listen? Probably not. This universal habit of people talking about their jobs and others not listening is true to every industry.

It doesn’t stop with yachting; in fact there tends to be a somewhat inflated view of what people think yachting involves, the sensationalist media articles can be somewhat to blame. Whilst your friends have images of you sipping champagne on the aft deck, you actually have your head down a bilge or partaking in some adventurous sport, you are actually wandering around with cotton buds and vinegar.

So it’s time to put these misidentified truths to rest! Why not press the ‘share’ button and show the folks at home what being yacht crew is really all about.

So you work on a cruise ship

Truth:

Those out there who have limited knowledge of yachts or anything nautical tend to put all marine related work under one umbrella. Superyachts travel from port to port with guests onboard, and the word ‘super’ suggests that it’s pretty big so it isn’t uncommon for people to jump to the cruise ship conclusion. After all they can relate to it. Lets cut the people some slack, I bet you don’t know every role in the insurance world…

When the guests aren’t on, you just party

Truth:

No, actually not really. Most of the hard work happens when the guests aren’t on. Getting ready for charter is a long, hard task for all departments and no matter how old the yacht is, there is always never ending maintenance and to do lists – with or without guests. We may not have the normal 9 to 5 but sometimes there are regular hours in one place, carrying out everyday tasks. That said, the work hard, play hard(er) mantra is very true to yachting…

You live on a multi-million dollar yacht, so you must get VIP treatment everywhere

Truth:

The crew provides this said VIP treatment and around the clock. As for away from the yacht, we return to normality, the same as everyone else.

Blue skies, sun shining and dolphins jumping? Sign me up!

Truth:

And unicorns jumping over perfectly formed rainbows… All the time. Right? Wrong, picture a rough crossing with seasickness and waves crashing over the bow, you also don’t get to leave this unsteady office at the end of the day, with endless horizons you have days of it to come. Tropical destinations are another, people think you are sipping on coconuts whilst admiring your tan but sometimes you are walking around like a drowned rat whilst getting mud spray up the backs of your legs because its the rainy season.

You must use the yacht’s toys all the time

Truth:

Working on board a yacht with plenty of exciting and adventurous toys can seem like a dream but it has its drawbacks. You spend your time on board constantly setting up, instructing, showing, demonstrating, cleaning, washing, fixing and putting away various toys that when it comes to your time off, sometimes you just want to leave that Seabob all cuddled up next to the full dive tanks besides the shiny jet ski alone.

So you get to meet the rich and famous all the time?

Truth:

Define ‘meet’. This would be more realistic if ‘meet’ were replaced with serve, entertain and then clean up after… Also, we all know that not all your time spent in yachting is working for the rich and famous, it can also be spent working for a hedge fund manager from Switzerland.

That should clear some things up for the non (or any potential) yachties!

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