In the Med....My first yachting season

So, here I am, 2 months later and working on an awesome brand new custom built 100ft Motor Yacht!

Sit back, relax and let me take you right back to the start and tell you all about how I became a yachtie!

I have a friend called Richard, he’s a spontaneous character who’s always looking for the next best thing…so one day, he pitches the idea of “working on Superyachts” to me. Superyachts? What are those, I asked…..he began explaining and showed me pictures. Although I had a full time job and a comfy life, I decided that a little bit of excitement, travel and good cash could do no harm, so I quit my job,sold my car and booked a flight over to Nice, in France, 3 months later.

On arrival, myself and Richard caught a bus from the airport to Antibes. This is the hub of the yachting industry in France and a great start for those looking to get into the industry. If you learn one thing from my story, it’s that you should book at least a couple days accommodation before you arrive, as we arrived to nothing and almost had to sleep on a park bench!

We spent the first couple days orientating ourselves, gathering maps from the tourist info offices and taking in the French culture. To cut a long story short, we moved 3 times in one month, before finally finding a place in Antibes, close to the action.

We were constantly on the lookout for something more “cash friendly”, as the South Of France isn’t the cheapest place on earth, and knew that our living arrangements were far from permanent. After chatting to some fellow “dockwalkers” we heard about a spot which was much cheaper and just outside Antibes, so we packed up a few days later and headed to our new home in Biot. Little did I know it would only be home for 1 week, as I received a call one late evening telling me to come for an interview…..and so it was meant to be, and I am now the sole Deckhand onboard.

So, you probably wondering what life onboard is like?

Ok, let me give you a rundown of the past couple weeks and months…….

I arrived onboard my new yacht (it shall remain nameless due to a privacy clause in my contract!), a new build (less than 1 year old) and was shown to my crew quarters, which quite expectedly, was pretty small. It consists of a galley/eating area, a small bathroom and shower and 2 x bedrooms and 1 x fold out sleeper couch where the chef sleeps. My bedroom has bunk beds, which I share with the engineer/2nd Captain. The other room is where our stewardess’s sleep.

All in all there are 6 crew. Me, the South African Deckie, 2 x stewardess’s (one from England an the other from Scotland), Engineer/2nd Capt. (Lebanon), Chef (Philippines) and Captain ( Syria).

My first week was a baptism of fire, as I was thrown in the deep-end and had to find my way around the boat with regards to tools, products etc. and was not really given a job description and what was expected of me. As you can imagine, you really want to impress the Captain and owners from the start, so as to convince them to keep you longer than your probationary first month, so not knowing what I had to do made it kind of tricky. I began by looking for jobs to do, so as to look busy and pro-active. One by one I found things to do, and so my work onboard started.

My first 2 weeks were spent on the sea, as we were at anchor just off Port Gallice, a small port next to Antibes. The 1st week was characterized by long hard days in the engine room, cuts, bruises, aching muscles and sore feet. Besides the sore feet, this probably won’t be the case for most of you, but for me, it was!

By week 2, I began to understand what exactly my role consisted of, and I slowly but surely started getting into a routine. Since we were still at anchor, it consisted of driving the boats tender, a 6m RIB with a Yamaha 115HP engine. I consider this my toy, and is an absolute pleasure to drive.

Week 2 ended off with a bang, literally. It was about 5:30am on a cold and windy Sat morning, just off the Cannes coastline, by a small Island called St Marguerite, when my captain burst into the room and woke myself and the engineer up. The wind and swell had picked up considerably and the spray was coming over the bow, exciting for me, but probably not so much for the Captain, so we pulled up anchor and got out of there.

Week 3 brought about new and exciting challenges and journey’s, including the owners coming onboard for their 3 month working holiday!!

On one of our routine sea trials, we decided to tow our tender behind us, but through all the starts and stops, the tow rope happened to get stuck around the portside prop!! It’s something that no yachtsman looks forward to, especially as our props sit about 2m under the boat!

The 2nd Captain, who was driving the boat at that point in time, was the first to enter the water. He took a couple dives, holding his breath, but needed more help to free the thick nylon rope. At that point in time, we were sitting in about 20m of water. I looked at the water and jumped in without hesitation, as this was the first time I had swum in the med. 2 days and 11 hours later, we finally freed the rope. It took all sorts of tools (knives, saw’s, chisels, hammers, screwdrivers) and not to forget, a scuba diving cylinder with just a regulator attached, which was tied to a rope and hung from the maindeck and lowered into the water alongside the prop for me to breath from. They don’t teach this kinda stuff in your PADI course, but hell, was it fun! Its one thing if rope is wrapped around your prop, but another if its also been superheated and solidified onto the shaft, which we found was the case!

Week 3 also included a trip to Nice and the surrounding south of France coastline. I enjoy any seatime, as I’m trying to get my miles up to 2500 in order to do my Yachtmaster Offshore, which will mean a higher position and more pay. Once I have my Yachtmaster qualification as well as some experience behind me, I will be eligible to apply for a captains position!

Week 4 and the season was in full swing. By now, the owners were happy with the boat and all the mechanics, which incidentally cause problems more often than I thought, but nonetheless they were happy and decided to bring in the first batch of their guests, which consisted of friends and family.

Now, what do you do when you invite guests onboard your boat?….you go sailing, and so we headed out for numerous daytrips to the surrounding island of St Marguerite as well as St Tropez, Monaco and St Raphael.

My yacht is classified as a Private yacht, which means it is for the use of the owners and their family only, however being onboard, feels more like a charter boat, as they have a pretty big family and an ongoing presence of people onboard.

Being my first trip to St Tropez, I was pretty excited and looking forward to seeing this playground of the rich and famous. We sailed up and anchored just outside the small port, where I then took the owners and their guests to land on the tender. The Captain is a really good guy and so generally, when everyone is off the boat, we can relax a bit….although I could of taken it easy, I chose to get in the water and clean the hull of the tender, as it was an excuse to have a bit of a swim.

**(for those of you considering the deckhand role in the yachting industry, do yourself a favour and do the powerboat level 2 course. Not only will you increase your chances of being hired, but you can have fun driving around on the tender)

Week 5, meant I had been onboard for over a month now…probationary period was finished and final contracts were signed. I was officially one of the team! Woohoo!

This week also meant new guest arrivals as well as rigorous testing by the MCA (Maritime & Coastguard Agency). Due to the strict regulations, the yacht had to add some weight in the aft (back) area in order to be perfectly balanced. This meant that I had to carry big lead blocks and position them in different places. All in all with the help of my captain, we carried 10 tons of lead in one day!! Who needs gym, when you have yachting…..

Week 6, was pretty quiet, as we stayed in port most of the time. Even though we might not sail a lot of the time, I am constantly busy. Every morning starts with a “wipe down” which means that you wipe off any morning dew that’s formed on the boat and then proceed to clean the boat and make it look shiny:

1) Wipe down all surfaces (varnished wood and stainless steel included) with a damp shamy
2) Clean all glass with damp shamy or windowlene, should shamy leave streaks
3) Sweep dirt from deck, eating areas and walkways
4) Mop all walkways and corners, including bow (front) of boat

Once your wipe down is complete, you will start your other jobs for the day. It could be that you need to clean the tender, help in the engine room, polish the stainless steel or whatever, but trust me, there is always work to be done, and the Captain will usually direct you in this matter.

Week 7/8 has been quite interesting. The summer season in the south of France is very busy and Cannes seems to be one of the hotspots. There are big electro concerts on the beach, beach parties, Big DJ lineups at the venue next to the Marina, International Fireworks competition and other attractions. So all in all a good place to be right now……

A trip to Corsica was on the books last week, but we had to cancel due to some mechanical problems. We then attempted to sail there early Monday morning, but had to turn back, 2 hrs into the trip, due to an alarm which was going off. It turned out that it was only a false alarm!

3rd time lucky? Well we were supposed to head to Corsica yesterday…our berth in the marina was booked and everything, but just before we wanted to go, the reports came in that the weather was bad!! So, 3rd time not lucky…perhaps 4th?

Well, that’s it from me for now….View my weekly blog every week and watch my progress as I travel to different places, learn new things and gain more miles.

What you need to know before you decide to join the industry:

1)Complete your STCW 95 course (Compulsory – this is required by maritime law and you will not get a job without it. Included is first aid, fire fighting, and survival at sea)

2)For a Deckhand position – Do your Powerboat level 2 course as you will need it to drive the yachts tender (powerboat). It is a big plus and selling point when Captains/Owners are looking for crew. Some yachts might also require the deckhand to be PADI certified, and it is a good idea to do the course before you go. Another course I recommend doing is the Super Deckhand course so that you know how to paint, varnish, repair boats etc. It will also familiarize you with the general deckhand duties and tools needed to impress your Captain/Owner. It is not uncommon for people to make contacts through the course which could then lead to a job.

3)For a Stewardess position – I recommend doing a stewardess course. It can be quite daunting if you have never worked in the hospitality industry and then entering the yachting industry as a stewardess. The course covers topics such as; silver service, flower arranging, proper pouring techniques, stewardess etiquette, proper cleaning procedures, etc. It is also not uncommon for people to make contacts through the course which could then lead to a job.

4)For a Chef’a position - You can do a culinary course, if you have no formal experience, but a passion for cooking and perhaps some sort of course behind you is usually all it takes

5)For an Engineer position - This is more specialized, and a background in engineering is generally needed, although a basic course can do the trick, as you will most probably start out as 3rd engineer and learn everything while onboard.

The idea behind my blog is to give you advice and help you understand the yachting industry and the job at hand better, incase you’re thinking about making some quick cash, or even making a career out of yachting.

For any tips/advice,queries or courses needed, please feel free to contact Grant or Richard at the Certified Training head office:

Website: www.certifiedtraining.co.za
Email: courses@certifiedtraining.co.za

Till next week.....