Dear Friends,
I do apologize for not updating as I should. I have had a few opportunities come and go but my motivation has been lacking. It's easy to forget that after yachting consumed my life for over 2 weeks that many of you are still not sure what it's like. I have about 30 minutes before I plan to head out and go catch How to Train Your Dragon at the cinema. Until then, I will try to explain what it's like to work on a private charter mega-yacht.
Schedules rotated regularly from day to day. The first 3 days, I was on the 12-4am watch which meant I could go to bed at 7pm, wake up at 11:30pm, and be on deck ready to work at 11:55. The first order of business at midnight (or whenever the last guest went to bed) was to move all the bulky chairs on the aft deck where the guests eat every meal, sweep up the crumbs, spray K2R on every oil spot on the floor, scrub it away with a pad and water on hands and knees, scrub away all skid marks made by guests dragging chairs, rinse the deck, dry it off, clean and dry the main and two side tables, then move all chairs back. More often than not, I would also have to rinse the decks which meant getting out a hose, spraying down all hundred feet or so of an exterior side deck, wipe it off with a squeegie, then touch it up with a chamois. Additionally, every hour on the hour I would have to fill out the boat log with environmental and boat conditions. At 4am when the next watch came, I was able to get about 4-5 hours of sleep after briefly checking the engine room.
During the day, things would be different. Any time we took up anchor, the swim platform on the far aft of the boat would have to be packed away. Tenders and jet-skis had to be lifted out of the water up onto the second deck and then they needed to be quickly rinsed, washed, rinsed, dried, and secured. Kayaks, life jackets, noodles, rafts, goggles, snorkeling gear, etc had to be thoroughly rinsed and packed away. As the anchor was hauled in, I would go into the bow to flake the chain, making sure it didn't pile up on itself and become clogged or tangled somehow. When we arrived to the next location, all the tenders, jet-skis, noodles, life jackets, rafts, goggles, snorkeling gear, towels, etc were brought back out and would stay out until either the next move or until sunset.
The hardest part about the job was not the constant work, or seeing people relaxing on vacation right in front of me. The hardest part was trying not to screw everything up. Never being on a yacht before, I was very uneasy as to the particular details of what needed to be done and how it had to happen. I felt as if I was constantly doing things wrong and would regularly ask to make sure. Not only in terms of the work, but joining a team that has been working together for years is not easy. They know each other almost down to how everyone else thinks. It should come as no surprise as they all live together in close quarters 24/7, as well as eat, work, and hang out together. It's not easy just to jump into a group like that.
So the big question is whether or not I will do it again. Even I don't know the answer to that. I'm going to focus on the definite things such as spending the summer in Egypt and the almost definite things such as taking a semester at U of Miami. Any bridge that comes up after that will be crossed as necessary. If I have a few months between one thing and another, yachting is definitely a good way to bank a lot of money in a short amount of time, and I will keep that in mind. However in the meantime, Passion is about to leave for the Mediterranean thus I'll focus on trying to get my temporary job back at the dive shop. Wish me luck!
I do apologize for not updating as I should. I have had a few opportunities come and go but my motivation has been lacking. It's easy to forget that after yachting consumed my life for over 2 weeks that many of you are still not sure what it's like. I have about 30 minutes before I plan to head out and go catch How to Train Your Dragon at the cinema. Until then, I will try to explain what it's like to work on a private charter mega-yacht.
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| Pictured above is a typical guest cabin |
Schedules rotated regularly from day to day. The first 3 days, I was on the 12-4am watch which meant I could go to bed at 7pm, wake up at 11:30pm, and be on deck ready to work at 11:55. The first order of business at midnight (or whenever the last guest went to bed) was to move all the bulky chairs on the aft deck where the guests eat every meal, sweep up the crumbs, spray K2R on every oil spot on the floor, scrub it away with a pad and water on hands and knees, scrub away all skid marks made by guests dragging chairs, rinse the deck, dry it off, clean and dry the main and two side tables, then move all chairs back. More often than not, I would also have to rinse the decks which meant getting out a hose, spraying down all hundred feet or so of an exterior side deck, wipe it off with a squeegie, then touch it up with a chamois. Additionally, every hour on the hour I would have to fill out the boat log with environmental and boat conditions. At 4am when the next watch came, I was able to get about 4-5 hours of sleep after briefly checking the engine room.
During the day, things would be different. Any time we took up anchor, the swim platform on the far aft of the boat would have to be packed away. Tenders and jet-skis had to be lifted out of the water up onto the second deck and then they needed to be quickly rinsed, washed, rinsed, dried, and secured. Kayaks, life jackets, noodles, rafts, goggles, snorkeling gear, etc had to be thoroughly rinsed and packed away. As the anchor was hauled in, I would go into the bow to flake the chain, making sure it didn't pile up on itself and become clogged or tangled somehow. When we arrived to the next location, all the tenders, jet-skis, noodles, life jackets, rafts, goggles, snorkeling gear, towels, etc were brought back out and would stay out until either the next move or until sunset.
The hardest part about the job was not the constant work, or seeing people relaxing on vacation right in front of me. The hardest part was trying not to screw everything up. Never being on a yacht before, I was very uneasy as to the particular details of what needed to be done and how it had to happen. I felt as if I was constantly doing things wrong and would regularly ask to make sure. Not only in terms of the work, but joining a team that has been working together for years is not easy. They know each other almost down to how everyone else thinks. It should come as no surprise as they all live together in close quarters 24/7, as well as eat, work, and hang out together. It's not easy just to jump into a group like that.
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| In stark contrast, my cabin - I sleep on the upper bunk. |
So did it ever rain? Did that change your routine?
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