I've literally got a job every single way possible. Through an agent, word of mouth, a fellow yachtie, Linkedin and even Instagram! You are now on show to the world more than ever. Your social medias are the new CV's. Remember that...
Pictured ~ M/Y Arience in Nice Harbour, France. Not the busiest place for yachts so it's best to base yourself in Antibes which is only a short train ride away.
To get a bit of background I'm going to tell you my first encounter with super yachts at the ripe old age of 19. I was travelling Europe with some of my close mates. We had heard about yachting through friends and thought we would give it a go. Being a bunch of cheap backpackers we took a $0 Ryan Air flight from Scotland to Marseille, France. Then took a train onto Antibes which we had heard was the best place to get a job on a yacht.
As my memory serves me I remember going to multiple crew offices dressed in board shorts and singlets. Cracks me up to think about them even considering us. But they said I had a good chance at securing a position being fully qualified chef. Myself having just completed a 4 year apprenticeship in two restaurants back in Australia. I thought this was a lot of experience. But man was I wrong! There was a lot of competition.
After not hearing much back from the yacht agencies and literally seeing 100's other people jammed in the same crew agents offices everyday, we decided to take the dock walking route. I remember walking the docks of Antibes back in 2008 and looking up to see the all mighty M/Y Octopus(Luressen 126m) sitting in the harbour with a bunch of other incredible yachts. It cracks me up thinking back on how unprofessional we looked in board shorts and singlets coming from a day at the beach. If I had of known, I would have been a lot more prepared. The Internet was just becoming a thing. There wasn't wifi everywhere just internet cafe's let alone much information on the the web about yachting. Now you have it all at your fingertips!
So that was my first taste of the super yacht industry and from that day onwards I set out to work towards getting into this mysterious, intriguing industry and doing whatever it takes!
Two year's later I got back from my European adventure. Working in the French Alps and Greek islands over that time, slowly picking up more and more skills to eventually get me to where I wanted to be. I knew I needed money to pay for the STCW and I was fresh out of that! So I was back living with my Mum looking a for a high paying job to make as much as I could and as quick as I could. This is when I saw an ad looking for a remote chef to run the restaurant section of a pub. I jumped at the opportunity hearing how much I would be earning. It was $27/hour which was great money then, far from the $4.20 apprentice days I slowly built up the bank account over those four months and one day saw an ad to work on a dive boat cruising the great barrier reef. I won't go into detail as I talked about it in my previous posts. I knew it wasn't a super yacht but it was a boat, and a step in the right direction! After almost a year working on board I booked in to do my STCW, went and saw Joy Weston at Crew Pacific in Cairns and let her know I would like to start looking for a position as a chef on a super yacht.
A few months later I get a call saying a temp chef was needed on a 40m motor yacht cruising from Cairns to Lizard Island. This was my first taste of yachting and it was my worst experience ever! I won't mention names, people or the vessel but the captain for whatever reason was out to get me. I now realise why he was treating me like this, seeing if I could take the yachting industry. We dropped lines and cruised north without guests onboard just yet. I remember on the first night motoring I was woken at 4am-5am to cook some fried eggs for the pilot. A pilot is someone who jumps on the vessel to guide the yacht safely through a passage or area. The stewardess woke me up saying "sorry, I said I would cook the eggs but the captain said he wanted the chef up to make them." I was furious! Cooking those eggs with so much rage thinking how could he wake me up 3 hours early to cook some eggs. But I did it to the best of my ability and straight back to bed I went.
For me this was crazy and I thought how much of a dick can someone be to do that.
I now realise yes he was a dick, but this is yachting. I think it was kind of a test to see how I handled it. You will come across this kind of stuff and its normal. Except it will be pizza, pancakes, burritos, nachos, caviar service and whatever the hell the charter guests wants at anytime of the of the day or night. People pay a lot of money to be on these yachts and you are expected to cook 24/7 if they demand it. I lasted the month contract as I was determined to prove this guy wrong. I left on decent terms and did my best. I then found out the yacht had gone through something like 8 chefs that year so when I left the job I didn't feel so horrible. This taught me that yachting is another world and expect anything but normal if you intend to enter this industry, but never expect it to be boring!
Pictured ~ STP shipyard in Palma De Mallorca, Spain which is known for the largest yacht travel lift in Europe and home to a lot of sail yachts. Great place to hunt for a job and such a beautiful Island.
So back to my point of this article..
Do not just rely on crew agents to get you a position. This is no longer the only way to get a job these days. Technology has taken over! The internet and social media is now king!
Head onto facebook and join every yacht crew group you can. There's so many positions popping up daily here.
Just to name a few of my favourites below..
Palma Yacht Crew
Antibes Yacht Crew
Rotational Super Yacht Chefs
Fort Lauderdale Yacht Crew
Australia Pacific Yacht Crew
Cabin Fever
Then you have Instagram. This is more of an online Food Portfolio part of your CV. Create a new page with just your food pictures and the things you like to do so it can give the potential employer a good vibe of what kind of person you are. This has proven to be a great tool for myself in securing the head chef position on 60m M/Y Arience.
Of course there's linkedin which is a more professional route to take. Im not a huge fan of this but I set it up anyway with my experience and food portfolio's which in the end helped me secure a position with my partner Sabrina on 37m S/Y Bliss.
Next after setting up your online presence you will need to be real and when I say that I mean you will need to get out there and to give yourself the best possible chance, base yourself in the right place at the right time.
There are typically 2 seasons but really yachting is all year round these days with the South Pacific, Asia, Australia and New Zealand becoming more popular.
European Seasons (Palma, Antibes, Nice, Barcelona, Monaco)
April - September is generally the summer season with most yachts being chartered in this period. Get in no later than April for your best chances.
October - March is generally the winter yard periods for a lot of yachts staying in Europe. There isn't much cruising during this time as its way too cold. It isn't a bad time to be hanging about either. All hands on deck to get yachts fixed up and repaired for the next summer!
Caribbean Season(Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, New Port, Rhode Island)
October - April is generally the season over here. Boats will usually depart America and cruise the Bahamas, Caribbean and possibly down as far as Mexico and South America if you're lucky!
May - October is the winter season in America yachts will need to head north out of the hurricane zone and into places like New England and even up to Alaska.
Here is a table guide which will be very useful in making your decision on which port to head to. HERE
Now after making your way to either of these ports at the right time brings me to my final and favourite way of securing a position on a yacht. Word of mouth!
Yachting is really a small industry. There's over 10,000 super yachts and who knows how many crew now. Probably coming up to at least 100,000. So ok not that small, small enough to make a name for yourself. Good and bad. Trust me, word travels quick!
So get out amongst it. Take to the crew bars, join groups for days out and don't get too plastered! Accept any day work coming your way. That will get you into the yachting circle real quick, which will then allow you to meet as many people as you can. This has proven the best way to get yourself a job time and time again. Be personable, be nice, be approachable, be confident and most of all, be yourself!
Good luck out there. I genuinely wish you all the best as everyone deserves to experience the yachting industry the way I have.
And please do me a favour. Stay grounded!
Head to the next article which will help you decide if you would prefer motor or sail yacht. HERE