Ask a Russian Oligarch's Superyacht crew anything...

[justaninnocenthenchman]

Murcielago_Boy said:

A few questions:

1. Were your yacht available for public charter, could you estimate the cost of 4 weeks charter - Starting from say Ibiza, taking in Barcelona, going on to Cote d'Azure and ending in Sardinia. Include the lot - fuel, mooring fees, appropriate provisions (champagne and Langoustines etc), tip for crew and anything else you can think of. Assume it's family charter so NO illicit substances and 'party girls' etc. Appreciate it's just a guess but an estimate would be great.

2. Do you have 'helicopter storage' or 'touch and go' helipad alone?

3. When the owner is on board, is he having a good time and enjoying life? Or is he preoccupied/doing business/miserable git?

4. When he's on board, what kind of provisions are requested? By this I mean, is his food financially commensurate with his yacht (is it all Alaskan King Crab and Caviar with Dom Perignon '98 or is it Nandos + Iron Bru)?

5. Does he have a helicopter which is used to come aboard?

1) Base cost for us would be c1M/week, 1000nm miles of cruising would be 80,000 litres of fuel so another 120k, moorings depend on time of year (we once paid a 40k bribe just to get a short-notice mooring, then the mooring on top!), but can be 1000s per night and food is heavily preference dependant. Some guests will have 20k bottle of wine for lunch, others a Heineken. It's a while since I've done charters but I would expect a payment of 4-5M EUR for that trip, and any left over is usually shared as tips, after any damages or replacements are billed.

2) We can tie down, no garage.

3) Our current owner is having fun. This is 100% downtime. I have worked for people who have used the yachts for meetings before though.

4) Charter guests usually want the full-on fine dining experience 24/7, as it genuinely is a holiday for them and they want to experience everything. While the owners aren't exactly having chicken and chips, it is a bit toned down most days. A lot are quite health conscious, so that has a bearing on what is served. These people have private chefs at home too, so are less wowed by the whole experience.

5) Yes, a couple of regular helicopters that we use.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

RevsPerMinute said:

Working on a private yacht versus one that is chartered, does this mean you miss out on guest tips, or does the owner issue tips after their stay?

No tips generally, salary can sometimes be higher to compensate, but usually a busy charter boat will earn you more overall. That said, you certainly work for it*. I did busy charter boats early in my career, quite happy with the slower pace of life on a private yacht now to be honest.

* ok, you don't compared to a soldier or nurse or miner or many other jobs where you 'work', but you work harder than the equivalent private boat

[justaninnocenthenchman]

Muzzer79 said:

Has it ever got dicey weather-wise which has put you onto emergency stations?

I'm thinking of the infamous Jordan Belfort incident with 'Nadine' although probably less critical

Most owners (or wives) do not like rough weather, so we avoid it. If the forecast isn't great, they won't come onboard. Occasionally you get caught out when the weather isn't as forecast, but I've never been pressured by an owner to head out into rough stuff. Usually the other way around i.e. let's move the boat to somewhere better or you won't be having fun later.

Sometimes repositioning without guests can be interesting. Hit a hurricane after coming through the Panama canal and almost ran out of fuel due to the increased burn just trying to make way. We then had part of the rigging fail and water pouring into my cabin, which was above the weather deck! A fun night all said.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

Petrus1983 said:

I’m really enjoying this thread. Thanks for taking the time.

Do senior generally stay with the owner if/when they change yachts? How much influence does the captain or engineers have in the design/specification if the current owner was to rock up at Lurssen?

Again, in general terms, captains follow the owner, engineers stay with the boat.

With new builds - not as much influence as we might like. I understand so much of the spec is owner preference, but it is still amazing what gets overlooked. Simple things that would make life better for guests and crew on board. The problem is that most boats are already at an advanced stage of design/build by the time any crew get near it. We can make small changes, but not really influence the overall design.

I remember being with a bunch of yard reps once during a warranty meeting early in this boats life. I asked how many on them had ever worked on a yacht - zero. I asked how many in the whole office - still zero. I think some designers just stick the blueprints of their last yacht on a photocopier and hit 'enlarge 150%'. An exaggeration perhaps, but the feedback loop from the crew is rarely closed in my experience.

That said, we have regular yard periods and any work which can be framed in 'safety' or 'security' terms is rarely rejected by the owner.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

Gretchen said:

I still don’t know if anyone’s died….

Not on my boats, though we have had some medical incidents with guests and crew.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

The_Doc said:

Charter Market has been unaffected by Brexit or Corona, neither has sales I am told. The buyers simply didn't feel it

I'd agree with that.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

Dan_1981 said:

What's the most excessive / money is no object thing you've seen moving in these circles?

The whole operation is 'money no object', that is kind of the point. You can't do Superyachting on a budget.

The best ones are the 'wife doesn't like the bathroom here, lets swap the bathroom and wardrobe around'. Cue scrapping of tens of thousands of EUR of marble, fittings etc, months of work, amending system drawings, fire plans, etc. Only to have them decide they preferred it the other way around and doing it all again the following winter.

Good trickle-down economics for all the shipyards and subcontractors though.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

MrJuice said:

Does the owner have a right hand man/woman? Does that person have a partner/children? How much time away from the boss does that person get? Is that person paid a lot of money?

Has anything ever gone missing? Say a 100k patek or a ring or whatever? I guess there would be nowhere to hide it but still, the risk is there are some might be tempted.

Is security relaxed once the owner is on board? Is the glass bullet proof? does owner hang out on deck in view of people on other boats?

Are jet skis dangerous or is it just the uninitiated who are at risk?

Do you think oligarch's stole their money or are you comfortable they are incredible businessmen to have made vast fortunes in very short timeframes? Or Somewhere in between?

I'm sure they do as part of their 'day job'. Not someone who comes on the yacht with them though.

No. There are stories of yachts being robbed on anchor, but given the size and potential fallout from the owners, who'd risk it? Never experienced it among the crew either. Unless it was so valuable you could disappear forever, you'd be constantly looking over your shoulder for the rest of you life, for a watch or other trinket?

The glass is very strong by necessity, a large wave will easily have more energy behind it than a small calibre bullet. It would probably stop most non-AP rounds but not rated as such. You'd probably have more success shooting through the aluminium superstructure.

Most dangerous part of jetski ops is launch and recovery, especially on a busy anchorage with regular boat wakes to contend with.

These people have undoubtedly benefitted from a perfect storm. A combination of the collapse of a nation and economic system, pointy elbows, duplicity, coercion, intimidation, the right connections and in some cases blatant criminality. You go back far enough in any 'respectable old-monied family' and you will see some or all of the same. Nothing new under the sun.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

Muzzer79 said:

OP - if you were in a position to own & run a superyacht, what would your specification be?

30m ish, explorer type. Honestly though, I wouldn't bother. Occasional charter for the wife and kids but I've never been much of a boat person.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

DanL said:

What thing breaks or goes wrong most often?

Nothing. I mean, things break and go wrong, but if it is the same thing regularly then we aren't doing our jobs. It should be changed, redesigned, replaced. There is no excuse for repeated failures.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

MrJuice said:

what are yachting partners international like?

they are a portfolio company for a company that my friend works for. I understand his boss owns Mrs L

Use them as a source of CVs regularly. One of the better crew agents IMHO.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

Bannock said:

justaninnocenthenchman said:

Muzzer79 said:

OP - if you were in a position to own & run a superyacht, what would your specification be?

30m ish, explorer type. Honestly though, I wouldn't bother. Occasional charter for the wife and kids but I've never been much of a boat person.

Honestly interested in that final statement there. How do you end up working in such a niche industry if you're not really interested in it? I'm sure the job interviews will comprise questions about experience on boats, and nobody's going to be a offered a job if all they've ever done is stacked the shelves in Tesco. So how, and why, did you get into this line of work? And what do you do specifically? Engineering things or admin things or serving the boss type things?

You'd be surprised. People come here from all walks of life, business, armed forces, professional sports, merchant shipping, shelf-stackers, as well as life-long yachties with sailing parents. A positive attitude and an interest in the lifestyle is more important than being a yacht spotter. You just need to have the motivation to go out and do it. My background was quite varied, now in a senior management role onboard, but with enough variety to still keep me interested.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

Muzzer79 said:

Speaking of family, how does that work?

Presumably you are on the yacht for a period of time, then on 'shore leave' for a period of time?

Are your family just used to you being away for long periods?

Do you have a target time frame at which point you'll jack it in to be full time at home?

I do 8 weeks on, 8 weeks off. Yes, it has been our 'normal' for a long time, and all the kids have known. Could I start doing this after having kids? Probably not, but again, it is their normal. Being away is obviously hard (for me and them) but being home and undisturbed for long periods is great for spending quality time with the kids, holidays, hobbies etc. Luck to have a wife who can look after herself for the most part. No target to stop, I will keep going 'til 60 if I can. Great salary, loads of time off, good security, varied job. Not really seeing any reason to give it all up.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

Bannock said:

Bannock said:

justaninnocenthenchman said:

Muzzer79 said:

OP - if you were in a position to own & run a superyacht, what would your specification be?

30m ish, explorer type. Honestly though, I wouldn't bother. Occasional charter for the wife and kids but I've never been much of a boat person.

Honestly interested in that final statement there. How do you end up working in such a niche industry if you're not really interested in it? I'm sure the job interviews will comprise questions about experience on boats, and nobody's going to be a offered a job if all they've ever done is stacked the shelves in Tesco. So how, and why, did you get into this line of work? And what do you do specifically? Engineering things or admin things or serving the boss type things?

Interesting, thanks. Always strikes me in pretty much any field of work that anyone who applies without specific experience is given short shrift.

Is there any advantage in speaking Russian - or is it actually frowned upon, i.e. the boss might not want the skivvies understanding what he's saying sometimes?

Very much the latter in my experience.

Regarding the job, at a junior level there are very few barriers to entry. You won't find a Superyacht job advertised at your local job centre though, so if someone is willing to take the risk of travelling to Antibes to dock-walk, then some yacht will probably take the risk hiring them, wherever they come from.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

Bannock said:

justaninnocenthenchman said:

Bannock said:

Bannock said:

justaninnocenthenchman said:

Muzzer79 said:

OP - if you were in a position to own & run a superyacht, what would your specification be?

30m ish, explorer type. Honestly though, I wouldn't bother. Occasional charter for the wife and kids but I've never been much of a boat person.

Honestly interested in that final statement there. How do you end up working in such a niche industry if you're not really interested in it? I'm sure the job interviews will comprise questions about experience on boats, and nobody's going to be a offered a job if all they've ever done is stacked the shelves in Tesco. So how, and why, did you get into this line of work? And what do you do specifically? Engineering things or admin things or serving the boss type things?

Interesting, thanks. Always strikes me in pretty much any field of work that anyone who applies without specific experience is given short shrift.

Is there any advantage in speaking Russian - or is it actually frowned upon, i.e. the boss might not want the skivvies understanding what he's saying sometimes?

Very much the latter in my experience.

Regarding the job, at a junior level there are very few barriers to entry. You won't find a Superyacht job advertised at your local job centre though, so if someone is willing to take the risk of travelling to Antibes to dock-walk, then some yacht will probably take the risk hiring them, wherever they come from.

Wow, fascinating. Do they not have any personal vetting of new staff then? Sounds like it would be relatively easy to get someone on board to spy on them, so long as they didn't declare any Russian language skills of course!

We do background security checks, so it may be a problem if you have any convictions for espionage, piracy or smuggling. The industry as a whole, particularly smaller boats, are a lot less formal in their hiring processes. A drink in the Blue Lady is usually enough to get a foot in the door.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

K50 DEL said:

justaninnocenthenchman said:

We do background security checks, so it may be a problem if you have any convictions for espionage, piracy or smuggling. The industry as a whole, particularly smaller boats, are a lot less formal in their hiring processes. A drink in the Blue Lady is usually enough to get a foot in the door.

Interesting you say that, I've worked rotational ex-pat IT and comms support based out of various locations (middle-east, africa etc) over the years, been back in the UK for a while now though and the itchy feet just get stronger and stronger!

I never really considered SY roles before, are there dedicated IT / Comms people or are those areas covered as part of a wider brief by proper engineers?

Yes, AV/IT is a popular role. Usually only on 80m+ as any smaller and it falls under the remit of the ticketed engineers (with lots of phone support usually). 100m+ and there might be a small team covering the entertainment and lighting systems, network admin, radio and navigation kit etc.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

Gretchen said:

justaninnocenthenchman said:

Gretchen said:

I still don’t know if anyone’s died….

Not on my boats, though we have had some medical incidents with guests and crew.

Do you have any crew medically trained? And with regard to sickness how does that work? I assume sick rates are low and crew don’t tend to throw a sickie for a duvet day or family day out forgetting you follow them on Instagram when they update their stories.

If someone is genuinely unwell are they confined to their cabin or have to call in an hour before shift?

All crew have basic first aid. Officers have advanced. Master and other seniors have a medical first aid course, which covers administration of drugs and (very) minor surgery - it is a requirement to be able to hold things like morphine on board. It's not unheard of for older owners to travel with their own nurse.

Usually there is a contract with Medlink or Mediare or similar who provide remote assistance. We can hook up a patient to our device and the Doctor at the other end gets a live readout of their vitals. This is something we drill regularly.

Being young, fit and vibrant people, illness not usually an issue, but given covid there has been a bit of serious cabin quarantining going on now and then. Also we have sick pay entitlements written into our contracts. Usually a hangover is the worst we deal with.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

PurpleTurtle said:

Do these monsters need anti-fouling?

I once spent a thoroughly miserable weekend helping my mate anti-foul his moderate size 36ft yacht which took all day when hoisted out of the water.

Do superyachts need similar and if so how often/where?

Yes, every 2-3 years usually. Most can be craned out of the water - there are some enormous travel lifts these days. The biggest are dry docked. Popular spots in Europe are Genoa, Barcelona and La Ciotat. Usually done by the yard, rarely do the crew get involved beyond the acceptance inspection. Unpleasant work - especially pressure washing the old stuff off.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

digimeistter said:

What will you do when it eventually gets seized?

It's a real possibility. We are not on the sanctions list, but we know that doesn't seem to matter at the moment, and there have already been yachts seized by mistake - a particularly high profile capture in France will be resulting in an embarrassing climbdown by the Douane in the next few weeks.

We have been assured that it will not effect our employment, but the longer the situation in Ukraine drags on, the higher the chances of something changing to effect us. Not really concerned though.

[justaninnocenthenchman]

Gretchen said:

Not specific and applies to anyone who spends time on the water… Do you adjust quickly to being back on dry land? Mostly I don’t get a wobble (didn’t during the high winds recently, quite enjoyed being on the water) but occasionally have a bit of a sway after three or four days on the river then back to work in the office. Nothing nauseating just such an odd sensation that still fascinates me.

We don't tend to move much. A combination of fin stabilisers and good weather cruising mean there is rarely any difference to being on land. Still doesn't stop the laundry girls throwing up in the sink every time we go to sea though.