Working as crew on a Yacht next summer, advice please
Discussion
Basically next Summer I'm going to have 6 months free time in which I wouldn't mind doing this for 4 months of it. A friend has just returned from working 4 months on a Yacht around France and he said he had a great time, very hard work though. He's also got a few grand in his pocket, which isn't bad for four months work I guess. A few questions:
He got a Competent Crew certificate I think, took him four days whatever it was and he had no previous experience on any kind of boat, once he had it apparently job offers where easy to come by due to a lack of crew. Is this always so, and is the competent crew all I need or do I need a day skipper or similar?
What could I expect to earn over four months? My mate said that people on his Yacht were getting around £300 per week basic, and the rest was (quite good) tips. Does this sound right? I might add that he didn't have to pay for anything except alcohol, in which he reckons he spent £300 a month on, considering he came back with a few grand after that I guess he done quite well.
Whats the best way to get a job? My mate got his through another friend who I don't know, who does it more full time and is quite high up in rank.
Thanks for any advice.
He got a Competent Crew certificate I think, took him four days whatever it was and he had no previous experience on any kind of boat, once he had it apparently job offers where easy to come by due to a lack of crew. Is this always so, and is the competent crew all I need or do I need a day skipper or similar?
What could I expect to earn over four months? My mate said that people on his Yacht were getting around £300 per week basic, and the rest was (quite good) tips. Does this sound right? I might add that he didn't have to pay for anything except alcohol, in which he reckons he spent £300 a month on, considering he came back with a few grand after that I guess he done quite well.
Whats the best way to get a job? My mate got his through another friend who I don't know, who does it more full time and is quite high up in rank.
Thanks for any advice.
sail or power?
You will need your STWC95...Have a look at the UKSA or bluewater. Should come up in google. Its your basic training you need.
Its hit and miss at some times. There will be a shed load of people down in Antibes looking to do the same as you. Not saying its not possible but its not as easy as I think your mate is saying. Tell your mate to send your CV to the person he knows.
Wage wise your looking at say 2000euros a month or 100euros a day if you day work. Tips wise,,,,yes you could make a bit. Depends what type and size of boat you go on. you should be able to save a lot. I guess it depends how much time you have off as you will spend a shed load going out. I don't know how your mate only spent £300 a month. On some boats depending on the crew you could spend that in a weekend easy. Its expensive down in France and the places the boat would go, Cannes, Monaco, Antibes etc. Around 6 to 7 euros for a bottle of beer.
There is plenty of crew houses down in Antibes to stay at while you search for a job but as your mate said its a lot of work.
Buts its good fun. get to see a lot of places,,,but its also full on at times.
You will need your STWC95...Have a look at the UKSA or bluewater. Should come up in google. Its your basic training you need.
Its hit and miss at some times. There will be a shed load of people down in Antibes looking to do the same as you. Not saying its not possible but its not as easy as I think your mate is saying. Tell your mate to send your CV to the person he knows.
Wage wise your looking at say 2000euros a month or 100euros a day if you day work. Tips wise,,,,yes you could make a bit. Depends what type and size of boat you go on. you should be able to save a lot. I guess it depends how much time you have off as you will spend a shed load going out. I don't know how your mate only spent £300 a month. On some boats depending on the crew you could spend that in a weekend easy. Its expensive down in France and the places the boat would go, Cannes, Monaco, Antibes etc. Around 6 to 7 euros for a bottle of beer.
There is plenty of crew houses down in Antibes to stay at while you search for a job but as your mate said its a lot of work.
Buts its good fun. get to see a lot of places,,,but its also full on at times.
Thanks, from what UKSA tell me the STWC95 is a 6 day course...I'll check it out, many thanks. £775 for the course, looks good. As for my mate's spending. he did say alcohol was expensive, but then he doesn't drink that much- max 4 in a night. He said there was very little he had to buy, and he worked all days he could.
Edited by sparks87 on Tuesday 19th August 22:15
Edited by sparks87 on Tuesday 19th August 22:23
Do have a look at bluewater too for the stcw95. You can do it down in France. There is a few other places that do it as well down there.
Yeah I see what you are saying mate. Like I say it really depends what type of people are on the boat. With some you will find yourself living as normal as you can,,,and with others you are out every night when you can. Its like a different world on some boats. I guess you will find it out when you are apart of a boat. Also don't tell them you are in it for the short term.
Sign up with the agencies as well before you go down and then go for a chat with them when you get there. Some of the top of my head.
YCO
Bluewater
luxury yachts
Crewnetwork
Peter Insulls
AMPM
YPI.
If you google them if should come up with there details.
Yeah I see what you are saying mate. Like I say it really depends what type of people are on the boat. With some you will find yourself living as normal as you can,,,and with others you are out every night when you can. Its like a different world on some boats. I guess you will find it out when you are apart of a boat. Also don't tell them you are in it for the short term.
Sign up with the agencies as well before you go down and then go for a chat with them when you get there. Some of the top of my head.
YCO
Bluewater
luxury yachts
Crewnetwork
Peter Insulls
AMPM
YPI.
If you google them if should come up with there details.
Try crewseekers.com you need to pay but under the professional section there are loads of boats looking for crew. Some want CC, DS, CS or YM/YMO, it all depends, if your have a log book with 20k sea miles etc they will speak to you, if you have no experiance then you may need to get your tickets first.
I did an atlantic circuit after uni, which was not paid but expenses covered for 4 month ish. At the end of it I was offered a first mate position on a 70ft Oyster, but choose not to take it, looking back I could probably be skippering similar vessels now as that was 7 years ago.
Are you doing it for the money, experiance or as a career move. You could end up paying money to do lots of deck cleaning! Or crew smaller yachts with families etc
I did an atlantic circuit after uni, which was not paid but expenses covered for 4 month ish. At the end of it I was offered a first mate position on a 70ft Oyster, but choose not to take it, looking back I could probably be skippering similar vessels now as that was 7 years ago.
Are you doing it for the money, experiance or as a career move. You could end up paying money to do lots of deck cleaning! Or crew smaller yachts with families etc
Thanks, are there any other permanent jobs that I could get with STWC95 that pay decently (talking about £20,000 per year), like standing watch on a ship that transports between for example England and France etc, that operate 3 month on 1 off(or whatever) policy? Sorry if the question sounds daft, but I quite fancy working away for a while, and earning as much money as I can. I'm quite new to all this, any help anyone could give me woudl be great.
sparks87 said:
Thanks, are there any other permanent jobs that I could get with STWC95 that pay decently (talking about £20,000 per year), like standing watch on a ship that transports between for example England and France etc, that operate 3 month on 1 off(or whatever) policy? Sorry if the question sounds daft, but I quite fancy working away for a while, and earning as much money as I can. I'm quite new to all this, any help anyone could give me woudl be great.
Ok, I will try not to go in to it too much.Your STCW95 is your ticket to work on any boat, Cruise ship, ferry, superyacht etc. You need this.
To stand a watch on a big boat like that you need your officer of the watch. It takes 3 years to get this and a fair bit of work to get your ticket. You can go via the merchant or private like on a superyacht.
Superyacht - Get your yachtmaster first.... thats what you need to get before you can do your OOW. So get your yachtmaster, you need to have some miles under your belt and passage's. UKSA has the details on there website. Then 3 years or so later you can do your OOW. So thats one way to do it. Most superyachts will also help pay for your courses.
Tanker ship - You can go in to a big company as a trainee cadet and they will train you up over 3 years I think so you get your OOW. Money is ok i think but not as good as on a superyacht.
earning 20k a year is very easy. You get a boat that charters a lot and tips well you can be looking at 40k or more.
I would never pay an agent. There is plenty out there where you do not need to pay.
CapriD said:
sparks87 said:
Thanks, are there any other permanent jobs that I could get with STWC95 that pay decently (talking about £20,000 per year), like standing watch on a ship that transports between for example England and France etc, that operate 3 month on 1 off(or whatever) policy? Sorry if the question sounds daft, but I quite fancy working away for a while, and earning as much money as I can. I'm quite new to all this, any help anyone could give me woudl be great.
Ok, I will try not to go in to it too much.Your STCW95 is your ticket to work on any boat, Cruise ship, ferry, superyacht etc. You need this.
To stand a watch on a big boat like that you need your officer of the watch. It takes 3 years to get this and a fair bit of work to get your ticket. You can go via the merchant or private like on a superyacht.
Superyacht - Get your yachtmaster first.... thats what you need to get before you can do your OOW. So get your yachtmaster, you need to have some miles under your belt and passage's. UKSA has the details on there website. Then 3 years or so later you can do your OOW. So thats one way to do it. Most superyachts will also help pay for your courses.
Tanker ship - You can go in to a big company as a trainee cadet and they will train you up over 3 years I think so you get your OOW. Money is ok i think but not as good as on a superyacht.
earning 20k a year is very easy. You get a boat that charters a lot and tips well you can be looking at 40k or more.
I would never pay an agent. There is plenty out there where you do not need to pay.
Edited by sparks87 on Tuesday 19th August 23:02
Thanks for your help mate. My mate tells me after 4 months he had saved almost £7000 although I'm not sure what tax he paid. So perhaps I can do the same, although I'm not expecting to get that much. Some guys on his yacht earned a bit more, some a bit less. His yacht had guests on quite a lot, so lots of tips. TBH he is the same as me, if there is money to be had he'll work the hours and sacrifice some social time (although not all, we aren't total workaholics!!).
sparks87 said:
Thanks for your help mate. My mate tells me after 4 months he had saved almost £7000 although I'm not sure what tax he paid. So perhaps I can do the same, although I'm not expecting to get that much. Some guys on his yacht earned a bit more, some a bit less. His yacht had guests on quite a lot, so lots of tips. TBH he is the same as me, if there is money to be had he'll work the hours and sacrifice some social time (although not all, we aren't total workaholics!!).
Thats cool. I have worked a lot of 14 hour plus shifts for a fair few weeks. But you get used to it and the money roles on in. Going on a 60m boat would be a nice size. Not too many people but just the right amount. On a smaller boat you might have to work more to keep up as you got less crew and on bigger,,,well it just feels huge! CapriD said:
sparks87 said:
Thanks for your help mate. My mate tells me after 4 months he had saved almost £7000 although I'm not sure what tax he paid. So perhaps I can do the same, although I'm not expecting to get that much. Some guys on his yacht earned a bit more, some a bit less. His yacht had guests on quite a lot, so lots of tips. TBH he is the same as me, if there is money to be had he'll work the hours and sacrifice some social time (although not all, we aren't total workaholics!!).
Thats cool. I have worked a lot of 14 hour plus shifts for a fair few weeks. But you get used to it and the money roles on in. Going on a 60m boat would be a nice size. Not too many people but just the right amount. On a smaller boat you might have to work more to keep up as you got less crew and on bigger,,,well it just feels huge! 
Travelling down to Palma or Antibes in the spring is the accepted way of doing it. Can I recommend going down to Pendennis shipyard in Falmouth in Feb/March and trying to get on for the delivery down to the Med. Usually boats are down to a skeleton crew during refits, and then need help to get the thing back together/back in the right place. If you're any good they'll keep you on. Also worth dropping by Ocean Village or Gunwhalf Quay if you happen to be in the area.
Although I had experience and qualifications and was looking for a more senior job, I tried this method and was suprised how fruitful it was.
Although I had experience and qualifications and was looking for a more senior job, I tried this method and was suprised how fruitful it was.
If you can, get yourself down to Monaco towards the end of the month for the boat show. Loads of people to talk too, get your face known and get a better idea of what you are letting yourself in for. Easyjet to Nice and surprisingly cheap heli-shuttle to Monte Carlo should sort you out. Money can be good on a busy charter boat but, as already mentioned it is hard work and it may take you weeks of walking the docks before you get an offer.
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