Crew And The Owner
There has recently been some heated debate over the reasons why owners sell their yachts and leave yachting behind them. It is said that many quit the industry because of problems associated with keeping good crew. Equally it must be said that many crew quit the industry because of problems associated with finding good owners. To get an understanding of the problems facing each party it is important to see both sides of the story.
The Owner
For an owner, his holiday to the boat should be just that. A holiday. Crew hassles are something he truly doesn’t want to be faced with. When he joins the yacht he wants to feel that he is welcome on board his own yacht and wants to see familiar faces who know him and his family’s needs and know what he expects and how to give it to him.
Meeting a new stewardess every time he comes on board can be infuriating. No sooner has she been taught exactly how to make his cocktails and his wife has just got her trained in the precise way to iron his shirts, how to fold back the bed, set the table just so, then she is off. And the whole training exercise repeats itself. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Losing senior staff is an even bigger nightmare. The officers of a yacht form the infrastructure around which the remaining crew are formed. Lose this framework and you lose any form of stability in your crew.
Maintaining morale can be very difficult in these circumstances. And without good morale a yacht can quickly become a dismal environment with little escape. For some owners the whole crew issue can become such a problem that many simply jack the whole thing in.
The Crew
Many crew join the yacht in good faith. They are there to do a job and most are keen to do it to the best of their abilities. But many owners seem to give absolutely no consideration to the demands placed on their crew. Crew may be expected to be on duty for literally 24 hours a day, available at the touch of a button to meet every whim.
How It Can Be
There was a very famous man who had a reputation for being absolute hell to work for. And the reputation was justified.
The bell in his stateroom was on his bedside table. He would lie on his bed and ring for the stewardess who would duly arrive at his bedroom door. He would ask her to get his medication for him. This was kept… six inches away from the bell in his bedside drawer.
There are relatively common instances where chefs are woken from sleep in the early hours of the morning and expected to provide a three-course meal for the owners and guests. The stewardess, naturally, will not have been to bed at all yet, as she will have been on standby, awaiting their return, ready to pour drinks and arrange coffees etc.
Regardless of what time these late night interludes finish there are owners who will expect early morning service and of course the chef will have to be up early anyway, preparing breakfast for the crew. A very common complaint amongst the crew concerns owners who tell their crew they are arriving on Friday with two guests, but then arrive on Saturday with six guests. Or vice versa.
Another big concern is the fact that, for some owners, the reality of the financial burden of maintaining a luxury yacht doesn’t really sink in. The captain may find himself trying to keep the vessel afloat with constant bickering about budgets and money. Some captains have even found themselves having to use their own money to get themselves, the vessel and the crew out of sticky situations.
Unfortunately there are some owners who are inexperienced or simply incapable of dealing with crew in a respectful way. However it must be made clear here, that this is a problem that is certainly not common to all owners. There are many who are a delight to work for. Considerate, understanding and reasonable. But with the negative instances from both sides in mind, there are two points that should be raised here.
1. Crew must be educated into realising that this industry is not the laid back cruise that they might have been anticipating. It is in fact, although rewarding in its own way, a demanding job that has it’s drawbacks.
2. Owners themselves must be educated on how to deal with crew. Expecting crew to be on duty 20 hours a day with no breaks is little short of outrageous but it does happen, and frequently. It is no wonder crew get fed up and leave. A great many owners have absolutely no idea how to treat their crew.
Notes to Owners
The captain crew relationship: there are instances where a yacht is constantly having to find and replace crew. It may be that the question to ask is not so much what is wrong with the crew but what is wrong with captain. It might be the captain that is lacking proper leadership skills. You may be losing crew hand over fist but this may be due to the captain’s inefficient crew management rather than to the crew themselves.
Crew messes and accommodation: unfortunately, many brokers eager for that sale, are known to under-estimate the number of crew required to sail and maintain a yacht. When the owner finds he has to increase the number of crew, he may find that the crew accommodation is simply inadequate. Crew are left with cramped and uncomfortable facilities. Not exactly conducive to long term tenure.
Crew owner relationship: for many crew, hearing that the boss is joining the boat makes their heart sink. Owners who have a problem keeping good crew should look into their own behaviour and attitude towards their crew.
Crew pay: there is nothing like crew for gossip and naturally the juiciest gossip is about the differences in pay from yacht to yacht. This can be a major reason for crew movement. It is important that the rate of pay on your yacht meets industry standards.
Crew gratuities/tips: many crew are deeply appreciative of the extra perks that tips can provide. It is a good idea to encourage your guests to tip the crew.
Advance warning of arrivals: do you consider the problems that crew face when a party of guests grows in number? The chef has to prepare extra meals without the opportunity to buy more ingredients, stewardesses have to magically lay extra places, make beds, provide linen and generally have to care for more people than anticipated. This can be difficult to do at short notice and can be very demoralising.
Crew perks: do the crew have the use of a car in their home port? Is the boat a comfortable home for them? Do they have access to daily e-mail downloads? Are their annual leave breaks sufficient and do they meet industry standards? Do they have sufficient time off in the course of an ordinary week? Do you offer the possiblity of crew training? Do you offer annual bonuses? Do you provide health benefits?
Respect: do you respect your crew members for the jobs they do? They might be ‘just a cook’ or ‘only a deckhand’ in your eyes but they are there to serve you and, to get the best out of them, it is vital that you respect the demands of their jobs.
The stewardess may have been on stand-by last night waiting for you to come home, finally getting off duty at 4am. She may then be expected to be up and about serving breakfast three hours later. Quite simply, she is not going to be at her best; to expect otherwise is totally unrealistic. Asking the chef to prepare a meal for ten guests at 8pm, then having thirteen guests arrive and only eating at 9.30 makes it readily apparent that you have little respect for him and the demands placed upon him. While it is important that crew realise the responsibility of the job that they have undertaken, it is just as important that the owner realises his own commitment and responsibility to his crew.
One of the things that has always intrigued me has been the fact that the owner, who will see crew come and go during his ownership of the yacht, will seldom pay them a second thought once they have left the circle of his life. Many of these owners would be astonished to realise the impact that they have had on crew members’ own lives. For many it can represent one of the best times of their lives and one that they frequently look back on with fondness and nostalgia. Working as crew has afforded them a window on a life that they could rarely ever emulate.
Notes to Crew
Working as crew: It is a wonderful way to see the world. But note the keyword – ‘working’. Crewing can be hard work. It can be dull and very repetitive. The hours can be very long when you have guests on board. Realise this, accept this and you will probably do fine!
Money: This can be great and is one of the main reasons people venture into this field; but it is important to remember that the money is not the be all and end all of the job. If you accept a job on a yacht don’t only do it because you are going to get paid a lot. Do it because you enjoy the challenge, you like to travel, you like meeting people, you love the sea. A broad range of reasons for wanting to get on board is going to ensure that you stay longer than a few months.
Travel: This is not always all it is made out to be. Waking up in a new place every other week can be fun to begin with but after a while the novelty may wear a bit thin. It will seem the only people you know are your fellow crew members and after a few solid weeks constant companionship escape becomes crucial!
Adventure: What a wonderful reason to love a job. But there is a downside. You fly back home for your holiday break thinking that everybody is going to be so excited to hear about your job. And do you know what? For most of them the whole scene is going to be so above their heads that after five minutes they lose interest in what you are saying. They deal with traffic jams and office gossip, you deal with jet set destinations, rich and famous people. They are worlds apart. Before long you will find that you feel a little isolated from your friends at home. When you eventually come back home to settle down long term it can be extremely hard to do so.
What It Boils Down To
It doesn’t really matter if the salary offered is the best in the industry. It doesn’t really matter if the yacht has the best crew mess or the longest holidays or the best annual bonuses. None of these can stand on their own. What does matter is that the crew are happy and following the suggestions outlined above can provide an excellent package that can make working on a yacht a very viable long term scenario. It is a relatively simple equation:
Happy crew = stable crew = safer vessel = happy owner = happy guests = happy crew
