How much does the average yacht captain earn monthly?

alant said:
What is an "average yacht"?
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I think that some one is thinking superyacht, IE yacht with paid skipper....

Hard to Average, there are some extremes and the average do not like to discuss form what I can work out...

Also worth considering how much they get paid per day away form home not annual salary.
 
onesea said:
I think that some one is thinking superyacht, IE yacht with paid skipper....

Hard to Average, there are some extremes and the average do not like to discuss form what I can work out...

Also worth considering how much they get paid per day away form home not annual salary.
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Ditto. Their tax situation is often somewhat 'irregular' so not too much is recorded outside the bars of Antibes. Plus if the yacht is in charter tips can contribute very substantially. It's not all wine and roses though. They have to be good at bowing and scraping. Their are long periods of doing rugger ball except keeping on top of cleaning and maintenance and home life gets shot to pieces.
 
I think the average skipper even on superyachts gets a pretty poor deal.

A friend went into this profession, on one boat he worked all summer then the owner thought he'd rather not pay, on another mega-mobo off Italy a human body came up with the anchor wrapped in plastic, so probably not suicide; the boat owner didn't want to get involved and ordered it to be lowered again.

Said chum eventually got a sailing boat to skipper where he was happy and everything above board, met the girl of his dreams and now runs a boat delivery outfit.
 
No idea how much captains earn, some observations.
When cruising the south of France, I met two super yacht captains. They ware Dutch, had real papers, and earned a lot of money. Travelling the world with those yachts.
In Turkey, the “captan” of the new rich big mobo´s ware ex gullet captans. They know there region, are excellent anchoring / mooring experts, that´s all. Papers in those days ( 10 years back ) ware laughing stuff. I know of a guy who paid 3000 $ for papers allowing him to be captain on big super yachts. Sailing school in Marmaris 7 years ago. No lessons, no proof. The guy was a very experienced sailor. Situation could be different now.
In Greece, I personally know 4 captains. They are without exception ex fisherman of water taxi drivers. Have the necessary papers obtained by the famous fakelaki bribery system or have a licence inherited from their father. They know their region, are excellent mooring experts and know how to push the throttle.
Employed only in summer, they leave there taxi boat at anchor, earn a more steady income by playing captain and serving the owner. Some can´t even read a chart. Not necessary, they stay in the same region.
The relation owner or guests of the owner / personnel is inhumane. Just last week I saw a Filipino seamen washing the feet of guests arriving on a big yacht. Pretty sure the reason was not hygiene but a proof of divinity.
The captain of the same yacht was send over to me to excuse himself ( !!!! ) and lie about an engine malfunction after the owner of the yacht did some stupid things. The poor guy was so embarrassed after he heard we had some mutual Greek friends that he opened up and told us how life was on board of such a toy. He needed the job so bad and in Greece or Turkey dismissal is immediate and without parole. Often without pay. He earned 800 € / month which is more than most other Greeks.
The yacht he works on is rather small for Greece, a 58 feet Ferretti.
Eight years ago I did some skippering on private yachts. I made 100 to 150 €/ day without the tips who ware often huge. All black, no papers, just for the fun of sailing such a big fast catamaran.
 
My Nephew was chief engineer on super yachts, its seems you start at the "rubbishy"end and put up with all the carp, and by word of mouth and ability, work your way up to the good uns, he was on about 70k pa,3 months on,and 1 off, and a percentage of any chartering they did. same pay and conditions for skippers.

Finished up on " paraffin", named after the owners line of work.
 
OldBawley said:
No idea how much captains earn, some observations.
When cruising the south of France, I met two super yacht captains. They ware Dutch, had real papers, and earned a lot of money. Travelling the world with those yachts.
In Turkey, the “captan” of the new rich big mobo´s ware ex gullet captans. They know there region, are excellent anchoring / mooring experts, that´s all. Papers in those days ( 10 years back ) ware laughing stuff. I know of a guy who paid 3000 $ for papers allowing him to be captain on big super yachts. Sailing school in Marmaris 7 years ago. No lessons, no proof. The guy was a very experienced sailor. Situation could be different now.
In Greece, I personally know 4 captains. They are without exception ex fisherman of water taxi drivers. Have the necessary papers obtained by the famous fakelaki bribery system or have a licence inherited from their father. They know their region, are excellent mooring experts and know how to push the throttle.
Employed only in summer, they leave there taxi boat at anchor, earn a more steady income by playing captain and serving the owner. Some can´t even read a chart. Not necessary, they stay in the same region.
The relation owner or guests of the owner / personnel is inhumane. Just last week I saw a Filipino seamen washing the feet of guests arriving on a big yacht. Pretty sure the reason was not hygiene but a proof of divinity.
The captain of the same yacht was send over to me to excuse himself ( !!!! ) and lie about an engine malfunction after the owner of the yacht did some stupid things. The poor guy was so embarrassed after he heard we had some mutual Greek friends that he opened up and told us how life was on board of such a toy. He needed the job so bad and in Greece or Turkey dismissal is immediate and without parole. Often without pay. He earned 800 € / month which is more than most other Greeks.
The yacht he works on is rather small for Greece, a 58 feet Ferretti.
Eight years ago I did some skippering on private yachts. I made 100 to 150 €/ day without the tips who ware often huge. All black, no papers, just for the fun of sailing such a big fast catamaran.
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Friend of mine earns $18000 per month as captain on a 52m motor yacht. His wife is chief stewardess and gets another $10000 per month.
 
Ric said:
Friend of mine earns $18000 per month as captain on a 52m motor yacht. His wife is chief stewardess and gets another $10000 per month.
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I am pretty sure those owners are not Greek or Turkish.
Been captain on a big yacht is 2% manoeuvring the craft, basically easy with two engines, two anchors ,bow and stern thruster. Main job is managing the yacht and personnel, and that is not done by the water taxi drivers.
The hundreds of “captains” working on the big mobo´s powering full speed between Athens and Spetses / Porto Cheli are just there to be in order with the law. I have seen kids steering a 30 meter mobo passing us at 25 knots. They sailed a big bend just to have a laugh with that small rocking sail boat.
We ware anchored next to a gullet in Turkey. Big joker came past at full speed. The size of a small school doing 25 knots. We ware fine but the gullet rolled so hard that fire broke out in the kitchen. They had been frying chips for the guests and the frying pan fell of the fire.
Later I spoke to the “captan” asking why he did not complain to the Coast guard. He explained to me that the owner of the big yacht was “Very important man “ The coast guard chief would never risk his job.
I bet he did not earn 18000 / month.
 
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