satman
New member
Can anyone recommend a good company to provide training for a young man wanting to start a career as Superyacht crew.
Superyacht Crew Training
- Thread starter satman
- Start date
capnsensible
Well-known member
There are a few around but they dont get much better than this:
https://uksa.org/
Not cheap but worth it. Disclaimer, I did some freelance training for them but it was a looong time ago!
https://uksa.org/
Not cheap but worth it. Disclaimer, I did some freelance training for them but it was a looong time ago!
jimmy_the_builder
Well-known member
You could do worse than ask the yacht crew agencies who they suggest. They are the ones with the starter jobs for crew newbies.
Seastoke
Well-known member
You could send a pm to time out, as he works for a super yacht company , but don’t ask him for a hat.
scotty123
Well-known member
There are a few around but they dont get much better than this:
https://uksa.org/
Not cheap but worth it. Disclaimer, I did some freelance training for them but it was a looong time ago!
Blue Water Academy, Antibe.
john_morris_uk
Well-known member
Blue Water Antibe are good.
Deep Blue in Palma or Palma Sea School are also good.
I declare an interest inasmuch as I have worked or do work for all three.
jfm
Well-known member
Yup bluewater in Antibes and uksa in cowes. Beware punchy pricing, and shop around. This is a tick box exercise so the crew agency and captain/owner hiring you will want stcw95 etc but won’t care much which training firm you did it with. And while these quals are a prerequisite they won’t be what gets you the job or enables you to keep it!
If the aim is officer and ultimately captain you need a more structured set of training than basic stcw95 and eng1. But those are fine for deckie jobs. PB2 and some experience also handy for tender driving.
If the aim is officer and ultimately captain you need a more structured set of training than basic stcw95 and eng1. But those are fine for deckie jobs. PB2 and some experience also handy for tender driving.
Greg2
Well-known member
STCW95 is available from a number of providers - did mine initially with Warsash Maritime Academy and refreshers with Petans in Norwich, who I suspect were probably less expensive than some other options, although worth checking that the security element is included. As JFM says, this is a basic requirement to work at sea and nothing to do with skills required for the actual job.
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john_morris_uk
Well-known member
The skills like impeccable manners, no visible tattoos, young and slim and good looking, with an enthusiastic smile and the diplomacy of Mother Teresa being asked to haggle over the price of local prostitutes? Preferably with tickets to drive and instruct guests how to use the super yacht toys and be an open water dive master?
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MapisM
Well-known member
Sounds like it might be easier to aim at becoming a superyacht owner, rather than a crew member...
[2068]
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This is sounding like first-hand advice that is from someone that has performed all the above tasks at some point in the past?
john_morris_uk
Well-known member
This is sounding like first-hand advice that is from someone that has performed all the above tasks at some point in the past?
I’ve worked with and for the industry (sometimes full time but mostly on an ad hoc basis) for the last twenty years. I started with Blue Water in Antibes but have done a lot of work out of Palma, lots in mainland Spain and some in Italy and a couple times Langwawi. Some teaching but mostly examining crew for their tickets. I’ve worked with and talked to a LOT of deckies, engineers. And Captains.
Greg2
Well-known member
jrudge
Well-known member
I recruit crew every season and am members of various crew forums which I use for recruitment.
The exams are simply a requirement. No STCW, no medical, no job. To differentiate themselves most also have PB2 as this then allows them to drive the rib, and many have a dive instructor rating. If someone has a dive / PB2 it means they passed the exam - not that they know how to drive a tender or actually dive .... I have employed several.
Once you qualify then they all want experience. The green crew have a big task getting jobs. I take green crew most years as being a smaller boat my pool is limited. Most of them have then gone onto much bigger boats full time. I get mine from Facebook or dock walkers. Dock walking works - someone sees a nicely presented person who they can chat to for a few moments and that makes more of an impact that a CV. For each job I post I get probably 20-30 application on average.
If you follow the crew forums a large percentage of newbies never get employed and then head home. In Palma there are hundreds and hundreds of people all looking for work. People also bleat no one will employ me as I have tattoos. John Morris is 100% right. Look and act the part. They want clean cut people who just get on with it and if they find themselves with half an hour .... just clean something !
Once you have experience it is easier - the next person is not taking the risk you get sea sick and don't like onboard life where you might not get of the boat for 4 weeks.
Day work is popular, and demand for dayworkers strong - but you will still get 30 applications. People lie. I can wash and polish a boat. They arrive. It is difficult to explain to people on here how someone could not know how to wash a boat but believe me it happens. The thought of letting them loose with a polisher would be of grave concern.
People are VERY VERY sloppy with their facebook posts / profiles ( bear in mind they are applying via a facebook forum so they are a click away. A picture of you drunk kissing someone in a bar is not the best image. Next. Similarly some will post profane posts about boats, owners, the environment etc and again it simply discounts them.
I get reference checks frequently. A typical one is below
The following points might help you in your assessment.
• General deck duties knowledge
• Maintenance knowledge? Product knowledge?
• Tender driving skills
• General seamanship knowledge
• Any watch keeping experience?
• Relationship with fellow crew members? Where they team players?
• Relationship with guests and owners?
• Describe their personality
• Did socializing ever affect work?
• Why did they leave? If in bad terms, explain why
• Would you hire them again?
• Would you recommend them?
The exams are simply a requirement. No STCW, no medical, no job. To differentiate themselves most also have PB2 as this then allows them to drive the rib, and many have a dive instructor rating. If someone has a dive / PB2 it means they passed the exam - not that they know how to drive a tender or actually dive .... I have employed several.
Once you qualify then they all want experience. The green crew have a big task getting jobs. I take green crew most years as being a smaller boat my pool is limited. Most of them have then gone onto much bigger boats full time. I get mine from Facebook or dock walkers. Dock walking works - someone sees a nicely presented person who they can chat to for a few moments and that makes more of an impact that a CV. For each job I post I get probably 20-30 application on average.
If you follow the crew forums a large percentage of newbies never get employed and then head home. In Palma there are hundreds and hundreds of people all looking for work. People also bleat no one will employ me as I have tattoos. John Morris is 100% right. Look and act the part. They want clean cut people who just get on with it and if they find themselves with half an hour .... just clean something !
Once you have experience it is easier - the next person is not taking the risk you get sea sick and don't like onboard life where you might not get of the boat for 4 weeks.
Day work is popular, and demand for dayworkers strong - but you will still get 30 applications. People lie. I can wash and polish a boat. They arrive. It is difficult to explain to people on here how someone could not know how to wash a boat but believe me it happens. The thought of letting them loose with a polisher would be of grave concern.
People are VERY VERY sloppy with their facebook posts / profiles ( bear in mind they are applying via a facebook forum so they are a click away. A picture of you drunk kissing someone in a bar is not the best image. Next. Similarly some will post profane posts about boats, owners, the environment etc and again it simply discounts them.
I get reference checks frequently. A typical one is below
The following points might help you in your assessment.
• General deck duties knowledge
• Maintenance knowledge? Product knowledge?
• Tender driving skills
• General seamanship knowledge
• Any watch keeping experience?
• Relationship with fellow crew members? Where they team players?
• Relationship with guests and owners?
• Describe their personality
• Did socializing ever affect work?
• Why did they leave? If in bad terms, explain why
• Would you hire them again?
• Would you recommend them?
petem
Well-known member
J, do they mind living in your crew cabin?
Adrian
Member
Have a look at www.bristolmaritime.co.uk/career/ its run by the ex Head of Operations at UKSA, excelent set up in Bristol.
No connection other than a satisfied customer (Oh and he's my cousin!)
No connection other than a satisfied customer (Oh and he's my cousin!)
jrudge
Well-known member
What do you ask? I dont follow. Its a crew cabin.
petem
Well-known member
Just curious regarding the etiquette considering it's quite a small space (probably no smaller than my aft cabin though!).
Does she use the saloon etc when you're not onboard?
john_morris_uk
Well-known member
Not sure which J you’re referring to.
On most yachts with professional crew, there are strict rules about the crew using the guest living spaces when there are no guests aboard. A typical set of rules will be crew cabins are out of bounds except for boat maintenance and housekeeping. The main lounge areas will have crew covers on all soft furnishings and canvas crew covers on the carpets.
Sun cream on the teak is a flogging offence. Etc etc.
You usually get the use of the toys and diving gear but during the charter season there’s very little downtime to give you opportunities.
Perhaps that’s why some crews dream of a family owned boat where the family is generous and kind but doesn’t use the boat all the time.
jrudge
Well-known member
We rarely have crew when we are not there, but on the occasions we are not then they have the run of the boat ( there is no way to stop it).
The crew cabin is really just a place to sleep. The crew ( who is more often than not male not female in our case) is kept pretty active for the whole day and evening by the time you have done cabins, breakfast, lunch, dinner, washing, ironing, swum with kids, driven rib round and round in circles etc! If it is just my girlfriend and I they are pretty under employed and we only have crew during that time if it is between busier periods.
We are a family boat so the individual becomes part of that for the duration. The boat is big enough for them to partially vanish but given its size they naturally share to some extent the same space.
For a pretty small amount of money having summer crew turns running a bed and breakfast for kids and friends from a chore to a true holiday.
I know I am relatively unusual is using seasonal crew on a 58 foot boat, but those who haven't should give it a go - especially if you have kids. The cost is about a tank of diesel.
