Where do I find a good pro, and how much do i pay?

[Tony7]

Think the time has come to make a step change in my boating. Have just put an offer on a 75 ft beastie which I want to take around the med over the next couple of years. I intend going out to the boat for a week every 3 weeks.
I need a full time crew type person, not a fully qual skipper but a very competent deck hand who could look after her full time and help look after me / guests when were on board.
Current skip is staying with his boss who is buying bigger.
where do I find said person? and whats the going rate? I've looked on the crew forum but its all sail related.
help.

 

[Medskipper]

Hi Tony,

I'll do it for 50k per annum!

25 years of experience in boats and have my YM, ICC, and of course VHF. cert.

I would love to skipper your 75ft beast around the Med for you, can't think of anything better, come to think of it, I could be persuaded to pay you!!! lol.

Barry

 

[Tony7]

OK, so now I know its somewhere between.
skip paying me and £50k.
Whats the market rates? and where do available crew advertise.

 

[Medskipper]

Sorry Tony I don't really know what you are asking, I just thought I would love the job! always wanted to retire and look after someones mega yacht!

I just googled "professional boat crews" and came up with quite a bit of info, why don't you start there?

Barry

 

[powerskipper]

There are loads of peeps who do this, crew finder and sites like that are good , try the RYA web site forum too . I can give you some numbers if you want by PM.
crew can be paid anything from 10,000 to 100,000 PA. but do interview carefully, it does not matter how big the boat is it is never big enough if you fall out with someone. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[jfm]

Going rate is about €2800/month for a good stewie (who wouldn't be a captian nor wish to captain the boat, but would be cook-deckhand when you are on the boat and cleaner-polisher when you're away and qualified STCW95).

If you wanted a captian type it would be €4,500 ish for a juniorish captian type

Just to give you some scale, a top engineer on a 50m boat would get €7500-10,000 and a captian a little bit more. a really good head stewie would be €4k or a bit more

These are monthly cash amounts. No-one ever talks in annual salary, it's all done monthly. In general there is no PAYE and suchlike afaik

Remeber also that charter boat crew get gratuities (though they work v v hard for them) whereas private boat crew don't. That will affect your marketability. Many private owners pay a gratuity in October to the crew if they have worked hard all season, a few grand in cash say - I'd certianly do that if i wanted the person back the next season

There are not many written contracts in the sub 24m boat world. You fire them instantly if they're no good, and they walk off if they don't like the job. Your boat gets known if it stands out in a fairly communicative crew community, so extra nice bosses/extra lousy bosses get known about...

Regardless of the money you might struggle getting someone to take on a 75footer alone. Good crew would want to keep it very smart and polished and really that's a 2-perosn job for a big boat. There's just too much acreage of GRP, teak and cushion covers for one person. I'd definitely employ 2 on that sized boat. 60foot is max for one person imho if you want it very shiny and the teak very straw coloured and the sheets very ironed and the furniture very teak-oiled and the galley full of food when you arrive etc etc etc

The crew thing on this site isn't much good. I'd suggest local crew agents in the town you're based in, and also log your requirements with the big Antibes and Palma crew agents as many would-be crew arrivals go to those places first (rahter than say Sotogrande) looking for work. If they like your job then they'd transfer to Soto. Bluewater is the big agent in Antibes

Good luck

 

[Tony7]

Thanks guys, just had a good look at www.findacrew.net
Perfect.
Powerskip, I take your point.

 

[Tony7]

Thanks JFM, sounds like a job for a couple.
Am fed up of problems every time I go out.

 

[jfm]

Tony, having good crew transforms your boating. It might sound a lot each month but it is so utterly worth it. You text them when your plane lands, then arrive at the boat Friday evening and the lights are on, flowers all arranged, drinks and canapes ready, food stacked up in the fridge, sheets ironed, towels all clean, all covers off the furniture, gleaming boat and straw-brown perfect decks, fuel filled, etc. At the end of the weekend you leave it trashed and jump in taxi to airport. You never need keys to the boat. Once you've done it, you wont want to go back!

 

[Lakesailor]

There's this bloke called Matt who has experience of sub 23 metre boats in the Med. He's lost his job and is at a loose end. I bet he'd jump at the chance.

 

[PilotWolf]

PM sent

 

[Renegade_Master]

75ft dont hold back now Tony whats wrong wiv me ickle pred 63 then?

Hang on thinks??????? Italy???????? wouldnt be Italian woud it?

Do you wont me to ask around for crew? I know a SA girl in Soto. Come to think of it you probably do to.

 

[Tony7]

Thanks everyone, JFM I'm more than sold, next you'll be telling me the DP's allready chilled when you arrive.
In answer to a couple of PM's its a Predator 75.

 

[Tony7]

Clive, can you pm me your mobi number please so I can give you a call later. (I have Phils number under your name????) ta

 

[jfm]

Well, yes it is With a 75foot sportsboat like the Pred, you might persuade one (good) crew person to take it on. I think I was thinking flybridge when I said 75foot is too much acreage for one person, but a sportscruiser has less acreage I guess...?

 

[KevB]

I was in Duquesa a couple of weeks ago and saw a superhawk with surface drives being lifted into the yard. Was it yours?

 

[burgundyben]

I heard he attracts a lot of barnacles when he gets near a boat...

 

[Tony7]

yep, out to have her bum wiped and painted.

 

[KevB]

It's very nerve wrecking watching it being lifted and it wasn't even mine. It seemed to manoeuvre very well at low speeds with the surface drives.

 

[Renegade_Master]

High Kev, I put her back in the hole when they dropped her back last week. You treat her like a stern drive, not a great deal of pace in reverse as it happens.