How does one go about getting a job in the mega/super yacht industry? Does someone have any good links, or contacts?
What would it look like for some 26-30 y/o with a 1600t masters oceans and unlimited 2/m? TWIC, VSO, MED-PIC, Tankerman-PIC, Master Towing, Passport and Hazwoper are there as well.
What are some people's opinions transitioning from work boats to these yachts? Is it worth it after being trained and all licensed-up for workboats?Ft Lauderdale is the center of the yachting world. There are a lot of hiring agents. You can check with boat brokers and yacht managers also. There are some crew bars, Quarterdeck just off 17th ave., where you can get good info on starting out. Never pay money for a job, esp. on the internet. Read Triton Magazine and good luck.
your avatar name is a good indication! The traditional ‘salt and pepper beard’, and a nautical ‘look’ go a long way in the yacht industry!
I hate dealing with yacht owner, guest and marinas!
However if you are neat, clean, can keep a boat clean enough to eat off the cabin sole, and don’t mind being at the beck and call of a multi millionaire, then it may be for you.
After re reading your post I honestly think that you would probably get a ‘Mates’ job. But at your age you would be seen as being too young to be a Captain. Sorry, just honest! It is not about your qualifications, but the perception of youth!
I dont know, I dont think you would start out as a mate even with all of those qualifications. A friend of mine works on a yacht and I asked her once about getting into the yachty world and she told me everyone starts out as a deckhand. You have to learn not only how to clean everything to microscopic cleanliness but it is a much different world from workboats, a different culture, and different rules apply. You would have to learn the management side if you want to move up in addidtion to being at the owners beck and call 24/7. She lives on the boat, works on the boat, and has to see the same people all the time. She still enjoys it but not as much as she used to and this was her dream job. Its not all travel and adventure. She also said that coming from a tugboat is a big black mark and ships arent much better. So if you like being at work for 11 months out of the year and seeing the same people everyday and being someones bitch then I say go for it!!!
Thanks all. Yeah, just curious as to if it was even worth looking into. I believe with what I have now, in regards to licensing and experience, I’d be much better off closing the door to the yachting-end of the this spectrum and concentrating on the workboat end where I have been. Happy with being here and actually navigating and loading/unloading cargoes. This is just me though and hopefully some others find this thread useful if their interested in transitioning to the yacht industry.
Good luck. It’s almost impossible to get a job on a yacht if you’re an American. Most hire foreigners
I only tried yachts because SIU took away my seniority and I needed to do something to figure it out. I did it for one month and this is what I learned.
Most people start off by doing ‘daywork’. I learned about it because on the plane to Fort Lauderdale, I happened to be sitting next to a yacht Captain and he told me how to get in. He didn’t offer me a job, but he told me what I needed to know.
I found a ‘daywork’ website, which has a job board, sent them my resume and I got a call the next day. Some people ‘walk the docks’. I don’t know where ‘the docks’ are or which ones you are supposed to walk because I didn’t do it that way but there are other forums on other sites talk about it.
I think from the beginning no matter where you are, you are going to have to do daywork. Just to meet the people have your name start circulating in the biz. Or you can just apply to a 1st mate position on one of those job boards. It could work for you, I don’t know. I got offered a job as 2nd engineer without ever being a deckhand first ( i didnt tell them I had done daywork) and I’m only a qmed. Also most the captains or only 200 tons so you should be way over qualified!
As far as the happiness of the crew/officers, the crew were [I]very[/I] happy. I don’t think their pay was that great but I don’t think they knew it either. The captain and chief engineer seemed happy, I didn’t hear any complaints. They both worked 2 month rotations, so there were two captains and two chief engineers. I don’t know what the captain made, but I asked the chief and he said 9000 dollars when he’s on and 5,600 when he’s off (or something close to that). I have seen job listings offering WAY higher for captains and chief engineers in Europe that pay in Euros.
The crew on the yacht I was on were mostly Australian, and the captain was Canadian. There was some animosity towards me for being American. I have seen jobs on the job boards for US citizens only.
I was down talking to an American yacht captain yesterday, trying to decide if i want to take an engineer’s position for the next few months or not (I already have another job lined up). Anyway, I picked his brain and asked him everything I could think of.
He told me the yacht owners’ [I]wives[/I] are usually the premadonnas. I asked him if they were all like that, he said some are, some aren’t. He also said some of the owners and their wives work as well and help tie up and everything. Apparently the owner of the particular boat I might work on fixes some of the engine stuff himself. I’m not sure if I would like that too much but from what I gather is that its pretty much the luck of the draw.
Here’s some of other stuff I picked up along the way:
On the commercial side, tattoos are good. On yachts they are bad.
On the commercial side, not wearing steel toed boots is bad…on yachts, not wearing shoes at all is good.
I am assuming there’s much much more to it, but my experience with yachts is very limited.
Unfortunately, what they said about age for you is the opposite for me. I think the reason I have had such luck with the
transition into getting yacht jobs is because I’m a girl and I’m young(actually the exact same thing that has worked against me on the commercial side). I know I wont be easy like that when I get older, so if I want to try yachts, I have to do it now. I have seen some ads saying they want younger people in general (for starting out anyway) and most the people that work on them (guys and girls) are for the most part fit.
here’s some aussie engineers and a tech hanging out in the lazarette/machine shop/steering gear room (this is perfectly not against the rules, acceptable and ok) this was after the work was all done of course
