The Royal Yacht “Norge” in Ålesund this afternoon:
Royal Yacht “Norge” sailed from Ålesund in the early evening:
After a very short voyage: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:6.061/centery:62.458/zoom:12
Why is she there?
I can only guess, but Ørnulf Opdah,l a very good artist friend of Queen Sonja lives and work on Godøya.
It would not be the first time the Queen pay him an informal visit.
Unusual looking Superyacht in Ålesund today
The 43-meter-long and almost ten-meter-wide expedition yacht “Friendly Confines” is moored at Skansekaia in Ålesund on Saturday:
This was built for an inventor who was very keen on the boat itself.
Anybody here working on Super yachts? Can you confirm or call BS on this this LinkedIn post?:
When I was once berthed in mega yacht row at Antibes I chatted to neighbouring yacht crews who were most bored out of their brains polishing the bloody thing every day whilst waiting for the owner to send a guest or two for a weekend aboard. every month or so.
I asked one crew what he did and he said he was the piano player.
They wrapped most high-speed ferries that I inspected in California it was a contact paper type Vinyl like they use on airplanes graphics. My only comment on wrapping was that if there was a weld crack or a stress riser crack or fracture, common with aluminum construction, catamaran hulls you may not see it until it really manifested itself
Consider the source, it’s a union recruiting effort.
Some points are true, others are exaggerated. Most yacht crew are very young, have little or no work experience and seek travel and adventure in luxury locations on the most luxurious vehicles on the water. Many love it and stay for years, others are quickly gone for many reasons.
You obviously missed the unstated truth that was his polite way to say “F-off a-hole”.
can be true
Some do crew rotation now ( when flag state says you need real tickets) just to get crew but it can be years away from family
But money was about the same as that for that level crew back then and around 10k pcm for Capt and CE depending how big boat was
Banked my salary for years
Every boat is a different mix as there are no rules
I went for
good owner proper rich so no charter - rare to get a tip but everything paid for.
good crew
Great boat - own cabin for most crew
Great plan - we did huge miles
Ate and drank 5 star every day, no food budget
Could of earnt more elsewhere
And the bonus was owner had part ownership in a modelling agency and I was single back then
Yes the whole of Antibes was jealous.
A Super yacht assumed to belong to Putin sailed in international waters along the Norwegian coast last week:
Another “yacht” potential associated with Putin:
There are manty varieties of yachting employment, ranging from causal employment on a small day yacht (say 20M ~ 65 ft) up to (180M ~ 590 ft). Salaries range from a few thousand (dollars or euros) a month to over 30.000 a month full rotation business class round trip each 8-10 weeks, full monthly salary all 12 months. It all depends on exprience and job requirements. From “git 'er done …maybe we get paid” to everything that is done on a dry cargo or passenger ship, better paid and treated by far. So there is a lot to it. It isn’t the money that is missing, it is the pension plan and US based health care insurance. That in yachting - one does oneself (if A’murcan), although there is health coverage of a decent standard.
Steamer knows - I ran into him years ago and we have worked some of the same vessels / shipyards over time. I have worked US flag commercial, MSC too, and gone on into class surveying in Europe, foreign flag ship management then yachting which made a fulfilling and enriching career, lots of adventure and experiences not otherwise possible. Riding atop a 74,000 kW propulsion plant running like a top at full bore can hardly be beat, along with the training schools and service periods funded with a generous budget needed to get it done right. I met and became friends with many fascinating people of exceptional talent in yachting, including beautiful women with hypnotizing accents (married a couple) and fine young men that have grown into todays’ skilled leaders, both deck and engine. With organizational, seafaring and engineering skill sets rarely seen in the commercial world. “Below Decks” behavior is made for TV, and while the mating dance is there, most of the drama depicted would get one fired off a serious charter yacht in about 6 hours. Maybe less. So there is a lot to it.
Running a steam plant on an LNG, doing a successful UNREP cycle or being maintenance supervisor on an active drill ship is pretty cool too, so no brickbats thrown, it’s just different.
Everyone that works to succeed can go far be it commercial or yachting. It is all about listening and getting along, and if one has the inherent ability to learn and behave along the way … like everything else in life. Land or sea. I do not miss the anti-social behavior and immaturity sometimes seen in the US flag fleet and it is probably why I do not post here that often. Probably moreso because I am old and have house, car, boat and people repairs to deal with. But hey, good luck, and keep on gents. Best wishes, since my own kids are at sea (commercial) too.
Thank you for the awesome writeup. Are there opportunities for American deckies interested in this line of work? I’m at an academy right now. I had kinda written off yachting as a lot of hospitality and cleaning etc but do you have any tips for getting on the boats that demand the advanced skill set and professionalism you mentioned?
Starting on deck would be the fastest way in. Every large yacht needs several OICNW so that (inherent in a 3/O ticket) puts one at great advantage.
But one also needs to know the yachting working routine on deck and that is learned by cleaning, boat operations, stowing, unstowing, shifting gear, mooring, safety gear checks, guest operations, diving, etc. So it ain’t gonna be 2 watches a day in an air-conditioned wheelhouse doing chart corrections and passage planning from the git go. The people one works with on deck will be skilled and some will be trainees. You will share a cabin on most all yachts, preferably with a friend of your particular choosing, but that comes later. I don’t think it is hard to advance with a good work record of a few boats. The ability to get the job done quietly and safely, get along with others in small spaces for long periods of time and cause no drama will get you everywhere you want to go. You need to earn good references because there is an international good ole boys network and after your first yacht job, we will know exactly all about you before you ever show up. Don’t do drugs because if we hear about it, everyone is getting lined up and tested the next morning and off you go, with flag notified why.
Americans do suffer employment prejudice from concerns about Jones Act lawsuit issues and some underwriters include in their policies the exact term, “No American Citizens to be employed onboard.” But if your skill set is in demand and your references are good, that can be accounted for in the premium and we will ask to employ one, two or however many …
An unlimited license puts one immediately into the realm of the +75 meter yachts of as which now, are considered bottom end for career mariners. I have encountered perhaps a dozen academy grads over the years and most are chief engineers or captains. I lived in Europe for most of my career and certainly tried the French, Spanish and German flavors of life, all hot, some crazy, some whip smart and some loving beyond belief. I feel myself among the luckiest people on earth for the experiences (not necessarily the money), and friends made along the way. While already drawing a private pension at my age, I still work in yachting for the fun of it and as long as they keep throwing opportunities and money at me, I have no plans to stop in the near term. Is it bragging? Not really. I worked hard and earned a very good reputation and word of mouth thereafter has served me well. This can work for anyone interested enough to work for it. In any industry or profession.
One can get a professional’s sense of the industry at the Monaco Yacht Show and METS (Amsterdam). Just sayin’ … Read Dockwalk, The Triton or Superyacht Report to see what is involved.
Look at www.ypicrew.com which is probably a good start since they explain a lot in their writings. The “Essential Guides” section will be interesting for you.
Jumping in with a question and sort of an answer … by “boats” do you mean large yachts? If so then for a newbie - especially one with advanced certification and/or an unlimited license - the culture aboard a yacht, and a charter yacht in particular, is so very different from a commercial vessel that is may be difficult to adjust. I’m not saying it should be a barrier but not understanding or recognizing those differences can create problems.
Yachting can be very rewarding and more fun than few could ever find or afford otherwise but it does have its own style. Short version, you will work your ass off in places most folks only see in the movies and you will have the time of your life doing it.
I assume you are aiming at yachts in this size and class?:
Source: Superyacht til kai - smp.no
Link: Savannah
Yes, 50m+ but yachts above around 75m and certainly 3,000 tons and above are more like mini cruise ships as far as crew is concerned. Any personal contact or association with the owner takes a different “tone” than on lesser yachts. Like I wrote before, it’s a different world and just like your fellow crew or a box of chocolates, no two owners or boats are exactly alike.
