Working on a Yacht FAQs

Hi Jerri,
I accidently stumbled upon your blogspot after I googled "yacht crew and antigua"....haha anyways...I graduate from the university of florida next saturday, and my plan is to head down to the caribbean and work in yachting like you did....and i'm also pretty much flat broke like you were when you went to barcelona ( i listened to your podcast)...i've been down to fort lauderdale and have registered with the crewing agencies and everything, and i've gotten offers to work on boats,but i havent been able to accept any because of school. i love st maarten to pieces (i went there on vacation with my family about 3 years ago and fell in love with the yachting industry, and had a great time hanging out with all the yachties!), and i'm considering buying a one way ticket to the island. since lived there before, i was wondering what you think the chances of me finding a job are? i'm very torn because i love the caribbean and want to work there and i'm worried that if i stay here in fort lauderdale i'll miss my chances of getting work that goes to the caribbean because its not exactly the high season any more.....anyways, any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated.....thanks!!

Congratulations on graduation! Working on a yacht is the perfect just out of college job in my opinion. Why don't you save yourself the money and get a yacht to fly you out to St. Martin instead of buying one yourself or find a boat delivery leaving from Ft. Lauderdale? If you go to St. Martin on your own, where would you stay? There are crew houses there in St. Martin, but I never stayed at them so I can't recommend any. Hotels are going to be pretty expensive. But you must know that to fly in to Antigua or SXM you MUST have a roundtrip ticket. It's required. If you get to the airport and check in and they see you don't have a return ticket you'll be required to buy one there or they won't issue you a ticket at all. And you'll pay full price for it!

High season starts in November and the boats start crewing up in September and October to go to the Caribbean. There is lots of work there, it's just a matter of working hard to find it...walking the docks and talking to the yachties. A lot of boats will be leaving from Ft. Lauderdale soon just in time to arrive in St. Martin to have the owners on board for Christmas and New Years. They are looking for crew to do deliveries.

I wish you the very best of luck! I know you're going to find a job really easily. I definitely do not think you are going to miss your chance in the Caribbean and you are going to have the time of your life!! Good luck, and please keep me updated!

Hi Jerri!
I'm a fellow traveler writing for a bit of advice. i'm leaving minneapolis (managing a hostel and working at a co-op), and want to possibly get into yacht work like yourself... can you recommend any means of getting started, if possible, this time of year?

Glad to help! First, I recommend checking out some crew agency websites. They list the positions available on yachts, typical salaries and what to expect. You can register with the agencies for free, interview with them in person or over the phone, and they will look to place you on a yacht. The usual ways people start on yachts is by working as either a deckhand, stewardess or chef or combo of all three! These are the agencies that I worked with. They are all located in Ft. Lauderdale.

http://www.crewunlimited.com
http://www.carolemanto.com
http://www.luxyachts.com

Now is a good time to start looking for work for the Caribbean season when all the yachts will looking to crew up to head to St. Martin, St. Barts, Antigua and the USVI. Some yachts will fly you out of whereever you are (minneapolis) or your best bet is to go to Ft. Lauderdale. You can day work there while looking for a full time job and pulling in anywhere between $10-15/hr. And if you need a place to stay there are crew houses where all the yacht crew go while looking for work.

http://www.maryscrewhouse.com

Great for networking and so much fun! Basically, they're hostels. Anyway, check these sites out. They should be really helpful. Remember it's really hard work, but the payoffs are so worth it! Best of luck to you and let me know how it goes!

Life as a Chef Aboard a Private Yacht

I found another yachtie out there on the web. Niall's site, The Life of a Private Chef has a lot of video footage of St. Martin, Antigua and other some places in the Med. Looks like he's retired from yachting like me, but you can still follow his adventures in the archives!

I'm a travel writer...sort of!

I submitted an article entitled, So You Want to Work on a Yacht?, to eZine.com and it was accepted. If you are one of the three regular lurkers on my blog then you'll recognize it as basically just an article I've posted on here. I'm just crossing over...to where I'm not sure. I am also listed as an expert author in the cruising and sailing category. Me? I'm just waiting for someone who actually knows what they're talking about to overtake me. Maybe the true experts are actually out doing something productive like cruising or sailing as compared to me just sitting here at my computer. Either way, it's out there for your viewing pleasure or displeasure...

001-One Girl, Her Backpack and a Passion for Travel

Episode #1 (12 mins)
One girl, her backpack and a passion for travel is a brief introduction to the podcast and the host. The podcast will discuss travel for those who want to live the lifestyle of a traveler and not a tourist.

Boston: We have arrived!

We got into Boston on May 29th after a week underway from Ft. Lauderdale. The trip up was incredibly smooth and actually pretty pleasant. My roommate and I are way into Scrabble these days so between our watches that we have every six hours we were down in the crew mess playing Scrabble which I lose everytime. Around Cape Hatteras the weather definitely changed. We went from nice warm, tropical weather to there being a slight chill in the air during the day. Then when we arrived in the Cape Cod canal it was all fog straight up into Boston. It cleared up just a little as we were passing under a bridge for me to take some pictures. We saw a man and a woman walking along the waterway pushing a stroller and some kids playing on a playground. It was really gorgeous.

When we arrived in Boston we immediately all got off the boat and kissed the ground! Trapped in small places in the middle of the ocean drives you crazy slowly. Like typical yachties we then went out and got piss drunk! We've only been here a week and it's been raining the entire time. Then the chef got the flu and now we all have it. So even if we wanted to go out here in Boston we couldn't manage to get out of our beds. I had to miss a day of work but it's not like I do anything anyway. Once we get settled into Boston I'll tell you a little more about venues and sites nearby like the IMAX and the aquariam. We'll also be heading to Nantucket pretty soon which I'm super excited about. My roommate and I are also planning some trips to NYC, Provincetown and Newport, RI. So prepare yourself for a jampacked summer!

I bought my first surfboard!

I bought a 7'6" surfboard today! $415 plus a leash and enough wax to last me a lifetime. I am OFFICIALLY a surfer girl!

From Antigua to Ft. Lauderdale

From Antigua to Ft. Lauderdale
We left Antigua today for Ft. Lauderdale. Today was supposed to be our day off before we left for FLL on Monday. Big plans to go to the beach today (for the billionth time since we've been here). I'm crushed. Ok not really. I'm sick of Antigua. I've been sick of Antigua since we got here. Nothin doin here. There's always a party here it's true. But it's the same people at every party. It's always the same venue, either Skull Duggery, Mad Mongoose, or Abras. Occasionally, we'll mix things up on Thursday night with Karaoke at The Anchorage or Tuesday at the Leming there's a live band that sucks. But it's still the same people, night after night, after night, and then during the day as well.

Anyway, we left Antigua today and hopefully I'm not leaving my reputation. I have to say, that I was not a good girl in Antigua and I'm not proud of it either! It's just to easy to get drunk and act stupid. Which I did, on a nightly basis. My job isn't rocket science so waking up with a hangover and working the day through won't hurt my on the job performance much.

It should take us about a week to make to Ft. Lauderdale. Civilization! See you then!