FAQS
Frequently asked questions.
These are the questions crew and candidates ask the Quay Crew team most often, answered by the consultants who recruit for these roles every day. If your question is not covered here, please get in touch.
Getting started in yachting
The first steps for anyone considering a career on superyachts, including the certificates you will need, where to look for work and where to base yourself.
All crew, whether green or experienced, will need an ENG1 Seafarer Medical Certificate and STCW Basic Safety Training qualification.
It is essential to get a Powerboat Level II qualification, particularly if you work or plan to work on deck. This will allow you to drive a tender up to 10 meters. On smaller yachts, it’s advisable interior and engineering crew take this course too.
Those looking to join the engine room in a junior position should complete the Approved Engine Course 1 (AEC1). Most Captains or Chief Engineers would not take someone on without it.
Working in the superyacht sector can be hugely rewarding but is extremely tiring and can involve working long hours. With this in mind, the sector is suited to positive, enthusiastic, hardworking, resilient, and flexible individuals. You must have a great work ethic, be a team player and have fantastic attention to detail.
You’ll be away from family and friends for a long period of time, which can be lonely, so you must be able to get on and live with others in close quarters.
High-end service and hospitality experience is desirable for anyone looking to work as a steward or stewardess and any trade (e.g. carpentry, electrician) or water sports experience is a good start for deckhands. If you’re looking to get a job in the engine room, then you may have to start on deck, but if you have a good level of experience in any kind of engineering, mechanical, AV/IT or electrical industry, then you may be able to start as a junior.
Additional experience as a beautician, nurse, paramedic, masseuse, hairdresser, carpenter, PT, yoga / pilates and water sports instructor can set you apart.
The first place to start is on the yachting sector job board, Yotspot. Take a look through the current live jobs and requirements to get a feel for what types of roles might be best suited to you. Set up a profile and upload your CV.
Register with as many crew agencies as you can. While Quay Crew makes every effort to provide a much higher level of service than our competitors when we represent you to clients, we are not able to represent every single candidate who registers with us for various reasons. So maximise your visibility and chances of getting exposure to as many roles as possible by signing up with everyone.
When you progress through your yachting career, you can build a relationship with the agencies you want to represent you.
Network, either with people you already know working in the industry or by signing up to Facebook groups and forums.
Finally, when you are confident you have enough money behind you to support you for a while, consider dockwalking. This involves basing yourself near a marina and simply cold-calling superyachts in the marina asking if they have any work. It’s very hit and miss and all about timing, but you can get a decent day rate for day work helping with wash downs, detailing and teak scrubbing, for example.
If you are planning to dockwalk and can fund yourself for a while, base yourself in the South of France, or in Spain (Majorca or Barcelona primarily).
Yes. This will maximise your chances of getting a job and a good agency will also help you get your CV up to scratch.
Training
The training that is worth doing before you join a yacht.
Additional training can be beneficial but is not essential. In most cases, a yacht would prefer relatable experience, and if you’re green, this may come from a variety of land-based jobs. Relevant work experience is always far better than a course.
There are hundreds of courses now on offer for aspiring superyacht crew, from silver service training for stewardesses and ropework courses for deckhands to diesel engine maintenance for budding engineers.
Completing courses does not guarantee you a first, second or even third job and it may therefore be better to wait until you get onboard to utilise any training budgets and do those that are more useful for your particular role on a specific yacht.
Life onboard
What working and living on a superyacht involves, including the leave you are entitled to and how often roles for couples come up.
The minimum you are entitled to is 38 days. Whilst onboard, you could be working 7 days a week during peak periods and other times getting weekends or some days in the week off. It really will depend on the program you are working on.
Usually, the longer you are in yachting, the more leave you get. It could increase to 60 days / 5:1.
Yacht crew members must receive a minimum of 10 hours of rest in any 24-hour period, and 77 hours of rest in any 7-day period under international maritime law.
At the other end of the scale, usually reserved for Captains and Heads of Departments, you could get time-for-time rotation, which is the same number of weeks on followed by the same number of weeks off, for example 10:10.
Crewmembers who are part of a couple and want to work together onboard a superyacht will find opportunities are limited. We only get around one per month, at most. Although we are finding more yachts are open to the idea because of the candidate shortage, the problem is that there aren’t often two suitable roles available at the same time.
Pay and packages
What junior crew can expect to be paid, the benefits a package may include, and what to know about charter and private yachts.
Salaries can vary hugely from yacht to yacht, but as a rough guide, junior crew can expect to be paid €3,000 per month upwards, with the most common leave packages being 60 days leave per year. As you gain experience your salary and leave will increase. At a senior level the rewards are amazing.
You may have other benefits like training budgets, bonuses, use of yacht facilities, healthcare, and more.
Approximately one-third of all yachts are charter yachts, with the remaining two-thirds being privately operated.
The vast majority of busy charter yachts will not consider hiring green or inexperienced crew, unless they have very strong secondary skills.
At the start of your career, by far the most important thing is to find a well-run, safe, and happy yacht where you can get at least 1 year of experience under your belt. Once you have built up some experience and have collected some good references, you will have many more opportunities to choose from.
Timing your search
How long it usually takes to find a role, and the times of year when vacancies are most likely to come up.
If you’re waiting to get your first superyacht job, then be prepared to wait six months to a year. And accept that you might never get a job.
Good candidates with experience can be swept up extremely quickly in the current market, but to put yourself in the best position, try to be available at extremely short notice.
If you have a great secondary skill, some boats will wait for the right person.
There are superyacht vacancies all year round, especially for existing crew, and the sector is not as seasonal as it once was. But if you’re looking for your first role, it can be busier in March / April / May and November / December time.
STILL HAVE A QUESTION?
Speak with the crew team.
Our consultants answer questions like these every day, by phone, email or video call. If your situation is not covered above, contact us and we will talk it through with you. Our consultants and guest contributors also write regularly on the Quay Group blog.