Crew burnout is more real than I could ever have imagined.

For the past week, our yacht has been on charter.
 
When a yacht is on charter, guests are onboard at any time of day or night therefore watch keeping by the crew is a 24/7 business. You can also expect to work 14 – 18 hours a day in sweltering and humid weather conditions in full uniform as has been the case this week in Italy.

Fortunately for me, or unfortunately perhaps [depending on how you look at it] and as being the new deckhand onboard, I’ve been given the arduous duty of working the graveyard shift from 1am – 6am every morning.

So what is involved on my shift?

Well, I’m glad you asked – think scrubbing the decks and washing down a 50 meter yacht all on your own with intermittent and regular trips to the bridge to make sure that there are no emergency alarms, radar warnings or other potential emergency situations present onboard.

The end result is total exhaustion or what is otherwise referred to as ‘crew burnout’.

How To Survive Crew Burnout

I have read many articles and publications on the subject, but this is the first time I have experienced it first hand.

In the process I have learnt a few basic principles to help overcome this effect and it has made all the difference to my experience being a good one or a forgettable one.

First and foremost, working fourteen hour days and managing a hectic schedule in any business will eventually send your stress levels through the roof.

At this stage, it’s important that you don’t sweat the little things!

This really can be anything from your dinner being served late to the 1st mate barking down the UHF radio to you to about your stern lines – the context is somewhat irrelevant here as they of course will be specific to you, but whatever you do…don’t sweat it!

Keep in mind that you’re all under pressure to get things done as quickly and professionally as you can.

Secondly, I’ve found that stimulants [as much as I like coffee] are not the best thing to push you through the last couple of hours of your work day or for that matter, if taken in large quantities during the day.

They either keep you up during your highly valued rest periods [which can be any time of day] or if taken in any large quantities, they can cause your energy levels to fluctuate up and down or quite simply crash all together and for deckhands operating cranes, powerboats and other machinery its simply not worth the risk.

Finally, and perhaps most important of all, the biggest help to surviving crew burnout [apart from sleep] is this - you must take every opportunity you have available to you to let off some steam and have fun!

For me at least, being a deckhand is great in that you are responsible for all the ‘toys’ onboard.

We have a Castoldi jet powered tender / chase boat onboard which can reach speeds well in excess of 40 knots!

Yesterday while transiting from Sorrento to Naples in Italy, I decided to have a little fun of my own and recorded this video in the process.

Crew burnout at the end of the day is a state of mind more than anything else. Finding ways for you to change your state when you need to during a tough charter at sea is the real challenge.

Good luck!

We were on course for a head on collision with a sixty foot sailing yacht.

“Turn five degrees to starboard now” was the call from the 1st mate.

Nervously, I hit the electronic touch pad arrow button and changed our course from 126 degrees to 131 degrees east and slowly, nudged the bow of the yacht to starboard to pass the approaching vessel. The radar collision warning vanished and all was well again.

What. A. Rush.

The best part of this is that I get to do it all again at 4am this morning – in the dark!

The Reality Is However

That it hasn’t all been plain sailing [no pun intended].

To be perfectly honest with you, it’s been a really, really tough first month onboard for two reasons:

Firstly, for probably only the second time in my life, I feel like I am up against a massive and relentless learning curve. A set of ego crushing experiences occurring frequently at all times of day and sometimes night.  Allow me to explain…

You would have to go to great lengths to compare the corporate world to the world at sea.

The skill set required to be successful at sea is so different it’s almost mind boggling – and I’m not just talking about the skills required to drop anchor versus say drafting a fancy Excel spreadsheet, but the skills required to win with people which leads me on to my second point…

The confined spaces of a yacht only serve to exaggerate the emotions found within it.

It seems that almost nothing goes unnoticed, from a major thing like the end of a relationship within the crew, right down to the amount of Parmesan cheese I use on my bolognaise.

These little things can eventually drive you crazy – if you let it.

So, I wanted to share with you one simple insight which has helped me a great deal to overcome these two challenges in the past few weeks.

As Luck Would Have It

I recently ran into an old school friend of mine in the Ports du Monaco – in fact it was a buddy from my boarding school days nearly twelve years ago.  

It turned out that he is also working in the yachting industry, and I was fortunate enough to work with Yango for the day on his yacht.

While scrubbing the decks on a scorching hot afternoon in Monaco, he was talking about his experiences as a crew member onboard several different yachts and was describing to me some of the challenges and difficulties he had overcome within a crew environment during his career…

“I just be myself and hope for the best”- he said.

At the time I didn’t fully appreciate the wisdom in those words – but now, having been in a few challenging and emotional situations myself, I most certainly do.

“It’s like living in a big family” my engineer said to me one evening this week…and he is right.

Your crew is your family while you are onboard – you spend nearly all your time together and you inherently place a lot of trust in them should things ever go tits up while you are at sea [and vice versa].

For me, trust is hinged largely on honesty – so Yango couldn’t have said it better.

Being honest with your crew about who you are as an individual and how you are feeling – even the little things [including the ego crushing mistakes that you make on deck] will make your time onboard that much more enjoyable – it may even produce a few laughs in the process!

The important thing to remember is that a crew environment can either be a pressure cooker or a vent valve - but it all depends on you as an individual.

So with that in mind…my best advice to anyone working at sea would be this.

Be Yourself. Work hard. Play hard.

I love getting up early.

This morning I am on watch from 4 – 6am.

Being the watch keeper essentially means that I am responsible for the ship and generally making sure that all is well onboard and sitting on the bridge at this time of the morning is great especially as you get to see some amazing sun rises!

The following is my personal log book entry so you can see what its like to be on watch onboard a super yacht.

–

03:55am – Relieve the second engineer of watch duty. Arrive five minutes early for my shift to allow for the change to bridge conditions.

04:00am – Check current wind speed, wind direction, sea height and visibility readings.

04:10am – Quickly pop down to the crew mess to knock up a coffee.

04:15am – Walk down to the engine room to check the bilges and the ships alarm log. There are no new alarms and all seems to be well. Take another sip of coffee to celebrate. 

04:20am – Take ship to shore sight bearings. Notice a small yacht on starboard side – nothing to worry about for the moment but will keep an eye on it.

04:30am – Check line of sight bearings for movements. No changes to original bearings. Sweet.

04:45am – The sun is rising now and beginning to shift the dark night sky to a light blue colour.

05:00am – It’s quite a cool feeling to be sitting on the bridge of a super yacht and filling out the chief officers log book for the first time.

- Barometer reads 1017 and holding.
- Wind is steady at around 7 knots.
- Sea is calm at 1-2 feet.
- Visibility is good with objects visible up to 7 nautical miles.
-Sky is partly cloudy.            

05:05am – Walk around the decks and confirm that tender is secured. Check line of sight bearings for movements. Small yacht on star board side is holding position.

05:15am – Sun is rising steadily now. The sky is changing to a light orange and blue colour. A near perfect sunrise!

05:20am – A small yacht sets sail on port side. Looks like a single man sailing – wonder where he is going but then realise I don’t really care, as it can’t be much better than where I am right now.

05:25am – Quickly pop on to my Facebook account. Remind myself to attend Facebook Addicts Anonymous meeting when next ashore.

05:30am – Clouds are appearing on the horizon and slightly ruining my perfect sun rise. Unlucky.

05:35am – Wind has changed direction now and the yacht is shifting direction on anchor. Walk the decks to make sure this shift in direction has not put us too close to the small yacht on our starboard.

05:45am – Shift in wind speed and anchor line has not put us at risk. We’re all good.

05:50 – The sky is really bright now, looks like its going to be another scorcher on the French Riviera.

05:55am – Check engine room bilges. No new alarms. Macy Gray playing on the sound system…

06:00 – Hand over to the 1st mate. Complete new entry on the chief officers log book with current weather and ship status.

06:05 – Head back to bed to get some much needed rest. Another charter day today so will be another 14 hour day at least!

“Excuse me. Where do I find the squeegee for the deck head?”

In the searing heat, I was under pressure to get to get it dry after starting a wash down, knowing that  if the water drops dry it will leave marks and will ruin the effect of a solid yacht wash down.

Knowing the little things about working on deck can make the difference between being a successful ‘deckie’ or a bad one.

My career as a deckhand has opened my eyes to the sorts of things that you simply won’t know until you have experience onboard a super yacht.

So I’ve put together ten tips for new deckhands working in or looking to get into the mega yacht industry.

10. Wash Down Basics

It is vitally important to avoid repetition when you are working as part of a team towards a common goal.

So when doing a wash down, remember to start from the top down and work from the outside in.

Always hit the decks heads first then clean the outside of the hull and finally work your way down the bulk heads.

Doing this will avoid unnecessary repeat work and use of the chamois!

9. Ask Questions

The more questions you ask the better.

If you are ever uncertain about what you need to do or how you need to do it – ask – you will never look stupid.

Besides, one should judge a person on their questions and not their answers.
 
8. Know Your Products

One of the most cared for aspects of the exterior of the yacht is the deck itself.

It is always made of teak – a type of hard wood which can comfortably deal with all types of weather conditions. However, it can be easily stained or damaged when subjected to the wrong type of product.

Typically, any alkaline based product will damage the teak [e.g. Simmy cleaner] so always read the label and the instructions on the product before using it.

7.  Patience Is A Virtue

The old analogy of “less haste more speed” is especially true when parking a tender.

Make sure that you take your time, firstly with your positioning and secondly with your knots when tying up the tender to the dock.

When collecting guests or the owner; being as smooth as possible with your docking and driving skills could go along way towards the perception of your professionalism

If you get this wrong, it could cost you that all important tip.

6. Drilling Precautions

Punching a whole through any surface on a yacht is risky business.

There are two basic precautions before you start drilling.

Firstly, check behind the surface that you are drilling through for wires or other potential hazards. Secondly, always punch a whole through the drilling surface before you start drilling to avoid the drill tip sliding away from your target entry point.

After your successful drilling, make sure that you clean up all the “swarf” [filings].

This is especially important if they are lying on the deck as these can easily penetrate the bottom of someone’s feet [nearly everyone onboard is barefoot].

5. - Don’t S%&T On Your Own Door Step

Beware the “Stewies” [Stewardesses].

They are a vital part of the crew dynamic and the managers of the interior of your ‘home’.

Always treat them with respect and be sure to make a concerted effort to help them out [see next point below].

If you get this wrong, the Stewies can make your life extremely difficult – after all, they are the ones doing your laundry!

4. Many Hands Make Light Work

Always be prepared to help out wherever necessary - this is especially important when things are not necessarily your responsibility.

If a stewardess asks you to carry something for her then I suggest you do it. When there are guests onboard, the interior crew are especially busy at meal times so be prepared to help out if you’re sitting on your ass in the crew mess doing nothing.

Being versatile and prepared to help your fellow crew is key. 

3. Keep The Right Attitude

Attitude is 9/10’s of the law.

Always be eager to learn. On a yacht you never stop learning – every day will present to you new opportunities to learn something.

You don’t always learn something about a cleaning product or the yacht; you may just learn something about yourself!

2. Stay Professional

The mega yacht industry is professional by nature and as such you need to maintain your own professionalism at all times.

When working on deck, avoid running or yelling – it looks really unprofessional to guests and owners.

1. Respect Is Earned

Always have a healthy respect for your captain.

When you are first learning the ropes you will make mistakes. If the Captain has a go at you for getting something wrong don’t take it too personally.

First and foremost, you are learning! Gold in itself, but also understand that this is a tough business.

Crew like to work hard and play hard – it’s just part of the territory.

So enjoy the ride!

A Solution For Bored Crew!

One of the rare draw backs of crewing on weekends is boredom.

Recently we decided to have a go at curing our boredom by pimping our yachts scooter!

Click here to checkout what we go up to or watch the video below!

If you have any other advice for crew / deckhands [or an opinion on this article] please post your comments below.

If you want to be a better bosun, you’d better work on your people skills.
 
One of the most complex and challenging environments to manage people is in a confined space. Consider the bustling crew quarters on a luxury yacht.
 
Being in a position of authority on that yacht is a privilege that comes with great responsibility. If this privilege is mismanaged in any way, the effects can be disastrous. The responsibilities of a bosun are vital to the smooth operation of the crew.

Mitchell Ginsberg is a bosun on the M/Y Saint Nicolas, a 71-meter Lürssen. It is quietly regarded as one of the finer motor yachts on the ocean today, not only for its absolute luxury, but also for the quality of crew on board.

Ginsberg manages a team of four deckies and is well-versed on the critical role of the bosun.

So what separates a good bosun from a great bosun? Two words: People skills.
 
"At the end on the day, a bosun is a deckhand, but what sets him out from the rest [of the deckhands] is his boating or yachting knowledge,” he says.

Bosun Ginsberg offers these pointers for new and veteran bosuns working on board the world’s superyachts.
 
1. Know Your Business

The more you know about how things work on your yacht the better. Not only is this important for your ability to train and pass on knowledge to your team, but it’s vitally important in the case of an emergency situation.
 
Generally speaking, your focus as a bosun is on the deck [outside the interior]. Typically when you have charter guests onboard, they will want access to the "toys," so its important to pay specific attention to the operation of things such as the tenders and jet skis, and also the cranes used to launch them.

2. Be Organized, Nimble and Quick

Being versatile on a yacht is of paramount importance.

Ensure that you have a job list of what needs to be done on a daily basis and prioritize the jobs from most important to least important depending on who’s on board.

Also, get to know your cleaning products. Be willing to use new products introduced to you by other members of the crew. Perhaps a new “wet polish” will do a better job than that dry polish you’ve been using for the past six months.

3. Paint Like  A Pro: Discover Your Inner Picasso

One of the jobs of a bosun is to be able to paint various types of kit and to know which products to use on different surfaces. For example, when to use Awlgrip paint system as opposed to those products used for varnishing other surfaces. If your knowledge is not very broad on the subject of painting, it’s best to learn from one of the more experienced crewmembers. The first mate will generally have the most experience in this department.

4. Respect Is Earned…and Appreciated

Always respect your fellow deckhands. Never talk down to them. This is something that must be practiced every day no matter how much pressure you are under. Always work as a team and keep the crew motivated at all times. This can be particularly challenging when there are charter guests on board and 18-hour days are the norm.

5. Know The Rules. Manage by Them.

Make sure you understand good boating practice. Watchkeeping can take up a large percentage of time on most boats, so be prepared for any situation.

Here’s an example from my own career: During my induction with the engineer, we discussed the alarm systems [pretty much anything can go wrong onboard], how to start the backup generators and the general upkeep of the yachts systems.

Only six weeks ago, one of the pipes from the fresh water containers, which contained approximately 15,000 litres of fresh water, burst. The entire engine room flooded and resulted in over €30,000 worth of damage. Ouch!

6. Never Stop Learning

Ask questions and learn as much as possible from the mates and the captain on your boat. Broaden your knowledge in any area where you don’t have the necessary expertise.

7. Know Your Tenders

Being able to drive all sorts of tenders takes time and practice to master. You may have to teach fellow deckhands how to drive them and park them in different weather conditions, and in order to teach you need to know your stuff first!

8. Docking Knowledge

You must learn how to dock the boat from stern to port and then starboard side on to the dock. This includes using the winches, throwing the heaving lines, working up on the bow and working with the anchors and windless.
 
It’s also good to know how to call the boat in and out of ports using VHF and other communication methods with the bridge and port control.

People skills are by far the most important aspect to being a successful bosun. So sharpen those skills, get to know your fellow crew and learn the lessons of leadership. It’ll help everyone succeed.

Do you have any  bosun tips to share? Any suggested skills that will take you from good to great in your profession. Let us know. Leave your comments below.