How to be a Yachty | Part 4: Interviews with Crew Agents

Preparation is a key factor to a successful interview. Take this post into account before you present yourself to Crew Agents. Remember, this industry is a career for many people, you need to behave in a professional manner.

Before I start this I need to get something out of the way. There are many crew who do not like using Agents for one reason or another, some find them condescending, or out of touch.  Others find them irritating. Here is what you need to know though, you are the commodity that any Agent is trading, they will earn commission on placing you on the right boat. They want you succeed. They may want to check your references tirelessly and change your CV and criticize your poor experience levels but at the end of the day they do need the best candidates in order to earn their commission. I have changed my CV SO many times for these people and I grumble when I’m doing it but when I get into an interview situation with a Captain they will always comment on the strength of my resume.

Come Prepared:

Always take a spare copy of your most current CV and written references as well as any marine related certificates you hold. The Agents will most likely carry copies of these but a situation may arise where they left them somewhere or the Internet broke and you will be there to save the day. Big Points.

Know what you are looking for. What position? How big would you like the boat to be? Would you like a permanent position? Are you interested in temping? What sort of crew are you looking for? What would you like the boat itinerary to be? Private or charter? Salary? Cabin arrangements?

Be Ready for Uncomfortable Questions:

They always will always ask really irritating questions that you would rather not answer but do your best. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Why do you not have any yachting experience? What makes you think you can step out of an office / school / university and become a successful crew member? NEVER answer that your biggest weakness is working too hard. Never. That is a lie. Also, NEVER tell me you are a ‘neat freak’ being a neat person doesn’t mean you can clean and work long hours. This is a boat, you share a cabin, being neat is a prerequisite. It is not an achievement. Neatness should be conveyed through your appearance and demeanor. Which brings us to…

Self Presentation:

This is really important. Make sure your hair is clean and tied back, don’t wear flowers or glittery headbands or anything distracting. You are not going to an interview to look cute. Boys, don’t wear an excessive amount of product, just enough to look groomed. Also, shave. If your beard grows fast then shave 10 minutes before your interview. Nails are also really important, they should be short and clean. Girls, if you are wearing nail varnish just a clear top coat or a very pale nude colour are all you need. No nail art, no French Manicures, no bright colours. And for the love of all things on this earth NO CHIPPED POLISH. Make up should be minimal, a tinted moisturizer, cream blush and a little mascara is all you need. Brown mascara is even better. You just want a slightly enhanced face.

Now, classic yacht colours are navy, beige and white so try and stick to these for an interview. Wear a polo shirt tucked into capri pants or long trousers for interviews, girls can also wear skorts if they like. You can wear other colours if you like but make sure your clothes are plain, no graphic tees please.  You can wear boat shoes, girls can also get away with a little ballet flat or a slight professional looking heel. Remember, you are going to meet with the Agent in their office, they have all made an effort to look smart, you should too. NO FLIP FLOPS.

Be Calm:

There is no reason to be nervous here, all you are doing is presenting yourself in a way that your CV cannot. The Agent will want to get a feel for your personality – this is not to say you should make it a personality showcase – keep calm, speak in a tone that is pleasing, if you are South African don’t say ‘ja’ all the time, make sure you are always smiling. Not like deranged mental patient, just a relaxed “I’m totally listening to what you are saying and finding it very interesting “ smile. Your face looks prettiest when you are smiling. Be engaging too, don’t just answer questions ‘yes’ or ‘no’, sell yourself a little. People like me because I come across happy and warm in interviews, people like my husband because he comes across level – headed, attentive and relaxed. (We are not always like this in real life)

Practice in the mirror, record yourself, make sure what you are saying sounds natural and unscripted and is a true reflection of yourself. Don’t waffle about how amazing you are. Find a succinct way to answer questions you know you will be asked. Have back up statements ready for the one word answer type questions.

I think that is it really. Oh. Sit up straight and fold your hands (not your arms) in front of you or in your lap. It’s like preschool.

Riverside Market Cafe

Not going to name names here but there is a rather (let's go with) pretentious bar up the road from me in Fort Lauderdale that serves all sorts of beers from local and microbreweries. It is a (um, struggling for adjectives) hip place to go if you want to allegedly #drinklikealocal and enjoy a $100 bar tab. I do like it but probably more for the very well designed interior more than anything else. I feel I can't go in there and order a Bud because the overtly hipster staff are silently judging me and making dives to the break room to comment on my apparent mainstream tendencies.

This is not some unconfirmed paranoia I will have you know, the bar in question posted this lovely picture on their Facebook page earlier this week.

Obviously I am neither smart, logical or sane. I will give you sane but not logical and smart. I am bloody clever.

Now, it is not that I do not enjoy interesting beers. I most certainly do, but when I am being stared down by a Skrillex lookalike impatiently waiting for my order I panic and order something silly that I regret. AND when I do go to this bar I tend to only do so when their are drink specials on because, you know, I am not the CEO of a Fortune 500 company and paying over $10 for a beer and having to tip a grumpy hipster on top of that does not sit well with my wallet. During their 'happy hour' you feel even MORE pressure to order fast because now there are a whole bunch of people waiting to panic buy beer around you. It is stressful. I don't want stress when I go to a bar. I want beer. Bars are for beer not stress.

So here we are at the point of the post. Riverside Market Cafe. What a gem. What a little legend place. I'm going to say there are 6 tables inside and then a big area with couches. More importantly though, they have fridges where you can browse unhindered until you have settled on your desired brew. The staff look like normal people, they leave you alone until you need them, they are happy to assist you if you would like them to and they don't have weird hairdos and nerd glasses.

Best of all was when we took all of our empty bottles and our food invoice to the cashier (that is how you pay - it's genius). $67. I was amazed. That was 14 beers and a massive pizza (there were four of us by the way, please don't think I can drink 14 beers by myself) it works out to like $3.80 a beer. The prices do vary depending on what you are drinking obviously but seriously, there is no compare. Well there is actually. I will tell you what I paid the other night at bar #1 when my husband and I went for a snack and a drink. $80. For tacos and 4 beers.

Go to Riverside Market Cafe if you are in Fort Lauderdale. Go there and relax. 

How to be a Yachty | Part 3 - Where do I Start?

Where do I start? What do I need to study? Am I guaranteed a job?

Leaving something familiar and launching yourself into something unfamiliar is daunting at best. Before I travelled to America I had been out of South Africa (not including our mandatory family trips to Zimbabwe) once. Mad. I left my friends and family and my job to fly to a country I had never been to and join an industry I knew very little about. Some may call me brave, I call it being on the receiving end of some dumb luck.

To start off with you will need to decide where you want to begin your career. The seasons start at a different time each year (not vastly different) depending on the failures or successes of the previous season. For example the Caribbean season, which runs in the winter months, this year was rather dismal for many boats with very few charters booked and not too many trips happening so many boats headed back to Fort Lauderdale early to undergo maintenance work in the shipyards before heading over to the Mediterranean to try and get an early start on their seasons and sneak some early charters in.

Mid April to May is probably the best time to position yourself in one of the yachting hubs, either Fort Lauderdale in Florida or Antibes in France. If you choose to go to the Med then lace up your boat shoes because you need to be hitting the marinas for a spot of dockwalking every day. Dockwalking is the easiest way for a green (newbie) yachty to get a job, basically you walk up and down the docks handing your CV to anyone who will take it. You definitely need to visit the crew agents but they often require references before they represent you, early on in your career references come from the temporary (day) work that you secure from dockwalking.

17th Street Causeway: You do not want to be walking over that bridge every day.

If you choose to travel to America then you need to understand that dockwalking is completely out of the question. Completely. CBP will deport you. This is not a joke. Also the marinas in Fort Lauderdale are pretty spread out. You will spend an entire day getting to all of them. Signing up with agencies is crucial in Florida, most of them also have a daywork register that you can sign up to, captains looking for workers tend to contact agents rather than accept dockwalkers. It is illegal for a foreigner to seek work in the US.

Depending on where you choose to travel and depending on the country you are a citizen of you will probably need to put some time into researching what visa you need. I do not want to go into too much detail here because there are so many grey areas you need to navigate when applying for your visa. It is tricky and it is best even if you know what you are doing. If you are coming to the US you will need a B1/B2 visa unless you are from Canada. Even citizens of countries who participate in the Visa Waiver Program will need to apply for one, you cannot work in the US, even on a foreign flagged vessel, if you do not have a magic B1 stamp in your passport. Unless you are from America of course.

If you are travelling to Europe, and you are not part of the Visa Waiver Program,  you will need to look into applying for a Schengen Visa. The rules are slightly different and I strongly advise seeking the assistance of an agency that specializes in visa applications. Schengen visas are valid for a year at most so that is something to consider when deciding which route you would like to take.

I strongly suggest that you spend quite a bit of time researching visa applications, most Embassy websites contain all the necessary information you need but also use a little common sense, try find travel sites or speak to a Travel Agent.

To work aboard a yacht you are legally required to complete your STCW 95 Course. This is a week long, safety and social responsibility course. You will not be able to get a job on a boat without one. You will also need an ENG 1 medical certificate. This medical needs to be performed by an RYA affiliated doctor, the certificate you are issued with is valid for a year.  Once you have your STCW and your ENG 1 you are eligible to seek employment aboard a yacht in an entry level position however there are an increasing number of boats out there that require their deck crew to be in possession of a Yachtmaster Offshore ticket. This is a far more difficult and in depth course than the STCW, you will be required to have completed a certain number of sea miles before you can take part in the course and have an aptitude for boat handling and navigation.

In addition to completing these and various other (Introductory Stewardess / Deckhand) courses you should also have some sort of marine / hospitality background – meeting these criteria will set you up in good stead to quickly gain employment on a boat. There are no guarantees and I have heard of many newbie yachties who have come over to the States only to find themselves without a job and with a dwindling bank account after 3 months and have been forced to return home. If you do land a job though make sure you stick it out for at least a year. Nothing looks better on your CV than longevity.

I have only ever taken (or known people who have taken) courses in South Africa and America, google should be able to throw some schools at you if you are stuck and you are welcome to ask my opinion of them if you are not sure.

Right, next week I will discuss Crew Agents and Interviews. Comment or tweet for any more information.

Coastal Scents 28 Color Neutral Palette | An ACTUAL Review

Ok, where do I start actually? Yesterday I thought it would be a good idea to review the Coastal Scents 28 Neutral Palette so I sat down with some tea and my notebook and started swatching and carrying on. This morning I went and read a few other reviews and some of them made me quite sad. There seems to be two trains of thought, people who think these are Mac dupes and people who don’t. I couldn’t really find an accurate review where people weren’t either trying to prove that these shadows were Mac dupes or lambasting people for trying to prove these to be Mac dupes.

Lets get this out the way quickly. These are not Mac dupes. Here is what they are; they are a nice little collection of colours that, if nothing else, will help you to learn what sort of shades go well together on your eyes before you take the plunge and make your own palette with a higher end make up brand.

They do not last as long as the more luxury eye shadows out there, when I swatched them on my arm (I was doing 8 at a time because I don’t have orangutan arms) I could easily wipe the shadow off with just my hand. I do have to layer and blend extensively when I use them on my eyes but for the most part I am happy with the finish. They do work better with a primer and setting spray, they are unlikely to last from 7am through to the end of whatever after work engagements you may have but I have worn them for a full (8 hour-ish) day before.

Some of the shades are better than others but happily I have reviewed each one separately. I started getting bored of naming the colours because it occurred to me I was trying to describe different shades of beige and brown. Anyway. Here we go.

Coastal Scents 28 Color Neutral Palette

1)   Very light, almost white satin shade. Good inner corner highlight, probably too white to take through the brow bone.

2)   Light cool-toned beige, a bit glittery but not bad.

3)   Sadly, this is a dud with very little payoff

4)   Warm toned matte light pink, good for all over the lid.

5)   Cool toned pale lilac, payoff not great, a bit chalky

6)   Matte light beige, also a bit chalky

7)   Satin beige, this is a winner. Goes on smoothly and blends easily.

8)   Looks almost identical to the previous shade but sadly comes off a bit ashy. I wore it yesterday and it looked like I had died.

9)   Cool toned very light brown, payoff is good, I use this in my crease mostly (I tend to only use this palette in the day)

10) Matte tan, not a great payoff but I use this on a 217 to contour my nose and it works quite well for that.

11) Cool toned light pink, comes off a little chalky unless you use it with a primer – and then it is actually quite nice.

12) Matte light brown, the payoff is fine. I use it to contour my eyes when I am doing a ‘no make up’ sort of look.

13) Matte light plum sort of colour, it comes off much darker than what it looks like in the pan. I do enjoy using this colour, it does leave a bit of fallout though.

14) Another dud

15) Medium brown – shimmery. This colour is ok I suppose. You do have to use quite a few layers and more often than not it makes my make up look a bit untidy. It will work if you a patient. I am not. If I want a shimmery brown I usually go for Stila Gilded Gold.

16) Another dud and somehow mine is broken. Weird. I haven’t dropped this palette, also I haven’t found a mysterious pile of eyeshadow anywhere.

17) Cool toned medium brown – medium. Good payoff, good for crease.

18) Lovely bronze shimmer shade. Excellent payoff. I used this for a night out and it stayed put. This is definitely one of the top 3 shades in this palette and one I would possibly stick my neck out and say is a dupe for something. I will look.

19) Deeper tan, good payoff

20) Warm dusty pink – matte, I often use this with shade #4 and a nice black eyeliner.

21) Nice medium pinky brown, good payoff.

22)  Satin finish light tan, ok payoff. Not my favourite.

23) Ooooh! Lovely reddish brown, it is a matte shade, excelled payoff. Beware of fallout. Definitely a setting spray candidate. Also Top 3

24) Cool toned matte brown, pretty meh. You need to build it for any sort of effect

25) Black, pretty disappointing to be honest, as some weird red glitter thing going on, very sheer and I find that sheer black colours look messy. Unless you are very good and patient. Which I am not. Obviously.

26) Deep brown. Its ok but I would rather use one of my other brown shades because, again, this is a bit sheer.

27) Here is the final Top 3 shade, it is a lovely deeper cool toned purple shade. Good payoff, the finish tends to be more satin once you build it a bit. I like it.

28) Ugh, this is easily the worst shade. It looks like you have gone outside and picked dirt clod and rubbed it over your eyes. Also weird red glitter. I really don’t like it. I thought I would love it, it looks so beautiful and aubergine in the pan. Sad. Just sad.

So, should you buy this palette? I am going to go with yes, $13 for the shades that are actually good in the palette is really not bad. I’m not going to lie, I would have paid $13 for my top 3 shades in the palette. Have a go, have some fun. 

How to be a Yachtie | Part 2: Is Yachting for You?

YES! I want to work on a superyacht! I want to travel the world and see new things! It sounds AWESOME!

Living on a boat, a luxury one at that, sailing from port to port, hanging out with friends, eating food prepared by a chef and being paid to be there sounds like the biggest hole in one job you could ever land. It is a great job to be fair but you have to understand that you will not be sipping cocktails on the sundeck or sweating it out in the on board gym. You will be washing, drying, polishing and detailing most of the time. When you are not busy doing those things you will be serving the guests, whether you are taking them out on tender and jet ski rides or giving them dinner. Working on yachts means working long hours. Working hard for long hours.

Nantucket, Summer 2012

Yachting is the very definition of OTT, for both owners and their crew. Owners will always think that their boat is the biggest and most expensive, they love to sit on deck and gossip about the other boats around them. Most of them will pretend to know more than they actually do. They say things like, “I hear that boat only has furniture by Armani Casa, well we have Pucci towels and three sets of Baccarat crystal.” It is sad. The funny thing is most owners are pretty normal at home, they eat normal food off normal plates and drink out of normal glasses. They shower in their normal showers and dry themselves with normal towels. They make their own tea and coffee, probably wash their own cup afterwards too because they only have the one housekeeper. But as soon as they come within range of their yacht they change into what their definition of a wealthy person is.

Maybe it is the cold towel that is presented to them on arrival. I don’t know. But give it a few seconds and they will be ordering skinny soy lattes to be brought to the Bridge Deck that they can sip on (more like look at, guests barely finish things, they just like holding them) whilst their luggage is being unpacked and all the clothes are being folded and put away, re-pressed if necessary. Thoughtfully you present them with cashmere throws because it is a bit breezy out, these get used for all of five minutes and then they decide to move indoors to the Sky Lounge leaving a trail of blankets and cups behind them. As soon as you have cleared the decks you get asked to prepare six different pots of tea because they have just read in a magazine that tea is very good for you. Have you heard of green smoothies? Yes? Can you make us one? Can we have a cheese plate, but only white cheese? Can I have a sparkling water? Have you seen my phone? What is the internet code? Could I get another latte? Can you take the dogs for a walk? Could you ask the chef to come out? Seriously. Yesterday you were taking your own chicken out the freezer to defrost and today you are asking to see your chef. Acting rich, it is a guest’s favourite thing.

It isn’t just the guests who are a bit anal, it is the crew too. That cushion isn’t straight, did you make that coffee with one and a quarter spoons of sugar, you know that is how she likes it? Boys, there are fingerprints on the stainless around the gangway, are there enough towels on the sundeck? I noticed some dust has settled on the portside windowsill, are they eating off the Tiffany or the Hermes this evening? Chef would you like martini glasses for the ceviche? The dayhead has been used, please clean it. It has been 15 minutes I should check on them.

If you feel you are able to put up with guest quirks and hardcore crew then you also need to consider what sort of path you would like to follow within yachting. There are no hard and fast rules that say, ‘Boys outside, girls inside’ it just sort of ends up that way. Saying that, my best friend (who is a girl) is a deckhand, I have worked with a female engineer and male stewards are very common. If you enjoy working outside, driving jetskis and washing the big boat (of course) then you should consider a job on deck. If you prefer to maintain the interior and tend to the guests then look into becoming a steward/ess. Similarly if engines are your thing go down the engineering route.

The main piece of advice I like to give new / prospective crew is that you should not enter this industry with the view to only complete one season. Working in an industry as high profile as yachting demands professionalism. If you are just hanging about for a gap year it is unlikely that you will have the same attitude and work ethic as a person who is climbing the ladder to be Captain. You need to understand that you will have access to very wealthy and often famous people and they expect a certain level of service and attention to detail. If  you show any sort of slack, especially in your first year, you will be eaten alive by your fellow crew members. As I said earlier, we all take ourselves way too seriously.

It is absolutely not my intention to put you off yachting at all, at the end of the day it is a fantastic way to travel and meet new people and that is why we all decided to join the industry. None of us ever thought, ‘Wow! You mean I get to make beds?!’ We do it because we love boats, we love the sea and we hate the thought of being stagnant.

Tweet / comment if you have any questions.