Owning a personal yacht can be an exciting thrill and give you a great way to pass time with friends and family, entertain, and enjoy the open water.
But, hiring the right people to work on your personal vessel can be a little overwhelming. Between the mechanical side, the captain, and the crew, let’s walk you through a few tips and suggestions for hiring each of the main positions on your boat staff for smooth sailing.
Captain
Possibly the most important hiring decision you’ll make is finding the right captain for your ship. Try getting recommendations from your yacht vendor first to see if they have any professional suggestions. Aside from that, you may want to get personal recommendations from other yacht owners that you trust the opinion of.
Whenever you’re interviewing potential candidates, be sure to ask for their captain’s license, see if your personalities gel well, what regions they’re most familiar with, and other points that are relevant to your desired use of the boat.
Even a working interview where you head out on the water together is appropriate, and make sure to always be straightforward and set clear expectations for candidates before hiring so they can determine if it’s a good fit for them as well.
After all, they will be the captain in charge, so you want someone who you can not only trust but that you can get along with, too. This means you’ll likely want to find a captain with the right balance of technical knowledge and personability.
Crew
Depending on the size of your yacht, you may also need a small crew to manage the onboard service and operations. This can include butlers and stewardesses, a chef and galley crew, deckhands, officers, and more. So, you’ll need to first assess what type of crew members you’ll need before you go out and start interviewing.
The crew will be living in close quarters with one another while on the sea, so it’s crucial that they can get along well with each other and the captain. This is especially true if you run into trouble or bad weather while sailing when tensions are running high. So, look for candidates that are social, outgoing, and have a can-do attitude.
You may find crew members recommended by the captain himself, from other boat owners, through a recruiting service, or by running a job listing on your own.
Maintenance & Mechanical
Lastly, another important piece to your boat staffing puzzle is finding the right maintenance and mechanical crew. While you may not have them on board with you at all times, it’s a good idea to get set up with a person or team at your home base that you can trust with any mechanical issues.
Again, you may want to reach out to your salesperson to see if they can recommend someone who they know is familiar with your particular vessel, or get recommendations from your peers.
The importance of finding a good maintenance crew for your boat cannot be understated, as they’re the ones who will keep the engine humming right and make sure your vessel is reliable while on the sea.
So even when you don’t need major repairs or work done on the machine, there is regular maintenance that your yacht will likely need on an ongoing basis, which you’ll need a qualified team to handle for you if you don’t have the technical expertise.
At the end of the day, there is no such thing as a ‘perfect’ boat crew. Each yacht owner’s preferences and boating style will need to be taken into consideration in order to find the right blend of workers that will properly equip your vessel.
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Written by Bailey Schramm
