I understand that demand is rapidly growing in regions of the Med for yacht crew. Does anyone have any info on this? I am highly interested in the industry and all advice will be greatly appreciated.
Hi, Industry demand has been increasing at a large rate for years now and with all the new builds coming online there will only be more jobs for the next few years at least. Yachting however is not suited to everyone and everyone is not suited to being crew on a yacht. There are many different levels to enter on so if you can say what you would like to do someone can post with some advice.
Thanks for the comment. I served 4 years in the coast guard, 3.5 of those years was on board a 378 foot ship so long deployments, hard hours, and living in a shoe box never bothered me. I loved the water. I eventually would like to earn my way up to captain, given I click with the industry. I am positive the megayacht world is quite different than the military. I was an operations specialist where my job was radar navigation, communications, helo ops, search and rescue, and other duties as well. So it appears I could be a good fit for yachting. Any more words of wisdom and advice would be great. Thanks.
Hi, I would say that as you have some marine background and experience you will find it easier to get a foot in the door than somebody with nothing at all. Did you get any paper qualifications whilst in the USCG? You will need to have done some basic STCW 95 Courses to get aboard any of the bigger commercially operated vessels at the very least. Make up your CV as neatly as you can and send it to a few of the crew agencies. Good Luck
My DD-214 confirms all the certifications I received in the USCG. Also, I plan to take the 200+ GT STCW 95 this summer. I have about 8 months left until I complete my degree in Finance from Cal Poly Pomona so I would like to get that behind me. I think giving up college this close to being finished would be a bad move. Upon gradation, how should I go about getting my foot in the door? Should I just shine up a resume and submit it to a crew agency? I had a friend tell me I should "walk the docks" because that shows initiative. I am more interested in the big yachts, 200+ feet in the Med.
Hi. Dont limit your choices by focusing on the med and a size. When your school finishes up in December there may be some large yachts still in San Diego. Last year in December we had there large ones here Coral Island, Attessa lll and Ronin. Get your stcw completed and as many other speciality ratings as possible and give us a call.
I appreciate the response Captain. By the way, I have a fairly light course load this semester. I would be available for day work Thursday through Sunday if you need an extra hand. Or if you know someone up this way, say the Long Beach or Newport Beach area that needs someone to day work, I would be more than glad to help out. I'd like to "get my feet wet." Thanks again.