I got into yachting in 2016 whilst working at a restaurant in my hometown (York). A regular customer pitched me the idea following his own success story in the industry. I saved up all the money I could (GBP 2,000) and headed over to Antibes, like many others out there, to prove I had what it takes to land a job on a superyacht working in the interior. Whilst I had no housekeeping experience back then, I did have an extensive service background in restaurants and bars and held my level 3 advanced WSET. What I didn’t know back then was that this qualification would eventually prove vital to securing my first position onboard a yacht as interior jobs for males with no housekeeping experience were and probably still are few and far between. To my disbelief, after dock walking for over a month and nearly having to go home (for lack of funds), the phone rang for a chief steward position onboard a 70m med cruising boat. I snapped at the chance, knowing that I might not get another one like it. It was a long hard season, I was way out of my depth to be honest but the experience did teach me a lot. After this initial job I ended up working as a temp for a few other boats before finally landing a sommelier/bartender position for a fleet of yachts, the largest being 115m.It was a fucking blast those first couple of seasons, we worked hard and played harder and I met some amazing crew who became my family over the 3 years I was on there and eventually became so respected by the owner that he promoted me to chief steward (this wasn’t received well by everyone in the interior however).
I guess for a multitude of reasons, after a while, the yachting lifestyle just wasn’t for me - I think it's really easy to become disillusioned when working in that lifestyle; being surrounded by that much wealth can start to rub off on you, and then you can start to think the billionaire lifestyle is your lifestyle. My biggest regret about yachting is that I never saved any money, sure I bought nice things, watches, holidays, etc but I never put any money away. I think that’s probably one of the reasons some people stay in yachting so long, because it's great tax-free money and always easy to get on a boat and earn a quick fix if you need. Adjusting to the reality on shore of paying tax, bills, food certainly takes time. The other reason I got out of the game was due to wanting more routine, we all know how stressful working on yacht is, the sleep deprivation, the shit you have to take from guests, managing/having meaningful relationships, the lack of vacation. Slowly but surely these things take there toll on your mental health, I’ve seen so many people get burnt out over the years. I’m not saying it's impossible to have a long successful career on yachts; I know plenty of people who have been able to achieve this. however, it's not for everyone, so it's important to keep your options open.
I moved back to shore in the UK in 2019 just before Covid, I wanted to use all the great experience I had gained in fine dining and fine wine from the yachts to my advantage. I also wanted to continue to improve my knowledge and understanding so I decided to study my DipWSET whilst working for a fine wine company in a sales role. Sadly, I was furloughed fairly early on but it was further study for my wine exams that kept me going. Eventually, I was brought back to work where year on year, I continued to show growth in my sales figures, and two years ago, when my company in London merged with a company in California, I was asked if I would like to transfer to Napa Valley to help take the company forward globally. Since then, my career has really rocketed, I’m now far exceeding what I used to earn on the yachts which Is something I never thought possible whilst working in London. The job I do now isn’t that much of a far cry away from what I used to do on yachts, I’m dealing with the same wines, the same clients, however now it’s on my terms. I guess in that respect, I kind of took the power back in my life, and that shit feels great!
If I had to give anyone advice about life away from yachting, I would probably say.
Keep learning, take a course, throw yourself into something you’re passionate about, even volunteer if you have to.
Set some simple goals and stick to them
Know that there are so many transferable skills you pick up in yachting – and at some point someone will the see the value in what you can bring and believe it.
Having worked with Amelia for a number of years, I know how much of a support network she can be and was for me. I can think of no one else better to speak to about any concerns you might have regarding leaving yachting and what a potential life on shore might look like for you.
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