Hello Everyone,
I'm sitting on the riverside in the city centre of Copenhagen on a stunning blue sky afternoon with an Aperol spritz beside my Mac, could life be better?
A question I've been poundering this week is "Is the grass greener on the other side?
Working on a yacht full-time is hard work... but it gives you opportunities, experiences and multiple once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
crossing oceans
Swimming with dolphins
Creating a life you'd never have imagined for yourself
Meeting people who change your life
To name a few, as yachties these are all things over time that we take for granted and we lose the enthusiasm for because our day-to-day can be very monotonous.
Of course, there is a huge difference between a good job and a great job and a good boat and a great boat. What may seem like a great boat to one person can be another nightmare, this is influenced by many factors.
Yacht Mentality
Itinerary
Salary and Time Off Package
Management of the yacht
Safety onboard
Personally, these are what makes a great boat and if a yacht is ticking four out of the five then it's going pretty well. It's not easy to find, I've been lucky that I've found it twice in my career, on a previous yacht and where I work now. Before I go on I want to highlight that NO YACHT IS PERFECT. There is always room for improvement when it comes to crew welfare and downtime.
On the previous yacht, I loved it, life was exciting I explored the Caribbean, and did my first Atlantic crossings and that was life-changing for me, working with the crew on this yacht taught me a lot of what I know to create a great foundation of knowledge to build my career upon. Towards the end of my time there I got bogged down as I'd been doing the same jobs on the same maintenance schedule for some time and I felt as if I wasn't learning anymore. I got frustrated and felt I wasn't able to grow I let this overshadow the other wonderful things working there offered me, the ability to explore, Lots of time sailing, Working in a crew that had become my family...
I thought the grass would be greener somewhere else...
It took two boats to find a similar environment to this two years later. Where I am now, is not all that different to where I was before in terms of my career but I do have the ability to see some of the "Beaten Track" parts of the world that very few yachts go to, a well-organised schedule, knowing when you have time off in the year months ahead makes a huge difference to being able to plan life. I work with a crew of individually extraordinary people, each with unique skills that they bring to make a very good crew. No one person is perfect, flaws are allowed and accepted in a good crew environment.
Of course, I still have those days when I get fed up with the same servicing, the same polishing and the same onboard systems and not a lot of progression and then I think, life could be worse. I stop look around me, reflect on my situation and realise that I would struggle to find this on another boat. The grass we know gets better when you water in, stick with the programme but your time and effort into what you are passionate about and you will grow and they will appreciate your efforts. This can come across in many different ways, for example, I'm writing this post after walking the streets of Copenhagen looking for an outfit to wear to one of my dearest friends' wedding which will be during our summer cruising and the yacht is allowing me to go, this wouldn't happen on most boats. Today I'm feeling pretty grateful that I work with the pretty cool team onboard SY. Path.
I want every yachtie that reads this to consider the following?
Does the boat you work on make you happy?
Do you like the crew dynamic?
Is your time off well scheduled and fair for the amount of work you put in?
Answer those questions in your mind and be honest with yourself, would the grass be greener somewhere or are you just having a run of bad days?
As always keep smiling laughing and loving the sea xo
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