Longevity in yachting is somewhat of a buzz phrase – something all crew are supposed to showcase on their CV to make them more employable on their next yacht.
But, as with most things, longevity is not a one-size-fits-all. And actually, can you be on a yacht for too long?
Let’s break this down…
Junior crew
Without a doubt, good longevity for junior yacht crew translates to a minimum of a year in my opinion.
If you’ve stuck it out for two years on one yacht, that is also fantastic, but what Heads of Departments (HODs) should then be looking at is whether you have progressed in your duties and responsibilities. Are you still just a Stew or Deckie, or have you developed professionally?
Senior crew
For an HOD, two years onboard one yacht is good, three years and up is the sweet spot, and if you stay longer, it would be great if you could demonstrate development in the role, such as doing extra training or courses.
With Chief Engineers, good longevity tends to be longer. They are also less at the mercy of a sale and change of owner versus other departments.
At HOD level, longevity can be an issue from the five-year mark. Firstly, it can imply you are institutionalised, used to just one itinerary and programme. Are you stuck in your ways? Will you keep repeating “on my old boat we did it this way”? I worked with someone like that many years ago and it rapidly got boring.
It can also mean you find yourself stuck in golden handcuffs – potentially having experienced generous annual pay rises, bonuses and improved leave, making it hard for new roles to compete on package.
Longevity considerations and caveats
The good news is that when looking at longevity on a CV, recruiters and HODs do not take a black and white view.
There are some caveats and some considerations:
- Yacht usage – Of course, if a crew member has had a few short stints on smaller yachts because it is seasonal, that won’t necessarily cast you in a bad light and instead, showcase that you have varied experience.
- Itinerary and programme – Some yachts are incredibly busy, back to back guest trips, 24-hour turn arounds, rarely in port, limited leave or live aboard owners. In which case, lasting a year would be an achievement and only doing 1 season would be understandable. You do save a lot of cash on that sort of yacht though…
- Reason for leaving – This is sometimes out of your control and could be due to a sale, skeleton crew for winter or yard period, for example. It could also be because you need exposure or experience that will help you gain a qualification that you can’t achieve on your current yacht. Or you could have been sacked for being rubbish…
- Mental health – Nobody should stay on a yacht where the environment is toxic and it impacts your mental and sometimes physical wellbeing. That will only give crew a tarnished view of the industry and negatively impact their performance in the long term. But people also need to be aware this can be a tough industry with long hours, limited down time, living in close quarters with people you may not like. It isn’t always going to be amazing, there will be challenging times on most yachts.
Generally speaking, the further you progress in yachting and the more senior the role, the better the longevity should be.
Getting the balance right can be tricky. On one hand, it will depend on your goals – do you need more sea time, tender driving experience, service exposure, an opportunity to get creative with dishes? All of these are potentially reasons to leave a yacht. Yachting is quite rare in that job hopping can gain you a wider breadth of experience.
On the other hand, I would choose the CV with 18 months on 1 boat over the CV with 3 yachts and 3 months unemployed in the same 18 months.
For me personally, it’s quite rare to see CVs where people have spent too long on 1 yacht. They are a tiny, tiny minority of the industry. There are literally 20 x as many CVs with terrible longevity in yachting. If in doubt, staying on a yacht longer is normally a good idea. If you have definitely decided you’re leaving, provided you can justify your reasons and you know you are getting a decent reference, you will probably be fine.
If you need any further guidance, please contact the relevant Consultant in our team.
Photo credit: @atseawith_roxy on Instagram.
