South Yorkshire to St Tropez - new life for superyacht stew

What were you doing before you joined the superyacht industry?

I was the General Manager for La Tasca Spanish Restaurant in Meadowhall, Sheffield. The management experience helped me secure my position but I think generally you need to have the right attitude, some sort of customer service background, perseverance to get your first job and a big smile!

What made you decide to embark on a career on superyachts?

Well unfortunately, my marriage broke up which made me re-evaluate my whole life. I found out about yachting through a friend of a friend and thought, why the hell not?!! I always wanted to travel more and this seemed like the perfect option. I've never looked back and my friends are now all hugely jealous of me posting such awesome pictures and stories on facebook!!

Why did you choose Flying Fish to train?

It offered the best value and selection of courses (particularly the Interior Crew course). I looked at others out in Antibes and Palma but they were a lot more expensive.

How easy/hard was it to get a job after the course?

I was in Antibes for one and a half weeks before I got a job. It would have been a lot harder had I not completed the interior stew course. The powerboat license was a bonus too. I did think it would be a lot easier to dock walk and find a job - it's tough but just keep at it. I dock walked in Monaco for three days in a row (mainly because I wanted to blag day work and work at the Grand Prix!) Other people switched ports every day but I stuck to the same ones which was better I think. I did manage to get day work which turned into my current position - unfortunate for the stew who was already on since I took her job. Luckily she got a good reference from the captain which landed her a job on a bigger boat as a 3rd stew quite quickly.

Tell us about the boat you're on

I'm on a 28m Mangusta which berths in Monaco for the summer. The owner lives in Monaco and we have a mixture of charters and the boss being on. I didn't pay any attention to any yachts below 40/50m when I was dock walking as I thought I wanted a bigger boat but I'm very happy on this one, at least for my first season. Being sole stew, I've learnt loads and also done some deck work.

How many crew on the boat?

4

What does a typical day involve?

On charter, it's pretty hectic as a sole stew. Up at 7/8 am, set up and serve breakfast. If there's time, make some beds while they're eating - but this often isn't possible. We often then move the boat to go out on anchor for the day so I need to jump in our tender and follow the boat which is great fun (although the time would be better spent cleaning the cabins!) Once we go on anchor, I can finish the cleaning (basically making the cabins look as good as they did when the guests first arrived) while the guests play in the water. By then, it's time to set up for lunch, usually outside which on our small boat means dismantling the sofa beds on the aft deck and bringing the table up from underneath. A good workout for my bingo wings moving all the cushions!

Lunch is served then I'll clean up and tidy everything away. Polish the silver, put the china and crystal away. I can normally grab an hour or so in the crew mess to chill (and try to fight getting gently rocked to sleep with the boat). Although I will be serving drinks and am available to the guests if they need me during this time. Then we'll be on the move again, usually going into port. By the time we get into port, it's time to set up for dinner (unless they are dining on shore, which is magical!) After I serve dinner, I turn the cabins down. I remove the bed day covers and make the cabins look like they haven't been used - again, quite a challenge; just hope they eat slowly! Then serve after dinner drinks, etc and clear up and wait for them to go to bed.

I also need to fit my laundry in around this and various other jobs. Hard work but lots of fun!

Off charter: the owners live nearby so use us as a restaurant but it's a lot more chilled than on charter, even though we are still on standby all day.

What is the worst aspect of working on a superyacht?

Erm, on this boat I would say nothing at all. Some friends I have on bigger boats have very little time off and aren't really allowed off the boat. My captain is amazing and let's us have a life as much as he can. He lets us go out and party as long as we can do our jobs the next day! (Sometimes sunglasses are essential for this to hide the tired eyes!) We still work really long hours, especially on charter but, to me, it doesn't really feel like working when we're in these surroundings with lovely guests. Waiting around for the owners can be a bit boring, especially when they turn up late or not at all!

And the best aspect of your job?

Everything! Working in the sunshine and beautiful surroundings (though again, on bigger boats you might not see so much if you're based inside), meeting great people, very good money with only alcohol expenditure for outgoings (!) and partying in cool places.

Any advice for people thinking about coming into the industry?

Do the Interior Crew Training course if you want to work as a stew, take the powerboat course too - a great bonus to life when you're jetting round the Med in a tender .....