The REAL Below Deck! Super Yachts Explained: Crew, Ops, Life Onboard

welcome back in this video we are talking about my favorite topic which is super yachts actually no that's not true food is my favorite topic okay second favorite topic super yachts this is going to be a full-on in-depth guide on how they work how they run and everything that happens on board [Music] but firstly what is a superior i mean does it have to have a helicopter landing pad or an imax cinema or a swimming pool no it is much more simple than that if we head over to wikipedia it says a super yacht or a mega yacht is a large luxurious professionally crude vessel that is over 24 meters in length and up to more than 180 meters vessels these days are just getting larger and larger and larger super yachts are crazy expensive it's basically like the ultimate flex of wealth the general rule is about one million per meter but this is not really applicable when it comes to different yachts being built they are also super expensive to run i have heard from a broker that a super yacht should not cost more than 10 percent of the owners net worth because the yearly running costs are so expensive i once worked on an 80 meter vessel that cost 4 million to run each year now obviously it depends on the vessel and the usage but the costs are astronomical so who owns these super yachts now it's typically not celebrities or all the rich people that you see on tv although i know you know tiger woods has a yacht tommy hilfiger has a yacht even roman abramovic has a whole fleet of yachts but typically your millionaires and billionaires with vessels are very discreet you won't have heard of them they are still magnates the hedge fund brokers all those kind of people that are wealthy but also very discreet which is ironic because they have a super yacht but you know so we've got the owners then we have the sort of shell company that often owns the vessel and then we have the management company now the management company is employed to kind of oversee the running of the vessel they manage the payroll they manage all the safety compliances making sure that the vessel stays regulated and things like that managing companies also assist with charter brokering so there are two different types of superiots you have got private vessels and then you have charter vessels so private is for the sole use of the owner it might only get used a couple of months a year and then you have charter so that means the vessel is open to the public the very wealthy public to hire that vessel there is quite a significant difference between the two vessels on private vessels the focus is on the owner and providing consistent service that they are happy with on charter vessels you have constantly got different guests coming and going you have to be very adaptable because they are demanding things you know they want their money's worth and they want to be impressed so on charter vessels you can really push the boat out and go crazy here are some footage from when i was working on a child vessel and we would go to any length to make the charter guests happy we would do themed dinners we would do treasure hunts we would dress up like crazy animals and play with the kids and we basically found that keep the kids happy and you keep the adults happy and the reason why you do push so hard on these charters is because you're working for the tip tips can be extremely generous often tipping up to 22 of the charter price which makes all that hard work really worthwhile there are different brands or builds of super yachts you know you've got fedship ammos larsen oceanco you've got the italian build crn all within the industry each have different reputations you know dutch fields have very good reputations and so everyone has the kind of favorite boat that they want to work on [Music] this video is sponsored by hellofresh i love cooking and i want everyone else to love cooking it's an incredibly enjoyable and mindful and rewarding experience however i know there are plenty 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and proud now let's talk about super yacht crew the crew that's me i am the crew um ice actually started out as a stewardess in the industry i spent a bit of time as a deckhand and now i am finally a chef uh you know that saying jack of all trades master of none it's me i definitely won't be going into engineering though that is not my forte anyway i digress the crew so let's break down the crew departments on board so you've got that management company here then you've got the captain and then you've got four departments so you have the deck department you have the engineering department you have the galley department and then you have the interior so you can see on our little family tree here the four positions at the top they're called the hods which stands for head of departments going down the deck we have the second officer boson deckhands on the engineering side they'll have a second engineer the stewardesses will break down all the way to junior and then the head chef they will have a head chef and the sous chef or if it's a smaller vessel they just have one chef which is known as a sole chef now of course i said these days vessels are getting bigger and bigger and bigger so the departments just have more layers in them so for example you'll have more offices on a bigger vessel in the engineering department you'll also have an i.t officer or an eto an electrical technical officer and then with the interior department you'll have a person so the person takes care of all the logistics which helps take the load off the captain with that kind of thing then in the galley they will have more crew in the galley which will typically be galley hands or you know specific crew chefs or kps to help with all the washing up so of course you probably have a rough idea of what happens on board because maybe you're watching below deck really we are much more professional than that so let's start with the deck department this is comprised of the captain the officers and the deckhands basically their main job is to drive the boat and to clean and maintain the exterior of the vessel so the bridge duties are handled by the captain and the officers they're managing the charts and computer systems they're planning the navigational routes they're organizing the harbour births and just even things such as where we're going to offload all our rubbish also a big one for the officers is they are maintaining compliance with all the safety regulations so every month you have to go around and check every single piece of safety equipment on the vessel continuing on with all the outside kind of stuff this is the domain of the boson and the deckhands they are full-time caretakers of this very precious expensive vessel it takes a heck of a lot to maintain the ocean is a hostile environment with salt and wind lashing this very special glossy paint it basically means a lot of washing down a lot of rinsing they're doing a lot of polishing because my goodness do rich people love their stainless steel they're washing the windows and they are quite literally scrubbing the deck yes i spent a fair part of my time as a deckhand scrubbing the teak and oiling the teak depending on what boat decorate also handle a ton of guest activities they drive the tenders and quite often there's a lot of different type of tenders you might have a jet drive tender an inboard tender outboard twin screw so they have to be very skilled at handling all these different tenders they're also teaching guests how to ride jet skis they're teaching them water sports such as wake surfing or kite boarding anything like that they're also entertaining the children you know those massive slides that you see up there someone has to set it up and that is the deckies now you might think when the guests go to bed everything shuts off not at all there is a debt crew member and also depending on the size of vessel and officer up all night and their job is to get the boat back to that beautiful pristine spotless state in the morning whilst also keeping an eye on the anchor making sure the vessel isn't drifting or if they're in port making sure all the lines are safe and the vessel is secure when the guests are off the work does not stop this is when the maintenance really comes into play so you're sanding back furniture and re-varnishing you're doing touch-up paint jobs maybe you're cleaning out the lockers making sure the water sports equipment is ready for the next season the work is just on going moving on to the engineering department debatably the most important department on board now this is controversial because every department gets a little snitchy when it comes to who works the hardest but i've got to say the engineering department really do an incredible job of keeping everything running not only are they maintaining the engines and the generators they're also taking care of the wi-fi the radar systems the lights the electronic blinds that go up and down the galley they have to know how a deep fryer works and how my ovens plug in not only are they managing day-to-day stuff like bunkering servicing generators you know changing oil filters and cleaning the sea strainer they also are uncalled 24 7. so if an alarm goes off at 2 am they have to be up they have to be there ready to check it because on boats if you get a bilge alarm or something's going wrong you need to attend that stat if you're an engineer and you're watching this shout out to you because matt you guys got a tough job and i appreciate you now on to the galley which is my favorite department because obviously that's where i work the galley is what does a galley do we feed everyone and look if you ask me that's a pretty important role because food makes people happy and we want the crew to be happy and we want the guests to be happy so as a chef you're managing all the provisions so you're bringing provisions on you're managing your stock take and you're making sure that everything stays within the budget allocated now once you've got that on board you're then cooking so you're doing all the day-to-day cooking for the crew so that's lunch and dinner as typically the crew take care of breakfast themselves in the creamers there will be ham cheese fruits cereal yogurts milk some bread so they can very easily make their own breakfast and then we take care of the lunch and the dinner for the crew so that's the crew taken care of and we're also going to take care of the guests so the guests are getting anything and everything that they want breakfast lunch dinner canapes all the snacks in between and you know if i have a midnight craving for something they can absolutely ask the stewardess to wake us up and cook them some late night sushi etc etc so guest food can be very interesting to do because you are tailoring it to each guest you might have one group of people that love fine dining they want things looking more elegant they want the more interesting flavors and exotic and expensive ingredients and then you'll get another group of guests who just want family style relaxed buffet kind of meals so it is about being adaptable and also as a yacht chef not having an ego guests aren't here to specifically eat your food you are there to cook for the guests so as a chef it's important to get that mindset in and be ready to serve be flexible be adaptable and take feedback now let's talk about the interior department you might guess from the name they take care of the inside of the vessel the interior is divided up into three different sections you have service you have housekeeping and you have laundry so the interior crew on service they're taking care of all the drinks the beverages and they're also doing the food service so they're the people taking the plates out to the guests housekeeping is incredibly thorough so every day the entire boat is vacuumed and dusted and wiped every morning when the guests get up there's a full room service and then throughout the day say if the toilet gets used or if the guests lie on the bed the stewardesses will be straight back in there folding the toilet paper again ironing the bed sheets making everything look like no one has ever been in there that's the whole art of it so the laundry is also part of the interior department and they have so much they have to take care of not only are they taking care of guest clothes but they're also taking care of all the guests linen their sheets their towels and think about the crew or the crew uniform or the crew personal clothes cruise sheets you know tea towels all of my rags from the galley and quite often laundries are below the water lines there's no windows down there and it's a really tough job so my heart goes out to all the laundry stews you are doing an epic job now when the guests are off this is where the interior team get a chance to really deep clean the vessel so they are quite literally taking earbuds and toothpicks and cleaning with that so they will go right into the hinges of all the cupboards they will clean all the tiny cracks in the floor they will go around the light bulbs it is amazingly detailed the type of cleaning they do this is also where they manage their inventories so they take care of all the wine the spirits on board all the drinks you know soft drinks water that is all part of the interior team and they also take care of the crew areas so they're going to be restocking the crew mess and making sure that the crew cabins are kept up to scratch with the cabin inspections so let's talk about crew life on board when the guests are on that's one is go go go you can be working up to 16 hours a day more so it'll be 14 which is what the um mlc the maritime labor convention you know try and make sure we stick to quickly yeah 14 hours a day you'll get an eight-hour break in which you'll sleep and then you get a two-hour break in which you'll probably sleep as well because you're tired now yacht crew are paid monthly and weekends are not guaranteed i mean it depends on every vessel but typically you are not guaranteed weekends specifically if the guests are on board if you have got a six-week charter you're going to be working every single day of those six weeks the longest stretch i ever done was a five-month boss trip during which i actually got two days off but yeah by the end of that i was done i never wanted to cook again anyway when the guests aren't on board that's when the hours get much more reasonable you're working from eight to five you more often than not will have weekends off and you can really enjoy the area that the vessel is in you know life on board can be pretty good you've got your food taken care of because you know the chefs are cooking for you you've got snacks in the creamers and lollies and all that kind of naughty stuff you've got all your toiletries included your laundry is taken care of you know every morning you'll put it in the laundry bag drop it off it'll come back nicely folded at the end of the day so it's all about creating an environment where crew can live happily so crew cabins typically it is bunk beds with an ensuite toilet and shower this is you know they're very sort of utilitarian they are quite compact and you have to be a very neat and tidy person to live on board so there you go that was a pretty quick guide to super yachts and everything that's involved you know management companies and crew and everything does i hope you enjoyed watching this i hope you learned something new and make sure you hit subscribe i've got plenty more videos coming your way [Music] you

Channel: TheCrewChef

Views: 744,543

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Id: n-9krjQaD_8

Length: 15min 59sec (959 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 13 2022