Interview with a Deckhand.

Interview with a Deckhand - Life As A Deckhand – Phillip Quinn

I started working as a deckie in France two years ago. I did the dockwalk and found a job on a 37m motor yacht. I enjoy it on the whole though the work can be really boring. The boat is fairly new so there is not a lot of in-depth maintenance to be done. Most of it is superficial and can be pretty dull. Much of my time is spent polishing and polishing and polishing things that are already clean!
We have ten crew on the boat. I get on fine with most of them. The chief stewie can be a bit manic sometimes and don’t catch the cheffy on a bad day. The owner is nice and most of his guests are cool too. The boat is also used for charter. The whole crew can be really shattered after a couple of weeks back to back turn arounds where you have twelve hours to get the boat ready for the new guests – if you’re lucky.
The boat is paying for the other two deckhands and me to do our yacht masters. I have also done a STCW basic safety-training course, which covered firefighting, sea survival, first aid and safety. I have also done my PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) scuba diving course and am planning on doing an instructor’s course on water sports although that is slow going.

My worst job – The covers. We have three decks on our boat. Each deck has its share of deck chairs, loungers and benches. Each of these has covered cushions. At the start of every day the cushions have to have their covers put on and at the end of every day these cushions covers have to come off to be washed or dried or just put away so they don’t get damp with the night dew. In my two years on the boat I must have done about 10,000 cushion covers. It is a job that I loathe with passionate intensity.

The best part – I love travel, I love water sports, I like meeting new people, and I like being able to afford to go skiing for a weekend. I love the fact that the boat is off to Thailand soon with plans to spend eight months cruising the region. What an adventure.

The Owner’s Dog – The owner of the boat is Greek and he often brings his dog on board when we are in the Aegean. She is great. It is usually one of us deckhands’ job to look after her. We have to take her for rides on the wave rider when the boss is too busy to do it. I took her out on the surf jet the other day. It was amazing how quickly she got her balance. She just loves it. A really cool dog.
As a long term career I don’t really know if this will be it. I would like to reach mate but eventually I would like to get married, have kids and settle down. Having a job like this isn’t exactly conducive to a happy home and family life.