Interview with a Yacht Stewardess

I am on a very small motor yacht and four of us, the deckie, chef, first officer and me share the tiniest, grottiest little forepeak cabin. Curtains between the boys and girls. I am usually first up as I smoke and the early morning craving is too much for me. I have a quick shower although it is hard to keep quiet in such a confined space and as soon as I can, I scramble up the ladder on to the deck where I have my first cigarette with a cup of tea. The boat is too small for proper crew quarters so we claim the foredeck as our own.

This is a great time of the morning. It is still cool and the decks are wet with dew. I watch all the other boats coming to life as bleary-eyed deckies walk around their decks clutching the standard issue chamois. I don’t know why their hands don’t physically bond with those chamois. They never put them down. After about ten minutes, I can hear the others start to move down below. They have to get up in stages, as there isn’t enough room for them to move around at once. First up is usually the mate, then the deckie and then the chef who hates getting up. We all know each other’s habits intimately! The skipper has one of the guest cabins, which is also pretty small.

As stew jobs go this one is OK as we don’t sail a huge amount and I get to see a lot of my boyfriend who is on a yacht not far from here. Because the yacht is so small but takes so many guests (twelve), we all share jobs to a degree which is something I am not too keen on. I am used to bigger yachts where I have a stewie to help me. On this boat the deckhand is my help and he has a tendency to get a little stoned. He’s careful not to get caught but he can be really hard to work with sometimes. I have considered going to the skipper about it but really, life is too short. The chef and I just work around him. A bit unfair of him really. Our owner is great, a really nice guy who gets his guests to tip us nicely and we are also a charter vessel so we make tips here too. I enjoy charter but three back to backs in a row are absolutely shattering.

My advice to those wanting to get into the industry is keep your eyes open, don’t be taken in by the glamour, stay off the drugs and try and put some of your money away. Remember that the work is hard. When on charter my days start at six and finish, if I’m lucky, at around midnight. The owner is much more considerate but I still feel that I have to be available. But it’s swings and roundabouts; like I said the owner looks after us, makes sure that the charterers tip us 15% of the charter fee and this is really cool. But we only get around six weeks of charter a season. We find ourselves looking forward to charter and dreading it too.

I think that being a stewie is one of the most demanding jobs on board as you have to anticipate and cater to every whim. I do enjoy it, and all in all, it has been a good experience. I have been on yachts for eight years now and you can get too much of a good thing. I feel pretty jaded about the way of life at the moment but, on the other hand, we have had a long season and I’m shattered. Give me a few weeks rest and I will be raring to go! Good luck!