Relief Crew

(Relief crew are NOT dayworking crew. If you are looking for information on day work visit this page.)

Relief Crew are experienced and professional and know their field very well.

Relief crew are sometimes, at very short notice, flown anywhere in the world to fill in for a missing crew member. Normally relief crew will be under contract for a specific period of time.

Their position on board will be to cover for someone who may have taken ill or are injured, had to fly home for a family emergency, may have walked out on the job or there is simply a gap before a new crew member can take up his or her position.

Relief crew may also be needed as delivery crew. For more information on Delivery Crew, provided by UKSA and Pacific Yacht Delivery based in Northern California please click here.

Relief Yacht Crew positions are right across the board and there is a demand for:

• Captains
• Chief Officers
• Engineers
• Mates
• Bosuns
• Deckhands
• Pursers
• Chefs
• Stewards/Stewerdesses
• Laundry Staff

Relief positions are usually found through networking, contacts and crew placement companies. There are a couple of specialist Relief Crew companies.

Good Relief Crew

Good relief crew will know their job and are confident about stepping into a position where they may need to take immediate charge. They will be expected to do the job without calling or pestering the owner/management company or skipper with needless calls.

Relief crew will also be expected to do their job to the full extent. For example they will not only cook the crew meals, they may also need to ensure that provisions are replenished and menus are designed and structured for when the chef returns. An engineer may complete maintenance and repair tasks and initiate new ones if required as well as complete all the required logs etc.

Working as Relief Crew is not necessarily an easy ride, in fact you may find you work harder than normal as it will be a new boat and new crew which takes time to get used to.

The advantages of working as relief crew are:

• It can pay a lot better than an ordinary long term contract
• It offers more opportunity for challenge and adventure
• You can choose when you work although there is a downside to this too as gaps between jobs may last longer than ideal
• You tend not to get involved in on board politics
• If you have a horrendous owner you know you don't have to put up with him for long!

More on Relief Crew coming soon!