It’s hard to think of any other factor that affects your time on your boat more than the decision of which crew you hire.
Your boat is your oasis, whether you like to wind down and relax or are looking for a place to hang out with friends and family, and the crew you select will directly impact your experiences.
So, if you are looking to replace or hire new crew members for your boat, how do you go about it confidently? Let’s lay out a plan…
Before the interviews, look at what YOU want.
- Do you want a full-time or seasonal crew?
- How many positions do you need to fill?
- What duties do you want to be handled?
- Are there any jobs you want to remain involved in?
- What are the most essential characteristics of the crew?
- How do you envision your interactions with the hired crew?
Every boat, every owner, and every ideal situation is unique. So will be the captains and professional crew members for hire.
Professionalism & Personalities are Priority
Above all, it matters if your personalities and expectations of professional conduct are aligned. No matter how incredible, a yacht will feel restricted when there are tensions or disappointments between you and the crew.
Some of the interactions will be determined by how well you lay out your expectations and what boundaries you wish to retain while you are onboard. For example, do you prefer a quiet and more private experience with your guests and have limited distractions from your crew, or do you like to hear their travel stories and enjoy occasional conversational banter? How involved do you want the captain to keep you in the day-to-day interactions? Regularly updated, or you hired them to handle it?
But you’ll also want your captain and crew to quickly pick up on the ques and be able to anticipate your needs. Your captain will be essential in setting and maintaining the right tone aboard.
This component of selecting the best yacht crew available for hire is the most abstract. Personality is personality. It’s not changed or built by experience or training. (Unlike professionalism that is a skill and developed to some extent.) But when working with someone 24/7 in close corners, personalities—no matter how professional the crew—become evident. So it’s less about finding the crew with the best personality and more about finding the best MATCHING personality.
Calling referrals and talking to your prospective crew’s previous employers can be helpful. But perhaps even more enlightening is talking to their previous coworkers. Can your prospective crew give you their referrals?
Crew Experience & Skill
While matching the personalities of you and the yacht crew you hire is essential, so is matching your crew—particularly the captain—with your boat.
Just like people, boats are unique too. And their uniqueness, changes in how they are handled. Power or sail. Single engine or twin. Swift or stout. Modern and high-tech or classic and simple.
Seeking out professionals with expertise in vessels like yours can be advantageous because there will be less of a learning curve. In addition, if your crew finds themselves in a challenging situation, whether that be mechanical, weather, or situational, they will have that built-in, ready-to-go knowledge base allowing them to respond more quickly and confidently.
Asking a few questions about how your vessel’s anticipated unique handling characteristics—and in what situations that may make a difference—can start the conversation about the level of experience on your type of boat.
Cruising Destinations & Local Knowledge
While a competent captain will have the skills to safely navigate unknown waters, there are advantages to seeking yacht crews for hire that have local knowledge of where you will be traveling.
For example, if you will be taking (or joining) your yacht in the Bahamas, your captain’s navigations skills are different from that of the US coast. The shallow waters must be navigated not by markers and buoys but onboard navigation equipment and visually reading the water.
Further, the weather patterns for cruising locations can vary dramatically. Hiring a captain and crew familiar with the patterns may allow them to make safer and more comfortable decisions regarding passages and anchorages.
Finally, a little local knowledge can go a long way in designing stellar itineraries and influencing your experiences while aboard. Your crew will be able to better lead you to the best private beaches, fishing grounds, or shore excursions.
Yacht Crews for Hire are at Risk for Poaching
As unpleasant as it is to consider, the crew you hire is also looking for the best fit for themselves. As a result, it’s not uncommon to see a high turnover of hired staff—even mid-season. Whether it’s due to being poached from other boats, captains, or crew placement agencies or moving on to bluer oceans, crew replacement, and retraining is expensive and intrusive to your valued time aboard.
But proactively considering this during your crew hiring process can mitigate the risks. Paying attention (and out-right asking) what your captain and crew are looking for out of the positing can help eliminate otherwise suitable selection because a low chance they will find the long-term satisfaction they are seeking. So it’s better to seek out that symbiotic match from the start.
Many hired captains will require that they be responsible for selecting all hired crew they will be managing. It gives them the ability to bring on loyal members they have worked with and trust. And it allows the captain to curate an efficient team that works together, especially since many onboard roles have overlapping responsibilities.
It can be the making of a dream-team crew on your yacht with the right captain. The risk is that sometimes the captain goes to another boat—and takes the whole well-oiled team with him. Ouch.
There’s no way to 100% avoid this risk but looking at the longevity and loyalty of previous placements may also hint at how well your prospective crew was received by previous boat owners—and their likelihood of staying aboard the entire season or longer.
Also, hearing what they value most regarding compensation, feedback, and working environment can create a more stable and long-lasting working relationship from the start.
Where to Search for your Next Hired Yacht Crew
Many boat owners find their crews through word-of-mouth and personal referrals. Ask around with friends, yacht club members, marina staff, and boat brokers. It will still be prudent to check backgrounds and get additional referrals for any prospective crew you find this way.
Large crew placement agencies online will open up a large selection of options and can usually fill your needs quickly. Be mindful, however, of the experience level for some of the candidates on these large sites. Many will place crew members with no experience or mediocre references.
Smaller boutique crew placement businesses can offer a best-of-both option. Onyx is an example of a company that hand-selects reputable captains and crew and offers either on-demand or long-term placement options for the best-matched professionals and boat owners.
Best of luck navigating the hiring process, and see you on the water soon.