What does a yacht deckhand actually do?

The deck department is the outside of the boat and everything on it. Paint, teak, stainless, tenders, toys, lines, fenders, and the guests once they are out in the sun. If it can be seen or touched from outside, a deckhand is responsible for the state of it.

What does a deckhand actually do all day?

The day starts with a wash-down. Fresh water over every surface the sea and the night got at, then chamois, because a droplet left to dry on stainless in the Mediterranean leaves a mark that takes a machine to remove. That is before breakfast.

After that the day splits into maintenance and movement.

Maintenance is the bulk of it. Teak scrubbed with the grain and never against it. Varnish sanded and coated in thin layers. Stainless polished. Fenders washed and stowed. Ropes flaked so they run clean when someone needs them in a hurry. Paint touched in.

Movement is lines and fenders on every arrival and departure, anchor work, and driving. Tenders, jet skis, seabobs, inflatables, all of it launched, fuelled, driven, rinsed and stowed again. A guest wants the toys in the water in ten minutes and back on deck spotless an hour later.

Then there is guest mode. When guests are aboard the deck switches to service. You are visible, so you are quiet, tidy, and available. No music, no phone, no leaning. You drive the tender to the beach club, you carry bags, you rig the shade.

From the bridge

I can teach anyone to polish stainless. I cannot teach a person to notice that a guest is standing at the passerelle with a bag. Noticing is the whole job.

Who lasts on deck, and what breaks people?

The people who last usually come from work that already made them tired outdoors. Tradesmen. Landscapers. Farm kids. Sailors and surfers and anyone comfortable in and around water. Sport backgrounds travel well, because team sport teaches you to take a correction and keep moving.

Three things break people, and none of them are the ones in the brochure.

Repetition first. You will chamois the same handrail tomorrow, and the day after, and it will look no better than it did today. The reward for finishing a job on deck is doing it again. If that idea makes you tighten up, read pick your department before you book a course.

Hierarchy second. The deck runs on rank: deckhand, lead deckhand, bosun, officer ranks, captain. You do the job the way the bosun wants it done, not the way you would do it at home. Nobody is interested in your opinion on teak in your first season.

Hours third. About 9 hours a day off charter is normal. On charter it goes to 14. The MLC rest floor is 10 hours in any 24 and 77 in any 7 days, and leave accrues at 2.5 days a month, so the season is long and the days off are few. The full trade is set out in the perks and the price.

What does a deckhand earn, and what does it cost you?

Daywork pays per day and buys you the reference. A permanent junior berth pays monthly, with your bunk and your food aboard, so the number sits closer to take-home than a shore job at the same figure.

The lower monthly figure on the bigger boats catches people out. You are not being paid less for being on a better boat. You are being paid for half the year in a rotational berth, and the time off is the rest of the wage.

Tips are not guaranteed. Exceptional charter weeks reach toward 5,000 USD per crew member, private boats often pay none at all, and no captain should be promising you a number before a season starts.

What do you need before a captain will take you on for a day?

Two certificates, in this order. The ENG1 medical first, because a fail makes everything after it wasted money: GBP 115 in the UK, about R2,800 in Cape Town, EUR 100 to 150 in Antibes, valid for 2 years. Then STCW Basic Safety Training, about 5 days, R6,500 to R15,000 in Cape Town, USD 1,095 to 1,375 in Fort Lauderdale, EUR 1,295 in Antibes or Palma, GBP 850 to 1,050 in the UK.

Everything else waits. RYA Powerboat Level 2 costs GBP 199 to 325 and is worth buying when a boat asks for it. Efficient Deckhand, about GBP 750, only matters once you are aiming at officer ranks, and it has to be held 18 months before an Officer of the Watch under-3000GT ticket, which itself needs 36 months of yacht service. The full list by department sits on the certificates page.

Definition

Daywork is paid casual labour on a boat, usually one to five days, hired the same morning or the night before. It is the standard way in for green deck crew, and it is a working interview whether anyone calls it that or not.

Then get to a season port and stand on the dock. The trial day is the interview. Nobody hires a green deckhand off paper. They hire the person who turned up at 07:00, took a correction without sulking, and cleaned up before being asked.

• ENG1 medical booked, expiry date noted
• STCW Basic Safety Training booked, dates confirmed in writing
• Flights into Antibes, Palma or Fort Lauderdale for the start of the season
• B1/B2 visa if the plan includes US waters
• Two page CV, deck template, ready before you land
• Boat shoes, plain polo, a phone that holds charge all day

From the bridge

I have hired a deckhand at 08:00 who was still standing on the dock at 07:55 with nothing to do. I have also sent one home at 10:00 for sitting down on the swim platform with a phone. Both decisions took about a minute.

How should a deckhand CV read?

Short and physical. Two pages, no more. Put your certificates and their expiry dates near the top where I can see them without scrolling. Put your dates next, written as dates, because "available immediately" tells me nothing about Friday.

Then give me the work. Not "hardworking team player". Tell me the roof you framed, the fleet of dinghies you maintained, the season you ran a surf school, the tractor you serviced. Deck work is hands and stamina and care with other people's expensive things, so show me anywhere you have done that on land or on the water.

Photo: plain background, collared shirt, no sunglasses, no beach. Skip the personal statement, and skip the line about loving the ocean, because so does everyone who hands me a CV that morning.

Build it once and build it right. SeaPapers has a deck template that holds the two page discipline and keeps your certificates in one folio, so when a captain asks for your ENG1 on the dock you send it in a minute instead of an evening. Build it at seapapers.com before you fly, not after.