When you’re searching for yacht jobs online as a stewardess or deckhand you may have seen jobs advertised as rotational or 3:1 or 2:1 and a lot of questions have popped up around these jobs. So in the blog, we will get clear on what rotational jobs are, how they work, why they are sought after in the industry, and the differences between working as a permanent yacht crew and rotational yacht crew. 

What is a rotational yacht job onboard? 

It’s where you work a set amount of time then have an organized period of leave this can range anywhere between 5 months on and 1 month off to 6 weeks on 6 weeks off.  Rotational jobs are normal for vessels above 3000 gross tones.  

For Junior Stews a 5:1 is the most common and standard rotation. This means that you are on board for 5 months, and have 1 month’s leave. Other rotations for the interior department are  the 3:1 rotation however a little harder to come by… Typically speaking yachts over 100m are likely to offer a 3:1 rotation for the crew. And a 2:2 is more commonly reserved for the more senior Stews onboard.  For those stews with extra skills such as spa therapists, hairdressers, and nurses rotational jobs are easier to come by.   

How do rotational yachting jobs work?

2 crew members share one job onboard so when your time onboard is complete so you’ve done your 3 months you’ll prepare handover notes for your crew member you are swapping out with to carry on their role onboard and they are up to date. This may also come from the chief stew with a briefing. 

On departure day you’ll do a full detail of your cabin cleaning it and making the bed for your incoming crew member and You’ll pack away all your belongings in your cabin and put them in your suitcase. Sometimes vessells allow rotational crew to have another bag on board where they can store some items so they don’t have to carry them on leave and then return with them to the boat. However not always depends on the space available for luggage onboard. 

Your flights are also paid for back to your home port (country), and a question popped up the other day as to whether or not you HAVE to fly home on your leave or can you fly to another country and enjoy a holiday. And it all depends on the boat’s policy. I always worked on boats where they would offer crew a flight to the same amount that it would usually cost to fly them home. So for the Aussies and kiwis out there who are over in the states and Europe, this is often one of the most expensive flights so it was great and you could fly anywhere, however, this was not the case for crew from England as if we were in France and they were going on leave it was usually a very cheap flight and they would have to contribute money to their flight allowance if they chose to fly to a different part of the world.  The crew from England would usually save their flights till when we were in the Caribbean so they could use more of the allowance for a holiday. 

Why have rotational yachting roles become sought after? 

Many years ago charter yachts were the most desired boats to be on because of extra tips earned. However, this has recently changed with many recruiters confirming the preferred choice for Stews at all levels is now a rotational yacht job. It means more time with friends and family has never been so important and valued, and perhaps it was something we all took for granted before. It offers more structure so you can plan your life a little easier and maybe be able to attend events back home like weddings etc. It gives you a bit more stability in what feels like a very fast-paced life onboard sometimes. 

In my opinion, it makes your career as a yacht stew or deckhand more sustainable as you know there’s light at the end of the tunnel when you’ve been working so hard you have a date when you know you’re leaving the boat. And that feeling is just as good as drop-off day! You’ll know what I mean when you first experience it.

Do yacht crew get paid when they aren’t even on the boat?

In short, yes! You will continue to receive your superyacht crew salary throughout the year, and although this may not be as much as if you were working on yachts in a permanent role, the trade-off is generally considered well worth it. It means that when you are on board, you’re highly motivated and ready to carry out your yacht crew duties to the highest standard.

Rotation was a big goal of mine, but I have to admit it was a very different environment to working for a few years on a charter yacht. 

Differences between working in a rotational position and in a permanent role onboard a charter yacht

• On the charter yacht, my cabin which I shared with my roomie was our own, we made it into our little private oasis (think fairy lights, photos, pillows, blankets). And when we would go on leave we would always come back to our cabin just as we left it. So we didn’t have to pack up any of our belongings.  When you’re living and working with another crew member you develop a close bond and it’s nice to feel comfortable with that person know their routines etc when you stay with the same crew members in the same cabin.  The boat also didn’t have as many crew coming and going at all times so it felt closer and more like a family environment.
  
• Now on rotational jobs, this is completely different in some ways I felt more like a number (I mean yes you have your laundry number, but you also have you’re own bag number to pile your things in when you leave for rotation and you swap in and out so feel more dispensable and maybe not as valued in your role) Just my thoughts. You also swap out with crew members on their rotation so usually on crew change over day there’s about 4 or 5 crew coming in and leaving (this was an 89m yacht) so I found the crew I never got to work with as I was on my rotation I didn’t get a chance to develop a relationship with it was more like hi, bye enjoy your leave.
  
  But working on rotation after being in the industry for many years was a blessing, I could plan holidays! I could plan events at home! I had a schedule and it was more work-life balance. I felt more rested as I had a certain amount of time off and when I was back on the boat I was in work mode and felt like I could do a better job.
  
  

How to find a rotational yacht crew job as a stewardess?

To start with most rotational interior positions are on private yachts of 100m+. Charter yachts don’t seem to offer rotation as much to stews as they are in the money-making business!  Considering financially it makes sense for them to have just one stew to keep flight costs down.

On Yachts, under 100m you don’t usually see as many rotational positions as they can’t afford to lose a crew member for an extended time. 

When a rotational position opens up it’s good to know you have a really strong CV so that you can be considered for the ‘Yes’ pile. If you’re unsure about yours the Yachting CV my toolkit can help! it has everything you need to make a stand-out cv from cv templates to a full cv review. 

As it is a lot harder for green crew to land a rotational role here is a rundown of heads of departments will ask when recruiting for a rotational role. 

• A good background before yachting, in a relevant industry
• Roughly 18 months in the industry, (IdIdeallyith 12 months’ longevity on the same yacht)
• Experience on yachts of a similar size (80m+)
• Trained in extra skills which bring value to the team, like floristry, cocktails, barista
• PDSD in hand, and Food Hygiene Level 2
  
  
  >> Have you considered doing yacht stewradess training? Check out  The Seaworthy Yacht Stewardess Training Course for more infromation on how it can help you start your yacht stew career with confidence.