As green crew, one way to land a permanent role as a yacht stew or deckhand is by building up your new yachting CV with day work. Learning how to get day work and taking advantage of those opportunities can be a stepping stone to starting your yachting career.

Day work gives you an introduction to what it’s like to work onboard, where you start to build your first yacht stew or deckhand skills, it also gives you income during the job hunting phase, allows you to network and creates a positive reputation for you in the industry.  

This article answers these questions: What is day work on yachts? Why do yachts need day workers? How to get day work for yacht crew? What do you get paid as a day worker? What to wear to day work onboard? Hot tips for green crew when day working.

What is daywork: It’s a non-contractual temporary work on a yacht. It’s when a yacht hires you temporarily, this can range from one day to a week to a month depending on the extra work needed to be done onboard. You could be hired to work in any area of the boat from the interior, exterior or engineering department.  Daywork is not only just for green crew it can also be for temp experienced crew. You will be doing any job needed to be done, from the routine monthly tasks the crew don’t get time to do or cleaning crew areas, detailing the cabins and interior preparing it for the next charter, helping with provisions or washdowns on the exterior of the vessel.

Why yachts need day workers: During busy periods boats need more help than usual to ‘turn the boat around’ in between charters. When yachts drop off one charter or boss trip within 24-48 hrs you need to prepare the boat up to superyacht standards for the next guests arrival. These are usually really long days for the crew and throw in having to also get new provisions onboard, a full laundry, detailing every cabin and resetting the interior there’s often not enough hours in the day to get it done just with the regular crew so this is when day workers are needed. You could also be called for daywork when the boat is on charter to assist with large events or to do the routine jobs the crew onboard don’t have time to do on charter.

How you get daywork:
1. Through Facebook pages such as Antibes yacht crew or Fort Lauderdale Yacht Crew Daywork, or yacht crew pages/WhatsApp groups

2. Crew houses will often be contacted by boats (especially Grapevine in Antibes, France as it is very reputable) this is why I highly recommend staying in crew houses as this is the added bonus which can ultimately lead to a job.

3. Walking the docks handing out your cv, this a first-hand way of offering your services to vessels nearby, a business card is also very handy to give out too. This way they can contact you directly. If you want to learn more about dock walking check out this article here.

What you will get paid:
$150 USD or  €100- €130 cash per day (depending on experience). Most likely to include lunch, however, accommodation is not usually provided due to limited spaces onboard.

Tips for daywork:

1. If dock walking pack a spare pair of clothes it’s not unusual for the yacht to ask you to jump on board then and there to help out. 

2. Be open to working in any department necessary to add to your yachting CV as it’s all valuable experience. It may not be a deck position you are wanting but if you can help out with a wash down it’s an experience you can say you’ve done. 

3. Don’t be late. There are so many people eager to take this opportunity so act keen and arrive 10 mins early. 

4. Do not use your mobile phone while day working (acceptable on breaks only), and do not take photos of you on the boat.

5. Always finish your task promptly, and clean up after you’re done. Ask the crew if they need a hand with anything if you are waiting for your next task. If you are not sure how to do something don’t just wing it, ask the person in charge and just explain you haven’t done this task before.

6. Network, if you develop a great relationship with the crew on that boat they will be likely to recommend you to other boats if they do not have a permanent position.

Want to learn more about how to get a job on a superyacht? Check out The Yachting Kickstarter Guide Course – A step-by-step, here’s how you do it guide on landing your first job in the competitive yachting industry.

Want to build up your stewardess skills with an on-demand stewardess training course? Check out The Seaworthy Yacht Stew Training Course here