What makes a great crew member?

The demand for good crew has never been higher.

But… what makes someone a great crew member, separate from one that simply has a lot of tickets?

Let’s address the elephant in the galley: you can have all the tickets under the sun, but you still might not be a good crew member.  

It doesn’t matter if you can fix an engine using an IKEA allen key, some whipping twine and a seashell; or navigate a yacht safely through the nastiest of storms, if everyone else on board wishes you’d walk the plank.

So how to be a great crew member?

Bring a great crew member means being a number of different things, and each of those different depending on who you’re working with at the time. Crew mates? Boat owner? Different hats worn for each.

If you’re a couple, being a great crew member is more than ‘working well as a team.’ If you’re a solo engineer or stew joining a boat, it’s more than just being ‘able to hit the ground running.’ 

Both of those things are of course important, but they’re not what separates a great crew member from the rest of the CV stack.

Ultimately, a crew is there to facilitate the needs of a yacht owner, or their charter guests. 

It is a great contradiction of our industry that while crew spend thousands and thousands on tickets, becoming the most extraordinary chefs able to take an unknown ingredient and create something delightful; or learning how to escape an oncoming tropical revolving storm, it’s actually the ability to provide exceptional service to the person who owns the boat that is not yet comprehensively taught, but something that does have a significant impact on hiring.  (Until now: watch this space for the Figure Eight Training Academy)

We regularly hire crew couples for private and charter owners, and we look for much more than the ‘works really well together’ ‘lots of experience’ ‘years working on the same boat’ – though of course, those do help.

One of the defining characteristics of a truly excellent crew couple is their ability to blend their job roles, both knowing exactly what the other is doing, how long it’s likely to take, and what they need prepared in order to be able to do that job.

Life in close quarters, and especially if there are just two crew on A YACHT, is a huge challenge. 

So while there are the practicalities of the chef being able to maintain a watch or the captain being able to whip up 12 poached eggs at the drop of a hat; this is more about showing that you know what your crewmate needs.  

What are the challenges they face?  How you can work with them to make sure the on board experience for your guests or owners is seamless – and do you show an understanding of how this fits around your own role?

Being a great crew member also means being able to recognise when your crew mate has had enough, needs a break, and being able step in to minimise the impact.

Chef has overheated, because the air con is being fixed but they’re on lunch service and it’s 35° below? Captain, you’re laying the table, running the dishes upstairs, making sure the chef is hydrated with something icy icy cold, washing up while they sit down for 15 minutes, and planning a route that means your chef will be able to go for a swim with the guests off the boat (and fixing the aircon, please.)

Captain has blistering sunburn because the guests did 3 hours of watersports at midday? Chef, you’re on sunstroke watch, hydration manager, managing the lines, tendering the guests to the town if they’re off for dinner, and making sure the Captain stays in the shade as much as possible until the sunburn has calmed down a bit.

Your new deckhand is in their first role on board and is exhausted at the pace of a month’s charter life? Crew, you need to help them get into a good routine that prioritises physical and mental wellbeing over giving 110% (tautology, forgive us) because it’s their first role and they want to prove they can do it.

Being a great crew member is so much more than having qualifications.

It’s having the foresight to prepare for everything you might need 3 days from now, it’s recognising burnout in your team mates and gently stepping in before someone gets there, it’s recognising the needs of your guests before they even realise it’s a need – all while doing your main job, and so so much more.

What is something you look for in a great crew member? tell us!