Another charter closed

It’s been awhile since I’ve had enough time to sit down and actually make my brain work enough to put together a few sentences. I am currently sitting in the Zurich airport (Switzerland). After a interesting, exciting, and long nine months I have decided it’s time to move boats and allow myself a little R&R before I’m off again for another year or so. This time I won’t go nine months of work and no vacation time. The “rules” on the boat I was on were a little skewed. 

Going from Fort Lauderdale - Azores, Portugal - Gibraltar, UK - San Remo, Italy - Morocco, Africa - Monaco - Genova, Italy - Corsica, France - Naples, Italy plus a lot more small cities all down the Italian coast and then over to Sardinia, Italy for the past five months, I’ve learn all of about six solid words of Italian, working a little more on my French and I feel as if I know more Spanish than I thought. 

We just came off two back to back one day turn around charters. First trip was all Italian ladies who were supposed to come for five days and ended up staying nine. One day in between trips and then another trip with 11 guests for ten days. Giving my notice and knowing the date I was leaving was brutal. Even though all my crew was very supportive in my choice of leaving I was sad to go because they were such an amazing crew. For reasons I can’t really put out on the internet I only left for one reason and that reason seemed little by little to drive me to insanity. I’m happy with my choices so far and headed to Palma, Spain to see my boyfriend and travel around Europe with him. After i have some relaxation I will return to Palma for the new job search and see where the wind takes me. 

(As the sun was setting, I was taken ashore and leaving behind Big Eagle - Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy)

As I sit here thinking about my journey so far, just today I don’t understand why I like travel so much. I have been super stressed out just trying to get from point A to point B. I started off by getting off Big Eagle and into the tender with all my crew for a small booze cruise and my sending off. We docked the tender right in the heart of the town and turned up the music and all had to shotgun and beer in memory of me. (As an American, I taught a lot of my crew what that is) We then opened a bottle of wine and sipped away as we waited for my cab to arrive. I came to the boat with a large rolling bag and a small duffle. I left with the same two plus an oversized purse/bag, a backpack and a trash bag full of stuff. I don’t know how I acquired so much stuff (well you can guess) but I had to get rid of some stuff unfortunately just to be able for the tender to stay afloat. After trying to get a taxi and get to my hotel for the night, I was able to get into my room and was expecting a nice big comfy bed and AC. I got neither of those two things. It was two cot sized beds that flipped up like a beach chair when I sat on the end of it and an AC that blew out warm air. The shower was smaller than the size of the one I had on the boat and I had to turn off the shower to shave properly and had to step OVER the toilet to get into the shower. To top it all off, I was trying to look pretty before seeing Dave and curl my hair…I don’t have an Italian converter, so that was a no go and I left my toiletries bag on the boat. No tooth brush, tooth paste, deodorant etc. Just a great start to my vacation so far.  No wifi in the room and they didn’t give me my ID back. Thus far my travels have been not so good. I wake up and go to the airport and the line is out the door but not to worry I am there in plenty of time. I get up to the front of the line and they say I haven’t paid for a 2nd piece of baggage. I have to get out of line to go pay an extra 85 euros just to check another bag then get back in line. By this point, I’m very hangry (hungry and angry). Somehow I make my flight in time and now in Zurich, but my flight is the only flight delayed an hour. I just want to get to my destination and have no responsibilities for at least a solid 24 hours. 

Made it to Palma…Dave picked me up at the airport and went back to his flat and just explored around old town the first day. Second day we got a cute little hostel in Daia which is north of the city in the mountains. Small town, not a lot around but has such a cute Spanish influence. Before we came to Daia we looked around and had lunch in Sollere which is another town north of the city in the mountains but a lot more touristy and crowded. The town was right on a port and had a lot of small boats and a few beaches. After a winding 30 minute drive to Daia we found our hostel at the tip top of the peak of a mountain. Covered in ivy and a spanish style roof, we had a room with a tiny little balcony and kept the room cool with the breeze coming through and we could look out into the valley of the entire town of Daia. The chickens were talking in the wee hours of the morning along with the birds singing and the enormous drops of rain hitting the roof. It was like I was dreaming. Laying in bed listening to all the amazing sounds early in the morning was exactly what the doctor ordered. We now are heading back to the city of Palma and going to go for a spa day because the weather hasn’t been good since I’ve been here. I’m ok with that because I’ve been in the sunshine and amazing weather for pretty much the past nine months and the cool mountain air is perfect. 

This photo is in old town Palma. Amazing old buildings and architecture.

Hostel in Daia, Spain

Famous Roman Catholic church in Palma. 

More than half way there

Current location: Sanremo, Italy

Sanremo is a small town on the northern coastline of Italy, closest big city is Nice, France. Right at the French/Italian boarder on the Italian Riviera. I am only about a ten minute train ride away from Nice, France; five away from Monte Carlo and Monaco and my old stomping grounds - Antibes is about a 45 minute train ride. Though we have been docked in Sanremo for about three weeks now I haven't made it back to Antibes yet. I'm dying to go and reminisce on my life changing study abroad spots and experiences.

While August is slowly approaching, we still have not had a charter this season. Hard to believe coming from a very busy Caribbean season with nine charters, two boss trips and countless amounts of tips....to nothing at all, I'm going a bit stir crazy. I love seeing money flow into my bank account and now that it's not flowing as much as I would like it, I'm ready to move on and ready for a change. I know what I want and I'm going to try my hardest to get it.

We have had a very interesting last few months though, two new chefs, new chef stew, new stew, two new deckies and the list goes on. People are on and off all the time, doesn't seem to bother me much anymore. When the first crew member said they were leaving I was shocked and didn't want them to go but now that I've been on Big Eagle for eight months nothing is a surprise. People in and out isn't always a bad thing, getting to meet new people, making connections here and there in the industry isn't always a bad thing. Having three chefs in an eight month period is somewhat impressive because everyone cooks so differently. My palate has opened tremendously since arriving on Big Eagle. Willing to sample and try most anything that is put in front of me. Which actually isn't working in my favor. I'm going to see Dave for the first time in almost four months and I want to look fit, but "trying out my new recipe" is my enemy one liner right now. But the great thing about getting new crew is that I now have another stew, Cara, who loves to work out as much as I do so we will do all types of workouts together, morning and night on some days. She's so tiny and english, I love her! We work well together and have a lot of the same interests but are able to do things on our own.

So fun being able to be in all these small towns all over the world, it really opens my eyes to what I had my whole life, what I want in the future, and also what I don't want later on down the road.

Spain was less thrilling and entertaining than Gibraltar and Italy but Italy has been an experience just enough to know that I would only want to visit here. Breath taking coast line, enthusiastic people every corner you turn, and the typical city scene; narrow corridors, colorful laundry hanging on the lines outside a little flat, and people up all night talking in the echoing streets. But as I age, I seem to find the little things I can or cannot live without. Being so far away from home and only being able to speak to my family a few hours of the day is very frustrating. Not being able to jump on a "quick" and "cheap" flight home is tough. Even though a flight from Salt Lake City was never really quick or cheap it was better than my situation now if I really needed to just go home and recharge, which is what I'm thinking I need right about now. I think being almost completely shut off from my life at home so quick has really opened my eyes and made me realize all I have at home. I am in love with my job and know this is the perfect place to be in life at this moment, but I have matured vastly in these last ten months of being far away and need a small holiday to be able to stand back and see all that I have.

Today, Saturday July 19 and Sunday July 20 will be the last few days of freedom for me. We are headed to Pisa, Italy (leaning tower of Pisa) on Tuesday to pick up for a charter on Wednesday.  Right after that charter finishes we will have a two day turn over and right into the next 10 day charter which will leave me mid to late August and Big Eagle will maybe have only one more boss trip before they cross back over to the States.

Days off are very rare but I am so thankful each and day we get one. Hopefully I'll be able to blog again soon.

Cheers to a great rest of the Med season!

Stuck

Current location: Gibraltar U.K.

Sitting in Ocean Village Marina now for seven weeks and counting. No charters booked until August. Sadly, I think we are all starting to go a bit crazy. 

Last season we were fully booked, also in some cases had charters back to back weeks. Going from a full season to almost half way through the Med season with nothing planned until August is really hurting my bank account. I still get paid monthly but getting a tip for two grand or more for a weeks worth of work is always a nice thought. Gibraltar is in U.K. pounds and the dollar to the pound is almost 2 to 1. Every time I eat off the boat it's over $15 American dollars (those are the specials) and drinks are at least $8 per beer. I need to get out of Gib and move to the Euro. The Euro now to the American dollar is better; it's only about 1.3 to 1. We have had a few inquiries for upcoming charters, we had one in Turkey and the latest one that we all got very excited for was Croatia but because we are on the very West side of the Mediterranean it's not working out in our favor. We are still a four to five day trip to most of the popular yachting countries. Both obviously fell through but I think we have come to the conclusion that we NEED to move farther East to be able to land a good charter; a charter at all actually. 

Even though we are on a very relaxed 8-5 schedule and having the weekends off, I'm getting very stur crazy and want to see a lot more of Europe, and I'm stuck in the random country of Gibraltar which is a tiny little country stuck on the bottom of Spain. Last weekend I took a trip to Tarfia, Spain which is a small coastal town about an hour away closer to Portugal. Surfer, beachy town with surfing, kite boarding and very laid back atmosphere. Something I really needed, just to get off the boat and away for the weekend really helped. We sat at a beach bar on swings, sipping on a Pina Colada and watching the sun go down between the ocean and the rolling hills of Spain. After the sunset there was a game on from the World Cup and we cheered with the locals and drank beers. Football (soccer) over here is already their biggest sport but this is like the SuperBowl times ten to them. Everyone has a team and is cheering for them until they die. Every night people are at the bars getting pissed (drunk) screaming and yelling at the TV screens. Right behind our boat there is a line of about nine bars all right on the water front with big flat screen TVs like Buffalo Wild Wings in the States. Even when we aren't at the bars we can tell when someone scores a goal because everyone is going crazy. Very cool to say I've got to experience the celebration of the World Cup in Europe. 

Other then that I've been just working and trying to keep the pounds off because Sam, our chef, has been "trying food out on us," to make sure it's up to guest standards. I know that sounds like a complaint but in all honestly, I love it!!

More of an update on where we end up next when I find out. Today is Sunday and we are planning on moving the first of the week fingers crossed for all of our sanity.

Peace&Love

What my job entails...

For many months now people at home would ask me what exactly does a super yacht stewardess do? I'm sure many thought  I just smiled nicely whilst serving tea and coffee to the guests on board (similar to that of an airline stewardess).

So what exactly does a super yacht stewardess do? 

A super yacht stewardess wears many hats, think housekeeper, waitress, safety officer, guest relations, butler, laundress, florist and well groomed hostess.

A typical day may include:

Drinks Service: 

Drinking is at the cultural epicenter of every social group on the planet and  a yacht stewardess must be extremely competent with serving all types of beverages. Skills a stewardess must possess are: 

• Wine knowledge, wine pairing wine storage and wine service.
• Champagne service. 
• Port and Cognac service. 
• Beer knowledge and beer service.
• Cocktail knowledge, preparation and decoration.
• Spirits knowledge.
• Hot beverages, tea and coffee service.
• Storage knowledge of fine tea and coffee.
• Soft drink and other non alcoholic storage and service.

Further to beverage service a good stewardess will also be educated about tobacco  and service of cigars, cigarettes and pipes.

Food Service: 

Broadly speaking there are five types of service that a stewardess is required to competently master. These are as follows:

• Silver service.
• American service or plate service.
• English service.
• Buffet service.
• Russian service.

In addition to the styles of service a yacht stewardess must be well versed in table management, table settings , courses and order of service. These duties and the success of a beautiful dinner or a bodacious party primarily lay with the Head Chef and Chief Stewardess.

Housekeeping: 

A super yacht is full of fine fabrics, and expensive art work, so a yacht stewardess must be extremely proficient to handle such pieces; or may be required to work under the supervision of the Chief Stewardess until that level has been achieved.

• Housekeeping duties will include cleaning cabins.
• Cleaning public areas on board.
• Cleaning the officers cabins.
• Cleaning the crew mess and other crew areas.

The details of housekeeping will depend on the size of the vessel and will be co-ordinated by the Chief Stewardess.

Laundry Care:  

The most common types of fabrics a stewardess must know how to launder correctly are: 

• Cotton.
• silk.
• microfiber.
• Wool.
• Rayon.
• Polyester.
• Leather.
• Linen.

Laundry details and co-ordination will be explained by the chief stewardess, and must be executed by the stewardess. This is an area where many mistakes can happen so extra diligence is required here.

 

Flower Arranging & Plant Care: 

Flower arranging and plant care is a fun part of the job. The reason why every good stewardess should know how to arrange  flowers is that is yes, you are on a yacht and you may not have access to or the budget to call a florist every time your flowers or plants need attention.

Personal Appearance: 

Yes I'm sorry to say that looks do matter in this industry. It is one of the things that I found hard to handle when I was being instructed to hire model like stewardesses.

However there is  a light at the end of this (some times) superficial tunnel; and that is grooming and presentation. Grooming , personal hygiene and personal presentation is not hard to  manage. Knowing your colors, what hair style suits your face and how to wear your uniform can make a great impact on your overall presentation.

Professional Etiquette & Interpersonal Communications: 

Professional etiquette and personal communications in my opinion is one of the most under rated assets of a stewardess. These skills must be learnt over a period of time; where a stewardess will learn how to speak and  when to speak (a skill that many struggle to master); how to walk on a boat, and how to carry herself in front of very important people. Communication skills are not only limited to verbal communications, but   also includes non verbal communications, like a pretty smile, or non direct eye contact (depending on the culture of the guests). All of  these small things make all the difference to your guests having a truly relaxed and enjoyable experience on board.

STCW 95 & Safety Responsibilities: 

Finally  a super yacht stewardess must fulfill her safety role in a case of an emergency. Her role will depend on her position, the size of the vessel and her qualifications. Her role will be allocated to her by the Captain or Chief Officer (again depending on the size of the vessel) and must be taken very seriously.

So that is what a super yacht stewardess does. We can do it all.

Cheers

Exact

This word for word is exactly all about the first couple of stages of being a yachtie...most of yall wont get it but it's hilarious if you do.

http://theswedishafrican.wordpress.com/2014/04/20/the-four-stages-of-being-a-yachtie/

Morocco, Africa

 I officially have been to Africa!

Even though I consider myself as a worldly person and think that I've seen it all, these new countries and experiences still seem to amaze me. The culture, the people, the poverty, all were unknowing and jaw dropping.

We first took a ferry from Spain (Europe) to Spain (Africa.) Spain (Africa) is how Gibraltar is to UK. Not connected to the same country but there was about ten square miles of land on the African continent that is still part of Spain. So from Spain to Spain on the ferry then a bus from Spain, over the boarder to Morocco was only about a five minute drive but getting over the boarder was insane. Pictures were prohibited, passports, itinerary, amount of hours in the country, and where you were going was all information they needed before getting over the boarder. There were at least a thousand people waiting to get into Spain from Morocco and a line of cars a few miles long. To get into Morocco wasn't as big of a deal as getting out. I was so tempted to take a picture because it's so hard to explain, even in great detail at what the boarder looked like. I remember being little, going to Mexico and seeing all the "policia" with huge machine guns and not even being scared. Morocco...I was scared. Polica in full uniform with big bulbous hats wrapped around their chins, multiple guns, and no expression on their faces. The Mediterranean is on one side of the boarder and rolling hills with multiple guards atop staring down on all the people crossing. Cages like jail cells lined with people inside trying to get across. It was like the line to ride on the Millennium Force at Cedar Point only it was seven foot high, barbed wired, rod iron fence with no re-entry. Felt as if I had done something wrong before I even got into the country. Good way to start out the trip.

Once over the boarder we rode in the bus to a small town (don't even know the name) on the western side of the country into old town. Before we got to the old town we stopped to see camels just off the side of the road. To start, it was raining, we all got off the bus, the camel was uncovered from a tarp and got up abruptly. Everyone was snapping photos. The camel had a red and gold striped satchel/saddle on. To ride it was one euro so I was third or fourth in line waiting for my turn. A couple from our bus was on their honeymoon from Costa Rico and wanted to ride together. The guy was maybe 230lbs and she the woman was close to 170lbs. Not a small couple, they get onto the camel, woman in front and as the camel starts to get up, the weight of the couple shifts and the saddle starts to fall off to one side. The woman leans so far forward that the camel head butts her right in the nose. It is having trouble getting up and starts to freak out. The camel starts bucking up and down like a horse and the couple fall off on top of the guide then onto the concrete. The camel bucks off into the side yard of where we were and just starts eating the grass. The couple are still laying on the ground half on top of the guy that somewhat broke their fall. The woman cut up her forearm pretty bad, ripped her white t-shirt and had mud all over it. The man looked stunned of what just happened. We all were standing there wondering if we should be laughing or not after seeing everyone was alright. I was clearly opting out of being the next person to ride it. Once that whole situation was over the guide came back with another camel and just said we could get pictures with it but couldn't ride it because of the rain, didn't want anything else bad to happen. It was so smelly and I reeked of camel the rest of the day! I was able to pet it and get some good pictures just hanging out with a camel on Wednesday which in America is considered HUMP DAY, mid day of the week.

Next stop was old town markets. We walked through the markets for about an hour. The Moroccan people are all Arab Muslims. No black people as I imagined Africa being. The women all wear full hijabs, covering all parts of the body including the hair and all around the face. Only thing showing are the feet and hands. I was walking through the market with my long blonde hair hanging out and if I've ever been the center of attention before, this was 100 times worse. I almost felt as if I was going against their religion because I was walking around all the Mosques with my hair out. Throughout the market we were able to taste a few things. These men and women would sit on the sidewalk and sell their products. Some with a few olives to sell and others with live chickens and their eggs. We walked up and down the hills of Morocco, in between small corridors no wider than my arm length, dodging all the puddles and pot holes. 

I'm in love with these type of lamps. I can imagine my future house having an outdoor area with these hanging all over and a comfy area to lye down and stare at the stars. These lamps were all over morocco. For sale but I had to resist, cant really bring that back to the boat. 

This was a door to one Mosque. All are different colors but most have doors similar to this one. Muslims pray five times a day so there's literally a Mosque on every corner.

This is one of the crazy things we saw while walking through the market. Because it was raining they were trying to keep the rain out and stringing lines over one another ti be able to put tarps out. They didn't have a "normal" ladder so they needed two people to make this one work.

We had a traditional Moroccan lunch, pita bread, soup, koos koos, chicken and their known tradition after the meal is mint tea, most wonderful hot tea i've ever tasted!

After the meal, we took an hour bus ride to the city of Tangier. This city reminded me of Brazil. Everyone and everything was on top of each other. Houses on top of houses, slums, people everywhere like the streets of New York City. High rise buildings like a regular city and then a slum right across the street. Every person we passed was trying to sell me something or begging for money and these people wouldn't just ask once but I swear there was one man that maybe walked a mile with us trying to sell me a leather camel toy probably only really worth 50 cents. He started out saying it was 40 euros then went down to 25 then once I literally told him to get the hell away from me he said, "ok ok for free" in very broken english. These people were desperate just to tell one thing a day to be able to eat. 

I couldn't get a good enough photo of the slums but this is just a small little picture of what it sorta looked like. The big buildings were behind us and then this was houses on top of houses. Everyone hanging there clothes out on lines to dry and people out on there porches just watching the people and traffic go by. Hard to explain and put everything into perspective when you haven't seen it when your own eyes. It was so amazing. So glad I can now say I've been to Africa. Hoping I can explore other countries of Africa another day. Onto the next country.

Rumor is that we are leaving Gib in a few days maybe a week then to France.

Peace&Love

when yachties get bored...

the boat right next to us in port did this rendition of backstreet boys music video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UQU2OrtLW8&app=desktop