Delivery crew, charter crew and Daywork.

I think it's safe to assume that most yacht crew are well aware of the annual salary surveys and the published results. These surveys are very useful to determine the industry averages and if your salary is within the normal range. These surveys can also serve another purpose by educating yacht owners on what the crew salary standards are for professional and qualified crew.

Everyone who is actively working in the yachting industry most likely picked up some day work or filled a temporary position at some point in their career and will have a good idea of what the average going rates are. Although the standard rates could be perceived as common knowledge, sometimes the crew responsible for hiring temp crew might find their selves in a position where they have to explain why extra help is required and how much is being spend on this. Most owners and yacht managers will be used to a certain amount of temp workers expenses, but some may question the need for this as well as the rates that are paid. Often I feel this could be driven by lack of knowledge and experience with industry standards or strict budgets that may not be sufficient for the size, type and age of the yacht.

In a recent meeting with a yacht owner I had a discussion about the payment of a temporary stewardess, and when he questioned her payment (after agreeing to the rates upfront) I thought it would be appropriate  to look up a salary survey to try and educate the yacht owner about the industry standards. I realized that it's very difficult to prove what the industry standard is for the daily and hourly rates of temporary crew, which made me wonder what information is available on this subject. In this case, the yacht owner had little to no previous experience with hiring temp crew or using a crew agency, and I wanted to use the opportunity to manage the yacht owners future expectations. Money remains a to be a difficult subject for a large number of yacht owners, and for those owners the subject should be dealt with delicately. In some cases owners have experienced dishonesty around them which makes them careful in who they trust, in other cases owners may get in over their heads when buying the biggest yacht their money can buy, but not being able or willing to put in the necessary money for the running cost.

Although many boats run with a healthy budget and the crew have established trust with their owners, it seems beneficial to determine what the going rates are for the temporary positions in this industry. If you like to support us in charting this area of the yachting industry, you can click on the link below. You can stay completely anonymous.

Take the survey now!