Oh, sleep… sometimes that feels like a forgotten concept in the midst of a busy season. With back to back charters, the idea of 8 consecutive hours of rest is sometimes an unachievable “dream”. Today we give out Top Tips for superyacht crew needing sleep:

1. Supplements

Taking a melatonin supplement half an hour before bedtime can help you wind down and improve the quality of your sleep. Melatonin is a key hormone that signals to your brain that it is time to unwind and sleep. Usually, your body releases this hormone naturally towards the end of the day as you begin to wind down. However, when on a yacht charter, an evening is usually spent serving drinks, cleaning cabins or washing down right until you get the chance to go to bed. This means your body is unable to relax at the time it naturally would. Taking supplements before you go to bed is a simple and easy way to remedy this issue. Other helpful supplements are valerian (for better sleep quality) and magnesium (for muscle recovery and relaxation). You should check with your doctor before taking any new supplements or medication.

2. Limit Screen Time and Blue Light

We’ve all been there: after a long day, all we want to do is curl up in bed and binge-watch Netflix or scroll through all the social media apps that have been calling our names all day. While this is a good way to relax, it should be done so in moderation. Setting a time limit for yourself is a good way to ensure you get enough sleep while also allowing yourself some time to chill after work. I also advise wearing blue light blocking glasses or installing an app that blocks blue light onto your devices.

3. No Caffeine

Stick to decaf after lunchtime. Don’t drink caffeine for at least 6 hours before bedtime if you want a good night’s rest. While you may not feel its effects, caffeine can stay in your bloodstream for 6-8 hours after consumption. This will stimulate your nervous system, and it will prevent your body from relaxing towards the end of the day, hence ruining your chances of an early (ish) night.

4. Consistency of Sleep

Try to sleep and wake up at consistent times every day to keep your body’s circadian rhythm. As superyacht crew, this may be impossible at times, making it all the more important to focus on during your break between charters.

5. Exercise

Exercise is incredibly beneficial for your physical and mental health. However, exercise releases hormones such as adrenaline and epinephrine, which have a stimulatory effect on the body. This can make it difficult for you to fall asleep and can affect your sleep quality. Therefore, you should aim to leave at least 3 hours between finishing physical exercise and getting ready to sleep.

6. Limit Liquid Before Bed

Everyone knows hydration is key to good health and that drinking throughout the day is necessary. However, if you want to sleep through the night, you should aim to reduce your liquid intake at least an hour before bedtime and try to use the bathroom just before you go to sleep.

7. Meals

Eating large meals before bed can lead to hormone disruption and poor sleep quality, so choose a smaller snack instead. Some studies have shown that a carb-based snack is best for helping you fall asleep.

8. Optimise Your Bedroom Environment

My final tip for getting good sleep on board is this: your bedroom environment should be optimised for sleep. Try eliminating light from outside with a blackout screen over your porthole or by drawing your curtains. Get rid of disruptive noise by investing in some earplugs or a white noise machine. Small changes like these can make all the difference.

Sleep plays such a key role in one’s overall health. Where possible, prioritise good quality sleep, even if the hours may not be as long as you hope for.

To read Gaby’s previous article, click here, or for tips and tricks for staying healthy onboard follow @healthandfitnessretreat.

Did you enjoy reading out top tips for Superyacht Crew needing sleep? If so, you can further learn how to sleep better by clicking here.

For more Superyacht Content health and wellbeing articles, click here.

Photo by Christopher Campbell on Unsplash

Superyacht Crew are regularly exposed to some extremely high pressured environments and challenging working conditions. This can often take a toll on one’s mental health. We all know that exercise is great for one’s physical health. However, did you know that there are also numerous benefits for one’s mental health too?  During a busy season or a long yard period, it is important to incorporate some form of physical activity into your day. This will not only keep you healthy but will help with your mental health and mindset too. Today we look at some of the mental benefits of exercise for superyacht crew that will hopefully encourage you to keep moving:

Reduces Stress

Exercise forces the body’s central and sympathetic nervous systems to communicate with one another. This can improve the body’s overall ability to respond to stress. Also, putting ones body under physical stress regularly teaches the body how to recover and adapt to stress. Both physically and mentally.

Helps with Depression and Anxiety

Exercise is a scientifically proven mood booster. It decreases symptoms of both depression and anxiety. Physical activity increases endorphin levels; this is the “feel good” chemical produced by the brain. It evokes feelings of happiness and euphoria. Even just moderate exercise throughout the week can improve depression and anxiety.

Improves Self Esteem and Self Confidence 

From improving endurance to losing weight and increasing muscle, there’s no shortage of physical achievements that come about from regular exercise. All those achievements can contribute to boosting ones self-esteem and confidence. Often, it happens before you even realise it. It’s one of the many benefits of physical activity, which boost your body and mind. 

Increased Cognitive Function 

The same endorphins that make you feel better also help you concentrate and feel mentally sharp. Exercise also stimulates the growth of new brain cells. As well as this, it helps prevent age-related decline.

Improves Sleep 

Even short bursts of exercise in the morning or afternoon can help regulate your sleep patterns. If you prefer to exercise at night, relaxing exercises such as yoga or gentle stretching can help promote sleep. As crew have such busy schedules, this is the last, but certainly not least, of the mental benefits of exercise for superyacht crew!

These are just a few of the many benefits that exercise has on our mental well-being. If you are new to exercise, start small with a daily walk or some light exercise. It doesn’t need to be hours of weights or cardio. Pick something you enjoy both physically and mentally. This will make it easier to incorporate into your daily life.  

Are you looking for a fitness programme that can be done onboard or in the yard with limited equipment or space? Then try the Crew Fit training guide. It is an eight-week programme, which provides workouts for beginners through to intermediate and advance. 

Crew Fit Training Guide – by HULA Wellness – Hula Wellness

For more fitness articles written by Gaby go here.

Working on a superyacht, yacht crew are spoilt with delicious snacks. During a busy summer season, when one’s nutrition is most important, our time for eating is often limited. Superyacht crew all guilty of grabbing that pastry leftover from breakfast or scoffing down the easiest-to-eat item in the snack cupboard. Heck, sometimes we even revert to eating the turndown chocolate the guests didn’t want the night before.

The lack of sleep, long hours, and endless running around often leave us reaching for the cookie jar multiple times a day. Sadly, this results in short energy spikes followed by an energy low. This, coupled with high caffeine intake to keep us alert and awake, results in some eating habits that leave us yachties feeling zapped of energy and lacking motivation when we need it most.

The Best Snacks for Superyacht crew to have Onboard:

Here we have given you some alternative snack ideas. These are all quick to grab, quick to eat, and provide a slow release of energy. These will keep us going through the long summer days of the season.

• Greek yogurt with honey – This is an excellent option for breakfast or as a snack. It is high in protein, so it leaves you feeling fuller for longer. It also has a lot less sugar and additives than most flavoured yogurts.
• Fruit – Fruit is easy to eat on the go when time is limited. Fruit is a good quality source of fibre. It also helps curb the sweet tooth.
• Good quality natural cereal bars – These are usually oat-based with nuts or fruit. Good quality cereal bars are a great alternative to a chocolate bar or cookie.
• Cottage cheese – may not look appetising, but it is an excellent source of good quality protein. And it is pretty nice on a piece of toast or crackers.
• Eggs – It is always good to have a few of this pre-boiled and ready to go. You can eat them alone, with crackers or layered on toast. Eggs are high in protein and some fat, meaning they will keep us fuller for longer.
• Crudites – If the chef allows, having pre-cut carrots, peppers, and cucumber to store in the fridge is a great snack option. If you have time, enjoy them with hummus or guacamole.
• Low GI Cereals such as oats or sugar-free muesli – these are low GI foods meaning the energy we get from them is slow releasing instead of a high spike/significant drop you get from sugar-based cereals.
• Rice crackers or Wholewheat seeded bread – These are an excellent base for breakfast or a snack you can top them with high-protein foods such as cottage cheese, eggs, tuna, peanut butter. Which will help keep you going through a busy day.
• Nuts – Nuts are a great source of good quality fat and fibre, which is very important to overall health. Nuts are perfect as an on the go snack. Top Tip: We place our nuts at the front of our snack cupboard so we see them before the cookies.
• Drinks – High amounts of sugar hide in fruit juices and caffeine in sodas which can therefore cause an energy spike when consuming them. Great alternative options such as sparkling water, 100% natural fruit juices, sugar-free sodas, herbal teas, decaf coffee are good to have onboard to keep the crew hydrated.

Although these may sound like challenging swaps for some yachties, I encourage you to start with just one or two. See how your energy shifts, your sleep improves, and you feel more energetic through the day. You may also surprise yourself how these swaps can quickly become your habits.

The season is both mentally and physically draining for all superyacht crew, with many elements not in our control. It is essential to take extra care and effort to the aspects that we can control, such as a good quality diet.

To read Gaby’s last article click here or for tips and tricks for staying healthy onboard follow @healthandfitnessretreat.

Keeping fit on a superyacht is difficult for most crew. Today we spoke with Gaby Welch, Chief Stewardess on M/Y Deniki. Gaby and her partner Chris (CJ) have been working on superyachts for almost a decade. They have grown a passion for keeping fit on board and understand the difficulties yacht crew face when they are trying to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

How and when did you start in the yachting industry?

One of my closest friends from university joined the yachting industry. After we graduated, I went on to work for an advertising agency in Cape Town, South Africa. She spent two years calling me, telling me all about her amazing experiences and encouraging me to give yachting a try. I finally caved in 2013 and haven’t looked back since.

Have you always been passionate about keeping fit?

I have always loved sports and being active. Growing up I was into dancing, running, and playing hockey. I kept fit through university, but I really fell in love with health and wellness about a year into my superyacht career.

What made you fall in love with keeping fit onboard? Was it a “yachtie-unhealthy” phase?

The industry can be a lot of drinking, partying and not much sleep, which of course is fun, but I wanted a bit more of a balance.

I guess what kicked it off initially was my desire to run in every place we visited. I found this such a great way to explore a new location in a short amount of time. As I found myself getting fitter, I decided to start incorporating workouts into my week. This grew into a passion and so I started learning about all thing’s health and wellness.

Fast forward a few years and I am a qualified personal trainer and nutrition advisor. I have trained charter guests, the owner, and his family as well as run plenty of bootcamps for the crew on board.

Can you tell us about Hula Wellness and what you are doing to help keep crew in shape?

HULA Wellness is a company myself and my husband Chris (CJ) started earlier this year. We have faced many challenges living and working full time on board a yacht.  Things like limited space, not a great deal of time and very little equipment for us to use are all obstacles we have overcome with our fitness regime.

We wanted to bring out fitness and lifestyle products that would complement these challenges. The first product we launched was a set of 3 premium quality resistance bands which are very compact and a great addition to any workout on board. We also launched male and female hoodies and canvas tote bags. Most recently we have launched The Crew Fit Training Guide a fitness eBook aimed at yacht crew.

Tell about you knew eBook, Crew Fit Training Guide.

Crew Fit Training Guide is an 8-week program specifically tailored to the needs of yacht crew. First and foremost, it considers the restrictions that all yacht crew live with, allowing you to train in small spaces, with little time and minimal equipment.

We have been working on yachts for almost a decade now and over this time we have experienced the difficulty of staying healthy and fit onboard. We work busy long days, move a lot, and don’t have a huge amount of space for equipment to train with.

Over the years we have developed a program for ourselves that really works, we wanted to share this with our crew, so we started to run bootcamps based on the program. We have seen how well it can work and the fantastic results it produces. We decided to create the eBook so that everyone else could enjoy the benefits we have. The eBook can be purchased via the HULA Website www.hulawellness.com

What is your greatest achievement with HULA Wellness so far?

I think the biggest achievement was launching the business (although very small) while working a full-time job on board. It meant a lot of 5am wakes up, working during any breaks and after hours. I didn’t realise all the time and effort it takes to design a logo, source products, build and develop a website. the list goes on

Where do you see HULA Wellness going in the next 5 years?

More Products! CJ and I hope to have a lot more products available for purchase. We would like all our products to make living a balanced life on board easier for yacht crew. We would like to be regularly running Health and Wellness Retreats at our place in Algarve, Portugal. There is also a very exciting new product launching for yacht crew later this year! So, keep your eyes peeled for this!

What is your most important fitness message to yacht crew?

Balance, balance, balance! No extreme is sustainable. Focus on 7 hours of good quality sleep, eat your fruit and veg but enjoy your cookies and chips in moderation too, move your body in a way you enjoy and that makes you feel good.

Can you tell us 3 of your habits that have had a positive impact on you?

• Getting between 7 and 9 hours of sleep. I know this isn’t always possible onboard, but nothing quite beats a good night sleep and forming a good habit like this really will change your life.
• I move my body every day! Whether it’s just a walk, a run, or a workout, moving makes you feel good.
• Wake up early! Honestly, there is nothing quite like having a bit of ‘you time’ before work. It puts me into a positive mindset, and I always feel more productive during the day.

To read more articles about health and wellbeing on onboard click here.