Our Life after yachting Series continues with Sarah MacKenzie of West Nautical.

Name: Sarah Mackenzie

Role on yachts: Stewardess / Chief Stewardess

Time on yachts: 8 years

Current role: Public Relations Manager at West Nautical

 

How and when did you start in the yachting industry?

I started six months after finishing high school at the end of 2006. A good friend of mine was going over to France to do a gap year on yachts, and I decided to join her. I ended up doing a three-year stint and returned for a further five years in 2015 after I had finished university.

 

How long did you work on Superyachts for?

In total I worked on yachts for 8 years.

 

What was your last position?

I was Chief Stewardess on a very busy 45m charter yacht based in the Med.

 

What was the main reason you left the industry?

I met my partner on the 2^nd last yacht I worked on; It was just time to settle down and get settled into a land-based life in the UK, buy a house and learn how to garden!

 

When you left the industry, did you have a job to go to? Did you have a plan?

I did not have a job to go to or a definite plan, but I knew about West Nautical and had previously worked with Geoff Moore, the MD, on a yacht in 2008 / 2009 in the Caribbean. I got back in touch with Geoff and went into the office in Newcastle for a catch up. The company was looking for an additional person to join their marketing team and because I have yachting experience and a degree in Public Relations management, it worked out well for the company and myself.

 

Can you tell us about your job and the company that you work for now?

My title is Public Relations Manager. My main focus is to establish connections with media and journalists in order publish news stories about the company, the yachts we manage, sell and charter as well as stories such as owners’ profiles or destination articles. I also manage the crew social media accounts along with our recruitment team and will work with our MD on events when Covid allows them to resume.

 

West Nautical is a yacht management, charter and sales brokerage company with offices in the UK, Antibes, Palma, Cyprus and Russia. I am based in the Newcastle upon Tyne office in the North East of England.

 

What did you find was your biggest challenge when transitioning from a life at sea to a land-based life?

I found that adjusting to not always being around people quite difficult as I also attended boarding school for high school so was very used to always having a lot of people around.

 

What do you miss most about working on yachts?

The people and friends I made from all over the world. I also miss the excitement of discovering a new destination with crew.

 

Looking back at your experience of working on yachts, would you do anything differently?

I would definitely start saving at an earlier age and probably not be as wasteful during time off, spending too much on fancy dinners and unnecessary shopping trips.

Thank you so much for sharing your life after yachting story with us Sarah. We know there are a lot of crew out there who are unsure of what to do next. It’s stories like yours that inspire a lot of crew.

My pleasure.

 

Sarah now works for West Nautical. Based in Newcastle, UK they offer full services including management, charter, sales, Crew Services and training.

Find out more here.

Looking for inspiration? Check out some of our other Life after yachting stories here.

 

West Nautical hosts bespoke bridge and engine room Command and Control crew training course at South Shields Marine School

West Nautical, in partnership with Kate Gillespie and the South Shields Marine School, hosted a Covid-19 safe bespoke “Command and Control” course to a team of 9 delegates from the same new build Motor Yacht. The delegates consisted of a 3-person engineering team and a 6-person bridge team made up of 2 captains, 2 chief officers, and 2 OOW’s.

Utilising South Shields Marine School’s 360-degree bridge simulator and two-story full mission engine simulator. The emergency scenarios were based on a virtual vessel with representative equipment to replicate that which will be found on board the delegates vessel. The bridge and engine simulators can operate independently or be connected in order to run emergency scenario training as it would be on board a vessel. The West Nautical team utilised both options during the course.

West Nautical Bespoke Training

This was a fully customised course commissioned to West Nautical by Captain Stuart Frize. He had attended the Command and Control course previously, for the officers of his vessel which is due to be delivered in the Spring.

Captain Frize said –  “The West Nautical Command and Control course is unique amongst simulator courses that I have attended. In 3-days we are able to break down, build, and fine-tune our emergency procedures and abilities. The post drill debriefs involving video, voice, and data analysis are crucial for Officers and Engineers to gain a new perspective on their strengths and flaws. The immediate lessons learned and improvement to their confidence and abilities are remarkable. I highly recommend this course to other new build and Operational Captains.”

Training can go ahead despite Covid

This course goes to show that even during the global crisis of the coronavirus pandemic, some employers and shipping companies continue to invest in training their seafarers. West Nautical and the South Shields Marine School were delighted to deliver this bespoke course following the strict protocols to ensure all personnel involved were safe.

Over the 3-days, the delegates were put through a wide range of scenarios. The aim was to improve emergency responses, communication, and resource management, as well as implement their new ISM systems which are still in their development stages. These scenarios were designed by West Nautical in order to provide invaluable training in a realistic environment. Scenarios included collision, fire, flooding, abandon ship, medical emergencies, piracy, equipment, and engine failure. All whilst “navigating” in very busy shipping lanes such as the English Channel, Singapore, and Kattegat Straits.

The delegates varied in experience. Some of them had not been at sea for over 18-months as they had been in the shipyard overseeing the new build. Not having worked together previously, the course gave the officers the opportunity to build relationships in the most stressful of environments.

A success?

After each exercise was completed, the delegates gather in a classroom for a detailed debrief. This included video playbacks of the scenario and step-by-step analysis of actions taken which either improved or heightened the scenario. Geoff Moore, West Nautical managing director said:

“After running similar courses to this over the past 6 years, we realise that the real learning is done in the debrief, not during the exercises. We have seen time and again the huge improvements in human response and behavior from delegates after we openly discuss what went wrong, what went well, and what they learned whilst alongside their peers”.

For further information about the West Nautical bespoke training Command and Control course or to sign up for the next course contact training@westnautical.com

For the latest Yacht crew career and training advice, click here.