Firstly, for those who might be reading this and wondering what a yachtie is; A yachtie is a crew member who works onboard Superyachts or even Sailing Yachts. And for the yachties who are reading this, you’ll know what we’re saying when we say that crew finds themselves in a constant battle between finding a balance between work and life. This is why it’s so important for crew, whether you’re the Captain or the engineer, to understand how to balance a dual season with life.

From keeping your personal interests to the actual yacht afloat, there is a lot to juggle when working onboard a Superyacht. Trying to make time to enjoy hobbies, seeing family and friends, maintaining your fitness schedule, fitting in your latest Netflix series, finishing a book, right through to planning for your future and getting your finances to successfully getting in 9 hours sleep is not the easiest of tasks.

With the Med season ending, many crew will be gearing up for the Caribbean season or those on a world cruising itinerary; the seasons may be never-ending. If you enjoy the yacht you are on, then there is no need to finish after a season ends. Why not embrace the good vibes and continue? Whilst you may have a month or two between seasons to wind down, it isn’t a lot before you hit the ground running again. 

READ MORE: Top Tips for Superyacht Crew Needing Sleep

5 tips on how to balance this dual-season life: 

1. Time management 

It always feels as though organisation could be the answer to most things. In this case, balancing a dual-season organisation is your best friend. It is the key to juggling work, life, and hectic yachting schedules. Be selective about how, where and who you spend your time with. 

2. Work stays at work 

Shut your work problems outside of your cabin door. Working where you live can be challenging, but one tip that will help you switch off outside of work has your space where work isn’t a part. Once in your cabin, focus on yourself and deal with those yachting problems in “work time.”

3. Prioritise yourself 

Schedules can be chaotic when you consistently work and try to fit in the odd day off. Juggling a guest trip on top of your life admin and trying to maintain a social life can be exhausting. To combat this, make sure you pencil some time in your calendar for yourself, whether that is simply at the start of each day – make sure it is there. 

4. Set boundaries 

The key to staying sane and not completely burning out is to set strict boundaries, especially on time. If the clock hits 5 pm on a regular work day and you are still not quite finished, know that you can finish it the following day. With no regular hours and guest demands, this can be harder to implement in yachting. However, don’t be afraid to stick to these time restrictions when working your regular schedules with a season. You will then have more energy for those longer days. 

5. A team effort 

Yachting is a team game about ensuring each department runs smoothly and helping where help is needed. Teamwork is especially important when you are on a yacht with a busy schedule, as members of your crew can struggle. If that is you, it is essential to recognise this and ask for help. 

A healthy work-life balance can have multiple positive effects, such as lowering the risk of burnout, less stress and helping you achieve a greater sense of well-being. However, the most important thing to consider when striving for this balance is not to worry about creating perfection, especially in yachting. Some days, you may have no choice but to focus on the guests and the guests, but other days you will have more time to pursue your passions. Remember that balance is achieved over time, not every day.

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And…Relax! Finally, the long, busy and scarily hot Mediterranean season has ended. Here are a few tips to help you decompress after weeks of guests, whether you’re planning to go straight into winter mode, store the yacht and head to warmer climates, or (for the lucky ones) take some time off.

1. Sleep

Sleep, remember this? It is the magic prescription that helps everything. While on charter during the summer, you may not have had enough of it or good enough quality, but it isn’t too late. If you have struggled to sleep, look after yourself physically and calm down your body’s systems, tap into some meditation, take a yoga class or even book in for a massage somewhere to help unwind and relax.

Andrew Roch, CEO of The Crew Academy, suggests “putting your phone down at least an hour before bed.” This reduction in screen time can help. I recommend calming teas, such as Camomile, or even the use of lavender oils in your cabin.

2. Investment

And no, this doesn’t mean buying the latest form of crypto with your latest charter tip; this means investing in yourself. You have just spent many weeks looking after everyone elses and seeing to their needs to ensure they are happy. Now it is time for you. It is now when you need to take off the pressure on any tasks you need to get done and focus on yourself.

Emma Ross, a mental health first aider and Co-Founder of @seasthemind, suggests, “enroll in a course to expand your mind, anything that interests you, fill your brain with facts, this can give you a facet to your life that doesn’t involve boats.”

READ MORE: WilsonHalligan X Yacht Crew Help Stew Lounge – Crew Wellness Edition

3. Reconnect

Have you still got unread WhatsApp messages from July? Being busy onboard during a season may mean you have switched off from your life entirely outside of the boat. Reconnecting with friends and family is so important.

Ross emphasises “connect with people, not online but in real life,” she further explains to “deeply connect with your people, and you’ll find you will find connection within yourself.”

4. Escape 

Take time off entirely from the boat; whether it is one night, one week or a whole month, be sure to get completely away from everything. Working and living with the same crew within a busy period can cause even the best team strain. It is important to use this downtime however you want; whether you relax by taking an adventurous break away or a Netflix binge, both are beneficial if it allows you to switch off from work.

5. Nourish

If you have been eating and drinking well throughout the season, well done! But if you have succumbed to the midnight on-watch snacks, or can’t quite make it to the laundry without tripping over a snack basket, this one is for you… Your diet impacts your level of physical energy and consequently your mental and emotional energy. The more nutritious things you put into your body, the better you will feel. We all know that foods high in sugar, fat, and salt are not healthy for us. Although it may seem tempting to indulge in an unhealthy drop-off day dinner, it may be better to balance it out.

6. Move

Whether stretching out those end-of-the-night service aches or the desire to run as far from the yacht to get rid of your cabin fever, moving your body in any way that feels good will help you recharge. Roch suggests “do one physically active thing each day for at least 15 minutes.” He also emphasises how breath work and stretching are essential to relax and do within short spurts of “me time moments.” As well as physical benefits, moving your body has many mental benefits.

READ MORE: Deishaview Retreat – A Yachtie’s Idyllic Escape To Thailand

7. Variety 

As much as you love your job role onboard, doing it back to back with guests consistently may get somewhat tiresome. If your crewing schedule allows it, it is good to switch up tasks and job roles onboard. Whilst it may not be easy or practical to get the Captain ironing or the Chef with a chamois, fostering some variety within departments and switching up tasks is great.

8. De-stress

Stress is a big one in today’s world. Onboard during a season, tensions can run high, and even the calmest crew member can be ready to explode at any minute. The list of implications stress can have on your mind and body is enough to stress you out on its own, so it is crucial to reduce stress and relax. If something has caused you particular issues with your job role or another crew member, it should be addressed. And the sooner, the better.

9. Talk

A busy yachting season can take its toll, perhaps you have tried eating healthy, taken a night off the boat, caught up with friends and family and have a newfound love for yoga, but sometimes this isn’t enough. For crew, there are increasing resources to chat to people if you or anyone you know is struggling – for example, Yacht Crew Help, Seas the Mind and The Crew Academy.

The benefits of taking time off after a busy season cannot be underestimated. Creating a work-life balance can be challenging for the crew, but without it, burnout can occur, and you may find yourself unable to work. So, relax, rest and recharge ASAP!

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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.

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