Ok... so until now... a week later... I still haven't had any lucks with jobs! While walking back from the beach the one day though, I decided to do a quick dock walk and see if anyone needed day work. Supposedly the best time of day for day walking is the morning, so it was a long shot dock walking now!
After asking about 20 boats, I came around a corner and saw my one Aussie friend asking for a chef job, and overheard the guy he was asking saying they were looking for someone with a tender license. Once he'd finished I tried my luck. At first the guy wasn't interester, but after chatting to him for a while, he started showing interest. I told him I had the tender license, and when I learned they were looking for someone to teach wake boarding, I took the opportunity and started 'bragging' about all the wake boarding experience I had. Eventually the captain came out, took one look at me, asked what qualifications I had, then told me to come for an interview the next day, so hopefully that#s a good thing!
The next day I went for the interview and found out I had to drive the captain and crew around in R5.5 million rand boat called the Riva. If I'd known the price before hand, I think I would've had a heart attack!! Anyway... I drove it well and maxed it out at 40 knots... The parking however I wasn't too great at, since this thing had soooo much power!! Anyway, the captain told me not to stress about the docking, and that he'd call me back for an interview with the owners some time this week... probably wednesday. Today is Monday by the way... so i'll be expecting the phone call soon!! Hopefully I'll get this call and make a good impression on the owner!! The job opportunity is absolutely amazing! If I get the job all I'll have to do is drive the Riva around whenever they need it and teach the owners kids how to wake board, while getting paid 2000 euros a month... untaxed!! Who could ask for anything better!?!?! So I've got my fingers crossed!
Monday, May 31, 2010
A few tips that could help newbies...
The train tickets are quite expensice sometimes, especially to Monaco and back. I used to buy tickets every time I travelled, until one South African girl told me buying tickets were useless. If you got asked and you didn't have a ticket, you just got a 35 euro fine, which was about two days of travelling. The thing was, because the time between each station was so short, noone actually checked whether you had tickets or not, so for the past week I have not bought a ticket and saved tons of money! However... I just found out today that you can buy a week's pass to the railway from Cannes to Monaco for 20 euro, so I think I might invest in that just to be safe.
The crew houses are also pretty expensive, starting at 120 euros a week. Most people move into apartments, and some people I spoke to even got apartments for 140 euros a week, for four of them, making it 35 euros a week. The only plus about the crewhouses are that you always around people in the yachting industry, which makes networking a lot easier, and you keep learning about the industry.
For those people looking for sim cards, Mobiho I found is the way to go. You can find the sim card at any tabac shop, and they are definit
The crew houses are also pretty expensive, starting at 120 euros a week. Most people move into apartments, and some people I spoke to even got apartments for 140 euros a week, for four of them, making it 35 euros a week. The only plus about the crewhouses are that you always around people in the yachting industry, which makes networking a lot easier, and you keep learning about the industry.
For those people looking for sim cards, Mobiho I found is the way to go. You can find the sim card at any tabac shop, and they are definit
Monaco!!! WOW!!!
After walking Antibes day after day, and not finding any work, some friends and I decided to take a trip up to Monaco. Never thought the day would come when I woke up and thought... Well I feel like going to Monaco today!
So early morning we headed off to Monaco. Along the way we saw a beautiful beach at VilleFrance. My one friend and I decided to try look there for work, since it looked pretty quiet, and then meet up with everyone else later at Monaco. Once we got down to the dock... we soon realised there were no actual super yachts there... and the next train to Monaco was in a few hours... So we thought we'd be clever and run to Beaulieu to check out their harbour. Well after an hour of running and taking several wrong turns, we finally made it to Beaulieu. There were at least super yachts here! Another South African girl I had met the day before was also here looking for work, so we ended up all walking together. After 2 hours and no luck whatsoever, we finally made our way to Monaco.
I could not believe beautiful Monaco was!! There were superyachts everywhere you looked!! And they were still tearing down everything they'd set up for the Monaco grand prix! We made our way around all the super yachts, stopping and asking if any of them needed day work or permanent crew. Of the many hundred we asked, one or two seemed semi interested in our CV's! Finally!!! To this day I still have not heard from them though... but that's not the point! While in Monaco I spoke to the Captain of the biggest luxury sailing yacht in the world! The yacht was beautiful!! The Maltese Falcon, the captain reconned, could reach a top speed of 25 knots under sail! The biggest sailing cruise liner in the world was also there, and yes they do make sailing cruise liner ships, and yes... they look exactly the same as normal cruise liners... just with huge masts!! It was quite a sight! After several hours of walking the docks, we decided to explore a bit. We headed off to the Monaco Casino, where I gambled and lost a whole.... 5 euros!! Before heading home, we chilled for a bit on the mountain side watching the sea. Definitely going back to Monaco soon... the place is exquisite!!!
So early morning we headed off to Monaco. Along the way we saw a beautiful beach at VilleFrance. My one friend and I decided to try look there for work, since it looked pretty quiet, and then meet up with everyone else later at Monaco. Once we got down to the dock... we soon realised there were no actual super yachts there... and the next train to Monaco was in a few hours... So we thought we'd be clever and run to Beaulieu to check out their harbour. Well after an hour of running and taking several wrong turns, we finally made it to Beaulieu. There were at least super yachts here! Another South African girl I had met the day before was also here looking for work, so we ended up all walking together. After 2 hours and no luck whatsoever, we finally made our way to Monaco.
I could not believe beautiful Monaco was!! There were superyachts everywhere you looked!! And they were still tearing down everything they'd set up for the Monaco grand prix! We made our way around all the super yachts, stopping and asking if any of them needed day work or permanent crew. Of the many hundred we asked, one or two seemed semi interested in our CV's! Finally!!! To this day I still have not heard from them though... but that's not the point! While in Monaco I spoke to the Captain of the biggest luxury sailing yacht in the world! The yacht was beautiful!! The Maltese Falcon, the captain reconned, could reach a top speed of 25 knots under sail! The biggest sailing cruise liner in the world was also there, and yes they do make sailing cruise liner ships, and yes... they look exactly the same as normal cruise liners... just with huge masts!! It was quite a sight! After several hours of walking the docks, we decided to explore a bit. We headed off to the Monaco Casino, where I gambled and lost a whole.... 5 euros!! Before heading home, we chilled for a bit on the mountain side watching the sea. Definitely going back to Monaco soon... the place is exquisite!!!
The start of it all...
On the 19th of May 2010 i departed from OR Tambo international on route to France. I had heard of an amazing opportunity of working on the super yachts and had set my mind on getting started in that industry.
I arrived in France on the 20th and stayed a night before heading over to Antibes to start looking for work. I arrived in Antibes on the 21st of May, without any place to stay. I planned on meeting up with my one mate at the crew house and he'd help me look for accommodation. On arriving at the crew house I found out he'd got a job earlier that day and had up and left. Luckily, as i walked in, a mate of mine from the STCW had just popped in to get something from the crew house, so I left my bags there and got a full tour of the town and a breakdown of pretty much what was happening in Antibes and what I was to expect. 6pm came and I still had no clue where I was going to stay... everywhere was booked solid. My friend suggested I have a look at the place where he was staying. There was one spot left... but to put it bluntly...the place was a shit hole! Anyone looking for accommodation in Antibes... Amma's usually has place... but I wouldn't recommend it!
After two days I managed to get accommodation at the crew house. From what I'd heard, finding work would be easy... but it was far from easy!! We'd wake up in the morning at 7am to get ready and go dock walking. Within the few days I'd been in Antibes I'd met a few friends I had from South Africa and had also made a whole lot of friends down here. One of the key things in this industry is networking! By the 4th day I was here I had settled down and done a fair amount of dock walking, without any success at all.
I arrived in France on the 20th and stayed a night before heading over to Antibes to start looking for work. I arrived in Antibes on the 21st of May, without any place to stay. I planned on meeting up with my one mate at the crew house and he'd help me look for accommodation. On arriving at the crew house I found out he'd got a job earlier that day and had up and left. Luckily, as i walked in, a mate of mine from the STCW had just popped in to get something from the crew house, so I left my bags there and got a full tour of the town and a breakdown of pretty much what was happening in Antibes and what I was to expect. 6pm came and I still had no clue where I was going to stay... everywhere was booked solid. My friend suggested I have a look at the place where he was staying. There was one spot left... but to put it bluntly...the place was a shit hole! Anyone looking for accommodation in Antibes... Amma's usually has place... but I wouldn't recommend it!
After two days I managed to get accommodation at the crew house. From what I'd heard, finding work would be easy... but it was far from easy!! We'd wake up in the morning at 7am to get ready and go dock walking. Within the few days I'd been in Antibes I'd met a few friends I had from South Africa and had also made a whole lot of friends down here. One of the key things in this industry is networking! By the 4th day I was here I had settled down and done a fair amount of dock walking, without any success at all.
The reason why.
Ok... So I had the opportunity to take up a scholarship to UCT this year to study civil engineering, get my degree, find my first job, get married, work towards retirement at the age of 60 and travel the world if i'm still alive! There were just a few things missing from the equation though... Fun, Money, Travel, and experience!!! I then found out about the Superyachting industry. Once on a boat you get paid crazy amounts of money starting from 2000 euros upwards, get to travel the world and experience the life of the rich and the famous! I'd heard so much about the industry, and couldn't wait to find out about it first hand, so here I am, in Antibes looking for work. This blog is set up to keep my friends and family up to date with what's happening in my life, and also to just show new yachties what the whole industry is like!
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