Adventures of a travelling sails lady – Chapter 1

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Let me take you back to April 2004, I came to Antibes, South of France, to sign up with the then approximately 30 crew agents based here so that they could find me a job as stewardess on a yacht. I did not care if it was sail or motor, private or charter, I was hungry enough to just land the first job and get stuck in. This happened in a remarkably rapid 3 days. I started writing a group email to the friends and family I had left behind and these are some of those tales.

You may ask how it has been since I started work ? I moved on board on Sunday night and spent a happy evening unpacking into my very SMALL crew quarters. I sleep on the top bunk on the starboard side of the yacht and share the quarters with the deckhand, the chef and myself; we are firmly located in the bow (front, pointy bit) of the vessel. We all share the heads, the shower and the crew dining area where we have DVDs and music to sooth our souls. The dining area is in the galley but is very neat, compact and comfortable. The chef tends to sleep outside when it is warm or in the dining area. He is an old sea dog and has been at sea for 17 years. They have a different outlook on comfort, they don’t need it !!!!!

I started work with an ex-stewardess on Monday so that she could show me the ropes, and boy did we ever work hard. We have just had some refurbs done so the boat was quite messy but today we really got ahead and she looks splendid. The interior of the yacht is highly varnished dark wood, very tastefully done with lovely fittings and features. Kind of “Gentlemen’s Club” look. I am really impressed each time I look around. The work is very hard and physical, but I am coping well and enjoying the mental stillness of just working with the hands, and body and living in the mind in a different way to Body Stress Release. They are both similar works in meditation, but in different ways. I am getting fitter by the day, with all the walking I do to town and along the port where we are docked and feel great. My Captain is really nice, I see the similarity between my job as a Hotel manager and his, they are both very much problem-solving jobs, requiring a cool head. It is great that I understand this so can work with him in the best possible way to help him cope with the load. The other two crew are equally nice and we are all of the same age group so that also makes things feel comfortable.

Our itinerary is exciting (specially for one who has never been places by yacht) we are off to the Genoa Charter Boat Show on Friday this week and will be there for about a week to try and pick up some charters, and then onto Cala Galera in Tuscany where the yacht is based so that the owners can come on board every weekend. I heard whispers of a circumnavigation of Sardinia and then it’s a question mark. As things stand, I am more than happy to just go with the flow.