Hello From Portsmouth And Can You Help ?

[goringskipper]

Hi everyone hope your all well great site. Time to put it to the test. Right try to keep this to the point.

I am 29 single chap, live in Reading, UK but dont own a house, been an electrician for about 5 years or working on commercial and industrial sites. Always loved sailing ever since i was very young. Did my day skipper a couple of years ago and ever since been thinking about jacking it all in a becoming a pro skipper doing the med flotilla skipper and such like. Found a course i would like to do to get all the qualifications i want and need to get me started. Saved the cash and about to sign it over when i heard on the news that a few large building firms just cut half there work force about 1000 people in each firm. This made me pause. If i do take the leap and it all goes pair shaped getting work again may be very difficult. So the question to any Full time skipper types out there. Whats it like for work at the moment am i going to spend 3 months training to find that i am going to be temping somewhere for 6 months of the year and sailing for 6 months ?? Do hope not

Thanks everyone reading this take care

Al

[Lighthouse]

Welcome aboard Al.

I'm sure some skippers will be along to answer your questions.

Good luck.

[edsailing]

Hi Al

As a delivery skipper myself, I would say that getting the qualifications is just beginning.

You will have 3 options when you get some tickets and these are:

1. Working with a flotilla company - probably poorly paid and only for the season;

2. Getting a job on a super yacht as a deckhand - better paid but boring;

2. Get a lot of experience as crew/mate doing deliveries - little or no pay but a lot of variety and after several years you might get to be a delivery skipper.

To get to be a delivery skipper you need lots of experience - I would suggest at least 5 years and at least 20K miles on a variety of boats across a range of sailing grounds. You need good all round skills including electrical, engine/mechanical, rigging and really understanding how boats are put together, what can go wrong and how to fix it when it does.

Many boats on delivery have problems - that's why the owner is not sailing it himself!

If you look at it from the owners perspective - what would you expect from someone delivering your boat?

Can you make a living? Just about as long as you don't have a wife and family to support.

Hope this helps

EDIT

I forgot to say - it's hard work!

[JeanneP]

One of our delivery skipper friends commented that the reason he bought a Caribbean condo apartment when he lived on his boat and already owned 2 others was so he could rent it out to high season tourists so he wouldn't have to work so hard at his delivery business. My look of ??bemusement?? elicited the comment "It's a lifestyle, Jeanne."

The sailing/skippering/cruising lifestyle is not for everyone, but it IS a lifestyle that many are loathe to abandon.

However, crewing on a luxury yacht, of which there are many and which seem to be recession-proof (don't hold me to that), seems to pay quite well. There are a number of publications devoted to this area. One that I am familiar with is http://www.the-triton.com/

but I believe there are others.