Or should I say, "freelance to have a life." (Photo by Guillaume Plisson)
Hello! Howzit? G'day mate! I haven't written in a while, so here's a little update. I've been working hard for the last few months, hopping from boat to boat, taking trips to the Caribbean, up the coast to Norfolk, Virginia, to Ocean Reef, Key Largo and currently on a 108' private yacht that took a five day trip up the Intracoastal Waterway to Daytona for bike week. Freelancing as a deckhand isn't easy to do, and it may be hard as a greenie to consistently find work. Luckily for me there are several American flagged boats out there that don't want to employ a full time crew, so with a little bit of luck and Daywork123.com, I have been staying busy! I joined M/Y Kismet for about 3 weeks, the 95 meter (312ft.) Lurssen pictured above. I covered for a deckhand while he took his vacation. Kismet is the largest yacht i've worked on, and probably the largest i'll ever work on. It was a great opportunity and I learned a lot, but 12 hour work days, (one day at 17 hours), with only a half day off in 3 weeks isn't what I call fun. I agreed to a pay cut... I was only paid $130 per day, pretty shit rate for 12+ hour days. I agreed to a pay cut in order to experience such an incredible vessel, and it was definitely worth it! Kismet has a crew of 28, running with 8 deckhands! For more photos from my time on Kismet, follow me on Instagram @theentireplanet. Anyways, the reason why I say freelance for a life, is because I see how miserable crew on different boats are after working for months on end with very little time off. "Slavery" has often been used to describe their roles as deckhands. Try to ask your captain or purser about your vacation days and see how happy and willing they are to help you. Freelancing allows me to work when I want and take off when I want...BUT...I have learned there is a downside. When I share this particular information with crew, they often say, "damn, you've got it figured out, wish I could do that." Then, they resent me for the rest of the time I work with them. Jealous pricks. Anyways, I think people think that I've figured out a way to beat the system and they aren't supportive of it. Ahh well, never really cared what people think anyways. As long as I keep staying busy, i'm not going to sign a one year contract. Why sign your life away? There's too much adventure to be had in your twenties and speaking of...I'm planning a pretty epic adventure that I'll be announcing soon! Stay classy yachties.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
April 2016
AuthorI am currently a freelance
|