Annaleise Shortland is off to Europe to find work on superyachts. Photo / Dean Purcell
With superyacht captains looking to hire new staff as the busy Mediterranean cruising season kicks off, many Kiwis are heading off-shore to try their luck working on the multimillion-dollar vessels. Ben Leahy finds out what it's really like.
Kiwi Kane Taylor couldn't believe his ears.
He had not long shipped aboard his first superyacht as a junior deckhand when he overheard the boat's Israeli billionaire owner talking with a guest.
The guest wanted a straight swap.
His private island off Capri in Italy in exchange for the billionaire's Picasso painting.
Taylor's then 24-year-old head exploded.
"Who trades a painting for an island – it was insane," he says.
"I had just got over there, and I was like 'what the hell is going on?' "
For Taylor, it was an eye-opening introduction to the glam and uber-rich world of superyachts.
A world that has long drawn young Kiwis to France and Spain's Mediterranean ports where they tramp the docks hoping to find work on board the fleet of yachts lining the marinas.
In fact, so common are Kiwis and Aussies in the industry that it's almost become a rite of passage for many heading on OEs to spend at least part of their time working on superyachts, Taylor says.
The pandemic put a two-year stop to that but with borders now open, the industry is picking up and more Kiwis are expected to jet off for a life below deck.
The Government recently estimated 50,000 New Zealanders would leave the country for work or OEs over the next 12 months.
Aucklander Juliet Wrathall, 24, will be among them.
A former producer for The Hits radio station, she jets to Europe this month hoping to land a role as a superyacht stewardess.
Yachties – as superyacht workers are known – live on their boats expense-free and can earn big money in tips, as well as the added bonus of exploring the world. One of Wrathall's friends in the industry told her that their yacht had even sailed to Antarctica.
"Being paid to travel is a big highlight," Wrathall says.
"Ending up in random locations you might never have chosen to go to and being amazed by it is really appealing."
But yachties need to be prepared for a life of stark contrasts.
On one hand, they rub shoulders with extravagant luxury, but on the other, they are really there to serve. They enjoy parties and travel but also endure long hours of hard work.
Yachties can be touring exotic ports and earning thousands in tips one day and be cleaning vomit from a guest's toilet the next.
In fact, yachtie life is such a hotbed for drama and glamour, it's been turned into a reality TV series, Below Deck.
The show follows young yachties working on board superyachts as chefs, stewards responsible for cleaning and serving dinner and drinks, and deckhands, who keep the boat's exterior shipshape and manage water toys, such as jet skis.
The yachties' aim is simple – ensure the guests hiring the boat are as happy as possible.
Happy guests are more likely to give big tips.
That leads the Below Deck crews to regularly work grinding 12-hour days as they try to please their guests' every whim, before retiring below deck to sleep in tiny, shared cabins.
The stress and exhaustion of constant living and working together means crewmates frequently erupt into blazing rows caught on camera.
Viewers also watch as the yachties on days off hurry ashore for wild parties and hookups.
Kiwi Aesha Scott is a star of the current Below Deck: Down Under TV series and when asked in 2019 whether "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll happens" on yachts, she said that was "on the right track".
Taylor agrees Below Deck captures the reality of life working on board a superyacht, even if it does ham up the drama a little.
Certainly, the wealth of the uber-rich is incredible.
Taylor has fond memories of slipping past the Italian coast on the Israeli billionaire's gorgeous 50m blue yacht, called Better Place.
A 2017 Bloomberg tells how the billionaire came to own his Picasso painting. When his father died, he and his brother divided their dad's $13 billion business assets and art collection into equal shares and placed the details inside two envelopes.
They then each chose an envelope at random – a lucky dip prize that gave both multibillion-dollar payouts and a share of Picasso and Van Gogh paintings.
Taylor says his girlfriend also worked for one of the Saudi princes on a 140m mega-superyacht.
She cruised to private islands owned by the Saudi royals and spent down periods living in the prince's palace.
Lloyd Aickin is another Aucklander who spent three years on superyachts, having been lured to Europe by a mate's tale of earning a $5000 tip for a week's work.
Aickin eventually became a bosun in charge of all his yacht's deckhands, but his first journey was on a newly-built 50m superyacht, called Sartori that was launching from its Dutch builder Heesen's shipyard.
Having paid a fortune for the yacht, the new owner wanted it sailed to Monaco in time for the F1 Grand Prix and docked at a prime mooring close to the race's famous tunnel.
Rushing from the Netherlands to Monaco, the captain was ordered to push through bad weather to meet his deadline but ended up damaging the yacht.
Forced to call into a port along the way for repairs, the captain ultimately arrived in Monaco just in time for the grand prix with the repainted paintwork still drying – a job well done in an industry where service is everything and money typically no object.
Prince Albert of Monaco and Spanish King Felipe VI even came on board to tour the yacht.
Aickin also recalls the owner of another yacht making plans to go to Brazil for the 2016 Olympics.
The crew were subsequently told two former SAS soldiers would be onboard as protection against robbery and that each yachtie would be given firearms training.
"I was like, 'What? screw this, I'm not shooting or being shot at for some numpty's toy'," Aickin says.
Fortunately for him, the Brazil travel plans were later scrapped.
Yet along with yacht owners' eccentric demands, Aickin says his time as a yachtie was filled with "epic" travel experiences and friends.
"How many people can say they've been wakeboarding behind a superyacht?"
He likewise acknowledges drama between crewmates is a feature of life at sea.
"You've got 12 people from different walks of life, different nationalities, different beliefs, and there is usually three or four strong personalities and opinions - some might be racist, prejudiced, sexist," Aickin says.
Not only do you work with them day and night and socialise on days off, but crew members might be short-tempered because they're missing a best friend's wedding or their mum is dying, he says.
Harmony onboard often depends on the captain.
"It does boil down to the captain - their ship, their rules," he says.
"Because once you are 12 nautical miles offshore – anything goes, it is international waters."
Herald video producer Annaleise Shortland is another young Aucklander giving up her job and heading to Europe next month to try for a steward position on a superyacht.
She's been tuning into Below Deck episodes and admits to pangs of nervousness.
"Oh my god, I've been watching it so much and thinking what am I getting myself into," she says with a laugh.
However, friends she knows in the industry "really rate" working on superyachts and have been able to save money and buy houses.
"It's a good way to travel and make money," she says.
Taylor agrees. Now back in Auckland working as a real estate agent, he has set up a Yachties of New Zealand website and Facebook page with friend Hamish Taylor.
Yachties of New Zealand advises Kiwis on how to get into the industry and can offer those already working on boats financial advice from accountants and mortgage brokers on how to manage their tax and invest their money.
Taylor says he knows of yachties who've been able to save up and buy three or four houses in New Zealand and set themselves up for life.
He says young Kiwis don't need previous experience to get a job in the industry.
However, they do need to do a basic safety course known as a Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers before they'll be allowed to work on a boat.
Superyacht captains typically look to hire new staff around Easter, just before the start of the busy Mediterranean cruising season.
The best way to get hired is to show up on the docks and try to get work on any boat that offers it as a way to build up experience, he says.
There is also a Caribbean cruising season, but the Mediterranean season is a better place to start for newbies as it's busier and there are more job vacancies.
Typically those who work on charter yachts - in which the boat is hired out to numerous guests for short stints - earn more money from the long work hours and big tips.
Those who work on private yachts - where the boat is only used by its owner and not hired out to others - typically don't earn as much money initially but get better working conditions.
They tend to work more regular hours, get more time off and gain more qualifications with a view to perhaps becoming a superyacht captain in the future.
Now a landlubber, Taylor thinks about the superyacht lifestyle every day.
"I miss it all the time," he says.
And as to whether his former boss traded his Picasso painting or not, Taylor never found out.
The Israeli billionaire and his guest retired to a hotel on the island of Capri that night for further discussions and cocktails.
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