Master these hobbies while working on a superyacht

Its a well-known fact that superyacht crew don’t get a huge amount of spare time or space to pursue their hobbies. However this doesn’t mean that crew can’t pick up a new hobby or even master an existing one. See below for a selection of hobbies that not only suit life on board, but mean crew can actually thrive because of it.

Photography

Superyachts travel to some of the most exciting and sought-after locations in the world and this offers up the opportunity to capture some truly beautiful pictures.

Anyone with a camera can get started with photography, which makes it fun and personal for everyone and with digital photography, the immediate feedback connects people even faster. Camera phones, remote uploads, social media sharing all allow everyone to see the world as it happens even when there’s no skill involved. 

Sure, skilled and experience photographers may capture the scene in a more artistic manner compared to the casual snapper, but the key point is, you captured what you want to remember right then and there and before you know it your skill with a camera is improving.

Cooking

Learning to cook is one of the most enjoyable hobbies to get into on board. A perfect cooking hobbyist is anybody who enjoys eating and likes to experiment with new and creative flavours. Getting started can be very fast and simple, and improving your cooking skills is a terrific investment of your time. 

Cooking as a hobby means having to learn all the different types of cooking methods involved, how to shop for ingredients, which utensils and supplies are needed and creating everything from scratch. 

Superyachts serve up some of the best food in the world and it’s not uncommon for some yacht chefs to boast a Michelin star, who better to learn from. 

The benefit of this hobby is getting to know the basics of cooking can be a great way to eat healthy. Then there is the joy of cooking for friends and family, trying new recipes and even coming up with your own. When you get a good foundation, and discover a passion for cooking, you could even consider a highly lucrative career as a yacht chef, having an extra string to your bow can only be a good thing.

This is a win-win as the yacht chef may get an extra pair of hands in times of need and you get to show off your cooking skills.

Writing

There are many reasons why writing is such a great hobby for yacht crew. It is a peaceful non-expensive hobby, it takes up very little room and it can be done in complete silence allowing you the serenity of hearing nothing but your inner thoughts. A much needed break from the hectic life of crew.

Turning writing into a hobby takes determination. It may not seem like it, but making time to write, finding things to write about and then remaining dedicated to seeing the entire piece through to its endpoint, requires planning and self-discipline.  The good thing is that life on a superyacht offers up lot of subject matter.

Many yacht crew take their writing one step further and create an online blog and some have even forged a career out of it.

Learn a new language

Learning a new language or skill can be daunting, but the multi-national culture of a superyacht offers up the perfect scenario. More often than not you will be working alongside crew from different nationalities and they are the perfect people to learn from.

Furthermore there are tons of online platforms for language learning with some of them even free. Simply do a quick YouTube search for a language tutorial.

Learning a second language opens up a ton of career opportunities. The world is changing fast and more and more yachts are chartered often through dozens of countries around the world. Even on a small yacht, chances are that the ability to speak a second language will set you apart from other applicants.

Painting/drawing

Painting or drawing is a great hobby to start because it is fast and easy. You don’t need much to get started and it won’t take up much room in your cabin.

It’s easy to learn the basics and painting and drawing are a wonderful way to relax. The best part is you can make painting a big, messy, daylong event, or you can paint small details while you wait for your shift to start.

To get started, familiarise yourself with the different styles and find the brushes/pencils you want to work with based on the kind of art you want to do. Then grab the canvas size of your choice.

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