Imagine, living in your office on the 18th floor in central London with ten of your colleagues that you eat, sleep and share all of your living spaces with, can you imagine how you would feel…Have I got your attention?
Living on a yacht is a like this, only you can’t leave the office to go for a walk because you’re at anchor for the next week.
The life of a “Yachtie” is incredibly unique but it also has negative impacts on an individual’s mental health daily. Life onboard is fast-paced which often comes with high stress. When an environment is high stress, is when we can see the worst in the people around us. Not cleaning the coffee machine is a small thing which can be the breaking point for the crew member on late duty at the end of an 18-hour shift that was thirty 18-hour shift in a row.
Sounds extreme but when sleep deprivation, no time for yourself, for exercise or to call home. It can make the filthy coffee machine at 23:00 feel like the worst thing in the world.
Yachties are resilient it’s part of the job but sometimes it gets a little too much and quite often a crew member struggling can hurt the rest of the crew, the atmosphere can change easily and you start to notice the following…
- Withdrawal from social interaction
- Isolating themselves
- Out-of-character emotional outbursts
- Lack of appetite
- Brain fog/ lack of Focus
How can we support each other’s mental health onboard?
The more gentle and friendly the approach the more likely a successful outcome…
- Open door policy onboard to ask for help and speak about how you are feeling without judgements.
- Give crew downtime, as much as possible, Charter guests off for lunch, and “All crew on the swim platform for a swim?” the little things make a huge difference.
- Approach those struggling with kindness and care, approach with a cup of tea and a willingness to listen.
- Make the most of every good moment and encourage a laugh and a smile.
As crew we have to support each other, our crew often become the family we acquire.