What a time to be alive! Many of us are still under varying levels of lockdown while some are reveling in the new found bliss that is 3 hours of exercise time. 

There seems to be a glimmer of hope that we may have a Med season after all..albeit a very short one. News from Europe is that Spain will be opening their waters for yachts and Croatia is following suit. More good news is that the boats are still out there. The bad news is that many crew aren’t on them anymore. 

We’ve been talking to crew, captains, HOD’s and friends in and outside the industry daily and not one person I have spoken to has stayed unaffected. 

Some crew have been fortunate to keep their jobs and are battling boredom while tied to the dock; Others have been let go and are trying to get repatriated home while still others are frantically trying to get back to their boats so they won’t be let go. 

And believe it or not, some yachts are in full guest mode. There’s no making this up.

So where to from here?

Well I’m happy to let you know that we have noticed a slight increase in yachts looking for crew again. While many of our jobs in the South Pacific and further afield had been placed on hold, the majority are open again, and the others will follow soon. A few yachts are crossing to Europe which may be signaling a hopeful return to “normal”, but what the new normal will look like is anyone’s guess. Can you imagine La Rascasse with crew partying at a “safe social distance” in blinged out facemasks? How about an army of deckies wiping down deliveries at ‘the whale tail’ in Beaulieu-sur-Mer? 

The show will go on albeit fashionably late and slowly and we will keep doing our level best to help you get back to work as soon as we get the green light from our clients.

Till then, stay healthy, motivated and use this forced down time as best you can. Fine tune your CV, work on a new skill (South Africans have taken to home brewing alcohol these days, but I’m not sure how transferable that one is;), stay in touch with your friends, your family and last but not least your crew agents. 

We hope to speak to you very soon.

Team YOA