Life On a Yacht: A Poem

We love seeing the creativity from yacht crew all over the world! Whether crew are creating beautiful tablescapes, making delicious food or coordinating a beach party, life is never dull. Here's a poem about the life of a yachtie by deckhand Sam Keeley. Can you relate? I know we sure can!

Living the dream or just keeping it clean?

The question we ask as a superyacht team…

We sail the Caribbean all the way to the Med,

Days upon days aboard this big boat are spent…

Photos of sunrises go up on our wall,

And the jealousy of others often make some big calls…

It's not all it seems most of the time,

Not all just sunsets and bottles of wine.

More sweating our tits off while the sun makes us blind,

Some days we get negative and let out a whine…

We go for weeks on end without a day off,

Overworked and run down, sore throats with a cough.

But we have to keep going there's no time to stop,

We live in our workplace you can't hide from the top…

Lots of days are worked from dusk to dawn,

Just to have bad weather send us a storm…

Back to square one we wash over again,

With chamois in hand, it's a deckie's best friend…

We can't let it get to us or change our moods,

We never go hungry, because chefs cook our food.

Lots of yacht owners are horrible and rude,

With some of their actions could probably be sued …

It's not something I've seen just something I've heard.

We vent via drinking and all act absurd…

Partying and drinking like there's no tomorrow,

It's the yachting way and how we let out our sorrows.

Posting drunk pictures with a hashtag and #Yolo,

Maybe you get lucky and a pretty girl will follow…

We're up early again to see the sunrise,

Dehydrated as hell the mouths a bit dry.

Applying some sunscreen and walking outside,

Oh Shit, it's rained again, surprise surprise…

On to the Captain, the first and second mates,

This industry's crazy, you either love it or hate it…

Takes years of experience to move all the way up,

Endless nights without sleeping, drinking coffee by the cup…

Their primary goal is to keep the crew and guests safe,

It's not an easy job there's a lot on their plate.

Thank god they have the support of the first and second mate,

A captain's word is final, no point in debate…

Some of them have a family or lady back home,

Missing their loved ones, they might tend to moan.

But every 3 months, the boats have them flown,

To spend time with their children and see how they've grown…

The stewards and stewardesses are mainly inside,

They don't see as much sun or incoming tides.

Polishing the interior until it glimmers and shines,

They serve all the guest their high-quality wines…

They put on a smile, tight shirt, and a skirt,

And before you know it, they're coming out with dessert…

Vacuuming of a vacuum till it's perfect and clean,

They work around the clock like a well-oiled machine.

When walking inside it's a beautiful scene,

Not one smudge or dust spot is left by this team.

Now if you go down the steps as far as you can,

You'll find a quiet legend, the laundry man.

It's a different story with his stereo, he loves a good jam,

Applauded for his hard work, very busy his hands…

Twenty-two crew and up to fifteen guests,

All creating washing, yet you never see him stressed.

By afternoon time they're all folded and pressed,

I'm sorry to tell you mum, but his laundry's best…

Yacht engineers have all of the gears,

Engine control rooms with a few office chairs…

When the owners are off they have loads to do,

But when owners are on they're the only laxed crew…

Drinking their tea inside the engine control room,

Knowing at any one moment it could all go BOOM…

Yet I haven't seen this as it's all new to me,

Only thing I see them fixing is the bloody tv..

Their rotation is sweet, they work half the year,

Two on and two off, they're barely ever here…

Houses with pools and fast cars for the thrills,

They make epic money to pay all their bills …

It's not the job for me, as they're barely outside,

But every time they are, their pale skin gets fried…

The chefs on board do a hell of a good job,

With loads of varieties, we get treated like gods…

Although certain people might think otherwise,

They take it for granted with moans and sighs.

You can never please everyone but they do really try,

I am personally really grateful for the food they provide…

Yachting seems amazing from the little I've seen,

You wouldn't believe some of the places I've been…

We take it for granted every now and then,

Our crew is like family and I've made tons of new friends…

I still haven't decided if its living my dream,

But every job out there has some mess to be cleaned.

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