High standards

“It’s a busy industry, and to be successful with charters is tough,” explains Captain Ron Woods, deckhand at 19 years old and captain at just 24 years old. “You’ve got to have your ducks in a row on a five-star boat. If you don’t, you’re going to lose. There are guys like me who will beat you every time. You’ve got to have the right chef in the galley, the right stewardess inside, the right guys outside for water sports. Everybody’s got to be incredibly enthusiastic and good at their job. You want proactive people working for you if you’re in the charter business.”

2009 Charter Captain of the Year on board busy 42m charter motoryacht Paramour, Captain Woods and his crew were sought after by the owner of Mia Elise, a 50m Trinity motoryacht. Captain, first mate, chief stewardess (the captain’s wife), bosun, chef and engineer all moved to Mia Elise, ready for her delivery in 2010. But additional crewmembers were needed to make the perfect team, and to ensure standards didn’t slip an inch, potential crewmembers were put through a challenging and gruelling recruitment process.



“When we started on board Mia Elise we needed a deckhand,” says Captain Woods. “I don’t need a lot of experience for a deckhand, I just need somebody who’s like an act from Cirque du Soleil, who will swing round the sides and wash the windows, someone who’s not afraid to get out there. We interviewed thirty people, got it down to ten guys, and I hired them all. I told them, ‘You’re all dayworking for the next three days. I’ll pay you all for the three days, and we’re going to weed you.’ And then, after weeding out nine, we found our deckhand.

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"You’ve got to have your ducks in a row on a five-star boat. If you don’t, you’re going to lose." - Captain Ron Woods

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“We hired a girl from a private boat last year and she told us we were all nuts after working with us for two weeks, seeing us do twenty-four-hour charter turnovers. And that’s the mentality of a private boat – they don’t understand how hard we have to work to make it a success. My crew get tested, and if they can’t keep up they’re gone,” says Captain Woods.

“When we’re in the Med on our summer season, the days off you get are at the start in May, and then three months later at the end of the season in August. You’re working from the time you get up to the time you go to bed every single day, but you’re also going to make a lot of money. You’re going to make loads in tips, plus salary, and it’s a short season. If you ask everybody who the best charter boat is in the business, our name will come up. We have one lady who books with us every year, though it’s always hard to outdo what you’ve done in the past; you’ve already set high standards and you’re competing against yourself every time.”



But for this crew, resting on their laurels is not an option. Motivation, enthusiasm and flexibility lie behind the scenes of this successful charter boat. “I try to keep a very enthusiastic, hard-working crew that share the same passion for chartering as I do, and can get the job done and enjoy their time on board,” says Captain Woods. “Chartering is a much busier lifestyle and requires very positive people who are easygoing and able to roll with the punches. As a very busy charter captain, I really enjoy what I do, and my wife and I have been very successful in our industry because we love what we do. To be a crewmember on a busy boat you have to really love what you do, otherwise it just won’t work.”

Find the full article in Issue 63 of The Crew Report.

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