The kindness of seafarers

by Mission Océan on 27 Jul 2017 So we are in the shipyard. We arrived here a few weeks ago, and the plan is to depart mid-August, to welcome onboard our first team of mini researchers – a group of teenagers from a charity in South West France who are preparing an Atlantic crossing for next year, and will be learning citizen science techniques with us to use on the way.

Given that we have both spent a great deal of our careers in superyacht shipyards (me as a Project Manager, and Henrique as a Chief Engineer), we are no strangers to this environment, and know how to plan works and make them happen. When we drew up our list of jobs and looked at the time we had before us, however, we quickly realized that we were going to need some help.

We are fortunate to be part of a unique network of superyacht crew and professionals, and have gained many friends and contacts in this world over the last decade. Contigo is in the yard in Antibes, the Mecca for yacht crew on the French Riviera. This historical town is full to bursting with crew houses, recruitment companies, and – most importantly – deckhands, chefs, stewardesses and engineers looking for their next yacht job. It’s a tough market, especially for newcomers trying to break in and land their first positions as “greenies” (first-timers), and many end up leaving after weeks of handing out hopeful CVs to the enormous yachts on the marina’s International Quay. Funds (or visas) run dry, and some even end up living in local campsites until they can fly home.

There are many social media groups devoted to crew seeking jobs here, the largest of which counts upwards of 30,000 members. We decided to publish an ad on one of these groups, asking for volunteers who might want to spend an hour or two with us, learning some new skills for their CV and helping us move along with some of the simple but time-consuming jobs that we had on the list. We accompanied it with a couple of photos, and a promise of beer and home-cooked food for those that would give up some time. Within hours, we were inundated with offers of assistance, not only from beginners but also from a few experienced crew, and even chefs offering to deliver bags of grub to feed our helpers!

This week, sixteen tanned, willing twenty-somethings gave up several hours of their time, many of them returning three or four days in a row, to help us out. They heralded from every continent and every ocean, bringing a wealth of stories and accents to keep us entertained during work, and over dinner. They sanded, painted and polished, removed deck fittings, repaired the trampoline, and even assisted Henrique to begin dismantling our engines and attempt – albeit, unsuccessfully – to drop the sail drives. Our parents also joined the workforce, adding sewing, varnishing, plumbing and tart-baking skills to the list.

We have quickly fallen into a happy rhythm, with volunteers starting at 4pm after the worst of the heat has gone from the sun. Henrique and I hand out tasks, then get back to working on whatever we have started earlier in the day. Every so often, a head pops around the door or through a porthole to ask a question, or request a tool, but otherwise work buzzes along in all corners of the boat. At 6pm we break for beer, switch around the tasks and work for another couple of hours, during which I get dinner on the go in our lovely little galley. Some of these kids are away from home for the first time; one lad from Kenya openly admitted to having “mastered the art of pasta” after more than two weeks living by himself, and several said that “mum’s cooking” was top of the list of things that they were missing from home in South Africa, Denmark, New Zealand, or Russia… And so it’s a pleasure to sit around together and share roast chicken or homemade stews with them in the evening, as the sun sets over the castle on the hill above the yard.

Unsurprisingly, work has come along a storm; after many hours of labour, the hull and keels are clean and ready for fiberglass patches before our new Boero paint arrives, we have unstepped and prepared the mast for the riggers, who arrive next week, the portholes on the deck have been removed and replaced, and Henrique and his dad have been busy pulling out all the old electronics and replacing them with new. One of the biggest projects has been transforming the starboard aft cabin (a large double) into a workshop and lab; this is nearly finished, barring relocating two batteries and charger to the base of the mast, and putting up a few more shelves.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not paradise. I almost cried this morning because my final coat of varnish on the chart table dried in weird craters, and somehow managed to get moisture in it and go milky. We’re getting up before dawn to cram in as many hours work as we can before the heat of the day gets too much, Henrique has lost 7kg in a month and I’m still holding down a fulltime job for another week. Without our team of helpers, there is no way we would have got this far; in addition to their hard work, their enthusiasm has been infectious, keeping our morale levels high with endless smiles.

There seems to be a natural theme developing through the articles that we write, and that is the kindness of strangers. Or rather, the kindness of a worldwide community of seafarers, who just want to help one another get along, be it with a cup of tea and a kind word, a weekend on board to assist with a passage, or a few hours of time given over to lend a hand in the yard. It’s comforting to know that we will have this support throughout our world tour; we will feel less alone in the middle of a foggy night passage, in those moments where everything decides to break at the same time, or simply when the chips are down. Because we will know that someone who gets it will be waiting to laugh with us over a cold beer in the next port, wherever that may be.

Mission Océan is proudly supported by: Boero, Spade anchors, Aquatabs, Plastimo, Monaco Marine, Navigair, AGL Marine, Pejout Marine Services, Storm Bird shoes, Matt Chem, Chafe-Pro, the town of Cannes, the Rotary Cannes Riviera and Sail-WorldCruising.