April 30, 2010
Employers hire you with clear expectations to fulfill a job. You do what is asked and they pay you. As you hold up your end of the bargain, and do it well, the boss may forget why he is writing you that monthly check. "Just what is it that you are doing for me, again?," he asks.
This month at The Triton's From the Bridge captains luncheon, we invited yacht captains to tell us what they do all day in their jobs, how they document their work and how they share the information with the people who want to know.
"I take boats to exotic ports for repairs," came a quick reply from a captain.
"I fix toilets on elegant yachts," another said.
"I make lists and keep adding to them," offered the next.
As always in the monthly meeting, individual comments are not attributed to any one person in particular so as to encourage frank and open discussion. The attending captains are identified in a photograph accompanying this article.
Everyone who works on a boat understands the never-ending task lists onboard. But the people who visit an immaculate and perfectly functioning yacht don't ponder the behind-the-scenes work that makes it so. When a boat is in good shape, there can be a perception that captains have their feet up with a cup of coffee, when in reality, the captains said, their job is continual.
"When the owner comes, everything needs to be working," said a captain.
"I had the owner call for a surprise visit, but the boat was torn apart. He got to see us working and what it really takes."
"Yeah, it's good to let the owner see a working boat, and let them climb over the crap also," another captain added.
A lot of owners have never seen their boat with decks dismantled, heads pulled out, an engine torn apart or teak being refinished and helps them understand what goes on, agreed several captains.
One captain said that sometimes an owner is knowledgeable about what it takes to maintain a yacht. The captain said he worked for a civil engineer who read the entire yacht survey and understood it, but other captains said their owners knew little about electric and water systems, engines, electronics, interiors, travel plans and navigation. Most attendees said their owners are busy business people who just want to see results. Flawless results for every trip.
"I worked for an owner that didn't want to know anything, he just wanted to get on a perfect boat," a captain said.
Keeping a yacht afloat, clean and running is more than full-time work, the captains said, and add to that staff cuts, becoming MCA compliant, switching country flags or doing a refit and captains are under a lot more pressure.
"For one, I have to coordinate parts, appointments, contractors, crew and locations. And then I do what jobs I can personally do to save the owner money."
Aside from being knowledgeable about all things nautical, captains have to plan for the unforseen and unknown.
"I'm busy booking dockage, double booking dockage and canceling dockage," a captain said after he checked his voice mail during lunch to hear the owner's request to reinstate the Key West trip that he had canceled.
"You never get done," the captain said.
"Then there's the Alzheimer tie-in: on the way to get a tool, I'll see another issue, then it's four hours later before I get back to the original task," another said as all nodded in agreement.
One captain explained how new crew and owners sometimes don't understand that yesterday's priority is different today. He said he changes priorities all day.
"They have to realize, if the boat is still working, then so are you," a captain said.
A captain explained, "We have to manage ourselves. If I know we are always going to be busy on Saturday and Sunday then I have to take time on Monday. I have to grab time when I can. Forget about things like doctors' appointments."
"The percetion is that you're available 24/7," another captain said.
Captains talked about how difficult it is to schedule personal time due to the schedules of owners, contractors, travel, and yards.
"I would actually love a day where I could just paint teak. Imagine, no phone..," a captain said as his phone vibrated.
As well as accomplishing, delegating and managing all tasks on board, most all of the captains have to provide proof of their duties to paycheck writers.
"I have to document everything I do," a captain said. "I'm like a Japanese tourist taking pictures on my boat, but the owners demand the accountability."
Each captain has a system for organizing his workload. One captain makes mental lists while carrying a chamois as he makes rounds. One writes on a calendar that serves as his personal secretary. One uses a notepad, then transfers the data to a spreadsheet with categories of who is doing what and prints it for the crew. One makes a to-do list and a to-buy list. One captain keeps every broken part.
"The owners say, 'It always worked before,' and I reply, 'well, it doesn't work now and here it is.'" As a bonus, he said it keeps the workmen honest when he tells them he's keeping the old parts.
One captain's doing double duty. His documentation is for two boats.
"I have to use two stand-alone tables with lists, schedules and receipts, one for each boat. And that's two separate budgets."
The engine room is unique and has to be documented in log books, another captain said.
Captains on large yachts have department heads and crew document their own workload.
"I say to my crew, I don't need it to be pretty, but I need you to write down what you do in one day, because one day can be pretty much like another," a captain said.
When asked about software systems for vessel maintenance, a captain said he used one, but it was too laborious because it could do too much.
"I couldn't do the job, for documenting the job," he said.
Most of the captains could not keep their lists electronically because they are not in front of the computer. Although every captain said they are tied to their phone, no one had found a system for recording tasks on their smart phones.
But all this list making takes time.
"It can take a full day to document what I've done," a captain said as most nodded in agreement.
"Every minute the owner's away from the boat they wonder why they are spending money on it," a captain said.
So aside from getting the work done, captains have to share, often in detail, what has been done with a variety of people.
"All of my e-mails have to be copied to the management company, accounting, and the staff to justify why I'm spending money," the captain said.
The group said they have to communicate with owners, secretaries, management companies, travel agents, and the owner's wife or girlfriend.
"I have to justify everything at the Monday morning budget meeting with the owner, the accountants and everyone."
It can be different on a small charter boat, said a captain who doesn't have to document what he does.
"My justification is the profit," he said. "I just have to show revenue with the charters. 'How much money?' is all they ask."
One captain has a management company so he explains that "this is broken" and they tell him what to do. But he still has to make it happen.
There was a consensus that when the owner asks questions, it's usually because money is being spent. And there is always money being spent on a yacht.
So just what are yacht captains doing again?
"What I do, is about what I am thinking all night while you are sleeping," a captain said.
"What do I do?" another said. "Everything you don't think I do."
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