Working at the Marina: Ian's Off-Season to High-Season Journey
Ian started working at the marina in the off-season. They worked 9-5, 5 days a week, repairing, painting and getting the yachts prepped for the charter season. Some days were longer than others, mostly because his colleagues drink a lot of coffee.
As they got closer to âthe summerâ, his hours were all over the place. Some days off because âtomorrow is another dayâ and some days went into the night because 10 minutes can mean 90 minutes.
Since the beginning of June, they have had a steady flow of clients but not yet all 15 boats going out on a Saturday.
It is now 12-14 hours of work on a Friday when the yachts return and must be âchecked-outâ. This involves divers checking under the boat for damage (only once have they had to take the boat out of the water for repair). Ian checks the sails and reviews the inventory which can take up to an hour. The clients usually stay on the boat in the marina for the night and leave by 10am on Saturday.
Saturday is another 14 - 16 hour day made longer in the sun, with the temperature hovering around 40 degrees.
Before the cleaners get on board, Ian and Alexi go through the boat to recover all the âleft-behindâ. The unexpected bonus haul has stocked our fridge with sparkling water, our bar with wine and beer and our pantry with pasta, balsamic vinegar, sun-dried tomatoes, and capers. We even got 10 toilet rolls last week!
They repair leaks and damages (toilets are a tricky thing on a yacht apparently), organise the cleaning crews (one for inside and another for the deck), and restock inventory ahead of the checking-in of the new clients from 5 pm. This can take a while although should take 45 minutes. Ian has been called The Terminator because he says âIâll be backâ so often.
FUN FACT: They remove any wine glasses on board! Apparently, because the skipper canât drink and sail, nobody should be tempted to enjoy their wine out of a wine glass. So there are no wine glasses in the inventory. Clients go to the supermarket to buy their own glasses and these have to be removed.
Sunday is usually morning only, to set the boats off from the marina if they didnât leave on Saturday. It is tricky to get through the narrow channels and the inexperienced sailors often catch the keel on anchor ropes. They need verbal direction or manual assistance to get going again. Occasionally they go on a call-out to do a repair or drop off a winch or an outboard motor key that was missed during the check-in.
He is off on a Monday and half days for the rest of the week although he is on call if there is a breakdown.
He enjoys meeting the tourists and the buzz around the marina. He is learning to ride a tender around the marina, unblock toilets and empty bilges. For now, he is happy there, at least most of the time.
