Crew Houses; What, Where and Why?
The life of a crew member is transient by nature. We find we are never situated in one place for long. This makes putting down roots an unnecessary undertaking. Responsibilities such as signing leases and registering for a local driver's license doesn’t make much sense if you’re going to hop onto a yacht for a whole season, only a few days after you’ve arrived. Crew Houses are an industry godsend in this regard. They cater to need for temporary accommodation and support for job seeking crew.
What: Crew Houses are BnB-come-backpacker type communes. They are a great way for professional crew to connect with each other and also provide yachting staff, looking to hire crew, a pool of available candidates. Many Crew Houses aim to maintain a cosy home-like environment in order to make crew feel as comfortable as possible. Crew Houses typically have shared rooms, fully equipped kitchens and cooking facilities,laundry facilities, common areas such as lounges and/or terraces. Many Crew Houses also offer workshops and seminars to help crew with job interview and team integration skills. Green crew should consider setting themselves up in a Crew House as they will have hands on access to these resources as well as others which include the advice and wisdom of industry veterans who stay in Crew Houses too. Free facilities such as computers, printers and fax machines are available to help unemployed crew with their job seeking process.
Where: Crew Houses can never, and should never be too far from the port. Because crew typically dockwalk when looking for work, the location of the Crew House needs to be a sensible, pedestrian friendly, distance from where the yachts are docked. If this is not the case you often find Crew Houses set up near access to public transport. This makes running errands easier for crew too. Proximity to grocery stores, banks, pharmacies, or even local watering holes and fun spots is important to consider when looking into Crew Houses. Luckily in Antibes, Palma, Fort Lauderdale, and other major yachting port cities, there are a number of Crew Houses yacht workers can choose from.
Why: What attracts so many yacht workers to Crew Houses is that it is cost effective. Job seeking crew members don’t have a great deal of disposable income to spend on grand hotels. This is why Crew Houses, and their reasonably discounted pay-by-the-week rates, are so appealing. It gives crew the opportunity to pack up and leave if and when they find something without having to cancel legally binding contracts such as apartment leases. Having direct access to people and resources that will help in you finding a job on-board is also a perk not to be ignored. Be weary though; cheaper Crew Houses will save you money but some of the better, more expensive ones get phone calls asking for day workers. These are all things you would need to consider before deciding on which Crew House to stay in.
Whether you’re leaving home for the first time to begin a career in the yachting industry, or you’ve decided to take a break from working on board and treat yourself to come down time; accommodation should give you the least stress. Crew Houses provide a warm place to rest your head and a safe space to call your own, even if just for a few days.