Welcome to The Ward Room.   Yacht life is hard enough, working long hours and being away from home, but it doesn't take long to settle into your position on board and call the yacht "home". As longevity is gained and you want to start looking at career progression by taking on some courses, you find yourself looking for accommodation ashore. In many of the main yachting hubs in Europe you can find plenty of reasonably priced short term lettings, Airbnb's and hotels that are perfect for this, but when it comes to studying in larger cities or in the UK, it's not so easy.   Hotel rates fluctuate with events that are going on and rarely offer discounts for longer stays. So what do you do when the course runs for a month or even 6? Now that Warsash...

Thank you to the fabulous Chief Stews, Stews and Chefs who all shared their equally fabulous "top stew tips of the day" at the 2019 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show earlier this season, here's just a few to make life onboard that bit easier.  If you've got tips you'd like to share with fellow superyacht crew, simply add and share in the comments below: 1) Try to stay cool, calm and collected on charter and if anyone is struggling do try to help your fellow crew out.  A smiles goes a long way and the guests will pick up if the crew aren't happy and the guests are on board to have a nice time, so if the crew smile, the guests will smile too. 2) Tip for cleaning those tricky to clean thermoses and thermos cups. All you need is Oxy Clean and som...

So, with Christmas just behind us, where do you think superyachts have most likely berthed in preparation for the festivities? While many superyachts are undergoing crucial maintenance and others wintered, there are owners and charterers who have planned their Christmas onboard beautiful superyachts, but where have they dropped anchor?  The Bahamas - although the Bahamas have been hit hard with the widespread flooding and devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian back in September, most of the islands south of Grand Bahama weren't too badly affected so still provide the chance for a luxury winter escape, maintaining the same high standard of service you have come to expect from the region. Thought to be the perfect charter destination and having served the supe...

Flushed with the success of their first canine mission back in September, where they rescued 50 dogs from the Bahamas, the Captain, crew, guests and owners of M/Y Laurel went back in early December to rescue even more displaced dogs, and they're already planning a third trip for January 2020. Having gone the first time to deliver aid, with the support and backing of the owners, December 5th saw Laurel's Captain and crew actually accompanied by the owners and their guests, all keen to get involved.  Everyone playing a crucial part in providing aid and rescuing the homeless, sick and injured dogs.  Each guest temporarily adopting two dogs to speed up the process of getting them to the USA.   The owners have even set up their own foundation, Bailey &...

Inspired by the strength of fish scales, University of Sussex final year Product Design student, Lucy Hughes has devised a potential alternative to single-use plastic, made mainly from by-products of the fishing industry. Named "Marina Tex", Lucy's final year university project could potentially, she hopes, replace the single-use plastic film sometimes used in sandwich and tissue boxes. Lucy's fishy innovation is edible, home compostable rather than having to be composted industrially, doesn't contaminate soil and bio-degrades in 4-6 weeks, winning her this year's International James Dyson award, awarding her the grand sum of £32,000 in prize money which she plans to use to further develop the product. With an estimated 50 million tonnes of f...

  With a focus on ocean conservation, Kiwi Olympic sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have established Live Ocean, a New Zealand registered charity with one mission, to be a world-leading champion in ocean health.  Not afraid of pushing themselves to the limit, these boys may have taken on their biggest challenge yet.  By concentrating their efforts on positive change for the ocean, the charity sets out to support and invest in promising marine science, innovation, technology and marine conservation projects.  Inspiring and educating New Zealanders to change behaviour.  Named Live Ocean because that's what we all want, Burling said "New Zealand should be a world leader in ocean health. We have over four million square kilometres of ocean so what...

Fire ripped through two luxury yachts on Saturday night, moored at Universal Marine Center in Fort Lauderdale.  More than 60 firefighters were dispatched to the fire at approximately 4.43am following the 911 call.  With flames and smoke visible for miles, firefighters boarded boats parked on the canal to try and tackle the flames. Both yachts were in the yard for interior work, painting and were fully wrapped at the time. Painting was nearly completed and both yachts were scheduled to leave the yards within 3 weeks. Luckily the crew had already left the yachts earlier the night before, so there was no one on board 161-foot Trinity Lohengrin and the 107-foot Christiansen Reflection.  The former estimated to be worth approximately $12 million and the latter approximately h...

Ranked in third place in the world, but still growing, the UK's superyacht industry has recently seen growth for its 6th year in a row, with Superyacht UK reporting that two thirds of businesses in the industry are confident that the future continues to look bright. That's pretty good going, given all the uncertainty around the UK's impending withdrawal from the EU.  It's great that international demand still looks mainly stable, in part due to the pound being weaker, but also due to a significant increase in turnover in 2017/18, with £520m in GVA (gross value added) contributing to the UK's GDP (gross domestic product).  With the UK a proud leader in superyacht design and manufacturing, it's no surprise we're curr...

We thought we'd show you what a typical day onboard a superyacht looks like, if you're in between charters. Obviously the way each yacht is run differs from one to the next, but just to give you an idea of what the day includes, how many hours you'll be working and the sort of thing you'll be doing, this is what the interior/ deck crew might typically be doing in between guests, to get the boat cleaned up and ready for the next charter. 7am – Rise and Shine Get up, wash, get your crew uniform on (Off-Guest Uniform in-between charter) and have breakfast in the crew mess. Drop your laundry in the laundry room, separate lights and whites from darks and pop your uniform in the laundry for the daily wash.  Fresh uniform will be delivered to your cabin later. 745am &ndash...

Back in June, EU Regulation 2019/880 became official, meaning the import of ancient art works, books, manuscripts and antiques within the EU just got harder.  Bad news for organised crime groups and terrorists trying to make money from the import and export of valuable ancient goods, but also for legitimate auction houses, small art galleries and bona fide traders. Brought in to combat looting, theft and the illegal trafficking of antiquities in war-torn countries and unstable regions, the regulation won't be fully effective until 2024–2026, but the industry is concerned that come 2026 it will become virtually impossible to import antiquities within the 28 EU nations for legitimate small and medium sized businesses? In practical terms, the regulation means a restricti...