It is 07:40 in Antibes. There are already eleven people walking the quay with CVs in a plastic wallet. By 08:30 the crew are working and nobody will talk to you. This is the whole game, and it is decided before most people have had breakfast.
Dockwalking, Honestly
Dockwalking is walking the quays and marinas, politely offering your CV to yachts. It is how a large proportion of green crew find their first work.
How it actually works:
- Go early. Early morning, before work starts. Some crew go at first light.
- Look the part. Plain polo, shorts or smart trousers, deck shoes, tidy hair, no sunglasses on your face, no headphones.
- Ask permission before approaching. Stop short of the passerelle. Say good morning, ask if they are taking day workers or CVs. If they say no, thank them and move on immediately.
- Never board without being invited. Never walk up a passerelle. It is their home and their workplace.
- Be brief. They are busy. Ten seconds and a CV.
- Log every boat — name, date, who you spoke to. Go back in a week if they were friendly.
You will be ignored, waved off and occasionally spoken to rudely. It is not personal. Keep walking.
Day Work
Day work is casual paid work by the day — usually cleaning, laundry, provisioning, wash-downs, silver polishing, turnaround help. It is the single most reliable route into a permanent job.
- It is paid at a daily rate, typically in cash or by transfer, and rates vary by hub and season.
- It is a live audition. The chief stew is deciding whether she wants you in the crew mess for six months.
- How it converts: you work hard, you are early, you do not complain, they need someone, they already know you. That is how most first jobs happen.
The Hubs and the Rhythm
| Hub | Peak arrival window | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Antibes, France | Spring, into the Med season | The classic green-crew hub, very competitive |
| Palma de Mallorca, Spain | Spring, and refit season | Huge refit yards, lots of day work |
| Fort Lauderdale, USA | Autumn, before the Caribbean season | Visa-dependent; the US winter market |
The rhythm follows the seasons: crew move to the Med in spring, to the Caribbean or Florida in autumn. Arrive before the rush and the yachts are still hiring; arrive late and you are one of hundreds.
Crew Houses
Crew houses are shared hostels for job-seeking crew: bunk rooms, nightly or weekly rates, and the best information network in the industry. They are also where rumours, drinking and bad advice live. Use them for the network. Do not fall into them.
Onboard Notes
- Turn up early, sober, quiet and clean. That alone puts you ahead of most of the dock.
- Say yes to unglamorous day work. Bilges and silver get remembered; picky green crew get remembered too.
- Do not work on a yacht without the right to work in that country. A day rate is not worth a ban.