It is day nine. The baby has woken at 0230 for three nights, you have been on deck by 0630 every morning, and today you will be in the water with two children until sunset. You are still smiling. You are also, by any honest measure, unfit to be the sole supervisor of a child near water. Fatigue is not a character flaw - it is a safety hazard, and it is your duty to raise it.
Children do not respect a rota
A yacht nanny is uniquely exposed to fatigue because the work has no natural boundary. Night waking, early risers, sea days and charter turnarounds all stack. Under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), seafarers are entitled to minimum rest hours; the exact figures are set by the flag state and the vessel safety management system, so check the yacht record of hours of rest and ask the captain what applies to you.
The principle is simple and non-negotiable: a fatigued carer is an unsafe carer, and the person responsible for raising it is you.
- Record your hours honestly. Do not sign a rest-hours record you know is false.
- Ask early for a shared night rota, a relief watch, or a second carer - before you are exhausted, not after.
- If a workload is genuinely impossible, say so to the chief stew, then the captain. Escalating fatigue is professional; enduring it silently is not.
Confidentiality and the NDA
Almost every yacht position involves a non-disclosure agreement. Assume total confidentiality even without one.
| Never share | Includes |
|---|---|
| Identities | Guest and owner names, family details, the childrens names and schools |
| Location | Marina, itinerary, arrival and departure times, the vessel name |
| Content | Conversations, arguments, health, diet, anything overheard |
| Images | Any photograph or video containing a child, ever |
Photographs of children: the absolute rule
Never photograph or film the children. No social media. No exceptions. Not for your own album, not for a private account, not for your family, not de-identified, not the back of a head, not a hand holding a shell. Do not appear in guest photographs holding a child if you can avoid it. Assume every image leaks. A single post can put a child at risk of identification, targeting or kidnap, and it will end your career in this industry permanently.
If a parent asks you to take pictures on their phone, you may - the images stay on their device and never touch yours.
Onboard Notes
Two habits protect you: turn off cloud photo backup on your phone before you join, and get the discipline and rest expectations in writing before you sign. The most common reason good yacht nannies fail is not skill - it is exhaustion nobody was told about.
Preparatory study only. These lessons are not a childcare qualification and are not first aid training. Caring for children at sea requires a recognised childcare qualification and a current, practically assessed paediatric first aid certificate from an approved provider.