Confessions of a sailing instructor # 2
October 22nd 2006 19:22
A competent crew
Now what were we talking about, oh yeh, girls!
More and more girls are learning to sail as they are very good at it. Also they are realising that is where the boys are. Rather than have to share pies and a sausage sizzle at the footy or cricket on a saturday avro they are flocking to sailing. They don't want to look like rank amateurs so they do the right thing and take lessons.
For the girls taking lessons there are just as many hunky guys learning plus of course there is the opportunity for a romance with an instructor. Most instructors these days are guys but there are some very good and very capable women working as instructors and running the schools.
Your minimum requirement to become a sailing instructor is the ability to sail. You must also be able to pass on your knowledge, not that easy for some. You will need a first aid certificate, Y.A. (Yachting Australia) inshore certificate (to be endorsed instructor) and a few hundred bucks to pay for sitting exams and paying NSW Maritime for converting your certificate to a commercial license. Yachting Australia will also require that instructors have certificate 4 in work place training. You will first be assessed by other instructors to see how you handle yourself and the vessels with students.
The top instructors are usually Yacht Master (instructor) or very rarely Yacht Master Ocean (instructor) these guys don’t often deal with the rank beginner. They pick up the plum jobs of teaching coastal and offshore sailing. Say to Lord Howe or Sydney Hobart races.
Extra work can be gained by increasing your ranking in the scheme of things. TAFE runs courses in Coxswain, Master V and Master 1V. With these certificates and endorsements the pearl in the oyster becomes easier to reach. As an example a coxswain was recently required to “skipper a 40’ catamaran on the barrier reef. Six days on and two off must be an able to sail and show curtsey to back packer guests. $150 per day.” Now if you have to think a long time about that you don’t really want the job. I told you the money was not that good but what are you going to spend it on when you are up on the reef with all meals paid and the pick of smorgasboard?
As a Master V things pick up a bit. Money in Australia is a bit dodgy still but it’s a living. However the worst money I was offered (almost) was to run sailing trips on a 45 footer with experienced German sailors from Chile to the Antarctic, (summer months only) for $1,000 US a month. I don’t do Sydney Hobart’s because I hate the wet and the cold. Why would I go to Antarctica for five hundred bucks a week? Still some one is doing it.
Cushy jobs are to be had overseas but often they want you to go with a partner. EG: “65’ luxury Swan requires master and chef Caribbean then deliver to Med for six months work. $5,000 US per month.” All you have to do is work out how much you can sucker your partner for as a chef and perhaps after a couple of years you will have enough to buy your own live aboard and go back to working for Terry Wise just for the fun of it?
Strangely enough there is getting to be a fair bit of work out there for people with square rig endorsements. That takes a bit of time to build up the hours but it is fun. Think how many hours of drudgery people will go through just to step half a rung up the corporate ladder. Working at sailing is fun. Delivering boats up and down the coast is a possibility but once again the work will be patchy, though occasionally you can pick up a plum. The same 65’ Swan had to be delivered from Vancouver to the Caribbean.
Sailing instructors are also required to teach in dinghies and skiffs. This can be on a professional basis or perhaps helping out at a local sailing club free just for the experience. Sometimes the club has a few spare bucks in the kitty to pay, but generally it is for free. However, it is a great way to start. Make a nuisance of yourself by getting around as much as you can and asking everyone for a job. The work is out there and it is just about as good as it gets.
If you are really good you may get the job of being a coach for teams planning to have a crack at the national titles. This is generaly weekend and summer season only.
Next, more info and where to go to be an instructor
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