Crew Gyms - Making a Very Positive Difference

Life as crew onboard a busy superyacht can at times be frustrating. The cramped conditions, unstable environment and long working hours can cause unnecessary stress and tension- how you deal with it can be the difference between a good season and a bad one.

The Superyacht Operating Systems team are all about efficiency, and believe that good health is closely associated with crew productivity so we're going to introduce some health oriented editorials to compliment our document library and functional design features.

So how best to unwind? Research made by yachting health-and-fitness experts GymCompany Marine suggests that the vast majority of crew members would prefer to work on a yacht which provides a gym for its crew; and that working out after-hours is an effective way to counter the stresses of a busy season.

‘’The first ever yacht I worked on had a very popular crew-gym,’’ says GymCompany Marine founder Edward Thomas, ‘’it was a 70-odd metre Turkish build and probably one of the busiest private boats I’ve ever encountered. The gym space was tucked away in a tunnel leading from the crew area to the engine room, which was a clever use of what was otherwise a ‘dead-space’’. Though, it was an area also shared by the garbage freezers- which made for quite a smell!’’

Far from ideal, but the theme of placing crew-exercise equipment in some unlikely places deep within the bowels of a yacht is not an uncommon one.

“We tend to find at GymCompany Marine that whenever we are asked to put a proposal together for a new-build yacht, there is usually a separate list of equipment for the crew too. Captains and management companies have woken up to the fact that crew-turnover is an expensive problem, and providing additional gym facilities for the crew can help reduce this. This expense is twofold because the financial loss of losing people is equaled and often surpassed by the implications of loss-of knowledge and the time needed to train new crew.’’

“Equipment selection here is really important. Usually space is tight, so items that stow cleverly like the LifeFitness F1 folding treadmill, or the Powerblock series of free-weights are really popular. Powerblock is particularly good because, unlike conventional dumbbell sets, there’s no risk of it rolling about in a seaway and the unit’s total weight is a fraction of what a full set of dumbbells could add up to- often as much as one metric ton! Suspension trainers like the TRX are really good too- you can secure them to overhead pipes or wherever suits and have a really varied workout taking advantage of bodyweight resistance.’’

Aside from the benefits of keeping the crew healthy having a crew gym can in general improve the lifespan of guest equipment by limiting its use.

‘’The problem with having a shared gym is that suddenly the kit is being used every day at quite a high intensity.’’ says Edward Thomas, ‘’It’s a simple fact that a crew of 18 or 20 plus will use the kit much more than the guests ever will when they’re onboard. So you can bet that the kit will start to look scrappy really very quickly. Keeping the crew and guest gyms separate saves the crew valuable time in preparing for charters, because it takes less time to get the guest facing gym area up to standards pre-arrival and it’s easy to keep it up. Gym equipment generally has a lifespan of about 2 years if well maintained, therefore if it’s guest-facing you want to do everything in your power to keep it looking as good as it did on day-1 on day-730!’’

A facility that saves the yacht-owner money, and keeps the crew happy?! We can’t think of a better feature!!

Edward Thomas is the Founder of GymCompany Marine- the yachting industry’s only specialist independent retailer of all the world’s major fitness brands- with a full portfolio of services ranging from gym-design to crew training and recruitment.

Find out more at www.gymcompanymarine.com

Email- hello@gymcompanymarine.com

Tel- +44 203 488 0750

New Builds: Functional Crew Mess Design

All too often the functional spaces onboard a yacht are designed by people who are proficient in design and have the best intentions but have never been a crew. Actual onboard experience living, working in, and utilising these spaces can provide valuable perspective that shouldn't be overlooked. Functional spaces with good flow streamline day-to-day operations and enable the crew to spend more time providing exceptional service.

The crew who are afforded the opportunity to provide input into design need to keep in mind that there will nearly always be restrictions with both space and budget. Space is at a premium and everyone wants more than they've been allocated. Plus, it's very rare that an owner allows an unlimited budget. Additionally, there are likely to be some logistical restrictions when it comes to placement of equipment due to engineering, plumbing, bulk heads, and safety features. It can be challenging to come up with a good layout with all these obstacles but patience, persistence, and logic will pay off in the end.

Above:  Delta installed flip-up extensions on both ends of these tables to increase seating capacity without closing off the whole area. There's storage under all the bench seats and this is accessibly through cupboard doors on the mini benches. The corner of the Bain Marie is visible on the counter.

Layout

The flow and layout of the crew mess design is critical to the success of the space as a workable area. The majority of the crew will flock the crew mess around the same time for meals so the ability to handle high traffic efficiently is imperative. If your design caters to these peak traffic meal times, the rest of the day will be a breeze.

The deck crew will come in from the hot sun (and the engineers from a hot engine room) and a cold drink will be their priority. If they're able to get their glass and beverage without fighting through the crew, who are lined up to plate food, it will assist in functional movement of the crew. Think the whole period through along this line and place the plates and cutlery as close as possible to where the food will be served. You want the crew to be able to get their drink, put it on the table, plate up their food, add condiments, grab cutlery, and not have to double back.

Have breakfast items and condiments in cupboards above the food counter so that they're convenient. Keep the sink and dishwashers together but in a location that doesn't restrict the pathway of crew or view of the safety monitors and television.

Preferably the crew should also be able to leave the table without having to interrupt too many people still eating, and get to the rubbish bin, sink and dishwasher without crossing through people still plating up or going back for seconds.

Let's Talk about Equipment Fit Out

Installing a boiling and chilled filter tap in the crew mess alleviates the need to store massive quantities of bottled water for the crew, keeps the refrigerator free of clutter, and spares you from using a kettle. Many filter taps also have the option to introduce healthy minerals since these are often lost due to the highly efficient water making systems on yachts.

Soda fountains are also a very sensible addition. The quality of the product might not be quite as good as what you get in a can but the convenience of the system and the storage it gives you for other things certainly make up for that. The syrups are available worldwide and you can provide several options at once. The added bonus is that this system is environmentally friendly.

For practical purposes, place the ice machine as close to the water and soda fountain as possible. Although we have no personal experience, we recently read that water-cooled ice machines are substantially quieter than traditional models and are well worth considering.

Your beverage station would not be complete without a sophisticated coffee machine. We don't pretend to be experts on coffee machines but we can give you a few handy hints on what not to do. First, be wary of those lovely big industrial machines that you see in the cafes in Italy. They're great but they usually have a 'minimum' requirement of around 300 coffees per day and if they're not used to that capacity they become a nightmare for the engineering department. Do you really want your crew buzzing around on 300 espressos a day? Also, try to keep it simple for the crew to operate. The more manual the process the messier it's going to get. Automatic 'press a button' style machines solve this problem but the pods can be expensive and you do need to check that they'll be available in the areas you expect to cruise.

Some serious consideration needs to be given to the dishwashers you install. Miele is a quality brand that has a very strong presence on yachts, so they're a strong contender but sometimes the cycle length can be a bit frustrating. Short cycle dishwashers usually require the tank (basin at the bottom) to be filled with water which definitely does not work when you're in choppy seas. The drawer systems are usually too small for a large crew. So what do you choose? We found that having one Miele and one short cycle Hobart worked well. Between the two you can fit all the plates and glasses from a single crew meal period for 25 plus and you're also able to use the Hobart to wash and sterilise all the serving platters. By the time you cycle items through the Hobart and clean the crew mess, the Miele has also finished and is ready to be unpacked. When you hit rough seas you drain the Hobart but still have the Miele available. Be sure to have the shipyard install stainless protective frame over any timber surrounding the Hobart. The basin water gets very hot and produces steam that damages timber finishes.

We highly recommend a waterless hot/cold Bain Marie for serving the crew meals. The benefits include:

• The ability to keep food both hot and cold
• Lineup at the microwave no longer occurs
• Everything is safely stowed for sea through the whole service
• The chef can prepare food directly in the stainless pans that insert into the Bain Marie (lasagna, etc)
• Food is kept at a safe temperature for the full lunch period
• Transparent lids that fit snugly on the insert can be used on leftovers and placed directly into the fridge
• Less dishes for everyone - what's not to like about that!

When the Bain Marie is not in use the compartments are covered with flat stainless lids.

The shipyard will be able to provide you with some good commercial refrigeration options. If you have a soda and water fountain you won't need as much refrigeration space. Think about what you are going to need to store in the fridge and choose an appropriate size and model. Make sure the Bain Marie inserts fit (these can be stacked on top of each other) and consider what (if any) size freezer you need. The compressor noise and the loud sound of the commercial unit doors being closed are often overlooked. If the unit is placed on a wall that backs onto a crew cabin, it is a good idea to encourage the project manager to provide additional sound insulation in the wall between the crew mess and cabins that can be occupied by crew trying to sleep after overnight navigational watches.

Given the various worldwide requirements yachts need to comply with it is imperative to have separate receptacles for trash, recycling, and slops. Trash and recycling can easily be placed together in one slide out trash cupboard. We like the slops drawer system like the one shown in the picture below. The lid can be removed during meal periods and when not in use the counter is usable as if it doesn't exist. You keep a plastic tub inside the drawer that can easily be emptied and cleaned. 

The slops receptacle pictured is in a pantry that's out of use and has white service gloves temporarily stored in it but you still get the idea.

There is a finger hole in the middle of the granite insert to enable removal and replacement of the lid. The design works even better with Corian.

The plastic insert is removed by opening the drawer (top drawer of the facing cupboard).

Is a Crew Recreation Room a Luxury?

Of course not!  It's a multi-functional destination that can be used for:

• Departmental and head of department meetings
• Crew training
• Computer stations for department heads to carry out administration (see the plan)
• A living space for the crew to refuel and relax

A crew recreation room provides the ability for some crew to watch a movie together while others eat or play board games in the crew mess. The crew have somewhere to go when their cabin mate wishes to sleep. An alarm monitor and security camera monitor can also be accommodated and if you have a second television in the crew mess it takes care of the problems associated with trying to get so many people to agree on one particular movie or television program!

A Few More Things to Consider

If the galley is on a different level, a dumb waiter is helpful to transport meals and supplies to the mess.

When you purchase the crew glassware, check that the height of the glassware isn't taller than the height available in the Miele dishwasher glass rack (many highballs are too tall). Make sure you select plastic cups that are dishwasher proof. Palm Products have a great line that are dishwasher safe and include a non-slip rubber base that works well in rough seas.

Install racks for tea towels and paper towel near the sinks.

Consider purchasing a large quantity of crew plates and plastic cups that double as casual plates for guest picnics and barbeque parties ashore. That way you'll have plenty of spare to cover inevitable breakages.

Obviously you need to have a vacuum close at hand and usually this will be a Miele. 

Have you seen the Dyson Animal range? We love these powerful and versatile dust busters. When the stick attachment is added it is fantastic for a quick floor clean and it is also great for maneuvering into hard to get to places. You might want to chain it up so that the deck crew don't steal it. 

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Dealing with that Sea of Luggage

If you work on a private yacht and the owner along with his guests arrive and depart using his private jet, then the system we're going to explain is perfect for you. If you're on a charter yacht or your boss flies commercially, you can still benefit by using some of these great ideas when handling the luggage.

Ever had a guest depart the yacht and arrive home minus their luggage? Hopefully not but if you work in the industry long enough there's a good chance it might happen. People get pretty passionate when their belongings go missing. Worse than that, the blame game kicks in and that is no fun.

Who lost it? Was it the yacht crew, the limo, the private aviation crew? Or maybe the luggage handlers who should have put it into the guest's personal transport upon arrival at their final destination? Where is that bag?

We were exactly in that position (twice) and everyone seemed to think that the yacht was definitely the one to blame. We were pretty confident it wasn't us because there were no bags left onboard, in the tender, or in the transport but all fingers were pointing straight at us. To prevent that from happening again, we created a fool-proof system to protect our guests’ belongings and streamline our luggage handling.

In our circumstance, the pilots had to eat two very large servings of humble pie. Meanwhile, we benefited from the system we developed as it allowed us to work efficiently and prevented further luggage mishaps.

Here are the things you need to buy:

• Cabin Allocation Tags.  Number or name them to match your onboard guest cabins. You'll need about 30 for each cabin, based on providing 8-10 per couple and having 3 sets.

• Owner Luggage Tags.  Make your owner feel special by getting them their very own luggage tags. We chose gold and had the yacht logo printed on them.

• Guest Luggage Number Identification Tags.  How many? This mainly depends on how many luggage your guests typically bring. You can either go for a higher estimate or get two sets of numbers 1-50 in different colours. Work with your yacht's colour scheme but lean towards brighter colours for easy identification. Having two different colours is a good way to visually distinguish different drop-off locations for the jet.

Endless luggage tag options are readily available online. We chose the simple credit card style (like the Emirates one pictured) because they were durable and inexpensive.  Occasionally one would snap in half but overall they worked well.   The new aluminium options might be superior.

Be mindful of the type of attachment device you select because you'll find they don't get returned to the boat if they're not quick and easy for the pilots to remove.  

By choosing a metallic finish and adding some boat artwork you can make these economical options look really nice.

For efficiency purposes, we suggest that you print on both sides so that tags do not need to be turned over to read the number or cabin name. You could also colour code the Cabin Allocation Tags to match the cabin decor.

How to use them:

To avoid confusion, you will probably find it beneficial to go to the Superyacht Operating Systems webpage and download the FREE "Luggage Manifest for Aviation" and "Pre-Arrival Guest Letter." to refer to when reading these instructions.  

1. If at all possible, the captain, purser or owner's personal assistant should send the guests a letter before they arrive. They can use the template from the Superyacht Operating Systems library to create your yacht's own standard welcome letter. If you don't have access to the guests' contact information, the owner's personal assistant will need to be involved in this process. The idea is that you send guests the letter providing them with some information about the yacht to get them excited and take the opportunity to suggest packing the appropriate shoes etc.  Include several luggage tags (specific to their cabin allocation) so they can place them before they leave home and attach a Guest Preference Sheet for them to complete as well.  
2. Have the owner's house staff tag their luggage with their special Owner Luggage Tags.
3. Regardless of whether the guests fly commercially or on the owner's private jet, their luggage is pre-tagged with their cabin allocation so that when it arrives onboard the deck crew know exactly where to take it. The guests can then enjoy their welcome beverage without interruption.
4. After the crew or guests unpack their luggage, the head of housekeeping or chief steward/ess completes the "Luggage Manifest for Aviation".  The Cabin Allocation Tag is replaced with a Number Identification Tag and all the relevant information is recorded on the Luggage Manifest in preparation for departure day. The whole process can be done at your convenience, anytime between arrival and departure, but we suggest getting it out of the way sooner rather than later. 
5. The details can be updated anytime when you notice that the guests have been shopping and have asked you to stow their purchase.
6. The second sheet on the Luggage Manifest provides you with a location to inventory the contents of any bags that are travelling between the yacht and the owner's various homes or offices. This serves both as a tracking record and a declaration for clearance purposes to assist the pilots.
7. The Luggage Manifest enables you to provide specific instructions on where each bag is going.  This is very helpful when the jet has multiple drop-off destinations. 
8. On departure day, update the Luggage Manifest as necessary to complete it electronically.   Print 3 copies and attach them to a clip board.  You can use carbon paper between the copies if you like.
9. Be prepared with some additional number (and owner) tags and have a pen handy in case of unexpected last minute additions. We suggest that you connect the pen to the clip board with a string, for the conveniene of the deck crew along the way.
10. Hand it all over to the first mate so that the checking-off process can begin. The first mate does a bag count to confirm if the number of luggage pieces matches what is recorded on the Luggage Manifest.  He recounts when loading the luggage into the tender and/or the airport transport vehicle, then again on arrival at the airport.
11. The third column is confirmed by the receiving pilots and everyone signs that they confirm receipt of that quantity of luggage pieces.
12. The pilots keep one copy, the first mate keeps the second, and the head of housekeeping or chief steward/ess gets the last copy.  If there have been any manual additions, she should update it electronically and send it to the captain or purser immidiately so they can email it to the staff who needs to have it before the jet lands. These staff are also responsible for attending to the arriving jet and receiving its luggage, which is precisely why they need the manifest ahead of time. In our situation, this meant forwarding it to the owner's Aviation Department and their personal assistant.
13. Everyone knows what to expect and is able to check each stage.  If the numbers don't match the combination of the Number Tag then the bag description allows quick identification of what needs to be searched for.
14. The Aviation staff remove the tags before loading the guest luggage into the guest's transport at their final destination.
15. The Number Tags are sent back to the yacht next time the jet brings inbound guests.  You need enough Number Tags onboard to cover 3 trips in order to deal with the transit periods of tag return but don't worry about the numbers being sequential on the Luggage Manifest. They're strictly for reference so this is not necessary.

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Stowage that Won't Break the Bank

Wouldn't it be great if it didn't cost a fortune to create professional stowage.  Doesn't everyone want a beautiful walk in China Store to house the yacht's collection of plates, flatware, glassware and accessories like the one pictured?
 

The problem is that even if you do have one there's sure to be additions purchased along the way that are not accommodated.  Here we'll share a few tricks for how to efficiently, attractively and often very inexpensively deal with the items that don't have professionally created homes.

Take the picture below.  Here we have the traditional stowage of espresso mugs and saucers that the shipyard provides combined with some creative DIY.

These salt & pepper vessels are kept secure with the simple use of high density foam. You'll need a ruler and a pen to mark out the design of your stowage on one side and then use a thin, long, sharp knife to cut through the foam. It certainly takes some practice but your skill should improve very quickly. In this instance the Christofle S&P shakers sit side by side but are firmly held in so that they do not move and will not break.


Their trays on the other hand have individual slots so that they do not touch each other much the same as the gold pinch pots on the right.

Unusually shaped items always present a challenge with traditional stowage but with foam they're quite easy to accommodate as shown with these salt votives.

There's several inexpensive ways to keep the yacht's abundance of napkin rings organized. Simple tray style holders made from acrylic prove very efficient because they hold lots of non-fragile napkin rings. Acrylic "posts" (pictured below as separators) are also very effective for stacking.



Never underestimate the value of zip-lock bags if you're short on space and budget and also don't be afraid to utilize the boxes that items arrived in. Below is an image that shows a combination of methods. The Faberge napkin rings have the original lining from their box placed inside a tray purchased from The Container Store. The matching name card holders are also inside a tray from The Container Store but use high density foam to keep them separated. The front of the drawer has napkin rings in their original boxes that just happen to fit snugly in the leftover space.  The red boxes house very fragile shell napkin rings (original box) and there's a few items in zip lock bags to finish off.

What to do with all those silver platters and trays that scratch and tarnish so easily? The most effective method I've found is to have bags made out of Anti-Tarnish Cloth. The only problem is that it's hard to find that specific tray so we solved this by embroidering names on the bags. We achieved all of this with the laundry sewing machine (and admittedly a very handy laundryman). This system works a treat because they don't scratch and they tarnish at a much slower rate.

While we're on the topic of the sewing machine, we also used it to make plate separators. Using soft felt cloth we drew perfectly sized circles and cut roughly around them.  We put two of these together, to create greater thickness and cushioning, and overlocked around the circle lines.  These worked perfectly.

Although zip-lock bags work well for all of those coloured beads you have for decorating and flower arranging, there is a great alternative ..... sono tubes.
Sono what you say? They're very strong cardboard tubes with plastic lids and you can order them in an assortment of widths, lengths and colours. We ordered plain navy and identified the contents by taping a bead to the lid.


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