Sailing experience
I started sailing in April 2021 and have been living onboard full time since then and have gained 12’000 miles of experience as a chef/mate. Cruising and working professionally with a further 4’000 miles as delivery crew for an Atlantic crossing where I participated with watches.
I would like to start with a bit about myself. I am 24 from Ireland I have been travelling for 3 years. My studies are in Business and hotel management. I speak English and some French as I worked in France and Brussels for a year. I started sailing when I was studying online and I haven’t stopped since. I am a very respectful and bubbly person, I love good conversations and would like to be on a boat with a very good crew dynamic. I have a good sense of humour and I am well used to being the butt of a joke. I do not have a big ego, I don’t like conflict onboard. I am a very good communicator and appreciate people who can express their expectations in advance, tell me what I’m doing wrong and where I can do better in a constructive way.
I have spent the past year and half sailing with the same skipper on various boats.
My hobbies are diving, hiking, snorkelling, fishing and I love board games!
My passion is cooking, I am a chef and I am happy to contribute to food expenses and manage the provisioning and a big share of the cooking under way in exchange for a crossing. I don’t get sea sick.
I would like to work when I arrive to the Caribbean on a sailboat, but if I was with a great bunch of people I would be happy to stay and cruise for some time.
I spent the first summer sailing in the med as a voluntary mate on a Beneteau First 47’7 running family charters around Corsica , the south of France and The Balearics. I also did some amateur racing in the South of France onboard this same vessel. From then I sailed from The SOF to Gran Canaria while stopping along the way for a haul out. During this period onboard I did two haul outs, a total of 3 and half months in the yard. The first was just to give the bottom a good clean add some layers of antifouling to the hull. The second haul out was where we replaced the entire team deck. That job alone took a solid month with 3 people working full time. I learned a lot about sailing from that job.
I took over the provisioning and recruiting crew. I also looked after management of the crew in terms of helping them to get to the boat from their home, answering their questions; covid tests and then delegating interior duties and insuring that the crew were respecting the boat and not damaging the interior or scratching things. Teaching them a bit about life onboard and how to sail. And .. most importantly how to do the most loved job of all , antifouling! I have done 4 antifouling job 2-3 layers each time.
I have a powerboat driving licence, VHF radio license and am experienced with night watches , offshore sailing and how to read the radar for squalls , boats etc.
I didn’t cross last year because the boat got damaged so I worked in the Bahamas/Florida on a charter Bali Catamaran for 5 months as a Chef/Mate.
Cooking , cleaning , provisioning , sailing , night watches, fishing and guest relations. I did another haul out on that boat. It was also a new build so we spent half our time dealing with all the issues that come with a new boat. The sailing was very nice. Sailing through the Gulf Stream and navigating in such shallow waters once we arrived to the Bahamas was probably the biggest challenge we faced, but it was pretty easy going we just had to pay attention. The Bahamas was epic!
I then sailed from Fiji to Gili Gede in Indonesia on an Oyster 655 as a mate/chef with the owners family of four. This was a very high performance yacht with a full carbon rig (awesome boat). The position was again the same as the others. Provisioning , cooking , cleaning , night watches , sailing and another haul out. I had some really cool sailing experiences onboard this vessel such as navigating in uncharted areas in Fiji and Indonesia. Tacking and Gybing our way through The Great Barrier Reef (overnight passages). And sailing through the Torres straights.
I have recently just crossed the Atlantic from Palma Mallorca to St Martin as delivery crew on a 115ft ketch.
I hope this gives you a bit of insight into my skills, I’m not the best at portraying my personality in writing but I’m always open to chat on the phone if you are interested in my profile!
Fair winds.
Kate :)
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