My time sailing the seas
Swan 112' Superyacht 'ANEMOS'
Chief engineer. I was very lucky to get that position straight out of skipper training in Cowes, Isle of Wight.
I basically flooded the internet with my details and experience. Then, luckily, before I had even obtained my certificates, I was offered a job as chief engineer on a Swan superyacht.
Before all that, spent 6 months training at the UKSA (UK Sailing Academy) in northern Isle of Wight.
Training was a pretty miserable experience to be honest! Damp and cold most of the time on badly maintained training boats.
However, plodding around the south coast of the UK with a great crew did lead to some fun time.
I had the only 2 girls in my training crew, which actually was brilliant. We all got on well and coupled with a few brilliant instructors (and a couple of dud ones), I got all my exams.
I had already extensively sailed around the southern Caribbean and northen Trinidad.
So, holding my shiney Yachtmasters certificate, I flew straight out to Palma and boarded my dry docked superyacht 'Anemos'
Anemos was Greek for 'Wind' (Apparently).
First look in the engine room was like glancing into the heart of the Starship Enterprise. Full of complex hydraulic systems, PLC's, generator sets and I was a little overwhelmed.
However, it didn't take long to get a foothold and make that engine room mine.
I basically flooded the internet with my details and experience. Then, luckily, before I had even obtained my certificates, I was offered a job as chief engineer on a Swan superyacht.
Before all that, spent 6 months training at the UKSA (UK Sailing Academy) in northern Isle of Wight.
Training was a pretty miserable experience to be honest! Damp and cold most of the time on badly maintained training boats.
However, plodding around the south coast of the UK with a great crew did lead to some fun time.
I had the only 2 girls in my training crew, which actually was brilliant. We all got on well and coupled with a few brilliant instructors (and a couple of dud ones), I got all my exams.
I had already extensively sailed around the southern Caribbean and northen Trinidad.
So, holding my shiney Yachtmasters certificate, I flew straight out to Palma and boarded my dry docked superyacht 'Anemos'
Anemos was Greek for 'Wind' (Apparently).
First look in the engine room was like glancing into the heart of the Starship Enterprise. Full of complex hydraulic systems, PLC's, generator sets and I was a little overwhelmed.
However, it didn't take long to get a foothold and make that engine room mine.
Once the yacht was refurbished in dry dock, we set off for a wander around the seas. Most of the time was spent in the Mediterranean, especially Sardinia and Corsica. The owner was Italian and he liked to keep the yacht 'local' if he could. He did not like other people on his boat, so the yacht was never chartered (while I was on board). I sadly left the yacht when it was put up for sale, but it was an amazing experience, and I gained an awful lot of knowledge in a short period of time. |
It became apparent quite quickly that you actually didn't really need any skills at all to be a chief engineer.
As long as you knew how to make a phone call, you just 'called someone in'. However, in a bid to actually learn something, I preferred to get stuck in and get dirty. The owner of the yacht flew the original designer of the hydraulic system out to Spain from Norway for 2 weeks, just to show me the workings of the yacht. An invaluable insight into how it all worked. 
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Specification
- DesignerHull: German Frers
- Location: Spain
- Built1999
- Price £3,801,092
- Length 34.3 M
- Cabins: 6
- Bathrooms: 5
- Cruising Speed: 11.5 kn
- Max Speed: 12 kn
- Range: 2000 nm
- Beam: 7.42 m
- Max Draft: 4.3 m
- Water Tank Capacity: 589.52 gal
- Fuel Tank Capacity: 1,502.17 gal
- Twin Northern lights 35KW generators
- 400 litre hydraulic system driven by dual DC pumps and 3 PTO‘s
- Sophisticated electronic computer controls, PLC systems, air conditioning
- 4500 Ampere hour battery bank and inverter system
- 550 Litre per hour water maker
- Marex engine control system
- Engine :
- Make: MTU
- Model: 6R 183 Diesel
- Year: 1999
- Fuel Type: diesel
- Marex engine control systems
