The Yacht Purser

Robbins-Madanes Training

Maritime Training Academy

University of Cape Town

The Yacht Purser  -  Coach, Trainer, Mentor

Skills: Business Strategy · Coaching & Mentoring · Community Empowerment · Marketing · Entrepreneurship

SIREN Club

Co-Founder

www.theyachtpurser.com | Coach, trainer, mentor.
The Ultimate Yacht Purser Course
Gain the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed to successfully manage vessel administration and logistics.

I help professional yacht crew get the most out of their careers on board to lead a happier, more fulfilled and financially rewarding life

The Yacht Crew Coach

Sandra Kim Jordaan

Strategic Intervention Life Coach

World cruising 73m charter motor yacht with 28 permanent crew that travelled extensively across the globe including Antarctica.
o Proactive logistics management resulted in reduced delivery and customs fees
o Produced visually stunning itineraries for guests researched from start to finish
o Drastically reduced errors and streamlined admin function through implementation of purser CRM software (developed by myself using FileMaker Pro) to manage crew flights, certificates, guest activities, produce travel letters, phone lists, birthday lists
o Regular purser duties: accounting, crew management, payroll, flights, visas, multi-currency cash management, customs, immigration, shipping and logistics

Motor Yacht Cloudbreak

Rotational Purser, 75m, Charter, Abeking & Rasmussen

World cruising 65m private motor yacht with 26 permanent crew and up to 2 temporary crew.
o All crew admin (flights & hotels, leave calculations and salary payments, certificates, new crew joining documents, travel letters, visas for multiple countries on world itinerary)
o Guest concierge and extensive itinerary planning for remote destinations
o Shipping and logistics for all procurement across all departments
o ISPS (customs & immigration and arrival documentation, up to date ports of call, up to date crew lists)
o Invoicing and supplier payments
o Accounting, monthly reporting and reconciliations, cash management

Motor Yacht Polar Star

Rotational Purser, 65m, Private, Luerrsen

91m charter yacht that completed an 8-month major refit at MB92 shipyard in Barcelona.

o Successful creation of my own purser CRM system using FileMaker Pro to manage all aspects of crew and guest admin on board including IMO crew lists, certificate management and expiry, phone and address lists, next of kin lists, ports of call list (the latest port of call is pulled into the crew list), birthday lists, etc. 

o Accounting, Cash Flow Statements, excellent knowledge of Quicken, can generate custom reports, multi-currency accounts
o Cash management for multiple currencies, credit card management, APA accounting, all cash payments
o ISM and ISPS protocols – Hours of rest spreadsheet creation and tracking for 21 crew. Generate crew lists, sign on crew
o Guest concierge 
o Crew & legal contracts including signing on & off procedure & certification needed, Flag endorsements, crew travel & visa applications, crew medical & insurance claims, liaising with insurance broker, leave calculations, final payslips, dayworker time tracking
o Customs and Immigration, port clearances, guest arrival & departure tracking, Ports of Call tracking
o Payroll for 20+ crew including Crew Asia crew
o Excellent MS Office including Excel; Access (Database), Word, Outlook, Quicken Accounting; IDEA; Triton
o Yard meetings, minutes
o Ship certificates
o Reorganisation of File Server
o Creation of new yacht documents and style guides
o Procurement for items needed during yard period for the captain

Motor Yacht Nero

Purser, 91m, Charter

High profile dual season charter motor yacht. Med, Caribbean, East Coast USA cruising. Interior of 6.
o Mediterranean season included a 10 week continuous charter for prestigious guests requiring utmost flexibility due to not knowing when guests will arrive, how long they will stay for or any of their preferences before arriving on board
o Completely restructured the interior including all duties
o Introduced a stew bible with clear write-ups of each position and tasks both on and off charter with easy to follow checklists and time-frames

Motor Yacht Lady Kathryn V

Chief Stewardess, 61m, Charter, Luerssen

Magnette is the event company that helped organise the first WPP Stream Africa event. 

Named by WIRED as 'one of the world's best tech conferences' and described as the 'Bilderberg of Advertising' by the Guardian, Stream is the WPP (un)conference.

I was responsible for:
o	Compiling the event brief for the client and venue
o	Liaising with tech/AV company regarding technical requirements and quotes and ensuring everything set up correctly
o	Liaising with the venue regarding any technical aspects
o	Managing the production for the evening shows and presentations
o	Formatting of powerpoint presentations
o	Initial liaison for the Midnight Cooking Madness ensuring Spier chefs had all the ingredients and recipes for the participants and following up on special requests

Magnette Event Management

Project Manager

o	Immaculately maintained charter yacht with full rotation between 7 stews
o	Atlantic crossing, filled in for chief stew while she was on holiday, 3 week owner trip in Italy
o	Managed a photo shoot with help from the captain while chief stewardess and purser were away

Motor Yacht Laurel

Second Stewardess, 73m, Charter, Delta

o	Busy yard period with no handover and overseeing multiple projects in a short time frame (new carpets, linen for crew and guests, towels, carpet cleaning, wood restoration & carpentry work, new uniform, full picture inventory of entire boat including owner personal clothing, shoes, handbags, etc)
o	Lunch and dinner parties for 20+ people nearly every day with short notice and separate meals for children
o	Accounting, extremely elaborate table settings, service, cocktails, concierge, manage 3 other stews

http://www.myladyjoy.com

Motor Yacht Lady Joy

Chief Stewardess, 48m, Charter, Christensen

o	Busy charter yacht with over 20 weeks of charter/owners trips a year
o	Won the Antigua Charter Yacht Show 2012 ‘Best Table Setting’ 
o	Duties include provisioning, housekeeping, service, laundry, mixology, keeping a record of charter accounts, providing a range of themed parties for guests, table setting, etc.

http://www.yachtarioso.com

Motor Yacht Arioso

Chief Stewardess, 40m, Charter

o	Responsible for the interior management of the boat including procurement (food & beverage & other supplies), work schedules & roster’s, time management, training new stewardesses, superior attention to detail, laundry, detailed cleaning of cabins to the highest standard, flower arranging, crew uniform, silver service, table setting, napkin folding, liaising with the chef regarding menu’s and service (silver, a la carte, buffet)

Motor Yacht Gaja

Chief Stewardess, 40m

30 guest cabins (has been refitted to 16 cabins)

o	6-week contract taking the boat from shipyard to owners on board in under 4 weeks followed by a successful owners trip for 2 weeks in the Maldives
Duties included:
o	Organisation of interior work rota & duties for all hotel crew for guest on and guest off
o	Guest arrivals, departures, cabin schedules for 17 guest cabins (37 guests), 8 entourage cabins
o	Inventories of crew uniforms, china, ornaments, etc.; issuing of crew uniform
o	Design of cabin names, baggage tags, letterheads and other design work
o	Service & housekeeping incl bar service (lunch, tea, afternoon snacks, supper, midnight snack)

Motor Yacht Saluzi

Second Stewardess/Purser, 69m, Austal

o	Exceptional organisational and accounting skills required (including Quicken Accounting)
o	Responsible for all interior procurement; liaising with all suppliers, PA’s and hotels
o	Efficiently maintaining a high standard of operations with a detailed daily, weekly and monthly work plan
o	Table settings, napkin folding, breakfast, lunch, dinner setup and silver service
o	Housekeeping, beds and heads, laundry, crew mess, detailing of cabins to the highest standard
o	Flower arranging and fruit bowl arranging
o	Watch keeping
o	The boat was often used for day trips for foreign dignitaries and members of royal families 
o	Packed up the boat for a crossing and put her back together after a yard period in March/April

Y.CO

Chief Stewardess, 35m

Enterprise Risk provides essential information to executive management to assist in identifying and measuring risk. This magazine bridges the divide between the risk manager and the boardroom to enable informed decisions preventing or insuring against enterprise exposure.

o	A diverse role which includes sourcing content, writing & editing articles, conducting interviews with CEO’s, overseeing the production process and determining the strategy for the magazine
o	Determining the target audience and making sure the magazine reaches the right people
o	Responsible for maintaining cost controls and budgets; increased paid circulation by 100%

3S Media

Editor: Enterprise Risk

Content management and aggregation, CRM management, sourcing of contributors, keeping up with industry trends, newsletter writing and design

Online Editor, Enterprise Risk

o	Joined in Barcelona during an extensive refit and set up the boat afterwards
o	Completed a 21 day crossing from Barcelona – Doha
o	 Fulfilled both the service (silver service) & housekeeping roles
o	Responsible for the interior while the chief stewardess was on holiday
o	Duties included: detailing of cabins and guest areas, arranging flowers and fruit bowl, inventories and stock taking, procurement with the chief stewardess, liaising with suppliers, table settings, napkin folding, silver service, laundry and other yacht related duties

Sandra Jordaan