Crew training is more common in the industry, and often prescribed by law

Don’t spend a lot of time worrying about this subject. Crew training is not only well defined and easy to understand, but often prescribed by law. Remember there are dozens of organizations located in South Florida which provide top-level training for captains, engineers,  and even chefs!

As part of the interview process, we’ll make sure that the crew you hire has the necessary certification to meet the requirements covered by your flag of registration. Each country of registration has its own separate laws and we will touch on that elsewhere on our website under the heading Registration.

The level of professionalism, skill, and training in the crew industry has more than doubled in the past decade. The job candidates you interview are not only well educated, and well trained, but often match the level of professionalism you maintain in running your own business. While there are always a few bad apples that generate a lot of scary stories about how bad crew can be, the reality is the vast majority of crew today are top-of-the-line candidates who would succeed in any profession they chose.

Owner training is more personalized, and a lot more important to us and to your crew!

An educated yachtsman is the dream owner for every captain and crew. The last thing we are going to do at Hargrave is sell you a 100 foot yacht and then dump the problem in your lap. That’s not our style and frankly, it’s against what we stand for. Helping you to get comfortable with every single aspect of yachting is critical to our survival. Happy owners provide both the referrals and the reorders that have powered Hargrave to its position as the number one builder in our market segment.

If you already know a lot about boats and are just moving up in size, we’ll take the time to go through the things that are different in this class of yacht, help you to anticipate everything you need to be aware of – from setting budgets, understanding the maintenance cycles in this class of vessel, to understanding and managing crew needs and expectations.

Together, we will develop the forms and procedures that you will be comfortable with and which will be a huge help to the captain and crew in meeting and exceeding your expectations in every area of your yacht experience – fun, enjoyment, safety, mechanical condition, cosmetic condition, level of service, and of course “the money step” in all its variations – handling cash, setting up budgets, how much time off, etc. There’s lots to know, lots to think about, and we will guide you through all of it.

There is no reason for you to even be aware of these issues let alone be proficient at managing them. Our job is to work with you on a one-on-one basis and walk you through the whole experience and then be on-call as needed once you feel comfortable “taking the controls” yourself.

If you have never even owned a boat before, relax, it’s not as hard or as complex as you might think. You’ll be amazed at how much of what you learned in business acquiring the money to buy your beautiful yacht does actually apply to running it and managing it.

We find that the time spend in planning the operation of your new yacht is the best time you will spend in avoiding problems, runaway expenses, constant crew turnover, and disappointment. While this is not rocket science as they say, it is a highly specialized industry with more than its share of quirks and rituals that can frustrate you if you just try to power your way through them.

Again, this is supposed to be fun, so relax and let Hargrave help you!