Donna Morris and Rhonda Smith, instructors at Australian Superyacht Crew Training would like to say a HUGE “THANK YOU” to our friendly and helpful hosts at the Gold Coast City Marina, for making the Superyacht Interior Crew students feel welcome and for facilitating a great training course at Coomera.  GCCM have shown great support for this initiative and we are truly grateful.

The ten fortunate students were treated to a wonderful tour aboard the lovely 34m motor yacht Emerald Lady and also the classic motor yacht Bali Hai II and we thank the owners for their generosity in allowing access to their yachts.  It’s a huge advantage to get the insight into the industry that this provides.  Students also enjoyed the comfort of the Boardroom for the majority of their lessons.

The Waterlife Café Restaurant provided marvellous hot food for the silver service lunch, so that the students could all get “hands on” putting into practice the techniques they’d learned.

Poppies Florist at Hope Island also provided a great demonstration from the professional florists Natalie and Debbie, who also facilitated an excellent practical session afterwards where students could create their own arrangements after the tuition they’d received.

Thanks also to Bridgette Lowry the knowledgeable wine expert from De Bortoli wines, who took the group through the full range of grape varietals to educate their palate as well as their understanding of wine characteristics.  This is the start of the learning curve all service crew need onboard luxury yachts!  Needless to say that this is a popular session!

Last, but not least, yachting veteran Belinda Hlywa, with an impressive resume of large yachts to her credit, gave the cocktails skills segment – again another popular part of the course.  Students all received plenty of opportunity to shake, blend, stir, build, and muddle up an array of cocktails, giving them the confidence to approach this in their future roles on Superyachts!

The satisfied students who took part had this to say at the end of the course:

Belinda:  I would definitely recommend this fantastic course to others as it has prepared me to confidently create a CV and find a job!  I feel I have gained the skills and knowledge, tips and guidelines for giving Superyacht service and fulfilling the stewardess role.

Kelly:  Relevant, well-organised, explained, demonstrated, discussed, fun, great trainers, excellent, informative and factual!  This was very beneficial and I would highly recommend it.

Francesca: (Yacht Stew. since 2008)  I loved every aspect!  I wish I’d done this course from the start of my yachting career.  All the practicals were excellent and very interesting and informative!  This is essential for all stews, regardless of their industry experience.  I’m sure that even Ch. Stews would benefit from the extra tips and in-depth information that can be gained.

Owen:  Great training – I found it really interesting and the books were great.  I learned a great deal – all new ground for me!

Olivia:  I enjoyed everything about the course – particularly the silver service, and would definitely recommend it to others.

Dominic:  Excellent facilities on the Gold Coast.  I got a lot from all the practicals and feel that I definitely benefitted from the course.

Rory:  It’s an intensive week with excellent content mixed in with great practical sessions.  The trainers were excellent. THANK YOU.

Tamara:  I’d definitely recommend this course to anyone wanting to start their yachting career!  The opportunity to take an in-depth look around various motor yachts was enlightening and very worthwhile.

Veronica:  My confidence has soared after this week!  I had no idea that there was so much to know and can’t thank you enough for giving all your wisdom and tips to give me exactly what I need!

Liz:  I’m so excited to put my new skills and knowledge to the test in my future career.  It’s exciting and a little daunting but I feel well prepared and can hardly wait to get overseas to find a job!  One thing is for sure:  whether you know it yet or not you need this course!

We will be back in September to do it all over again!  The new format of using the weekend has proven popular, as students are not having to apply for as much time off work to attend!  So we will conduct the next course from Sat 1^st Sept until Weds  5^th Sept.