I have to say for the next couple of weeks with Christmas and new year, I, like many landlubbers will be all family oriented eating and drinking way too much and thinking of the truly important things that Christmas means: Things like why James Bond is always on TV on Christmas day and whether there really is something in Turkey that makes you want to sleep the afternoon after Christmas lunch, or as some would suggest; is it down to the gallons of booze that even Grandma has been drinking since ten o’clock that morning.
This will be the second occasion in a very few weeks that many in the US will be basting, carving and generally scoffing as much turkey as possible, what with the close proximity of Thanksgiving to Christmas. In fact only during the Clinton and Lewinski affair has there ever been more concentrated talk about fat birds and stuffing than these last few weeks.
Now it may seem that I will be totally focused on my own stomach but I will almost certainly be sparing a thought for the poor yacht crew who will be grafting away and dealing with the whim and fancy of the owner and guest. Don’t worry though, the incoming MLC will probably allow you to claim overtime for working during holidays in the future and you might even be able to claim an allowance just for having to suffer the indignity of wearing a Santa hat to please the owners and guests. It might be that there is even a stipulated minimum time that crew be allowed to eat Christmas lunch.
I don’t envy you out there and I genuinely wish you all the very best both for Christmas and 2010. Let’s be honest there are few who in our business who will remember 2009 fondly. That said there appears to be light at the end of the economic tunnel, long tunnel though it is. So, again, have a great Christmas yachties everywhere, (even to those who disagree with my blogs this year) especially those of you who are working. Think of the tips and how annoying family can be in any case.