In the yachting world, one crew member’s nightmare is another man’s dream. At least when you talk about scooters.

It was interesting to learn in this month’s crew survey about yacht toys that scooters are loathed by some crew, pined for by others. More than 100 yacht captains and crew took this month’s survey, filling us in on all the equipment they carry when it comes to outdoor entertainment for the owner and guests.

The old stand-bys still top the list. More than 75 percent of yachts carry snorkel gear, fishing gear, basic scuba gear, wakeboards and personal watercraft such as JetSkis.

On at least 50 percent of yachts are waterskis, kayaks, bicycles and inflatable tubes.

The most popular type of toy was for sports, including personal watercraft, fishing gear and wakeboards. Underwater toys such as scuba gear and snorkel gear were also popular.

Boats such as kayaks and fishing boats were less common and land transportation was even more so, by another third. Interestingly, the latest trend in yacht toys -- inflatable slides -- are still pretty rare, with only nine of the 114 yachts in our survey carrying one. The old stand-by tubes gave this inflatables category a bump, but it still finished at the bottom in our poll.

And only one yacht carried an automobile, but shortly after we sent the survey to captains and crew, one captain called to say his boss had just that week asked him to take the Jacuzzi off the top deck so that they could store a new Fiat there.

We crunched these numbers a little to see if charter yachts carried noticeably more or different equipment. About of a third of respondents were charter vessels, and they had about a third more sports equipment than non-charter vessels. Perhaps not surprisingly, they had double the number of inflatables.

We also looked at the size of the vessel and discovered that yachts larger than 140 feet had 75 percent more sports equipment than smaller yachts, and 50 percent more boats.

We feared we had missed a few items in our list, and survey respondents reminded us about them, including tenders (which we considered pretty much standard equipment and not really a toy), golf carts, amphibious vehicles, hot air balloon, remote-controlled toys, underwater video and photography equipment, skeet launcher and rifles, and water balloon launchers.

Several respondents mentioned their Harley Davidsons, apparently insulted at the idea of lumping their beloved Harleys in the generic “motorcycle” category.

Beyond the list of toys a yacht carries, we wondered why they chose the ones they did. We expected the answer that said their toys were popular with charter guests, but that ended up being just 11 percent of responses. 

“Partially for the family, but also for the charter guests,” said a captain on a charter yacht of more than 160 feet. “If the competition has a toy, then you need to get one as well.”

“He who has the most toys, gets the most charters,” said the captain of a charter yacht of 120-140 feet.

The largest group, at nearly 42 percent, said it was simply to have fun. 

“Yachting, to us, means staying out on the water,” said the captain of a charter yacht of 120-140 feet. “The more ways to do that the better.”

A full quarter of respondents said it was owner’s preference. 

“The owner likes to have a variety of options for recreation,” said the captain of a yacht of 140-160 feet.

“The items I've listed seem to have become standard fare for yachts that spend seasons in warm water climates,” said the captain of a yacht larger than 160 feet that carries personal watercraft, windsurfer, waterskis, wakeboard, paddleboard, fishing boat and gear, snorkel gear, traditional scuba gear, Seabob, inflatable tubes, kayak and Segway.

We also were curious to know what crew really wanted on the yacht that it didn’t already carry and the No. 1 response was a scooter.

“I would like to have a scooter onboard for transportation in the Caribbean,” said the captain of a private yacht of 100-120 feet. “It could make quick runs for provisioning without having to rent a car.”

Scooters were followed in equal demand by a helicopter, bigger tender, and dive gear (especially a compressor). 

“A helicopter,” said the captain on a charter yacht 120-140 feet. “It is a great way to find fish and sight see.”

“A towable tender,” said another captain on a charter yacht 120-140 feet. “Makes it easy to transport guests, go fishing and diving, and on and on.”

“A center-console fishing boat because we would no longer gave to take the big boat out,” said the mate on a charter yacht of 100-120 feet. “It’s also great for the beach.”

Three respondents wished for a submarine. 

“A submarine,” said the captain on a private yacht larger than 160 feet. “I have done some training and feel some of the areas we work in could benefit from this.”

And two wanted an extra crew member to handle all the work the toys demand.

“Present yacht excluded, I can recall prior yachts that it would have been nice to carry an extra crew member to tend to all of this gear,” said the captain of a private yacht more than 160 feet.

More than a few said they already had too much and didn’t have room for anything more.

“As little as possible, because they are a maintenance headache,” said a captain with more than 30 years in yachting.

But one crew’s dream can be another’s nightmare, as we discovered when we asked captains and crew what they wish the yacht would not carry. Personal watercraft such as JetSkis and Waverunners topped the list and drew the most passionate comments.

“Jet skis are a pain from maintenance to legality and liability,” said the captain of a private yacht of 140-160 feet. “We’d be better off just renting them. It would be cheaper and less hassle."

“Jet skis are illegal in a lot of places and the guests only spend about 15 minutes on average riding them while the work for the crew is about an hour," said the captain of a private yacht of 100-120 feet.

"Jet skis are a bad accident waiting for a place to happen, and they keep making them more and more powerful,” said the captain of a yacht 100-1120 feet.

“I’m very happy that we do not carry jet skis,” said the captain of a charter yacht 80-100 feet. “They are almost always abused and almost always breaking.”

“Personal watercraft scare the hell out of me,” said the captain with more than 15 years in yachting. “They are the most dangerous toy and for some reason people think it’s the perfect thing for their 10-year-old.

"Really? An overpowered flying hunk of fibreglass that travels 70 mph and can't be steered unless you are giving it more gas?" this captain continued. "But they think their little darling shouldn't drive the tender, which can be steered and stopped at any time and is surrounded on all sides by giant bags of air.”

The next largest group of respondents opted to ditch their scooters, which topped the list of items crew wanted.

“An insane amount of time and money is wasted maintaining scooters, dinghy, etc., which are rarely, if ever, used,” said a captain with more than 30 years in yachting. “These devices deteriorate rapidly if not used regularly, but the boss wouldn't dream of not having them.”

Scooters were followed closely by sailboats and inflatables as the least desirable toys.

“Windsurfers, wave runners, high-horsepower tenders, dive gear, scooters, sail boats, automobiles, and motorcycles, because they are so maintenance intensive that the crew cannot fully perform their normal duties, while trying to maintain these things,” said a captain with more than 30 years in yachting.

“Windsurfers and kite boards: here are a couple of toys that too many charter clients see and think they want to try,” said the captain of a charter yacht larger than 160 feet. “So the deck crew spends half the day rigging up the gear, the guests try it for 5 minutes and realize how difficult it is, and the gear gets broken down, cleaned, and stowed. 

“And to top it off, the guests are bummed because they couldn't do it,” this captain said. “Sometimes, just bummed enough that they want to try it again the next day.”

Use of the toys is always an interesting topic of discussion among crew, beginning with whether a crew member accompanies the owner and/or guests when they use toys.The majority of respondents (almost 75 percent) said it depends on the skill level of the owner/guest. Just 22.5 percent always do, and less than 4 percent never do.

“Close supervision at all times, even if it is discreet with binoculars,” said the captain of a private yacht of 80-100 feet. “Always be ready to react immediately to a potential problem.”

When we looked at this question through the lens of our charter respondents, we discovered that crew on charter vessels are 45 percent more likely to always accompany owner/guests on toys.

When the variety of toys onboard are taken to the variety of locations yachts travel, we were curious if crew or guests knew where to go, or if the yacht hires locals to help entertain guests.

The largest answer at almost half our respondents was “never”, followed by nearly a third that use locals “rarely”.

Almost 18 percent hire locals “sometimes”. Less than 3 percent do so “frequently”.

When we crunched the answers in this category by size of the yacht we didn’t find any notable variations.

We thought that maybe the training level of crew might influence the frequency of hiring locals or training guests, so we asked if anyone onboard was a divemaster and if anyone onboard was a dive instructor.

About half of yachts have a crew member who is a divemaster, and just more than a third have a dive instructor onboard.

With usually only half the yachting year spent in warm water climates, we were curious to know if the toys were used in cold water, too, so we asked do you use the toys only in warm, clear waters, or do you use them anyplace?

Sixty-five percent of respondents let us know that guests use the yacht’s toys wherever and whenever they can. Just a quarter use them only in warm, clear water.

The one question that garnered the most comments was our last one: Is the crew permitted to use some or all toys when there are no guests aboard?

The largest portion -- 53.5 percent -- said some items are available to the crew.

“I like the crew to use the toys on occasion,” said the captain on a charter yacht of more than 160 feet. “It makes them all familiar with them, thus making set up easier with guests. Also, if the toys don't get used they are less reliable if sitting on the deck for two months.”

“Crew are allowed to use toys in daylight and sober, except the waveruner,” said the captain of a charter yacht 120-140 feet. “The toys are there to have fun safely. If the owner or charter guest abuse them, we unplug something and the game is over. We avoid troubles.”

More than a third said all the yacht’s equipment was available to crew at any time.

“Everything needs to be exercised, toys and crew alike,” said the captain of a private yacht 80-100 feet.

“The level of maturity shown by our crew is such that the captain feels we are able use the vessel toys for personal use,” said a deckhand in the industry less than four years. “Really, this should be the case on all yachts. If not, you have to ask why the crew members were hired? (Of course, there are some items that belong to the owner for his personal use only.)”

Only about 8 percent of respondents said crew cannot use any of the toys.

We looked at this question just for charter vessels and by vessel size and didn’t see any notable variations from the body of survey respondents as a whole.

To read some comments from captains and crew about yacht toys, click here.

We conduct our monthly surveys online. All captains and crew members are welcome to participate. If you haven’t been invited to take our surveys and would like to be, sinply create a login on our site to be automatically entered into our database.

About the Author

Lucy Chabot Reed

Editor

Lucy Chabot Reed is editor of The Triton.