Back in August I told you about the new initiative the International SeaKeepers Society was launching to expand its ocean-monitoring mission by including yacht captains and crew. After all, they’re arguably more in tune with what’s going on with the water than the megayacht owners who founded the organization and continue to support it. Well, after the newly formed Captains Advisory Council (CAC) recently met, a few policy changes went into effect to attract even more crewmembers and, equally important, make it financially attractive for them.
Originally SeaKeepers Professionals was created to welcome anyone whose paid work aboard a yacht has been their primary job for at least three months during the last three years. While this still stands, there are now three tiers of membership, each with different voluntary annual dues. There’s now the Captains Circle ($250 annually), the Officers Club ($150 annually), and the Professional Associate ($50 annually).
There’s actually a fourth membership level, in a sense. A megayacht’s entire crew (like the crew of Silver Lining, photographed above by Jean Vallette) can join for a discount–a “boat rate.” Not only will each crewmember receive a 20-percent discount, but the yacht will be presented with a custom SeaKeepers Professionals burgee to fly.
Board president Jim Gilbert put it this way: “Younger crew are yacht-centric, full of team spirit, and tend to identify with their boats. This new ‘boat rate’ is a smart solution to involving more crew and to create a real human resource for SeaKeepers.”
Smart indeed.
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