In some circles, “yachtie blogger” is akin to “airing your dirty laundry without the captain’s or owner’s knowledge.” While it is unfortunately true in some instances, it would be a mistake to paint all crew blogs with that same brush.
Case in point is Matt Brown, whose blog is titled, simply enough, The Blog of Matt Brown. I came across Brown’s posts earlier this summer, and I immediately realized this crewmember is no ordinary yachtie blogger. Rather, he writes insightful, informative stories intended to shed more light on how people can land jobs aboard superyachts.
The Cape Town, South Africa, native “acquired my sea legs from a very young age,” having become a qualified scuba diver by age 14 and working aboard his father’s diving boat during most school breaks. Interesting enough, his decision earlier this year to pursue a career crewing on superyachts spurred the creation of his blog, in February. “I quickly discovered that there were very few blogs, if any at all, that could help answer the question, ‘What is it like to work as a yachtie within the megayacht industry?’” Brown writes in an e-mail interview we did earlier this week. “So I decided to have a go at answering that question on my own, and I’ve been blown away by the response.”
The site quickly gained traction—take a look at the traffic graph he has on his site—and soon Brown landed his first crew job, aboard a 50-meter (164-foot) yacht in the Med. “It was through an agency, actually, but the entire process took me about six weeks, which included plenty of dock walking (the walk of shame?),” he says. He’s been using both experiences to his advantage ever since: “I’ve been able to explore the many facets of the yachting industry, from commercial aspects of the industry right through to the unique perspective of working as crew on a superyacht.”
Brown’s own experiences of pounding the proverbial pavement even led him to write several stories about dock walking strategies in the Riviera, which happened to catch the attention of the online editor of Dockwalk, the crew magazine. The editor asked Brown for permission to reprint them, and another new career offshoot grew.
The young yachtie relishes the new connections like this that his blog enables him to make. While he strives to keep it fresh—“there are changes to the site every 18 hours or so, and I’m constantly tweaking it to ensure that the content is as accessible as possible for users”—the e-mails he receives daily asking for advice keep his enthusiasm up. “Knowing that the content is adding massive value to (the community) has really made it a great experience,” he says.
So what’s next for Brown? He’ll be covering the Monaco Yacht Show for one. Other upcoming industry events as well as suggestions from his growing community will be the focus of posts, too.
Blog on, Matt Brown; blog on.
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