photo contest - Yacht Essentials

80 YACHT ESSENTIALS
MEET HAYLEY CLARK
Our stew of the month this issue is actually
between boats, but her last two jobs were
so cool that we had to highlight her, because
who knows where this crazy career
can take you? Hayley Clark is from South Africa and has
been a stew for three years now. She worked as a massage
therapist and beauty technician for six years before
she got fed up with the traffic and the 9-to-5 routine and,
at her brother’s suggestion, decided to try out a job on a
boat for a season. She hasn’t looked back.
Interestingly, while Hayley grew up more than six
hours away from any beach, yachting has turned into
Stewardess of the Month
BY ANDREA BAILEY
a sort of family business for her and her siblings. Her
brother and one of her sisters work in the industry, he
as a mate on a 45-meter motor yacht in the Caribbean
and she as a second stew on a 60-meter yacht in the
Med. Hayley’s first job was also on a motor yacht as a
second stew, but by the end of her first season she’d
been promoted to chief stewardess, caring for up to
eight guests and seven crew.
In 2010, she made a decision that changed her life and
her perspective on the industry. She took a job on S/Y
Velsheda, a beautiful J-class yacht that did sailing charters
for regattas. There she fell in love twice, once with the art