A teen gets paid £1k a month to travel the world on millionaire's superyachts - and it's often just like Below Deck.
Brooke Ransome, 19, ditched university applications to work in bars and dance schools to pay £3k for the three-week deck steward training course.
She then flew to Palma, Mallorca, to hand out her CV in dockyards - and got a spot as a stewardess on a 252ft luxury superyacht docked in Equatorial Guinea.
And after four months sailing in Africa she jumped ship to a 290ft superyacht touring the Mediterranean, stopping in France, Italy, Monaco and “every Greek island you can imagine”.
Brooke said standards were high - and she had to handle each glass with gloves and take photos of the window to prove there wasn't a single smudge left behind.
And she had to comply with unusual requests like serving a single banana on a silver platter and cleaning the boat from top-to-bottom every single day.
But it meant she got to explore "glam" islands like Napoli and Mykonos, polish statues worth £200k and drink from £300 glasses during meals.
She gets paid £3,000 - plus tips - per season, which usually lasts three months.
Brooke, a deck steward from Winlaton Mill, Newcastle, said: “I’ve got my dream job - I’m literally getting to see the world through a porthole.
“It’s really helping me grow as a person - and you don't need any qualifications to join.
“I decided not to go down the traditional route of uni - I wanted to travel more and live while I’m still young.
"I was doing a lot of housekeeping - as a stewardess, everything has to be perfect.
“There can’t be any specs of dust anywhere, and I had to take pictures of things like glass panels as soon as I'd cleaned them, so my boss could make sure it was done to a high standard.
“Every drinking glass has to be handled with gloves - we even had one guest who liked a banana every morning for his breakfast, and it had to be delivered to him on a silver platter.
“We cleaned the deck every day - as well as the water toys, like jetskis, which was a mission in itself.
“In fact, I think I gained about a kilo of muscle mass just by doing that!
“A lot of people ask me whether life on a superyacht is exactly like ‘Below Deck’,” she added. “I want to say it’s not - but it is quite similar.
“I can’t say too much, but you get a lot of people trying to climb up on the boat and let’s just say there's huge variety in crew - the drama can be so similar!
“One day, a load of the water toys flew away - and we had to hop on jet skis to retrieve them!
“But luckily, the guests are always so lovely. They’re so kind and considerate - and I've never experienced any drama with them.”
While Brooke’s friends were filling out UCAS applications, she decided to work overtime in bars and dance schools to raise money for a £3k superyacht training course.
She attended the United Kingdom Sailing Academy (UKSA) in the Isle of Wight - for three weeks in August and September 2022.
Brooke Ransome, 19, ditched university applications to work in bars and dance schools to pay £3k for the three-week deck steward training course.
She then flew to Palma, Mallorca, to hand out her CV in dockyards - and got a spot as a stewardess on a 252ft luxury superyacht docked in Equatorial Guinea.
And after four months sailing in Africa she jumped ship to a 290ft superyacht touring the Mediterranean, stopping in France, Italy, Monaco and “every Greek island you can imagine”.
Brooke said standards were high - and she had to handle each glass with gloves and take photos of the window to prove there wasn't a single smudge left behind.
And she had to comply with unusual requests like serving a single banana on a silver platter and cleaning the boat from top-to-bottom every single day.
But it meant she got to explore "glam" islands like Napoli and Mykonos, polish statues worth £200k and drink from £300 glasses during meals.
She gets paid £3,000 - plus tips - per season, which usually lasts three months.
Brooke, a deck steward from Winlaton Mill, Newcastle, said: “I’ve got my dream job - I’m literally getting to see the world through a porthole.
“It’s really helping me grow as a person - and you don't need any qualifications to join.
“I decided not to go down the traditional route of uni - I wanted to travel more and live while I’m still young.
"I was doing a lot of housekeeping - as a stewardess, everything has to be perfect.
“There can’t be any specs of dust anywhere, and I had to take pictures of things like glass panels as soon as I'd cleaned them, so my boss could make sure it was done to a high standard.
“Every drinking glass has to be handled with gloves - we even had one guest who liked a banana every morning for his breakfast, and it had to be delivered to him on a silver platter.
“We cleaned the deck every day - as well as the water toys, like jetskis, which was a mission in itself.
“In fact, I think I gained about a kilo of muscle mass just by doing that!
“A lot of people ask me whether life on a superyacht is exactly like ‘Below Deck’,” she added. “I want to say it’s not - but it is quite similar.
“I can’t say too much, but you get a lot of people trying to climb up on the boat and let’s just say there's huge variety in crew - the drama can be so similar!
“One day, a load of the water toys flew away - and we had to hop on jet skis to retrieve them!
“But luckily, the guests are always so lovely. They’re so kind and considerate - and I've never experienced any drama with them.”
While Brooke’s friends were filling out UCAS applications, she decided to work overtime in bars and dance schools to raise money for a £3k superyacht training course.
She attended the United Kingdom Sailing Academy (UKSA) in the Isle of Wight - for three weeks in August and September 2022.
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