Agnes Water teen scores dream job working on superyacht

“We went from Malta to Croatia, then from Croatia to Italy and along the entire Italian coast.”

The superyacht Imperial Dream is owned by British multi-millionaire Stephen Walduck.

AN Agnes Water teenager recently returned from the trip of a lifetime working for five months on a multi-millionaire's superyacht while sailing around Europe and the Mediterranean.

Milly McKay said when she got the call to travel to the other side of the world for work, she couldn't pass up the opportunity and booked a plane ticket as soon as she could.

 

Milly McKay, 17, of Agnes Water recently returned from working on the superyacht Imperial Dream for five months in the Mediterranean.

 

"One of my dad's really good friends Mick Hay is the captain on a superyacht in Malta and he came over to visit us two years ago," she said.

"He started talking to me about the superyacht and I said I'd always been interested to work the industry, so he said 'one day I'll get you a job on the boat that I work on.'

"Because of coronavirus he lost heaps of his staff, so he called and said 'If you want to come over and work you can come over now.'

"It was a really spontaneous decision, I got a flight and I just ended up leaving."

For five months, 17-year-old Milly worked for British multi-millionaire Stephen Walduck on his 31-metre superyacht Imperial Dream.

The owner of UK hotel group Imperial Hotels, Mr Walduck and his guests travelled from Malta around the Mediterranean.

 

A lounge in the superyacht Imperial Dream.

 

"I was a stewardess, so I was doing silver service serving food, cleaning, making beds, helping out on the decks with fenders and knots," she said.

"Stephen and his wife and their family were on the boat for most of the time

"We went from Malta to Croatia, then from Croatia to Italy and along the entire Italian coast.

Work hours extended as long as Mr Walduck and his guests were awake, with Milly learning a large variety of new skills.

"I worked from 6.30 in the morning and then you would have to wait until the guests go to bed, which was sometimes 2am in the morning, so it was very long days sometimes.

"I couldn't really have a day off until the guests left and the longest time they were on-board was more than five weeks.

 

Milly McKay enjoyed any moment she could get to explore Europe while working on the superyacht Imperial Dream for five months in 2020.

 

"I still got some time to go on shore and see different places, which was amazing.

"Travelling overseas makes you appreciate Australia a lot more and gives you a greater perspective on life

"The biggest thing I learned was how much I missed home because I was stuck there as it was hard to get home because of coronavirus."

A chance meeting with an Australian working overseas saw Milly score a flight back to Australia.

"I had an open-ended date return ticket booked but I wasn't able to use it because all the flights had been booked out until January 2021," she said.

"I ended up having three flights cancelled.

 

Agnes Water's Milly McKay farewells a tender from the superyacht Imperial Dream which she worked on for five months this year in the Mediterranean.

 

"I went out for dinner at an Australian restaurant in Malta and I met a lady from the Australian Embassy, who put me onto a guy who was really deep in Qatar Airways.

"He helped me out a lot and found someone who had cancelled their seat, so I was really lucky to get a seat back to Australia.

"Then I had to spend two weeks in quarantine on the Gold Coast before I came home to Agnes Water."

Milly said she hoped to expand her repertoire of tourism skills and experience by working on 1770 Reef Tours new 130 seat catamaran the Orca.

"I'd like to be able to take people on charters and I hope to go to the Whitsundays and work on boats and yachts around there one day," she said.

 

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