Pieter De Villiers

Employed as the mate the scope of the work drastically changed when Memento Vivere shipyard period got extended from a 5 month to a 11 month project. I was in charge of contractors along with getting the vessel ready for its annual flag state survey amongst other work. It was a great learning experience with a lot of big projects taking place so a lot of planning had to be done. The vessel also has a 40ft intrepid which would still be used by the owners over some weekends where the deckhand and I would take them out.

Employed as an experienced deckhand my role quickly changed to lead deckhand after my 3 month probation period ended. Being tasked with more responsibilities in a high- paced environment I started to thrive. I immersed myself in understanding how the vessel operated and where operations could be streamlined/improved. Having completed 2 very successful seasons, I got promoted to bosun. As a bosun onboard I strived for the highest possible deck standards and enjoyed working with the newer deckhands being able to teach them how the boat operated. I enjoyed taking on new tasks and bringing more structure to the vessel. Over the course of 4 seasons onboard, I gained a vast amount of experience. I ran the anchoring operations on the mooring deck including the mooring operations. I was also in charge of tender operations, including launching and recovering tenders and jet skis in sometimes tricky conditions, along with the usual maintenance. I was the only PWC instructor onboard so for charter guests I would have to run them through PWC safety operations and issue them licenses. I also spent time on the bridge doing GMDSS logs, chart corrections and was allowed to be the watch leader filling in for the 2nd officer when needed. With heavy charter and owner trips, Excellence was an invaluable learning experience.

Initially joining the vessel for the Owner's annual trip my role grew from temporary to permanent after a very successful trip. Borkumriff IV is a beautiful classic sailboat launched in 2002 from the Royal Huisman shipyard in the Netherlands. Having extremely high standards onboard, over the course of 2 years I was taught valuable skills in varnish, paint, epoxy, sika, splicing, and rope work. During the initial COVID epidemic, the crew onboard was cut down to a skeleton crew and I was tasked with more responsibility being the sole deckhand onboard. We also had some substantial yard periods, our longest being 3-months. During this period I managed and assisted contractors and day workers amongst other projects. A great learning experience onboard.