Associate Editor Aileen Mack joined Dockwalk in July 2018. She is a graduate of the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. If she’s not at a concert or coffee shop, she is lost in a book, movie or a YouTube rabbit hole. Email Aileen at aileen@dockwalk.com.
No matter the industry, you’re bound to come across interesting characters or circumstances — or perhaps they seem to find you. While yachting is a serious profession with serious responsibilities, finding the fun — or making it — is an important stress release, especially in times of tension. What’s one of the funniest or weirdest things that’s happened to you as crew?
“We were in Miami Beach for a polo match, and the Titanic song [My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion] started playing throughout the boat. A girl thought it meant the boat was sinking and started freaking out.”
Mate Will Way, M/Y All-Inn
“I had a guest on board who, when given a plate, said she was allergic to asparagus, so I asked her, ‘What happens when you eat it?’ She said, ‘It makes me sleepy.’”
Chief Stewardess Chantelle, M/Y Ariadne
“I was cleaning the air handler and took the vent down. There was just a black wall behind it. The steel grate was grilled to nothing.”
Bosun Camden Maycunich, M/Y Never Enough
“I was on a boat that was tied to the dock, but it was so big that [the dock] broke off and started floating away with the boat.”
Chief Engineer Dean Somers, M/Y Never Enough
“Our chief stew while provisioning in Fort Lauderdale kept finding giant purple [stuffed] llamas in her shopping cart and she didn’t know where they were coming from.”
Chief Stewardess Alayna Beebe, M/Y Unbridled
This article originally ran in the May 2020 issue of Dockwalk.