Far too often, against the advice of my better angels, I stumble over to the Reddit forums and engage in my daily ritual of scrolling, squinting, and savoring all the wonders from the front page of the Internet. Reddit is at once a marvelous creation—bringing together multitudes of diverse communities over shared topics—and simultaneously the digital Mos Eisley (a wretched hive of scum and villainy).

But on this occasion, I found myself confronted by what I consider to be an oft-trumpeted meme from the disgruntled and uninformed about those blasted “millionaires and billionaires” spending their money on all sorts of frivolities, the chief vice of which seemingly always to be yachts for some indiscernible reason. Maybe people just have that mental image of Mr. Bartholomew F. Kenner III and his prim belle Mrs. Charlotte A. Kenner (née Grevemberg) drinking and smoking their increasingly pompous lives away in white Egyptian cotton clothing against the backdrop of a cloudless Atlantic day. Who wouldn’t want to hate those smug fools and their…ugh…yachts (spits in derision).

But we here at BATG know a few things about economics, and one of those things is that yachts do not materialize out of thin air. Maybe Reddit and the other bastions of malcontentedness would have a point if they did, but they don’t. People build, clean, maintain, transport, redesign, and staff them; and those good folks deserve a wage.

So, how much wage are we talking about? As it turns out, a pretty good amount. Consider just a few of the positions that come along with those vile yachts:

1. Manning a Yacht (which also means being paid to tangentially enjoy the yacht experience):
   • Captain: $84,000 – 228,0000
   • First Officer: $54,000 – 102,000
   • 2nd Mate/Bosun: $48,000 – 66,000
   • Deckhand: $42,000 – 60,000
2. Engineering:
   • Chief Engineer: $72,000 – 144,000
   • Assistant Engineer: $48,000 – 84,000
3. Service Crew (same as #1 above + you may receive tips):
   • Culinary Trained Chef: $60,000 – 108,000
   • Chef/Cook: $54,000 – 60,000
   • Chief Steward(ess)/Purser: $54,000 – 84,000
   • Steward(ess): $42,000 – $66,000
4. Building & Repairing a Yacht:
   • Builders: $47,000 – 83,000
   • Mechanics: $25/hr. average (equates to around $50,000/year)

This, of course, is only a brief, fractional summary of all the jobs that go into that dirty yacht business. What to say of those who transport yachts? House them? Repaint them? What about the accountants who keep the yacht books? The lawyers who futz around with maritime law? The fellas who build docks so that yachts so Mr. Kenner doesn’t have to swim ashore?

On our babymoon recently, Mrs. Beal and I discussed the perils of owning a boat and the headaches it seems to cause those who do so. Why the Kenners want to own a yacht is beyond me; I can think of few things more first-class infuriating than waging war against your piece of property that seems intent on breaking or being fined for improper use or, God forbid, sinking off the coast in mere minutes (unrelated to anything). Yet, the rich do so, and they redistribute immense amounts of money to those in need when they do so. One would think the yacht business was a clever ploy by the lower classes to sucker the rich out of their dollars.

So I suggest those of us who find our pecuniary lot more strictly delineated consider anew our deserved appreciation for the yacht business and the vast sums of money it redirects to the poorer and needier among us. More importantly, let us consider anew our appreciation for the dynamic nature of the market economy and the vast wealth it can create for all. Yachts don’t materialize out of nothing, and the leisurely expenditures of the rich mean good-paying work for the rest of us. Truly, a rising tide does lift all boats. 🙂

Sources for salaries:

• https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/boat-builder-salary-SRCH_KO0,12.htm
• https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Yacht-Mechanic-Salary
• https://www.crewfinders.com/yachtcrewsalaries.shtml