A young couple ditched their minimum wage jobs to get paid to sail the world on £22million superyachts.
Kyle Forster, 20, was working as a lifeguard and Phoebe Robinson, 21, was a B&B worker before they set off in search of their dream jobs last year.
They each did a two or three week crash course to learn how to work on yachts – before getting jobs as crew members on a £22,700,000 yacht in France.
They were earning four times their previous wage – up to 2,500 a month – plus 2,000 euros a week in tips alone – with all expenses paid.
Since their first job in early 2024, the pair have earned a combined £45,000 – tax free due to special tax rules for people working at sea.
They have sailed the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, on three different boats, on trips lasting up to six months each.
And while they work up to 17 hours a day, their down time is spent lounging in hot tubs on boats so expensive, a single sail costs £30k – and snorkelling with turtles.
Kyle from Poole, Dorset, said: “We feel very lucky. We’re getting paid well and having so many incredible experiences.
“We both felt a bit stuck and we neither of us was enjoying things as they were. I’d never in a million years have thought I’d be able to go from doing something so plain to doing something so vibrant that brings me so much joy.
“I’m so glad I found this. I wouldn’t switch for anything else now. I’m so happy. This isn’t a gap year or a little blip – we both want to keep doing this and work up to captain.”
Phoebe, from Marlborough, Wiltshire added: “At school I never really knew what I wanted to do, I never found my thing. My parents and grandparents are really aspirational, they encouraged me to think outside my comfort zone so I went for it.
“I’ve had the most amazing experiences. We’re basically being paid to travel the world. We feel very fortunate.”
Kyle was feeling unfulfilled studying carpentry in Poole, Dorset, and working as a lifeguard for £195 a week. He paid £2,500 to do a two-week course in the Isle of Wight, in January 2023 – learning how to clean yachts, be a lookout, drive a motorised dingy, and pull a waterski.
Phoebe was getting itchy feet in her role as a bar and restaurant worker and housekeeper in a local pub near her home, earning around £150 a week.
She saw a post about working on superyachts on Instagram. Her three-week course in January 2023 cost £3,800 – and she learned everything from cocktail making to life saving skills, and floristry. Phoebe and Kyle met in Antibes, France, in March 2023, while looking for their first jobs.
They worked for a summer close to home on a ferry in Portsmouth.
The pair started applying for superyacht jobs on Facebook in January 2024, and got a job on a £22.7 million 40-metre motoryacht moored in Caines, France.
Next they were flown to Palma, Spain, to a 27-metre sailing yacht worth £5.5 million. They sailed round the Mediterranean visiting countries including Montenegro, Croatia, and Italy.
“Montenegro is so posh,”, said Kyle, “it looks like the Land of Happy Ever After from Shrek.”
Their highlights included the Croatian Islands like Hvar, and an intact coliseum in Pula, in Croatia. They also pointed to the water taxis in Venice, the volcanic islands such as Stromboli, and a place called Bonifacio in Corsica, with houses set in a cliff face.
Watching dolphins playing at the front of the boat was a real joy, they said.
Kyle said: “We anchored right next to an active volcano, you could see the top glowing at night.”
“It was actually really scary”, Phoebe added.
They sailed with ex-Olympic sailors and stopped at Porto Cervo in Sardinia where it costs 2,000 Euros just to dock for one night.
The couple took the winter off, before joining a 23-metre £5million sailing catamaran in Antigua in the Caribbean, in January 2025.
They spent February cruising the Caribbean and getting up to two hours off each day to go snorkelling with turtles and do watersports.
Phoebe said: “We did so much in that one month that it felt like three – it was truly amazing.”
Phoebe and Kyle each earn around 2,500 euros a month, have their expenses paid including food, accommodation and travel, and have twice been given a further 2,000 euros each in tips for one week of work.
They are looking for their next job now. But it’s not all plain sailing.
In Croatia, the boat was hit by a 15-minute squall with up to 80mph winds and hailstones the size of fists.
“The hailstones hit so hard that Phoebe had bruising all over her legs,” said Kyle.
They work up to 17 hours a day, from 8am to 1am, serving the owners and guests when the boats are being used.
When no guests are aboard the couple work ten hour days scrubbing down and preparing cabins.
Kyle said: “You get amazing views and experiences but no days off, so by the time the season is over you’re ready for a rest, but it’s still amazing! Plus it doesn’t come easy. In January 2024 we must have applied for over 1,000 jobs.”
Phoebe said: “You really miss a boat when you move on: it’s become your home and your life.”
