Captain, motoryacht Sedation

How did you become a captain?
I’m from Liverpool, England, and both of my grandfathers were marine engineers. They always talked about being at sea, and their tales were handed down throughout our family. It’s in my blood. I started at a local sailing school when I was 7 years old, and I’ve been sailing ever since.
   
What training did you undergo?
I earned my small-boat captain’s license when I was 19, and then I delivered sailboats from South Africa to the British Virgin Islands, and from the southern Mediterranean to Sweden. I was getting paid to do something I loved.
    When I was 21, in 1994, I got offered a job on a motorboat, but I didn’t like them. It was a first-mate job on a 114-footer. I took it in the end because it offered a monthly paycheck. That boat was in charter, and I stayed for three years. It was exciting. I got to see the Mediterranean.

Did you ever consider going back to sailboats?
It was definitely hard to go back to sailboats. They didn’t want me because I was a girl. They didn’t think I could handle the lines. Eventually, I got hired on a sailboat, but it was as a combination deckhand and stewardess. I couldn’t get a straight deckhand or mate job.
    Finally, about 10 years ago, I did a refit on the engineroom of a 105-foot sailboat. That’s where I met Donovan Benbrook, who is now my husband as well as the engineer aboard the motoryacht where I’m currently captain, the 143-foot Heesen Sedation. The two of us are a really good team. Between us, it’s hard to come up with something that we don’t know.

When did you become Sedation’s captain?
Donovan and I worked with Sedation’s owner on a new build in 2006, and he asked us back to work with him on Sedation. We got onboard in October 2007 and cruised from San Francisco down the United States West Coast, through the Panama Canal, and across the Caribbean to Martinique. Then we flew to Barcelona, Spain, to start work on the refit of Sedation in January 2008.
    The refit was an interesting experience, since I was pregnant with our first child at the time. I was lifting my belly up while I was eight months pregnant, holding it in one hand while I steered my bicycle to the shipyard every day with the other hand.
    I didn’t leave the shipyard in Spain until I had about three weeks to go in the pregnancy. The boss flew us home to Liverpool on his private jet so I could be with my own doctors for Jack’s birth. Donovan is fond of telling people that I had him on a Friday and was back at work on Saturday. Jack stays with us here on the boat. I have a little baby’s hammock in the captain’s cabin. He’s five months old now and has been to eight countries.

As Jack grows up, will you remain Sedation’s captain?
I love doing charters, so I want to keep my hands in boats. I know that if I’m ashore full time, I’ll miss being at sea and coming into ports. So Donovan and I will be filling in on Sedation as charter crew as needed for the early 2009 part of the winter season in the Caribbean.
    I also love doing shipyard work, though, and I’m looking forward to moving ashore with Donovan. We’re going to oversee the build of the new, 164-foot motoryacht that Sedation's owner is building at the Heesen Shipyard as we start our own company, called Super Yacht Projects. Our goal is to serve as consultants and help manage projects for yacht owners who want to do refits or new builds.

How does it feel to be one of the only female motoryacht captains?
I think there are five or six of us now on motoryachts. I think it’s fine. People respect me. I’ve never had any problems.
    It’s harder, actually, as a first mate. There’s more prejudice there. You have to be physically strong as a first mate to move lines and such. It’s different than being a captain, where there’s absolutely no strength involved. It’s all about moving levers at the helm.

What else should CharterWave readers know about you and Sedation?
The refit that we just completed in December 2008 was extensive. The yacht is a 1997 build, but the owner wanted everything improved so that the boat will be in top condition until his new motoryacht launches in about two years. Everything is new from the audiovisual system and furniture to the air conditioning and helm electronics. It’s really quite fantastic.