What Is a Bosun? 6 Duties, Tickets and 2026 Yacht Pay
What is a bosun?
A bosun (short for boatswain, pronounced "BOH-sun") is the senior deck rating on a ship or yacht: the crew member in charge of the deckhands, the hull and the deck gear. Officers decide where the boat goes. The bosun makes sure the deck, the lines, the anchors and the people working them are ready when it does.
Bosun meaning: where the word comes from
Etymonline traces boatswain to late Old English batswegen: bat ("boat") plus swegen, from Old Norse sveinn ("boy"). So a boatswain was, roughly, the boat's servant. The short spelling bo'sun or bosun is recorded from 1840, written the way sailors said it.
A boatswain's pipe, or bosun's call. Navies still use it to pass orders and pipe ceremonies; on a yacht, the bosun's tools are a radio and a rota. Photo: ThoKay, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Where the bosun sits on a yacht
On a superyacht the deck department usually runs like this:
Captain → Chief Officer (Mate) → 2nd Officer (bigger boats) → Bosun → Lead Deckhand → Deckhands
The bosun is the link between the officers and the deck crew. The chief officer plans the day: guest schedule, passage, maintenance priorities. The bosun turns that plan into who does what, checks it gets done properly and reports back. On a 40m boat the bosun may be the only senior person on deck apart from the mate, and may also stand watches. On a 90m boat there could be eight or more deckhands under them, and the job becomes as much people management as hands-on work.
On smaller yachts the role is often combined as bosun/2nd mate or bosun/deck engineer. If you're new, our junior deckhand guide covers landing a first deck job, deckhand jobs explains the role below the bosun, and our yacht jobs guide maps every department on board.
What a yacht bosun actually does
A yacht bosun does the same work as the deckhands, more of it and to a higher standard, and answers for everyone else's work too.
| Area | What the bosun is responsible for |
|---|---|
| Tenders and toys | Launching and recovering tenders, driving guests, maintaining outboards and jet-drives, running the toy programme (jet skis, Seabobs, foils, paddleboards), servicing and logging them |
| Exterior maintenance | Daily wash-downs, chamois-and-squeegee standards, stainless and chrome, teak care, caulking, hull cleaning |
| Paint and varnish | Touch-ups, fairing, brightwork varnish schedules, the yard period's cosmetic work list |
| Mooring and anchoring | Running the foredeck or aft deck station when docking (Med-mooring stern-to in Antibes or Palma is the classic), anchor and windlass operation, lines and fenders |
| Deck crew rota | Daily jobs list, watch rota, training green deckhands, guest-day deck service, sometimes signing off training record book tasks |
| Safety gear | Life rafts, lifejackets, EPIRBs, fire hoses, rescue boat readiness, running or assisting with drills |
La Sultana at anchor with her tender alongside. Launching, driving and recovering tenders safely is the part of the job a bosun answers for every day. Photo: La Sultana Yacht, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Here's what you don't see on the job ad. When a guest's jet ski won't start at 9am or a fender is left hanging over the side as the owner arrives, the bosun gets the blame. They're usually first up and last off deck. The bosun sets the deck's standards, so if the boat looks tired, that reflects on them.
The anchor on Reverie, stowed and polished. The bosun runs the anchor and mooring stations and keeps stainless like this gleaming. Photo: Andy Mitchell, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Bosun vs lead deckhand vs other "bosuns"
"Bosun" means slightly different things depending on where you hear it:
| Role | Where | Rank | Main focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yacht bosun | Private and charter superyachts | Senior deck rating, below the officers | Runs the deck team, tenders and toys, exterior standards, mooring stations |
| Lead deckhand | Mid-size and large yachts | Senior deckhand, below the bosun | Leads by example, covers for the bosun, often the tender and toys specialist |
| Merchant-ship bosun | Cargo ships, tankers, ferries | Senior deck rating | Deck maintenance, mooring, deck gear; no guests |
| Boatswain's Mate (BM) | US Navy and US Coast Guard | An enlisted rating, not a single job | Seamanship, deck work, small boats |
The big difference on yachts is the guests. A merchant bosun is judged on whether the ship is safe and maintained. A yacht bosun is judged on that too, plus whether the guests had a perfect day on the water and the boat looked flawless in the harbour.
Tickets a yacht bosun is usually asked for
There's no single legal "bosun licence" on yachts. Captains hire on experience plus a stack of tickets. These come up most often in bosun job ads:
- STCW Basic Training and an ENG1 medical (or an accepted equivalent). Non-negotiable for anyone on deck. See our STCW and ENG1 guides.
- RYA Powerboat Level 2: the baseline tender ticket.
- RYA Yachtmaster Offshore, often commercially endorsed. Bigger boats increasingly expect it, and it's the first step toward an officer ticket.
- Tender and watersports tickets: IYT/RYA Tender Operator, RYA Personal Watercraft (PWC) and PWC Instructor, sometimes dive or watersports instructor qualifications.
- MCA Yacht Rating Certificate: proof you're a competent deck rating (requirements below).
- PDSD (Proficiency in Designated Security Duties), now routine on many commercial yachts.
- Sea time, documented in testimonials and a discharge book. Nothing replaces it.
YPI Crew's March 2026 guide (linked below) names the tender, PWC, PDSD, Yachtmaster and Yacht Rating tickets as the ones that set deck candidates apart. Working toward Yachtmaster? See Yachtmaster Offshore requirements and Yachtmaster course UK.
How much does a yacht bosun earn?
Yacht bosun pay usually falls between €3,500 and €6,000 a month, depending mostly on the size of the boat, and it comes with food, a cabin and leave. These figures are from YPI Crew's Superyacht Deck & Bosun Salary Guide 2026 (March 2026):
| Yacht size | Bosun monthly salary |
|---|---|
| 30–40m | €3,500–€4,500 |
| 40–50m | €3,750–€4,500 |
| 50–60m | €4,000–€5,000 |
| 60–80m | €4,500–€5,500 |
| 80–100m | €4,500–€5,500 |
| 100m+ | €5,000–€6,000 |
UKSA's January 2025 salary guide puts a bosun/2nd mate on a 45–50m boat at €3,200–€4,000, so treat that as a floor. No one publishes a reliable figure for lead deckhands, and every current yacht salary guide quotes euros. We found no 2025 or 2026 survey in US dollars, so we haven't made one up.
On tax: depending on your nationality and where you live, some of your pay may be tax-free. UK and EEA-resident seafarers may qualify for the Seafarers' Earnings Deduction, but the rules are strict, so get proper advice before you count on it. For the full deck pay ladder, including tips and day rates, see our deckhand salary guide and the wider yacht crew salary breakdown.
How to become a bosun
You become a bosun by working up from deckhand to lead deckhand over several seasons, building tickets and references along the way. There's no official timeline, and published "years of experience" figures vary from source to source. In practice, captains want proof you've run a tender and a toy programme without dramas, handled lines on a busy Med-mooring, and that other deckhands take direction from you.
The one regulated milestone on the way is the MCA Yacht Rating Certificate. Under the MCA's application guidance (updated 7 April 2025), you need at least six months of yacht service, including at least two months actually at sea, on vessels of 15m or more load line length, plus STCW basic training, an ENG1 and a Yacht Rating Training Record Book signed off onboard. Holders of an RYA Offshore or Ocean Certificate of Competence can qualify with two months' seagoing service and skip the record book.
How to speed it up:
- Ask for responsibility early. Volunteer for the tender, the toys and the foredeck station.
- Log everything. Get sea service testimonials signed before you leave each boat. Chasing them a year later is miserable.
- Pick boats that will move you up. Being second on deck on a smaller boat often teaches you more than being deckhand number nine on a 100m.
- Keep your yacht CV current. Captains hiring a bosun read tickets and references first.
What comes after bosun?
The usual next step is the officer track: Officer of the Watch (OOW) Yachts <3000GT, then 2nd officer, then chief officer. HSS's OOW requirements page puts the sea service at 36 months of yacht service, including 365 days of sea service on 15m+ vessels. You also need a commercially endorsed Yachtmaster, Efficient Deck Hand (EDH), navigation and radar courses, and the MCA oral exam. The rules are in MCA MSN 1858. Amendment 2 replaced Amendment 1 on 18 May 2026, so check the current version before you plan around it.
Some bosuns choose not to become officers. A strong career bosun on a big yacht with rotation is a perfectly good job in its own right. For where the top of the ladder pays, see yacht captain salary.
FAQ
Is a bosun an officer?
No. A bosun is a senior rating, not a certificated officer. When the role is combined as "bosun/2nd mate", it carries officer watchkeeping duties and needs the matching ticket.
Bosun vs boatswain: what's the difference?
None. Boatswain is the original spelling; bosun (also bo'sun or bos'n) is how it's said. Yacht job ads almost always use "bosun".
What does bosun stand for?
Nothing. It isn't an acronym. To define bosun simply: it's a shortened form of "boatswain", the senior deck rating on a ship or yacht.
How much does a bosun make on a yacht?
Roughly €3,500–€6,000 a month in 2026, rising with yacht size, according to YPI Crew's March 2026 guide.
What is a bosun's call?
A small brass whistle, also called a boatswain's pipe, once used to pass orders over wind and noise. Navies still pipe ceremonies with it; on yachts it's mostly tradition.
Looking for deck work, or a bosun?
If you're working up the deck ladder, being visible in the right port matters as much as your tickets. You can sign up free on Radius as crew, check in at your port, and get your ENG1, STCW and CV verified so captains nearby see you on a live map. Captains and recruiters hiring deck crew can find them on radiusmarine.com.