[Bianca and Joe]Courtesy photo * Joe and Bianca are a British-South African couple who work on a private luxury yacht that splits its time between the Greek Islands and the Mediterranean Sea. * Summer events and travel bookings hit an abrupt pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the couple found themselves on lockdown aboard the yacht along with three other crew members. * The crew has been keeping busy with baking, reading, and Zoom trivia nights — and Joe and Bianca were also recently able to go ashore for a socially-distanced hike. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Yacht crew in ports around the world have found themselves confined to the luxury vessels that are both their places of employment and their home. In Monaco, Joe and Bianca are a British-South African couple who have spent the last three years working onboard a 196-foot private yacht that typically spends winter in the wealthy Mediterranean principality and cruises the Greek Islands in summer. Normally, the yacht would be preparing to welcome its first guests of 2020 for the Cannes Film Festival. The red carpet event was scheduled to start on May 12 but has instead been adapted for an online format in June. With travel still on hold in most European countries, the duo — like everyone in the yachting industry — face an uncertain summer season that most agree won't start until July at the earliest, if it gets underway at all. THE COUPLE MET IN 2018 WHEN JOE JOINED THE YACHT CREW SIX MONTHS AFTER BIANCA. Courtesy photo Bianca and Joe were just a few days out from departing on vacation back to visit Bianca's family in South Africa. In anticipation of Monaco's lockdown, which started on March 17, the captain asked them to cancel their trip to guarantee safe manning of the vessel. Bianca, the yacht's second stewardess, is philosophical about how the situation has worked out. "I think it would have been strange to go home," she told Business Insider. THE SUPERYACHT, WHICH CAN ACCOMMODATE 10 GUESTS IN FIVE STATEROOMS, HAS BEEN LOCKED DOWN WITH ONLY FIVE OF ITS USUAL 12 CREW MEMBERS ON BOARD. Courtesy photo "We each have a crew cabin to ourselves," said Bianca, adding that they all appreciate the extra space. Joe, the second engineer, says the atmosphere is more like being at home than at work. As the only engineer currently on board, his workload has been reduced. "There's obviously only a certain amount I can do on my own, so I'm doing what I can to keep the boat ticking over. It's not stressful," he said. AT 8 P.M. EVERY EVENING, THE VESSEL, LIKE MANY OTHERS AROUND THE MEDITERRANEAN, SOUNDS ITS HORN AS A SIGN OF GRATITUDE TOWARDS FRONTLINE WORKERS. Courtesy photo Under lockdown rules, yachts have not been able to leave or arrive into a harbor unless granted express permission by port authorities. Both Bianca and Joe are aware of — and appreciate — their privileged position in this crisis and are thankful to have jobs when others in the industry are losing theirs. "Our owner has assured us that there will be no redundancies or pay cuts," Bianca said. SEE THE REST OF THE STORY AT BUSINESS INSIDER SEE ALSO: * What the top 25 colleges and universities in the US have said about their plans to reopen in fall 2020, from postponing the semester to offering more remote coursework * Harvard Business School students are pivoting their summer plans at the last minute as more than a third of internships are cancelled nationwide. Here's how they're spending the next few months helping businesses in need. * How to take your company remote permanently while maintaining a positive culture and productive team, from CEOs and leaders who've done it SEE ALSO: SUNDECK BBQS, TRIVIA NIGHTS, AND STRICT HYGIENE RULES: AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE LIFE OF CREWS LOCKED DOWN ON LUXURY SUPERYACHTS READ MORE: TWO VACATIONING FAMILIES GOT STUCK IN SOUTH AFRICA AFTER THE COUNTRY WENT INTO LOCKDOWN. HERE'S THE UPLIFTING STORY OF HOW A LOCAL WINE FARM CAME TO THEIR RESCUE.
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