Bianca Dunham

“I’m very passionate about the environment and so my dream was always to work with Sea Shepherd – the marine conservation organisation. When I was living in Melbourne back in 2016, one of their boats came in and I went and had a tour. As soon as I stepped on board, I knew that one day I was going to be a crew member. 

Sure enough, I ended up doing two operations with them in 2018, tackling illegal fishing in Gabon. I think I was only 24 but I flew all the way to Africa myself and was the sole medic on board. It was amazing – we had power from the government to go out and make arrests on boats that were fishing illegally. I loved being at sea and I met a couple of people on board who told me I could work as a superyacht nurse and get paid for it. I didn’t even know what a superyacht was at the time!  

Taking the plunge into the industry 

The job for Black Pearl was advertised as a superyacht with an eco ethos and they wanted like-minded people to work on board, so it instantly appealed. I was super lucky to get on and I was there for three years. 

When I walked onto Black Pearl, the first thing I remember is thinking how clean and tidy it was! I was used to working on Sea Shepherd boats which were often ex-whaling ships covered in diesel dust. It was a dirty environment. On Black Pearl, I was in shock, plus I got lost on board for about a week! 

I had already started my own eco-friendly business by then – Bee Eco – and I was fortunate enough that some of my products were used on board Black Pearl. I was really proud of that! Growing up in Tasmania – I surf and snorkel and free dive and sail. With all of that comes a passion to want to protect the water and the environment. 

Being a nurse on a superyacht 

Nursing is my other passion. I’ve always loved helping people, plus my mum is a nurse. Growing up, I saw how much respect she got and when I learnt a little bit more about nursing, it intrigued me even more. I realised I could travel with the job and not just get stuck in a hospital. I’ve been a nurse for nine years now and once I did a couple of years getting my skills up, I knew I could go and work on yachts and do something a little extraordinary. 

Not every superyacht has a nurse on board, but a lot of vessels over 80 metres do, simply because of the number of crew on board. There were about 26 of us on Black Pearl, so there was always something going on. It was quite a heavy nursing role – I organised all the crew vaccinations and medical insurance –  plus there were lots of cuts, burns, foot injuries and general sickness. I also did lots of training with the crew – we’d do regular drills, practicing different scenarios, like a water rescue or a fall. You do become a bit of a therapist too because people come to you with their problems. 

The boat was supplied with all of its medical gear from a specialist company – they provide everything you can think of – so my role also involved the upkeep of the medical equipment. Day to day, if there was anything I wasn’t sure of, I could always call them – they have doctors available 24/7. And, of course, if you’re in port, you can go to a local doctor. 

I’ve come back to Australia now because I need to do more nursing hours on land to stay qualified. It’s been a bit of a rough translation from Black Pearl back to the normal world! I am keen to get back to sea. 

Trip of a lifetime 

I think my most memorable time on Black Pearl was when we crossed the Atlantic. We left from the Canary Islands and as we travelled towards the Caribbean it just kept getting warmer and warmer every day. We sailed for eighty-four percent of the way too; to be able to do that and not use fossil fuels was just incredible. Being out at night and watching the stars was just amazing, as was the silence; when you’re sailing, all you hear is the sound of the wind. We celebrated Christmas and New Year at sea, too.

My next adventure will be a volunteer trip on a refugee boat called Sea Watch – they are based in the Mediterranean and pick up people that need rescuing. After that mission, maybe towards the end of this year, I’m keen to look at another superyacht. It’ll have to be another eco boat – Black Pearl is definitely leading the way there, but I know of more and more superyachts that are following in their footsteps, which is fantastic.