There are eight luxury yacht crew management companies in Fort Lauderdale alone, all of them accessible on the Internet. Major crew companies are also in Newport, R.I., and in Antibes, France.

The essential crew members for a yacht measuring 125 feet are a captain, typically paid $100,000 per year and more, depending on the quality and complexity of the vessel; a first officer, who can relieve the captain on long journeys; a chef; a head stewardess; a second stewardess; two deckhands; and finally, the engineer, who Bey says can be the most important crew member on the boat and command a higher salary than the captain.

It's expensive to be a crew member: a prospective captain is required to complete six to eight months of training and licensing courses, which can cost $50,000. Captains, engineers and even deckhands are now required to have an STCW-95 license (STCW standing for the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers), which is earned by completing courses in lifesaving, firefighting and various other forms of boating safety. Privately owned yachts must now adhere to the same rules and regulations as commercial ships in which crews have the STCW-95 license-another result of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Supplementary yacht personnel services include concierge companies, such as Mint Lifestyle, based in Los Angeles, London and New York. Steven A. MacGeachy, its co-founder, says Mint "serves to enhance a client's yachting experience. Whether a client requests a dinner party with a Michelin-starred chef or wishes for us to stock their wine cellar with rare wines that reflect the family's favorite regions, consider it done."

Mint will also book performing artists for parties on board, buy an art collection for a new yacht and schedule on-land activities for the yacht client. Rare automobiles, restaurant reservations, private guides and special access to ruins and museums not ordinarily available to the public are part of Mint's roster of services. Mint's services are provided to clients for a $35,000-per-year membership plus expenses.

Why Own?
Yachting on the open sea can be a balm for the senses and it can be educational, too. Bey's captain of 12 years, who just retired, was a former FBI agent. His yarns are longer than the boat.

"He was an undercover agent who was trained as a boat captain and he was the captain on the boat used in the FBI's ABSCAM operation (a project uncovering corruption among public officials during the late 1970s and early 1980s). "And before that, he was undercover in Colombia; his plane crashed there," Bey says in his hushed office.

But there's more: A look at the grinning, relaxed face of Tom Perkins on board his ultra-customized Maltese Falcon says it all about the perks of success. In a recent 60 Minutes segment featuring Perkins being interviewed on board in Italy by Lesley Stahl, Perkins showed Stahl how the boat's 15 sails are unfurled in five minutes by touching a computer screen. Ordinarily, 80 deckhands would need one hour to accomplish this job.

One can readily understand the allure of owning a super-yacht, or at the least, chartering one of these deluxe vessels. For a price many clients are willing to pay, cabins are appointed with fine art, French linens and cupboards stocked with vintage wines.

Owning a super-yacht brings with it an ambience of gentility and pampering at sea and at ports in desirable settings such as Palm Beach, the Mediterranean or in enclaves of the British Virgin Islands.