Nick Atkinson // 38 // Port Douglas // Super yacht Galaxy 1 captain

Nick Atkinson classes himself as extremely fortunate to have had a job which has allowed him to see the world at someone else’s expense. A super yacht captain with more than 20 years’ experience, Nick has worked on some of the world’s most expensive vessels, criss-crossing the globe so often that he stopped counting the countries when the list hit 40.

Now based at Port Douglas, Nick is the captain of super yacht Galaxy 1 which can be chartered to visit the Reef in luxury and style.

Nick grew up in Fremantle, Western Australia, where his parents owned motor and sailing boats.

“I knew early on I wanted to get on the luxury yachts that sailed into Fremantle from the Mediterranean and the Caribbean,” Nick says.

He worked on weekends and during school holidays on charter vessels as a deckhand gaining valuable experience. In 1986 Nick graduated as dux of the year from the Fremantle Maritime College and later drove his panel van to Port Douglas and worked for Quicksilver as a deckhand and snorkelling advisor. He met his “best friend” Lyndy on a return trip to Fremantle in 1990. They married in 2000. Nick’s desire to become a marine engineer on a super yacht led him to the US in 1992 with $200 in his pocket.

He eventually worked his way up to become chief engineer on the 74m super yacht Katana, owned by billionaire software magnate Larry Ellison.

“Katana has its own seaplane and a half-size basketball court on the aft deck. It is seriously extravagant.”

His favourite places include the Galapagos Islands and the Bahamas and he describes sailing into New York past the Statue of Liberty, while listening to Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York”, as a distinct highlight.

Lyndy stayed behind at Port Douglas for a period before joining Nick on board the Katana as a stewardess. He farewelled the super yacht in 2005 to return to Port Douglas when Lyndy became pregnant with their first child, daughter Lily who is now aged two.

“While Lyndy was pregnant she “nested” in a big way. She bought a house in Port Douglas and renovated it, so it was a great excuse to stop here,” Nick says. In 2006 he met the Sydney-based owners of the $8 million Galaxy 1. “The vessel was to be moored in Port Douglas so I am fortunate to be able to combine work and family life.”

That is, he says, in between the sleepless nights to come. Lyndy is due to give birth to their second child as cairnseye goes to print.

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