Being a Chef on a Yacht: What's the Experience Like?

When someone thinks about working in the culinary arts, the first place they picture themselves is probably a restaurant kitchen. But there are other places you can find a job besides restaurants. If you have the experience, expertise, and desire, you could look into being a chef on a yacht. Let’s take a look at what is required to be a private yacht chef.

Working on the High Seas

If you're a chef who works on yachts, you have two options. One is to be a full-time chef for one yacht owner, or you can be freelance, accepting contracts as you see fit. In either case, you'll live on the yacht and travel wherever it goes for the duration of your assignment or employment. The yachts are luxurious, and the guests can include well-known personalities, though not always. Of course, if the yacht is put into storage for a season, you'll likely head home until you're needed again.

Some of the Perks of Yacht Cookery

A lot of good things come from being a chef on a yacht. Your pay could be extremely high; all yacht owners are different, so it's tough to give an average salary. But many yacht chefs work a few months per year for salaries that can run into four or five figures per month. Keep in mind, though, that will depend on your boss, and you'll have to negotiate pay carefully.

Travel is another perk; you'll go places you never knew existed. Sometimes the travel is to get away, and you'll be cooking for just your boss, which makes your workload a little lighter. You get to try new foods that might not be available in the United States, and you can have fresh fish -- literally, as you, your boss, the crew, or guests fish it out of the sea and hand it to you.

Some Important Points to Consider about Living and Working on a Yacht

Any profession is going to have a downside, depending on your views on work and your personality. But keep in mind, you'll likely encounter them and a sign you'd be a good yacht chef is your ability to handle all of these with a sense of humor.

You will likely have to get an early start each day and you're not going to have days off. It's common for yachts to have only one chef. You're also the only one on call, so if someone wants to eat in the middle of the night, that's part of your job, too. You have to have good sea legs and a steady constitution that doesn't suffer from seasickness. Unfortunately, sometimes the only way to know if you get seasick is to be on a vessel for several days.

Another consideration is that you'll have to be away from family and friends for a while. Chances are the yacht won't be going on a trip for a few days -- it could be going on a trip for a few weeks, and then another one, and another. That also means that it's hard to quit on the spot if things get really bad. If you're at sea, where are you going to go?

Another problem is that you can be at sea for weeks, which means you can't go grocery shopping for more supplies. Some yacht owners have items flown in (yes, to the yacht), but others tell the chef to find an individual vendor selling fruit or other foods at the next port, which does not always mean you'll have a lot to choose from.

Who Would Do Well as Yacht Chef?

You'd do well as a yacht chef if you are very, very organized. You'll have a small space; it might look big in pictures, but when you consider that you've got to store enough food for a long trip in the kitchen, it's going to get really cramped. Everything has to be secured, too, so that rough seas don't send your supplies and ingredients toppling over.

You have to remain calm under pressure and get along with different people, many of whom can be difficult to deal with. Your cooking has to be at a very high level; merely decent cooking won't cut it. You also have to have diverse cooking method and recipe knowledge, such as this one chef who had to catch a live lobster thrown out of the ocean by his boss, gut the lobster, and serve it sashimi-style on the deck at that moment.

You should have an excellent background in special-diet preparation, too. If one of the guests on the yacht has a food allergy or a dietary need, you will be expected to meet it without hesitation.

Are you interested in the culinary arts? If you want to learn more about earning an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Culinary Arts, consider ECPI University’s Culinary Institute of Virginia. With accelerated classes and a year-round schedule you could graduate sooner and start working faster. For more information about this degree and the other programs offered, contact a friendly admissions advisor today.

It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!

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