On Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:18:09 -0000, "Dennis Pogson"
wrote:


"slide" wrote in message
...
Dennis Pogson wrote:
A friend of mine who owns a large charter yacht (72ft LOA), has received
an enquiry from a group of US yachtsmen to charter his yacht and cruise
the inner and outer Hebrides for 2 weeks in August.

They have requested "a chef" to be available throughout the cruise, which
has somewhat perplexed my pal

Does the word "chef" mean the same in the US as here in the UK, i.e. a
professionally-qualified high-grade Gordon Ramsay type who will dream up
all manner of meals to satisfy the palates of every individual member of
the 8-strong party plus the crew of 3, or are they really looking for a
".cook"?

There is a huge difference in the meaing of these 2 words here in the UK.
Chefs can earn £50K to £150K a year in Europe (particularly in the UK),
and to engage one for 2 weeks would add considerably to the cost of the
charter.

Some clarification from US sailors would be most welcome!


Chef is professional food preparer. The quality would be based on the
availability and the price they are willing to pay. Just saying 'chef'
does not mean Gorden Ramsey quality! It can mean any one whose in charge
of the kitchen even of rather poor quality.

Personally I prefer to go sailing to get away from all this formality. A
good cooked breakfast, then maybe a burger for lunch, and dinner ashore at
some nice restaurant if available. There is no way a chef on board can
compete with a shore-based chef with all the facilities for preparing and
cooking food.

It often adds to the fun to rotate the crew for cooking the evening meal,
with each one becoming the chef-du-jour. Most guys and gals who have sailed
for a few years will have their own specialty, often excellent, and this
request makes me wonder if the prospective charterers are sailors at all,
maybe bank execs looking to spend their bonuses!

My friend runs his charters on the expectation that the guests will muck in
and do some of the work, so he just takes a 1st mate along and everyone
joins in with the winching, tailing, foredeck and sail trim. This one sounds
like the charterers should really be contacting Carnival, Cunard, P&O or
Fred Olsen, that way they would have a huge choice of meals and have to do
no work.

I could be wrong of course, just curious to know if the request is simply a
request to be a little pampered or for a full-blown chef-de-cuisine with all
that entails in the cost side.

We will contact the charterers and ask for more information.

Dennis.


Given that charter rates for a party of eight (did they say) on a 70
ft. vessel would be I suspect that the average bloke would expect a
bit of pampering...

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)