How to Become a Yacht Chef

If the idea of spending your days at sea, preparing meals and spending your off-time lounging on deck appeals to you, a job as a yacht chef might be in your future. Despite the allure of the high seas, this job is not for everyone.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Get basic training in the culinary arts. For many yacht chef positions, experience is preferable to a degree. Since you need a working knowledge of the grill, ovens, sauces and appetizers, an all-around cook makes the best yacht chef.

2. Become accustomed to being on call almost 24 hours a day. Unless the yacht guests make their own snacks, you’ll prepare three meals a day, snacks and drinks. In addition, as long as you’re at sea, it’s unlikely you’ll have a day off.

3. Learn to prepare dishes from exotic ingredients. When the yacht puts into port, you’ll choose food staples and delicacies native to the region. This often includes tropical fruits, seafood and indigenous vegetables. Since yacht guests consider meals to be a source of entertainment, your dishes will come under scrutiny.

4. Sign up on charter yacht trips for short-term jaunts to foreign destinations. Usually, large boats are employed and you will have assistance in the kitchen, giving you some time off during the day.

5. Contact job placement agencies who often handle the hiring of yacht chefs because the owners often don’t want to deal with the interview process.

6. Prepare yourself to spend days or weeks on board the yacht, with no time off until you dock.