Chef,  93-foot sailing yacht Sea Shuttle

Date interviewed: December 2008

How did you become a chef?
I’m South African. I was a dive instructor in Grenada eight years ago, working onboard a tiny little catamaran, and they trusted me to cook the food. Thank goodness we only chartered for two people at a time! I spent 24 hours a day in the galley to get things right.

I had studied interior design and worked in a restaurant while I was at university, so I knew the basics of presentation. As my I moved up to working on bigger and bigger boats, I would spend my off time during hurricane seasons taking cooking classes. One was Japanese-style cooking, another was Portuguese-style cooking. I like to learn.

In 2005, I was asked to cook at a lodge in New Zealand. It was fantastic, on a vineyard on the South Island near Christchurch. I did that for a year, then came back to the Caribbean to work on charter boats.


So charter boats were where you decided to make your career?
Actually, I made a detour from charter boats in 2007, when I opened my own restaurant called Café Dijon in Cape Town, South Africa. It’s a French restaurant, and it’s been successful and is still open today.

But I missed the water, so I sent some e-mails looking to come back to charter. I got onboard this boat, the 93-foto sailing yacht Sea Shuttle, in November 2008.


How do you determine what meals you will prepare?
I value the preference sheets that charter clients fill out, mainly because the sheets let me see the guests' dislikes and allergies. From reading those sheets, I can generally pick up whether people are going to be fussy. Anyone who makes a lot of notes and stars and P.S. notations in the margins, I know I have to cook for carefully.

Do you prefer cooking in your restaurant, where it’s more of a take-what’s-on-the-menu approach?
Cooking for charter guests on a boat is more exciting than working in the restaurant. There, it’s always the same food all the time. Here, it’s always different food for different people. And I get to see the sun.

What are some of your specialty dishes?
I don’t have any specialties, but I like to cook unpretentious, fresh, high-quality food. I don’t like to change the identity of a pineapple, for instance. I’d rather just use the pineapple. Food doesn’t need to be fluffed and frilled. It needs to be good food, presented well.

What is a typical day’s menu onboard Sea Shuttle?
I like to bake a lot. I make fresh-baked muffins, breads, and pastries for charter guests, if they want them for breakfast. At lunch, I tend to do light salads or fish. For dinner, I prepare hors d’oeuvres plus a three-course plated meal.

What kind of charter guests are your favorites?
I like all kinds of guests because I like to mix things up. Kids can be a challenge, but I love people who love to try new things. I’m honestly not keen on dieters.

What awards have you won?
I just won third place in the 2008 Antigua charter show chefs’ competition, in Sea Shuttle’s category. So that’s quite exciting.

What else should CharterWave readers know about you and Sea Shuttle?
Our boat has two separate dining areas that seat eight to 10 guests, even though we only sleep six guests at a time. So when you’re eating during a charter, you’re not always in the same place, you're never cramped, and we can do lovely indoor formal dinners if that interests you.

Sea Shuttle is part of the fleet at Camper & Nicholsons International. She takes six guests with four crew at a lowest weekly base rate of €20,000. Ask any reputable charter broker for details about booking a week onboard.