Service is at 20:00. At 19:40 the chef tells you the lamb needs eight more minutes; at 19:42 the owner orders another round of cocktails on the sun deck. Two crew, one pantry, one narrow passage between galley and dining. Who decides what happens next, and how do you tell the chef without shouting across a hot pass?
The interior brigade
Titles vary by size of vessel, but the shape is consistent:
| Role | Typical responsibility in F&B |
|---|---|
| Chief Steward(ess) / Interior Manager | Owns the guest experience, menus with the chef, service plan, preference sheets, budgets |
| Second / Senior Steward(ess) | Runs a service, trains juniors, often the wine and bar lead |
| Steward(ess) / Junior | Mise en place, table setting, service, clearing, pantry, laundry, cabins |
| Solo stew (smaller yachts) | All of the above, plus provisioning support |
| Chef / Sous Chef | Menu execution, allergen control in the galley, plating and timing at the pass |
| Purser (larger yachts) | Provisioning, accounts, admin support to interior |
On deck, the Captain carries overall responsibility and often has direct relationships with the owner or charter broker; requests to change an itinerary or a meal time frequently come through the bridge.
The galley relationship
The chef is not your opponent and not your boss. You are two halves of one delivery.
- The pass is the chef's territory. Do not touch plates, garnish or wipe rims without being invited.
- The chef owns "when it is ready". You own "when the guests are ready". Marry the two by talking.
- Communicate numbers early: covers, changes, no-shows, "the owner has gone for a swim". A chef who knows at 19:15 can hold a dish; a chef who finds out at 20:00 cannot.
- Repeat back. "Six covers, one no dairy, main away in twenty" — say it out loud so both of you heard the same thing.
- Never announce an allergy at the last second. It goes to the chef when it is known, and again before the course leaves the galley.
Working the sequence together
- Pre-service brief: covers, menu, allergies, wine, timing, who does what.
- Call "away" or the boat's equivalent when guests are seated and the first course can start.
- Give the galley an honest running commentary: "still on starters", "they've stopped eating", "they've moved to the aft deck".
- Post-service debrief: what ran late, what the guests left on the plate, what to change tomorrow.
Onboard Notes
- Small yachts are not junior versions of big yachts — they are the same standard with fewer hands. Prioritise ruthlessly: hot food and guest safety beat a perfect napkin fold.
- Voices carry. Guests on the aft deck can hear the galley through an open door. Use quiet handovers, hand signals and the crew comms channel, not raised voices.
- Never let a guest see interior and galley disagree. Take the conversation out of sight and settle it there.
- Keep the pantry as the buffer zone: it absorbs the noise, the stacking and the problem-solving so the dining space stays calm.