Cooking in a Yacht Galley: The Challenges Nobody Warns You About

Every land chef who steps into a galley has the same moment: where's the rest of the kitchen? Here's what cooking at sea actually demands — and the tricks that make it work.

The space

A galley on a 30m yacht can be smaller than a food truck, and you're producing tasting menus out of it. Every centimetre is planned, everything has a home, and everything gets secured before you leave the dock — the sea will find anything you forgot to strap down. The upside: I've also had galleys I'm genuinely spoilt in. On 60m Arience I had a huge dry store and cool room. The range is enormous; adaptability is the job.

The movement

Cooking through weather is a skill no course fully prepares you for. Wet tea towels under chopping boards, pots half-filled and clamped, deep trays instead of flat, nothing hot carried without warning the crew. On rough days you simplify the menu and nobody complains — braises over brunoise. I've cooked through a six-day storm between Australia and New Zealand with the stabilisers gone; you learn quickly that being prepared beforehand beats heroics mid-swell.

The provisioning puzzle

There is no corner shop at anchor. You order for weeks ahead, plan menus around what a region can actually supply, and build backups of your backups. The South Pacific was the hardest place I've ever provisioned — and the best training ground imaginable. A vacuum pack machine becomes your best friend for prep and backup food; portioned, sealed and frozen properly, it's your insurance policy when guests extend a trip or weather cancels a delivery.

The kit that earns its place

If I could only keep three things: a Thermomix (a blender on steroids), a Rational combi oven (just makes life easier) and a decent vacuum pack machine (couldn't live without one now). Small galley, big output — the right equipment is the difference.

The mental game

You'll cook the same twelve guests' breakfast, lunch and dinner for weeks, alone, with no walk-in to hide in. Organisation and composure carry you further than technique out here. But there's honestly nothing like plating dessert while anchored somewhere the top one percent of the world will never even see.

Galley setup, provisioning systems and rough-weather cooking are all covered inside Become a Yacht Chef — Module 1 is free.