January 10, 2012
Capt. Greg Clark is at it again. Readers of this column may remember that about three years ago, he moved his entire crew from M/Y Mystic to M/Y Lohengrin, then quickly onto M/Y Casino Royale.
Now, for the third time, Capt. Clark and Chief Stew Marlys Clark took six of their crew with them to a new boat, the 188-foot (58m) M/Y Excellence III.
“We're not really sure where this opportunity will lead, but when you're surrounded by good people who respect each other, it's tough to go wrong,” Clark said in a recent e-mail.
Excellence’s owner has built a new yacht (the 60m M/Y Excellence V) and took veteran Capt. Ray Shore and his crew with him, leaving Excellence III wide open for Clark’s team.
They were in Jacksonville after the Fort Lauderdale show for their Lloyd’s 10-year survey, then were headed to St. Barths for the holidays where they will be based for the winter. See them in the Med next summer, if the yacht doesn’t sell before then.
Of course, a 58m takes more than eight crew, so Clark has hired more.
“It's nice to work with professionals who really care about doing a good job and get along well together, too,” he said. “Marlys and I have been very fortunate over the years to have great crew members on our team. It makes the experience so much better for everyone.”
He would never say it, so I will: That great team starts at the top. Congrats to you and Marlys.
After more than four years on the 135-foot charter yacht M/Y Atlantica, Capt. Roy and Stephanie Hodges have taken command of the 150-foot Trinity M/Y Encore (ex-Magic). Stephanie Hodges, who was the chef, will now be chief stew.
Based in Palm Beach, the team will develop a similar charter program to what they had on Atlantica, only bigger. The yacht will cruise the Bahamas, Caribbean and possibly New England.
As of mid-December, they were still pulling together their crew. No word on who is taking over Atlantica, but it’s down to minimum crew for the short term.
Congrats again to Capt. Elie Trichet of M/Y No Compromise who received a certificate of commendation from the Republic of the Marshall Islands for his role in rescuing two divers abandoned at sea. A story about the incident appeared in our November issue.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and so can be sore muscles. Former yacht Chef Dean Silva has launched a Web site filled with short videos of recipes and chefs cooking them so he could stop lugging more than 50 kilos of cookbooks around the world with him.
Today’s World Kitchen (www.todaysworldkitchen.com) is a video-based site with footage of chefs from around the world preparing and presenting their own seasonally inspired signature dishes. Launched over the summer, it already has video demonstrations of 70 dishes from 35 world-class chefs and more will be added soon.
“While the books served me well, they were not practical to keep on board or travel with due to their sheer weight and lack of space,” Silva said in a press release about his new site. “They also were stagnant in their information. There is a constant demand for international yacht chefs to develop new skills, appreciate new flavors and create new dishes for their VIP guests.”
The Australian chef has worked on the 47m Delta M/Y D’Natalin and the 50m Feadship M/Y Major Wager, where he traveled 20,000nm around the Pacific from Australia and South Pacific islands to Alaska and Mexico.
Former yacht Stew Ann Marie Skordy has written a children’s book. Though she has no kids of her own, she based much of the message on her own experiences.
"Start With Your Heart" lets kids know it’s OK if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. Some kids want to be firefighters or doctors and they know right away, but lots of us don’t have that sort of confidence.
Skordy, 43, didn't know what to do with herself when she graduated college in 1991. That was, until she heard about Montserrat in the Caribbean.
"I got my passport and was on my way with a one-way ticket," Skordy said by phone from her home in East Palatka, Fla. "I'm a born gypsy, like every other yachtie."
Her subsequent adventures appear in her book written to encourage creativity in 4- to 8-year-olds. Skordy presents options that she herself took including being a chef on a private yacht, a teacher in Japan, a bartender in Guam and a dog nanny.
"Scuba-diving fish feeder is my favorite," Skordy said.
She worked on yachts including M/Y Double G and M/Y Heritage III. For more information visit www.itsoktobdifferent.com.
Have you made an adjustment in your latitude recently? Let us know. Send news of your promotion, change of yachts or career, or personal accomplishments to Editor Lucy Chabot Reed at lucy@the-triton.com. Triton Associate Editor Dorie Cox contributed to this column.
About the Author
