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| Jay |
I must have been only 20 when I first started working on boats. I lived in Fort Lauderdale, where boats and water always had some sort of pull on me. Not having any real experience, for my first job I was just helping in this massive galley (kitchen on a boat). I thought it would be a fun way to make some cash, but it was hard work. Yet, it had been the first job I had enjoyed. I had learned so much. It’s where my dream of becoming a chef had first taken shape.
I ended up doing it for years. When I was 24, I first worked for Captain Aaron. We had just clicked. He was a true professional, and yet not as uptight and formal like some of the other captains I had worked for. I ended up working as a sole chef in superyachts for him for six consecutive charter seasons.
I got to travel all over the world. I was stuck in a galley for months on end, during which I didn’t get to see much of wherever we were. And the guests could be very demanding and specific. But I loved it. I made tons of cash. And once the season was over, I got to take a look at the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, or even French Polynesia, before travelling back home.
I was saving all of this money I was making to hopefully, one day, open my own restaurant. And two years ago, that came true. I had thanked Captain Aaron so much for the opportunities and the trust he had given me, and left the yachting industry behind.
Having my own restaurant called Heritage in Fort Lauderdale, made me feel more in charge. I could decide the menu and I wasn’t at the whim of one moody rich person. It was Puerto Rican food with modern fusion twists. It had been a dream come true and it had been a success pretty early on. Earlier this year, I was able to hire a chef and a manager I trusted. I had felt myself relaxing after two years of hard work.
And today, I was going back to my roots. I was going to be the sole chef working in a galley on a 196 foot (60m) yacht for two months. Captain Aaron had called me a few weeks ago. We had remained in touch on and off, but life had been busy for both of us. He had come to dinner in my restaurant with his wife one time. But that was over a year ago.
“Jay”, he’d said. “I have an emergency. My regular chef broke his wrist. I need you to fill in for this upcoming season!”
I owed Captain Aaron so much, I had immediately tried as hard as I could to clear my schedule. Without my chef and manager, I never would have been able to make it. I was more than happy to help Captain Aaron out, like he had done for me.
I had landed at Napoli Airport only an hour ago, and now the taxi was pulling into the marina near the beautiful seaside city of Salerno. Once I had seen the sea from the car, it was like my heart opened up. There’s just something about Italy. Its cuisine and wines, of course, but also its nature.
The driver dropped me off by the marina entrance and I had to walk my suitcase with lots of clothes, as well as my knives, all the way to a massive yacht by the name of St. David. The marina was pretty big, and it had been a long journey, but it was a nice day and I took my time.
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| Todd |
“Hey”, he said. “Crew?”
“Yeah!”
He walked off the boat to meet me.
“I’m Todd. Bosun.”
“Jay. Chef.”
We shook hands.
“Oh, nice! Welcome! Let me help you with your suitcase.”
“Thanks!”
His strong arms easily lifted my suitcase off the ground, straining the sleeves of his polo. He walked ahead of me and his buttocks were quite alluring in his shorts.
“I can take this to the crew mess, so you can go say hi to the captain?”, he offered.
“Oh, great. Yeah, thanks!”
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| Captain Aaron |
“Is that famous chef Jay Camacho?”
I chuckled.
“Are you world-renowned Captain Aaron Douglas?”
He laughed and we went in for a hug.
“Are you a sight for sore eyes!”
He sat me down and asked me how I had been, and how the restaurant had been doing. I had worked for Captain Aaron for such a long time, being away from home together for months on end, I saw him as a bit of a father figure. Even though he was only ten years older than me. And he genuinely seemed proud of me making a name for myself.
“I am so excited to have you back on board for a few months. You were the first person I thought of.”
Aaron talked a bit about his expectations for the food. The guests paid for a luxury experience, so everything had to be top notch.
“So that also means being flexible when a guest unexpectedly doesn’t like something.”
I smiled.
“It’s that kind of challenge I haven’t had for a few years, but I’m ready for it.”
He chuckled.
“I’m sure you’ll quickly remember how you dealt with it in the past. You were always so good with that.”
I asked him about this new boat, St. David.
“Isn’t she beautiful? Take a look around the interior, too. Meet the crew, get settled in. And let’s get ready for the first charter!”
“Let’s!”
I got up, hugged the captain again and went off to find the crew mess and the galley.
On my way I saw the rest of the boat. Everything did look incredibly luxurious. These guests were going to love it. The sundeck had a Jacuzzi and more than enough room for tanning and laying about. I saw two beautiful places for serving food, a dining table indoors as well as outdoors.
I ran into a woman who was wearing the same crew uniform as Todd. Her brown hair was neatly tied in a ponytail. Her big blue eyes looked right through me.
“Hey! Are you our chef?”
“Yes! I am Jay.”
We shook hands.
“I am Becca, chief stewardess! Are you lost?”
She smiled.
“A little”, I admitted.
Becca showed me straight to the galley. It was quite spacious compared to what I was used to. Six burner stove. I could definitely work here. I checked out the fridge space too, and I was immediately relieved.
Becca handed me a big bag with my uniforms.
“I’ve put you in a cabin with Todd, the bosun.”
I had somehow forgotten about the cabin sharing and the bunk beds.
“Yeah, sure.”
We passed a rather large crew mess. Enough space for the crew as well, that was good. Becca handed me my radio. She had already put a sticker with my name on it. I found my suitcase and took it with me as I followed Becca through the hallway with the cabins. My and Todd’s cabin was in the back, on the right. Todd’s suitcase was already there, neatly in the corner. He hadn’t claimed one of the bunks yet.
“I’ll give you some time to change, I’m sure you had a long trip. I’ll see you around!”
“Thanks! See you!”
I looked around the cabin. I checked the bathroom. It wasn’t spacious, but it was going to have to do. I wasn’t sure how I would deal with not having any space that was only for myself for two months. At the age of 31, I needed my peace and quiet during off hours if I was going to function. It was hard to imagine I had done this for years in my 20s.
I checked the bag with uniforms. I put up the shirts and slacks in the closet and noticed Todd had at least claimed the right side of the closet for his. I fished out a polo and shorts to put on right now and I got changed. The shorts were quite form-fitting. Which I knew was on purpose, as it sometimes could increase a tip. And just as I was pushing my bulge into the front of my shorts, the door opened. It was Todd.
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| Todd |
I smiled and he did too.
“I guess we’re going to see a lot of each other in the next few months”, I said.
“True! So, we’re cabin buddies!”
“Yeah”, I replied. “Do you have a preference?”
I gestured to the beds.
“Oh, I prefer to be bottom.”
I tried hard and succeeded not to laugh. I knew Todd was definitely a straight-laced straight guy who didn’t know what that meant in gay terms.
“Big guy like me climbing on top every night, that’s just…. It’s not pretty.”
He smiled, clearly oblivious.
“Perfect. I’ll take the top one”, I replied.
“Cool. Now if you’ll excuse me.”
Todd passed in front of me to go to the bathroom. His big ass brushed against my bulge.
“Oh, sorry”, he said.
Todd was like, 5’11’’ (180cm), but possibly 215 pounds (97.5kgs). He was a big guy to share such a small cabin with. I decided I would get used to it. I finished changing and went back to the galley.
In the galley I took the time to see where everything was, and put stuff in places I thought made sense. I made a list of everything I was still missing, to order later. In the meantime, more crew members were coming on board. I shook hands with Rodrigo, lead deckhand from Brazil, and Yasmin, second stew from South Africa. I loved how people who work on these yachts usually came from all over the world.
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| Harrison |
I looked up. A young man with big blue eyes walked in. He was a bit short, maybe 5’6’’ (170cm), but he looked incredibly fit. He smiled when he shook my hand.
“I’m Harrison, nice to meet you.”
He had a British accent.
“Jay”, I said. “Welcome.”
I thought he was really hot.
“Chat more later, yeah?”
“Absolutely”, I said.
He walked out and his ass was a thing of beauty. This was going to be a season where I had a boat crush.
I was usually the only gay one in yacht crews like this. I remember a lesbian deckhand who was very cool. And there was a gay male stew I became very good friends with. But my crushes were usually straight. And I’ve been witness of several what they call “boatmances” where two of my crew members hooked up. Often, in the end, living together and working together at the start of a relationship ended in drama. Which is why there is the oft-coined phrase, “Don’t screw the crew.” Usually I didn’t have a choice in the matter, but that was fine. I could focus on my job. Still, I enjoyed watching sexy deck crew in shorts. It always made days go by faster.
Becca returned to the galley by herself. She jumped on the counter.
“Can you find everything OK?”
“Yeah, getting there!”
“Awesome. Do you have time to talk for a little bit?”
Becca and I were going to be working together a lot. She wanted to know how I preferred to work and let me know her preferences. We talked about how we could best communicate menus and service. It showed her professionalism that she came to me on the first day to talk this over. Chefs have a reputation of having a temper, and in the way she spoke to me, I could tell she had experienced that.
Becca and I were then chatting about our yachting experiences. She seemed fun and friendly. I was pretty sure we would grow to be friends. Our radios went off. It was Captain Aaron. Team meeting in the salon.
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| Harrison |
Captain Aaron named a few boat rules, which I still remembered from when I last worked for him. The captain also gave us a speech to really make sure that from this point on we were no longer a group of separate people, but a team, and that we needed to work as such.
“Make everybody look good, not just yourself. No matter if this is your second season on a yacht, or if you have more than a decade of experience. Let’s give these guests the holiday of their lives!”
Aaron asked Becca, Todd and I to stay. The rest of the crew went back to what they were doing. As heads of department, Aaron clued us in as to who the first charter guests were going to be. The Mendez family, with a couple as primary guests, their three children – thankfully grown, two of them with a partner -, his mother, her brother and his husband. Ten guests.
The Mendez family was going to be with us for a week. 2.00 PM pick-up tomorrow. A bit of a loose schedule was discussed, weather permitting. I took a mental note of the possibility of a beach lunch. I was mainly interested in food preferences and dietary restrictions. One of the daughters wasn’t very into seafood except sushi, and the brother-in-law had a nut allergy. This was looking like a relatively easy start to the season. Maybe the request for a multi-course tasting menu could be a challenge, but I remembered doing it in the past.
“You take your time to come up with menus”, Becca told me, “I’ll decide on what I need drinkswise. And I’ll come to the galley to order provisions together.”
“Perfect.”
After the meeting, the captain went back to the bridge and Becca sat down at one of the dining tables to plan out the week. Todd and I walked back down to the galley together.
“I’m sure you can tell, but I love food.”
Todd gestured to his thicker than average body.
“I also love watching a chef’s process. So, I might pop into the galley a lot. Like, with that tasting menu, I’ll gladly help with washing dishes in between courses. Or anything else. But if you want me to leave, tell me.”
He chuckled. Some help with dishes was always welcome.
“Thanks.”
That was sweet.
Apart from making food for the guests, I was also responsible for crew dinners. Because Becca and I only ordered provisions that afternoon, Captain paid for pizzas from the pizzeria by the marina. And honestly, they were delicious.
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| Harrison |
It was nice to get to know my bunk buddy, but I kept glancing over to Harrison as he laughed and talked with other crew members. I couldn’t wait until the first crew night out.
With tomorrow most definitely being a long day, everyone went to bed early. I got comfortable in my top bunk and sent a message to the restaurant manager. She assured me everything was fine. I heard the shower turn off. Not much later, the bathroom door opened.
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| Todd |
I angled my head so I could see Todd in the door opening, which was behind me. His beefy upper body was on display. He held a towel in front of his private parts.
“Yeah, sure. I don’t mind.”
“Cool.”
I turned back. I heard the sounds of Todd getting into bed.
“Goodnight”, he said before turning off the light in the room.
“Goodnight”, I replied.
Todd was friendly and polite, and probably very professional. Yet it was like he lacked any self-awareness. He made me smile, for some reason.
With the nudity question, I realized I hadn’t yet come out to the rest of the crew. In the past, it had usually come up during the first crew night out, in between charters. I wondered if Todd would still be comfortable sleeping naked if he knew about my sexuality. Though I didn’t consider it my problem.
Just as I decided to switch off my mind, so I could fall asleep and make a solid 8 hours, I heard snores come from below. I was going to have to get used to that. For some reason, the rhythmic sounds just comforted me, and I found myself drifting off nevertheless.
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