Two Chefs Share the Craziest Ways They Got Food on Board

Two chefs share the extreme ways they’ve managed to get food on board.

In yachting, every chef eventually faces a provisioning nightmare. Flights get canceled. Permits vanish. Deliveries arrive at impossible hours — or chase the yacht down mid-voyage. 

For sole chef Mykhailo Chekan of Nuri, one charter reinforced a core truth of the job: adaptability isn’t a skill, it’s the entire role. “One of my wildest experiences happened when we had guests arriving on a fixed date, and the yacht had already left the island where we were docked,” he recalls. “All my provisions were flying in from Europe, but at the last moment the flight was canceled.” 

When the ingredients arrived the next day, the solution was just as extreme. “The supplier chartered a private ferry to chase us down and deliver them mid-route,” Chekan says. “It cost a fortune, but sometimes there are moments when you have to do whatever is necessary to uphold the standard.” 

Another setback came in Costa Rica, where a canceled flight disrupted Chekan’s carefully planned schedule. Provisions scheduled to arrive days before the charter instead landed on a Friday — after customs had closed — and weren’t released until the following Tuesday, in the middle of the charter. 

“There were also nights when delays forced us to meet deliveries at pitch-black docks, unloading boxes at 2 a.m.,” he says. “The next morning, guests would wake up to flawless plates, unaware of the chaos that unfolded only hours earlier.”

For Chekan, that boundary is non-negotiable. “The behind-the-scenes struggle is never the guests’ burden,” he says. “Their experience must remain seamless, regardless of how dramatic the provisioning story is.”

Chekan is also adept at improvising. Until the provisions arrived, he has cooked with whatever was on board and could find locally. “When we’re anchored near remote islands with no international provisions, I’ll spend hours driving across the island, visiting every shop, or shack, to collect whatever I can,” he says. “Creativity becomes your strongest currency.”

For chef Rachel Cunningham, adaptability means accepting that sometimes guests need to be informed. Ahead of a charter pickup in Antigua, her crew attempted to fly food in — only for the permit office to go on strike the day the paperwork needed approval. “They did eventually release the permit for importing the produce,” she says, “but the provisions came in two days after the guests had arrived.”

With only locally sourced ingredients available and no time for advanced prep, Cunningham had to adjust quickly. “It wasn’t a total disaster, but it definitely gave me a few gray hairs!”

Cunningham explained the situation to her guests — and lucked out. They even agreed to stay in Antigua for two extra days until the provisions arrived.

“Ultimately, the guests were stoked with the food on the trip,” she says. “I guess they forgot about the hiccup at the start by the time they left.”

Whether chaos stays hidden or not, both chefs agree: guests see the finished product, but every meal requires creativity, teamwork and quick problem-solving behind the scenes.