{"href":"http://player.captivate.fm/services/oembed?url=http%3A%2F%2Fplayer.captivate.fm%2Fepisode%2F1587e72d-2f31-445b-88fb-e5170983d747","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Captivate.FM","provider_url":"https://www.captivate.fm","width":600,"height":200,"type":"rich","html":"","title":"248 | Chef Dean Harrison: Leave Your Ego on the Shore","description":"Chef Dean Harrison describes spending 14 years working as a yacht chef after starting in restaurants at age 15. He says he was drawn to yachting because it offered travel, better pay, and a different lifestyle than restaurants, rather than Michelin-star ambitions.\n\nHe recalls an early dangerous crossing from Brisbane to Fiji on a 100-foot boat during a cyclone. The vessel lost stabilizers after the hydraulics overheated, the captain hand-steered for about 48 hours, and Harrison says he was sure the boat would capsize.\n\nHarrison explains that large yachts have a clear divide between guest and crew areas. He says crew quarters are smaller and less comfortable, often involving bunk beds and shared cabins, while the rest of the yacht is reserved for guests.\n\nHe describes a typical week-long charter as requiring heavy planning and over-ordering, especially in harder supply regions like the Caribbean. He says food orders can total about $50,000 a week on a 280-foot yacht, and unused food is usually reused for crew meals rather than discarded.\n\nHe outlines three work arrangements in yachting: temporary contracts, full-time contracts, and rotational contracts with alternating weeks on and off. He says the industry is regulated under MLC rules, which require crew accommodation, food, insurance, and basic safety standards.\n\nHarrison says the lifestyle has given him travel, cultural experiences, and financial stability, but also required sacrifices such as missed weddings, strained relationships, and burnout. He says confidence took him years to build, and he now advises new chefs to prepare carefully, avoid ego, and learn multiple cuisines and skills.\n\nHe also says he now works in recruitment and coaching, where he tries to improve chef salaries and help people understand the realities of yacht life before committing to it. His main concern for the industry is mental strain and burnout among chefs.","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/2b2d7897-076c-489f-b695-3e6724c8be21/CLR-248-Chef-Dean-Harrison-3000-x-3000-px.png"}