Interview. Chef, Cyril worked on a prestigious cruising sailboat: “Fantastic times”

Cyril Schiewe, chef from Cherbourg (Manche) aboard shipsrecounts his experience aboard the PerseveranceA prestigious sailboat cruise.

Last year, you boarded the “Perseverance”, a sublime cruising sailboat. In what context did your journey take place?

Cyril Schiewe: I arrived during the trip. The boat had returned to Brest to resupply and take on the crew change After the season in Norway and Greenland where they went on cruises, where I initially worked. Stopover made, they started the transatlantic, heading towards Antarctica. I joined them during the deckchair towards Antarctica on the hitchhiking which took place in Montevideo. We then left directly for the Falklands, the Sandwich Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula, and finished our trip in Ushuaia. We had a privatization of the ship for a cruise which lasted 26 days.

What was your daily life like on the ship?

Cyril Schiewe: It depends on the weather. When the sea is rough, you just wait for it to pass while trying, as best you can, to cook, even if everything goes wrong. When things aren’t moving too much, the day goes really well. You do what you planned. I spent the majority of my day cooking, while enjoying the outdoors. You are in the middle of icebergs, you have crazy lights, sightings of humpback whales. You can see elephant seals, penguins, seals and leopard seals. It’s just magnificent. It’s a bit like summer camps in fact, it’s friendly but trying. I was still well off compared to the others, warm in my kitchen, with a crazy view. The working days are still quite long. Not necessarily ultra-intense in terms of physical activity, but it always requires presence.

“It’s a bit like summer camps in fact, it’s friendly but trying. »

How do you manage to successfully adapt your dishes on the open sea?

Cyril Schiewe: I’m quite lucky in that regard, in that I haven’t had any passengers with intolerances or allergies. So in fact it’s just pleasure cooking. You work in cold areas, so you need things that fit your body and feel good. It can be blanquettes like bourguignons, pot-au-feu, but you can also make good big tartiflettes. I also prepared starters, desserts and cheese platters. You still try to make something balanced but delicious because sailors, it is known, eat anyway (laughing).

What memories do you have of this experience?

Cyril Schiewe: Every day, you have moments that are just fantastic, where you find yourself in Antarctica among icebergs. And then you have a humpback whale festival, you see it blowing and probing all around you. You have magnificent visibility, you have a little golden light on the ice and then you see puffs and tails all around you. And there is no noise, you are under sail, you just hear the ice cracking, and then the breaths of the whales which make a fantastic echo. You are in the middle of all this. You find yourself eating something that is good for the body and the mind in a landscape that is magnificent, with people who get along well and where you really have a harmony, an osmosis that is created and that, it It’s fantastic.

Future projects?

Cyril Schiewe: After a year in the project, I will leave Perseverance to return to Polarfront, my former employer. I really loved my adventure in Antarctica but I am aiming for advancement in my career. I will continue to work on ships. What’s fantastic is when you see all the people who leave and who tell you that you contributed to giving them pleasure and beautiful memories, because you cooked, that you managed to create a good atmosphere around of the table. That is the most important. It is in this state of mind that I will see where the future takes me.

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