Sailing aboard the 180′ superyacht Marie in the Newport Bucket Regatta last week was an experience, that’s for sure. And even beyond the thrill it was blasting around Block Island Sound at 10+ kts every day for three days, the parties that we were treated to each evening were just as memorable.
As Ratty famously said to Mole in the beloved book, The wind in the Willows, “There is nothing- absolutely nothing- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” I’d have to add to that that good food aboard ranks up there as well worth doing as well. Yes, there is absolutely nothing that goes better with sailing than good food. And, what tops everything is “yachting” (eg: sailing on boats bigger than yours) and eating food that’s been prepared by someone else. Yes, that’s the best.
Well, let me tell you, the crew of Marie know great food and they know how to throw a great party. While it “takes a village”, or crew to put on a truly great party, the heart of the operation is the chef and Tami on Marie is a great one.
Chef, or is that “Cheffess” Tami grew up on boats and it’s obvious given the way that she manages to produce great meals, one after another, seemingly without breaking a sweat. Here’s Tami looking right at home in her galley aboard Marie.
The galley is the full width of the boat on starboard with the crew mess to port. 
Yes, it’s a big galley but it starts to look pretty small when you see how many great dishes she turns out when things are hopping aboard. Lunches were terrific with sandwiches served on freshly baked baguettes. Would you care for a lobster roll and bean salad for lunch? Well, yes!!! I won’t even mention what was for desert!!! Frankly, it was so decadent you should get a permit to eat one.
On each day of the race, she turned out over 50 lunches for racing crew, guests and the permanent crew. That’s amazing and that doesn’t count snacks along the way. Her days over the course of the event began at 04:00 and ran to nearly midnight. At least she was able to catch a few ZZZs while we were racing between meals. I guess she’s right at home on the water to be able to sleep while we were blasting around the race course at double digit speeds.
On the first night, after a full day on the water, the crew put on quite a feast for the “Yacht Hop”. I wrote about this a few posts ago. And, as you’d expect, Marie was in great form and ready to “compete” with the best of them. What a nice spread.
Even in costume. But, more about that later.
When superyachts congregate there is competition on every front. And Tami is “superchef” competitive. I understand that there is a chef competition at the charter show in the Caribbean and I am sure she’s already thinking about how to take top honors.
On day two we really saw what Tami and the crew are capable of when they threw a theme party aboard Marie for the racing crew and guests. The regatta hosted a Beatles review band under the main tent so it seemed only natural that Marie would have a 60s Beatles theme too. In fact, they won an award for the best crew theme. Here’s the cockpit all decked out and ready to party. (you can click on the photo to make it full screen)
Tami, “with a little help from her friends, er, crew”, came up with a wonderful collection of nibbles to feast on, all with a Beatles theme. How about these to make your “fab four palate” water?
Let’s try “Let it Brie”, “Sargent Pepperoni Pizza” and “Here Comes the Sunkist Tomato Salad”. Would you care for some “Chicken Wingo Starr”, “All the lonely Pita Chips” with “I am the Humas”. Still hungry? How a bit of “Veggie Dip La Di, Dip La Da”? Try saying that three times fast…
And who could resist “Ate Days a Leek” or “I am the Egg Man” a twist on, always popular, deviled eggs. They even had an abundant supply of dangerous sounding “LSD”, Little Shrimp Dumplings. OK, OK, a bit of a stretch but fun.
How about “Love, Love Me Noodles” and everyone’s favorite “The Long Winding Toad in a hole” and my all time favorite, “I Wana Hold your Lamb Kabobs”. Yumm…
Of course, each “course” was labeled so you could get the full effect. Speaking of “effects” there was plenty of punch, wine and beer for all so the effect was very nice. Brenda looked like she was having fun too. Right? Nice shades!
Would you care for a “I wanna Hold Your Lamb Kabob”, served with a smile. You bet, I’ll take two. 
Everyone had really wonderful time. 
And to top it off, Tami even made a mountain, or “tower” of “tie-dyed” cupcakes. Even the insides were multi-colored or should I say “dyed”. Amazingly presented. YUM!
Perhaps even more amazing is that all of this party stuff and the serving trays are aboard Marie all the time. I guess that “super storage”, for everything, is also included aboard Marie. 
And, as if that’s not enough, the 8 permanent crew dressed in costume for the event. Yes, I’d give them an “A+” for this one. A bit blurry, but everyone was by the time we got to the dance. What fun. 
And, Marie looked just wonderful in her costume too. 
And to cap things off there were fireworks for everyone to enjoy although given everything else that was going on, I’m not sure everyone noticed the show. 
I can say with confidence, and trust me on this, that the food and parties aboard Marie was indeed a “gastroMarieque” experience.
Oh, what a night, what a party, what a yacht.
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