One day in April while walking through the mall eating a giant soft serve waffle cone filled with chocolate and vanilla swirled frozen yogurt, my cell phone rang. It was an international phone number that I didnt recognize. I reluctantly answered the call. The voice on the other end was a very pleasant sounding man with an accent. Hmmm...South African? Australian?...whatever, who cares. What's this guy want? To tell me I won the lottery in some foreign country and I had to give him my banking information? Not quite. I listened Mr. Accent Man despite my reservations. "Hi Nikki? This is chef Clarence with Motor Yacht Ulysses (name and yacht name have been changed so I dont get fired, yeah keep reading...its a good story :) . Are you free the week of May 9 to serve as a temporary sous chef? We need someone to cook for the crew." At first I hesitated because this was out of my comfort zone. I'm used to running my own show. But I had recently started looking into other options in the culinary field. Since I hadnt recieved any other phone calls like this one, I was completely caught off guard.
So in classic Nikki fashion, I thought of a million different reason why I shouldnt do this. And also in classic Nikki fashion I made the spontaneous decision to just go ahead and do it. Fast forward to a week later and I was meeting chef Clarence in the parking lot of a posh boat yard. I stuck out like a sore thumb. Heres little me dressed in full chef garb, a knife kit, hat, chef jacket...the whole 9, because well, I'm a restaurant chef...or at least I used to be. Chef Clarence was wearing kaki shorts, a white t-shirt, and flip flops. He shook my hand an we briskly marched toward the largest yacht I've ever seen in real life. We boarded the ship and the high energy chef started to take me on the tour. He spewed out where the kitchen supplies were kept, pots, pans and introduced me to various crew members that were walking by, all without taking a breath. He greeted each of his fellow crew members with a smile and a bit of light hearted ribbing which made me feel like I should relax and lighten up. This was a professional place but nothing wrong with a little ball busting to lighten up the mood. Once we finished our tour, I was escorted by Clarence off of the yacht and into a rented car. Off to the grocery store we went. We engaged in some small talk. He asked me about my restaurant and what happend with everything...he read my blog. OOOOOH FUCK! This guy must think I'm nuts. Clarence then quoted my blog...."namaste mother fucker, brilliantly funny Nikki, but not something yacht captains are interrested in. You'll have better luck if you delete your blog or at least make it annonymous." GASP! Delete my blog? Not an option...but incognito I can definitely do.
I worked on the Ulysses and eventually got into a groove. While I was cooking for the crew and holding down the galley, Clarence was stocking up for the upcoming yacht season. They were only going to be in the US for a short time and now was his chance to stock up on all of the random items we see at TJ Maxx and dont think twice about them. As the days went by piles of unusual spice blends, wooden chopping blocks and individual tiny coppper pots swelled on top of an unused section of the galley. Clarence would whip into the galley followed by a dozen deck hands and stews holding mounds of new colorful and off the wall provisions that the eccentric chef had a vision of using. I would explore the new items and think "I want to see what goes in there...I want to see what this guy is putting together with this". As my time on the Ulysses grew to a close I was filled with dread as I new the yacht would pull away from the Florida coast line and I would not be aboard. Dang. I need to be a part of this crew.
The night before my last monday I layed in bed meditating. "I need to be on that boat, Ulysses is where I'm meant to be I just know it." I tossed and turned and was restless that night. In the morning I returned to the ship. Made lunch and sent it down stairs. Clarence appeared in the galley and shut the door. "Look Nikki, would you like to talk about the future?", he said. I knew right then and there that this was my open door. I had experienced a lot of closed doors since my divorce from bash. Many of those closed doors did not have any rhyme or reason. I felt so shut out. But from the moment I took my shoes off to "not make the boys emotional by walking on the teak" and step aboard the Ulysses I knew in my gut that this is where I am supposed to be.
So here I am, 3 months later. Both Clarence and I had to jump through several hoops and for that, I am truly greatful. That pleasant sounding voice on the other end of that international number took me under his wing. And with his help I am two weeks away from flying to Europe to once again board the Ulysses. A dream come true. Sometimes you have to lose everything to enjoy your trip back to the top, or your trip to Spain or your trip to Italy, or wherever your destiny takes you...
Thanks Clarence :)
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