AT YOUR SERVICE
Femke Jacobs talks to Frances and Michael Howorth onboard Legend and explains her Hotel Manager’s position
Did you have a particular reason for joining the superyacht industry? Having managed two tapas restaurants from opening until success I needed a challenge but I also needed a rest so I went travelling. I am however hugely ambitious and I knew that I needed a new and more exciting challenge and began to look around. I heard a Dutch yacht owner who was very commercially minded was seeking to employ a Hotel Manager for a newer and larger yacht he had just converted so I got myself an interview. It lasted three hours and at the end of it I knew I wanted the job so much. I went without sleep for a week, but finally I was rewarded with this fabulous opportunity!
Had you ever been at sea before? No! This is my very first yacht and yes I know how lucky I am to be able to step straight in at the top. But the owner seeks out the very best talent and employs them if he thinks they are right for the job.
What do you most like about this job? Being Hotel Manager on board this yacht is truly a one off assignment. I work 4 months on and 2 months off. I tend not to do the passages but I am always on when the yacht is being chartered which is the fun part. I absolutely love waking up to a different view every day when we are travelling.
And least like?
The hours are intense when you are on charter and I really really like sleeping, which there is not a lot of time for.
What is your favourite restaurant or bar in the Mediterranean and why is it special? I really enjoy the over the top and wonderfully inspiring service you get at Paradiso in Barcelona. It appears to be a Pastrami sandwich bar that has a big fridge on the right. If you open that door and walk through the fridge, you emerge into a hidden, 1940s-style speakeasy serving fabulous cocktails prepared by Giacomo Giannotti, Barcelona’s best barman. You have to try the bacon-infused Old Fashioned and don’t forget to order a pastrami sandwich which are as good as the cocktails. Order them at the bar and they get served to you through a secret hatch.
32 | WINTER 2019 | ONBOARD
What is your favourite food and what food do you most dislike?
I love eating Spanish foods, Paella is among my favourites. Tapas and the way in which they are served and eaten is an art form and one to be enjoyed. Gazpacho on a hot day takes a lot of beating and who can resist a plate of well cooked calamari? I love Jamon Iberico but really cannot understand the fuss when it comes to Japanese sushi so perhaps that’s my least favourite food.
Has any superyacht service provider impressed you enough to give them a mention?
We work a lot with BWA in ports all around the world and they never let us down.
Name your three dream dinner party guests:
My top three would include Beyonce, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, the Spanish novelist and the Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda.
Who is the most funny of all your fellow crew?
Our bosun does a perfect imitation of Johnny Depp’s pirate character Jack Sparrow and if you close your eyes and simply listened you would swear that he was on board just in front of you.
What advice would you give to someone thinking of working on a yacht? There is no doubt in my mind that before you think of working on a yacht you need to have travelled alone, away from your immediate family. I have seen very promising crew give up their jobs because they are homesick. You need to be very self confident and fully understand what sort of job you are getting yourself into.
What tip for doing your job better are you willing to share?
Build your crew into a team and become their leader by pulling the cart rather than sitting in the driver’s seat cracking the whip. Show by example and become someone they are happy to follow.
If you had a magic wand what change would you make to your job?
We have got a rock star crew on board this
yacht and I hate it when I hear friends might want to leave so I would use my wand to make sure no one ever wanted to leave this magical yacht.
How does being at sea so far away from home affect your family life? My life was turned on its head when I divorced a couple of years ago. Now however I am getting family life sorted out and I am beginning to enjoy my new found freedom. We are a very close family and while Mum hates it that I am away so often my Dad is so proud of what it is I have achieved. My three brothers are just as close to me and when we are in Holland we all spend a great deal of time together as a family. When I am at sea the Internet makes being apart easier to cope with.
QUICK FIRE
Are you a morning or night time person? Night
How do you like your steak? Medium
What was the last film you saw in a cinema?
Beauty & the Beast
What did you eat for breakfast this morning? Oatmeal
What is your favourite style of cuisine? Spanish
What food do you hate most? Raw fish sushi
What would your last supper be? Well made Paella
What are your favourite clothes? Pyjamas
Where in the world would you visit if you had the chance? Galapagos
Where would you want to retire? A sunny island
What car do you drive? My Grandma’s 1998 Ford Escort!
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