One of the ships on which René pursued his career as a ship's cook was the Wylde Swan. This topsail schooner serves as a sailing classroom for secondary school students. “We had about 45 people on board including crew. So it took a lot of hard work to feed such a crowd. I started at 6 a.m. with the breakfast. I finished at 8 p.m. after washing up. I did have help from two students, but, René laughs as he tells it, "they couldn't tell an onion from an egg. So it mostly came down to me.” Fresh or frozen Before departure, René submits a list of ingredients and the ship is loaded to the brim: every available space is taken. En route, variety is the watchword: couscous, brown rice, potatoes, pasta, comforting soups. “Fresh vegetables, meat, fish and dairy products are all used up at some point, and then it's all about the frozen food. That’s a nice challenge. You have to get used to cooking for such a large group, but you soon get the hang of it. I know, of course, how many grams of pasta, potatoes, vegetables, etc. you need per person.” Once in port, René purchases mainly fresh ingredients. “I could see from the previous cook's logbook exactly which markets and addresses I needed to go to.” Cooking on a sailing ship at sea is a lot like a circus act. “A ship like that lists a lot. Normally, a galley is located in the middle of the deck, but on a ship like the Wylde Swan it is in the front, which makes the swell an extra burden. Moreover, there are no windows in the galley, so you cannot see movements coming. You are cooking in a runaway lift. At the captain's request, I sometimes baked pancakes. Then you have very large pans of batter and when a boat like that goes crazy... Once I saw a pan hanging weightless in the air and then crashing to the floor. The whole kitchen was covered in batter. Then it was a matter of cleaning: stooping down, cleaning under everything, while that ship was going in all directions.”

Tacking with the oven The oven, too, required a special approach. “You have to put the trays in at an angle so that they remain in a horizontal position. The captain signalled when we were going to tack. This meant taking out the red-hot trays, following the tacking movement and pushing the trays back into the oven.” René laughs. “You learn to cook very acrobatically. And in stormy weather it was not doable at all. I had to tie myself with a rope to the workbench so that I could remain more or less standing.” Another handicap on a sailing ship: the drain leads a life of its own. “The water sometimes runs back into the kitchen just as fast. I once cooked in Wellington boots standing in a sort of brownish sludge. After all, the guests have to eat.” Blind auditions In addition to his travels on the Wylde Swan, René has also worked as a ship's cook on the ‘brown fleet’ (former sailing vessels for transporting cargo in mainly coastal areas). “Those were trips on the IJsselmeer lake or on the Wadden Sea. That was really a piece of cake compared with cooking on a sea-going sailing ship.” After about five years, René permanently returned to shore, where his work went from one thing to another. Together with director Ilay den Boer, he has conceived a number of theatre shows. For one, an Amsterdam canal boat served as a theatre – so he was back on board again. Music, too, is never far away for René. He was frontman of the band Oud Zuid and participated in the previous season of The Voice of Holland. “I thought I was too old for it, I had heard jury member Anouk make some cutting remarks to someone a lot younger than me. But at Ilay's insistence, I sent in a song and was then allowed to audition. I said a resounding 'yes' to that, of course.” During the blind auditions, René performed a beautiful version of ‘Als de liefde niet bestond’ by Toon Hermans and won a place in Jan Smit's team. He made it through to the battles. “It was really great fun to do. Whether it will bring me anything in the future remains to be seen.” Future plans Does René ever think about the distant future? “As a self-employed person, I do not build up a pension through an employer. I do try to save, but in times of meagre income, like last year because of COVID-19, it’s hard. Sometimes I find it difficult to think about. On the other hand, I am in favour of staying mobile and being active as long as possible. And performing is not really age-related.” And back to the galley? "Yes, I have to say that's appealing. But not on a sailing ship, you really have to do that in the ‘hot days of your life’.” ←