Kate Chastain’s ‘Below Deck’ Chief Stew Training Prepared Her for Baby and Sleepless Nights
Being a chief stew on a superyacht is essentially guerilla training for motherhood. Former Below Deck chief stew Kate Chastain will soon welcome her first baby and when that bundle of joy arrives, she can tap into stew training to help her with sleepless nights and being on-call 24/7.
Babies are somewhat comparable to a demanding charter guest, often in tears over just about everything, can be satisfied with a bottle, but usually awake at odd hours of the night.
Kate Chastain can handle a weird sleep schedule and long nights
Most newborns need several weeks or even months before they find a sleep rhythm, which means being awake with a crying baby at 2 a.m. but then up again at 6 a.m. is common for parents.
But Below Deck stews like Chastain have some experience with sleepless nights. They have to be awake as long as the guests are awake, which sometimes means being on call until 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. Even if the stew is covering the late shift, they often have to be available the following day to attend to the guests’ needs.
The crew is required to get a certain number of hours of sleep per night, but it sometimes doesn’t always work out that way. Below Deck Mediterranean third stew-turned-chef said working an 18-hour day isn’t uncommon. “I think it’s hard for people to grasp how much work it is for one person,” she told Showbiz Cheat Sheet in 2020. “That on top of working 16 to 18 hours every day. By the end, you’re just a broken human being.”
Yachties often work through pain
Not feeling well or still sore from the delivery? Many new mothers find it difficult to push through pain or illness while caring for an infant. However, Below Deck yachties are used to working (and smiling) when they are sick or injured.
Below Deck chefs Marcos Spaziani and Ben Robinson, both sustained serious cuts but continued to work. Also, third stew Jessica More broke her finger on charter but kept working.
Deckhand Chris Miller’s back injury didn’t stop him from finishing the Below Deck Sailing Yacht season. He pushed through the pain and performed the tasks he could physically complete. “That guy’s drive and determination to keep pushing through pain was extraordinary,” a producer shared in a “Behind the Episode.”
Kate Chastain will shine when it comes to being creative and organized
New mothers face a new world of hyper-organization when their first baby is born. Integrating bottles, gadgets, and new schedules can be harrowing, but will likely be a snap for Chastain. She’s also extremely creative, which was shown on Below Deck. From theme parties to finding fun ways to entertain guests when the boat is docked, Chastain’s baby is in for a real treat.
Chastain described the fun she had in the party planning business, a role she took after Below Deck. “It’s so fun,” she told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “We get elephants in Islamorada. Someone was like, ‘How and when do elephants go to the bathroom?’ Like how are we supposed to know that? We can get the elephants. Live flamingos … we had a groom arriving on a pirate ship. It’s so fun.”
‘Below Deck’ charter guests’ demands can help Kate prep for baby
Sometimes Below Deck charter guests make impossible demands or aren’t always clear, especially when it comes to food. In many ways, babies are the same way … except you love your baby.
New mothers have to play a guessing game when their newborn is fussy or crying. This isn’t that far off from what stews have to do when the guests make big demands. Quite a few Below Deck guests have sent back food, saying they don’t eat that kind of food, but it isn’t listed on their preference sheet.
“I’m expecting it’s going to be a lot of work, that’s what I hear. I’m buckling up for that,” Chastain told TooFab during interviews about The Traitors. “But I was on Below Deck for so long, it’s a lot of work on that. I feel like all my years working on yachts, being a chief stew … I mean drunk charter guests and some of my crew are the equivalent of a toddler, so I’m ready. I’m ready!”
