Yacht Galley Equipment Guide: Space, Water, Noise and Guest Service

A yacht galley does two jobs from one small room. It feeds the crew, often on a working schedule, and it serves guests who expect restaurant cooking at times of their choosing. It does both with less space than a ship galley of the same headcount, with a fraction of the water, on power from generators or a shore connection, and often a few metres from a guest cabin or deck.

Those conditions change the equipment more than the size of the yacht does. This guide works through them in the order they usually decide a yacht specification: space, water, power, noise, finish and cleaning, the laundry and the refit.

Two services from one galley

Start with the service, not the equipment list:

• How many guests and crew are fed, and whether they eat from the same galley.
• Whether guest service is plated to order, buffet style, or both.
• How far the yacht operates from provisioning ports, which decides how much is frozen and how much is fresh.
• Whether a chef works alone or with a team, which decides how many positions can be used at once.

A single chef cooking to order for guests needs a few flexible positions within reach; a crew mess served at fixed times needs capacity. Most yacht galleys have to do both, which is why the most flexible appliances, combi ovens and induction, carry so much of the work.

Space: the compact end of each category

In a yacht galley the useful figures are usually the smallest ones. Across the equipment mapped to yachts in this catalogue:

• Combi steamers: the MKN Junior and SpaceCombi models are 550 mm wide; the narrowest Electrolux Professional SkyLine combi oven is 867 mm.
• Induction: cooking tables start at 400 mm wide, so a two-zone position fits where a larger module would not.
• Refrigeration: the Electrolux Professional Prostore 500 refrigerator holds 470 litres in a body 600 mm wide.
• Warewashing: a glasswasher 460 mm wide serves a bar or guest pantry.
• Laundry: Miele Little Giants washers and dryers are 596 to 606 mm wide for 6 to 8 kg loads.

Depth matters as much as width. MKN builds its Optima modular lines in 700 mm and 850 mm depths, and the yacht selection in this catalogue uses the 700 mm Optima 700 line rather than Optima 850; a shallower line leaves more of a narrow galley for working and passing. See yacht galley equipment.

Water: the tightest limit on board

Fresh water on a yacht is either carried in tanks or made by a watermaker, and cruising yachts work to far less of it than commercial ships. Typical figures run from about 4 to 20 litres per person per day, and conservation-minded operation around 19 litres, against roughly 100 litres on a commercial vessel.

That turns every water-using appliance into a design decision:

• Dishwashers: undercounter machines use between about 1.8 and 5 litres per cycle depending on their tier. Miele's MasterLine and ProfiLine fresh-water dishwashers suit pantries with irregular loads.
• Combi ovens: steam generation uses water; boilerless ovens inject steam directly and have no boiler to fill.
• Laundry: washer-extractor water use is published per programme and is worth comparing between models of the same load size.

Every litre used is also a litre to hold or discharge, which matters in anchorages and marinas where discharge is restricted.

Power: AC from generators or shore

Yacht galley equipment in this catalogue runs on AC. None of the products mapped to yachts is built for a 12 V or 24 V DC supply, so the galley depends on the generators or a shore connection. Voltages on the yacht selection include 230 V, 400 V and 440 V, and 50 Hz and 60 Hz builds appear in nearly equal numbers.

Two points follow:

• Frequency: a yacht built to one frequency and cruising where shore power uses the other must still run its equipment at its rated frequency. A 50 Hz motor on 60 Hz turns roughly 20 % faster, so fans, pumps and compressors are ordered to match the yacht's own system.
• Load: a galley running combi ovens, induction and a dishwasher at once can be a large share of generator load at anchor. Energy management readiness, listed on many marine products, lets the yacht's system stagger heavy loads.

Noise near guest areas

On a yacht the galley and laundry are often close to guest spaces, and appliance noise is a specification item rather than an afterthought. Manufacturers publish it, and the figures vary more than the product names suggest:

• Miele tumble dryers are listed at 50 to 70 dB(A) emission sound pressure at the workplace, washing machines at 61 to 73 dB(A), and washer-dryer stacks at 63 dB(A).
• Miele PFD dishwashers are listed at a sound power of 45 to 59 dB(A).
• Electrolux Professional lists undercounter dishwashers and its glasswasher at 61 dBA, rack and hood dishwashers at below 62 to below 68 dBA, and refrigerators at 52 and 55 dBA.

Comparing like with like matters: sound pressure at the workplace and sound power are different measurements, so compare figures of the same type. Where a laundry shares a bulkhead with a guest cabin, the quieter model in the same load class is often worth its place.

Finish, cleaning and materials

Guests see a yacht galley in a way they never see a ship's. Stainless finish, seams and the way equipment meets the joinery are part of the result, and so is how the galley is kept clean.

• Stainless grade: 316L, with about 2 to 2.5 % molybdenum, resists chloride pitting better than 304 and belongs where water, salt and cleaning chemicals dwell. On a yacht in salt air that includes more surfaces than it does ashore.
• Water protection: where the galley is cleaned with a spray gun, check each unit's IP rating. IPX5 withstands low-pressure jets and IPX6 powerful jets, and both occur within the same marine lines. In the yacht selection of this catalogue, washdown protection is listed on 147 products.
• Seams and fasteners: exposed slotted screws and open seams collect dirt and show. Construction designed for sanitation inspection, with closed seams and non-slotted fasteners, also looks better.

Fixing against motion

Motion on a yacht is as real as on a ship. Marine equipment adds flanged feet bolted to the deck or welded to a stainless plinth, door stops, secured pull-out rails and cooker guards; storm rails and pan clamps keep pots on the hob. On a sailing yacht the galley may also have to work at an angle, which is a reason to discuss fixing and hob arrangements with the builder before choosing appliances.

The laundry: guests, crew and linen

A yacht laundry handles guest linen, towels, crew uniforms and workwear, often in a small space near accommodation.

• Size: Miele Little Giants machines take 6 to 8 kg loads in 596 to 606 mm wide bodies; larger Benchmark machines are available up to the 13 to 20 kg band in the yacht selection.
• Dryer type: a heat-pump dryer recirculates its air and needs no exhaust duct, only a condensate drain, which removes a hull or superstructure penetration. Miele states its heat-pump models use about 50 to 60 % less energy depending on the model.
• Ironing: rotary ironers make guest bed and table linen practical to finish on board.

See laundry equipment.

Refits on a yacht

Much yacht galley work is refit work, and the constraints are physical:

• Access: every appliance has to pass through existing doors, hatches and stairs, often through guest areas. External dimensions come first.
• Weight: combi ovens and laundry machines are heavy for their size; net weights go to the naval architect before the layout is fixed.
• Supply: confirm the galley board's voltage, phase and frequency before selecting models, not after.
• Joinery: the equipment's external dimensions and service clearances have to be agreed with the joiner, because a few millimetres decide whether a unit can be withdrawn for service later.

A yacht galley checklist

• Guests and crew fed, and whether from the same galley.
• Service style for guests; chef and crew working pattern.
• Water production and storage per day.
• Generator capacity available to the galley and laundry; supply voltage, phase and frequency.
• Positions next to guest cabins, and the noise limit required there.
• Cleaning method and IP rating required.
• Access route for every appliance.

The yacht galley equipment catalogue lists what is mapped to yachts, including compact combi ovens, induction cookers and refrigerators. For larger crew galleys on superyachts, the ship galley equipment guide covers volume cooking and the scullery, and the marine galley equipment guide explains what makes equipment marine-grade.