Name: ‘A really cool experience’: Milford cruise business sailing as pandemic subsides
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‘A really cool experience’: Milford cruise business sailing as pandemic subsides

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MILFORD — During his 25-year career as a flight attendant and chef to celebrities, then corporate executives, Chris Tack once was serenaded on a flight by Luciano Pavarotti for sneaking the famous tenor a watered-down glass of aged scotch.These days Tack’s clients are singing his praises, as well — although not as musically — in his new career as owner of , operating on Long Island Sound.Tack, a Culinary Institute of America-trained private chef with a specialty in French cuisine and a U.S. Coast Guard certified captain, takes people on his 37-foot sailboat for four-hour excursions into Long Island Sound, then drops anchor near the historic Charles Island, where he serves a three-course meal cooked by him in the galley. Then there are the snacks of shrimp cocktail, crudités and other treats.“I find it a very satisfying thing,” Tack said. “I brought my talents and skills on the airlines and do it here. It’s the same stuff I’ve done for a million years on the airplane.”Tack said when the pandemic ended his career, he decided to the launch the business with the Valiant Esprit 37 he inherited from his late father, Duane Tack. The sailboat, in the family for decades, is named “Sequester.”The sailboat holds lots of emotion for Tack, in part because his parents, Duane and Barbara Tack, sailed from Seattle to the Mediterranean and back for three years in the late 1980s and early ’90s, crossing the Atlantic Ocean twice, something “I admire them greatly for,” he said.The sailing experience, booked through Airbnb and $159 per person, was a bust last season because of the coronavirus pandemic. The year before, he dabbled with it at the end of the season.But this year, as COVID-19 restrictions ease, the business is catching on, with folks booking from New York, New Jersey and even the Carolinas, as well as locally.The boat holds six and Tack said guests have booked for many occasions, including romance, anniversaries, birthday parties and even a proposal. One woman booked a sail for a brief escape from 90-hour work weeks; a mother and son who hit a rocky road in life just wanted to forget their troubles for a few hours.Ray Cerritelli and his wife, Jean Bacon, of Orange took a cruise on a “beautiful” day, Cerritelli said, and loved the experience, accompanied by a bottle of wine.Cerritelli said he’s never seen anything like Tack’s business in the area.“It was a really cool experience and the food was terrific,” Cerritelli said. “He was low key.”Tack lets guests steer the boat and work the sails if they want, and he collaborates with them on the dinner menu, depending on what’s good at the market that week. There is no set menu.“It’s pretty casual,” he said. “It’s a different kind of atmosphere.”He meets guests at the dock at 3 p.m., they have a brief safety lesson and he sails to Bridgeport or New Haven — depending on which way the wind is blowing. Then they drop anchor near Charles Island for dinner, where he finishes cooking a three-course meal in the galley and the sun begins to set. .Shay Smith said she booked a sail as a birthday surprise for her husband, and Tack let her come a few hours early to decorate the boat.She said they were “reluctant” to be around people during COVID, so she booked the excursion because her husband, a carpenter, loves to fish and be on the water.“He (Tack) was flexible and attentive to our needs. I thought the price was reasonable and he went above and beyond to accommodate us and did everything to bring my vision to life,” Smith said. “The icing on the cake was when he let my husband take the wheel and sail Long Island Sound, giving us a little history of Milford and Charles Island.”Smith said the food was “amazing, especially the stuffed cabbage,” and “the steak and chicken was to die for.” Tack even had a birthday cake for them.“My husband was in complete awe. One of the most amazing experiences he has ever had,” Smith said.Gabby Diogo said she and her fiance found the excursion and booked it for their recent anniversary, as they’ve been celebrating everything at home of late because of the pandemic.It was such a great time, Diogo said, they may make it an annual tradition.“We had an incredible time taking in the landscape, learning about the boat’s history and trading stories with Chris as we sailed through the Sound between Milford and New Haven,” Diogo said, noting the experience was “perfectly timed,” and they had a “delicious” crab cake appetizer.More for youOnce anchored by Charles Island, they ate “incredible” Cajun-style food — gumbo, dirty rice, cornbread and salad — and took in the sunset, as well as people taking walks back and forth between Silver Sands and Charles Island.“It was truly a beautiful sight and it was such a fun experience we might not have thought to embark in right in our hometown, but we are so glad we did,” she said.Tack has traveled every corner of the world, dined on the finest food in his previous career and met myriad celebrities, but, he said of the charter business, “I’ve met so many cool people.”Tack said he really gets “a charge” out of reading the reviews on Airbnb.“Those reviews are so flattering. I think I’m addicted to them,” he said.Pavarotti sang an opera number directly to him on one of his career flights because he snuck the tenor some good Scotch at a time when his people were trying to keep him from drinking. Pavarotti sang in Italian and all were entertained by the gesture, Tack said.He’s also flown with Ron Howard, Jimmy Buffet, Steven Spielberg and, once, was on a flight with Jay-Z, who made a pit stop on the way to his destination to briefly visit his then girlfriend, Beyonce.The Sequester was shipped from Seattle while Tack’s father was still alive. It needed a lot of work, so Tack found himself talking to his father daily, which drew them closer and is part of the reason the boat holds such sentimental value.“I feel the connection every time (I’m on the boat),” he said. The boat originally was shipped to Stamford, but Tack moved it — and himself — to Milford for the business because the harbor is so beautiful, he said.Tack’s cooking expertise runs from French cuisine to barbecue and he makes his own homemade sausage, so Italian is frequent fare. He also cooks Mediterranean dishes. Tack sees what is fresh and priced well each week in the market and discusses dinner options with guests. He serves aged steaks, salmon and a variety of other entrees.“I do a lot of French stuff,” he said, including desserts.He likes being the chef who serves because it’s a different feeling than cooking for a server who brings it to the people.“It’s like being a private chef,” he said.For those who are vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free or on a keto regimen, he will cater to dietary needs.Tack serve soft drinks on the boat, but guests can bring their own alcohol.“I feel so relaxed being on the water,” he said, adding with a touch of self-doubt, “I really did bite off a little more than I can chew.”

MILFORD — During his 25-year career as a flight attendant and chef to celebrities, then corporate executives, Chris Tack once was serenaded on a flight by Luciano Pavarotti for sneaking the famous tenor a watered-down glass of aged scotch.These days Tack’s clients are singing his praises, as well — although not as musically — in his new career as owner of , operating on Long Island Sound.Tack, a Culinary Institute of America-trained private chef with a specialty in French cuisine and a U.S. Coast Guard certified captain, takes people on his 37-foot sailboat for four-hour excursions into...

‘A really cool experience’: Milford cruise business sailing as pandemic subsides

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