MIAMI19: Flowers, fish and fast, chief stew’s equation for boat show tabletop

Feb 25, 2019 by Dorie Cox

By Dorie Cox

The yacht’s flowers were supposed to match the fish.

“We have two fish that have been here longer than me,” said Chief Stew Judy Le Riche Dicks during the Miami Yacht Show in February. “I wanted blue and purple flowers for the fighter fish.”

For special events, she puts the yacht’s Siamese fighting fish in a beautiful vase and brings them up from the crew area where they stay on M/Y Amitie, a Westport 130 (40m). But when the wrong color flowers were delivered to the yacht the night before the show opened, she had to work fast to create a table setting.

“I was expecting something different in my head, but we made it work,” she said. Instead of the blues and purples of the fish, she made the setting work with the bright, colorful painting in the dining area. She worked quickly on the morning of the show using items she had onboard the yacht.


Chief Stew Judy Le Riche Dicks of M/Y Amitie

Dicks has been in yachting for about seven years. For the past six years, she and 1st Mate John Dicks have worked together. The two met in high school in 2006 and got married in 2015.

Although the Miami show did not have a formal tabletop competition, Dicks said she hopes to compete in the upcoming Palm Beach International Boat Show that runs March 28-31.

“I absolutely love doing tables, it’s my creative outlet,” she said. “I love seeing people’s faces when they see a beautiful table. I’m very creative. I get away from all the service and the housekeeping. This is the most fun.”

Dorie Cox is editor of The Triton. Comments are welcome below.


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About Dorie Cox

Dorie Cox is a writer with Triton News.

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