TheDylansWorld

For many viewers, they tune into reality show Below Deck and automatically assume that the show is 100% the yachting industry. As a viewer myself, pre joining the industry – I must admit that I believed the industry was the chaotic drama that is depicted on the hit show.

It’s now been 15 months since I started my yachting career and I would love to answer the big question all viewers of Below Deck have, is yachting really like the show below deck?

What is below deck?

Below Deck is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on July 1, 2013. The show chronicles the lives of the crew members who work and reside aboard a super-yacht during charter season.

The series has a number of spin-offs, including Below Deck Mediterranean, Below Deck Sailing Yacht, Below Deck Down Under, and Below Deck Adventure.

Known for its high drama between crew members, over the top guests and high performing pressure for crew to give that 7 star luxury – the reality tv show has grown into such a staple show for bravo tv. With millions of viewers every episode.

Although the show isn’t scripted – it is dramatised!

What is yachting?

Yachting is the use of recreational boats and ships called yachts for racing or cruising. Yachts are distinguished from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. “Yacht” derives from the Dutch word jacht (“hunt”). With sailboats, the activity is called sailing, and with motorboats, it is called powerboating.

Many motor yachts are used for pleasure and will be dubbed – pleasure crafts. Motor yachts are getting bigger and bigger – more grand and literally like floating private hotels/villas. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see many high net worth individuals move onto the sea and live on their large yachts all year round.

Many yachts are usually used for the summer season – either in the Mediterranean or Caribbean. This is usually when the owners or when potential guests like to get away from their busy lives and get aboard for a summer break. Escaping the busy cities and climbing onboard a yacht to sail the seas.

Many yacht crew will have to deal with quick guest turnaround, but that is mostly for charter yachts. A charter yacht is a yacht that anyone who can afford to can hire the yacht. Many charters last around a week but many yachts are flexible and will cater to any request. Charter yacht guests are mostly rich individuals who want to escape for a boat holiday and will work the crew to the bone – meaning when you’re on charter you best be ready to WORK.

Private yachts are mainly used by the owner, family and friends. The season can vary for a private yacht – I worked on one that the owner used from April to October and then one with year round live aboard owners. The use of a private yacht is usually for these high net worth individuals to escape their busy lives to relax at sea. The best thing about owning a yacht is that you can go anywhere at any point and you don’t have to deal with busy public life – unlike living in an apartment or hotel.

The industry has a standard heirarchy and structure. Everyone has their rank and place ensuring that the yacht runs smoothly.

For me personally, ranks should always be respected. However, while working onboard you have to allow yourself to see past the rank in order to break the barrier and get to know your fellow crew members. When you first start on a yacht the rank system will be extremely daunting and for me as a confident individual – I didn’t want to step over the mark and get to know someone who was a higher rank. But now with experience – I am confident enough to just go in and be me – and get to know everyone on a deeper level regardless of rank.

How does the show compare to real work life?

What you have to understand – Below Deck isn’t scripted so everything you see on the show is 100% real and authentic. However, the show is extremely dramatised – leaving us as the viewers hooked and invested to continue to tune in week after week.

The sneaky thing about Below Deck is that they only do short charters (3 days) over a 6 week basis. This is to ensure the pressure is on the crew to keep them on their toes and keeping the stress high enough in hopes of someone snapping at their fellow crew members. It’s very clever when you think about it. The fact the crew only get a day or sometimes even less in-between charter guests departing and arriving – ensures that the pressure is on.

As someone who hasn’t worked on a charter yacht yet, I can only imagine that the timing in-between short turn arounds is stressful and will tire you out fast!

Thinking about the day to day life what you see on Below Deck – I must say it is like for like when it comes to ‘real life’ working on a yacht. The daily duties of service, housekeeping, laundry and planning the daily activities for the guests is the exact same way things are done. I worked on a bigger yacht that had a 6 person interior team which made life super easy when it came to daily duties, but I know for teams of 3 interior the pressure is on to continue that high quality service as their time is stretched to get things done.

The drama you see on the show, can and sometimes will compare to real life yacht work. As your season goes on, there can be many factors that happen that can cause team unrest and upset. I can’t talk about what I have endured personally, but I can say that it can turn nasty in a split second. The funny thing about working on yachts is that you are also living onboard with the crew too. So they become your rock and you rely on them to keep you happy and motivated. But as soon as something happens, they whole mood can change in a split second. News, gossip and rumours will spread like wild fire – this is because everyone is so caught up in the work life that when it comes to making a sly or sarcastic dig at someone – it will be seen as an attack and the news will spread so fast that it will cause an issue.

The fact that there can be drama on board should never be hidden from crew member. I loved that my last yacht used to have meetings and would always mention ways to deal with any issues. The best way to avoid issues is to focus on the work and find a great way to relax when the work is over and you have some free time. For me personally I am a great happy motivator, I love lifting spirits and keeping the job fun. That being said I do have my limits and will say it how it is not how it should be – I like to keep it 100.

For me as a Bravo TV fan I know how they work and I know that they will try and create drama. That’s why Below Deck works so well and is one of the highest weekly rated shows with millions tuning in every episode/season.

My final thoughts

I will say that the show and the ‘real life’ work is like for like. The high stress of the work – for me I haven’t came across the high stress level yet. The yacht I was on the crew were relatively cool as cucumbers and the owner was pretty predictable in what he was going to do. Having a feel for the day and week ahead will always allow for the charter and season to run smooth. I think that’s why they keep the charters short on below deck – so they can create that stress and pack so much things into a small amount of time.

I must admit that the show Below Deck does do a great job to a certain extent to showcase the amazing yachting industry. The way the show is set up allows every viewer to experience such luxury through the screen that they may not be able to experience in life themself. The drama part of the show is what most people tune in for and the way they keep the high stress levels is genius on their part. But I would love to think that they have an after care team in place to ensure that the crew are looked after and debriefed after filming commences.

Over all I think the show is amazing! Let me know your thoughts on the show and if you have any questions feel free to ask away.