Below Deck showcases the summer of the rich & famous
Anyone who opened their Instagram in the summer couldn't miss it. And as a Beyoncé fan, certainly not. The rich & famous love superyachts. The photos of celebs in bikinis on the deck, cruising on jet skis, or enjoying a cocktail in the jacuzzi on board fly at you from all directions. Do I get jealous from that? Yes. I dare to admit that. What would it be like to spend a summer on such a boat? With staff catering to your every whim, not having to think about anything, and sleeping in the most beautiful suites on board. When I received the invitation to experience a day on such a boat, I of course grabbed it with both hands. Once on board, I was greeted with a glass of champagne before being escorted upstairs where two men were waiting for me: Chief Stew Fraser and Captain Kerry, the most fun cast members from my favorite STAR Channel series ‘Below Deck’.
These men are not only handsome, they also know how to pamper you. Working on superyachts is their life; they sacrifice their entire summer to serve the most diverse types of guests. And all of them will pass by this eleventh season. From the moment the guests step on board the St. David, Fraser is available 24/7 to meet their most bizarre demands. The strangest request he has received? “A guest wanted me to turn the jacuzzi into an ice bath. That's quite difficult in 40 degrees; it took quite a few ice cubes.” Do they behave differently because they are constantly followed by cameras? “You almost forget it,” Captain Kerry explains. “When the big camera crew is right on top of you, yes, you notice you're being filmed. But there are also cameras in every corner of every room. When you scratch your butt, you sometimes realize just a bit too late that everyone can enjoy that too.”
This season, there are even more different nationalities among the staff than I have ever experienced as a loyal fan. The chef is French, Kerry is Australian, Fraser is from Great Britain, and so on. Does that sometimes lead to miscommunication? Fraser says it's not too bad. “We're used to it by now because it's actually always the case with every crew. That's also what makes working on a yacht so enjoyable; everyone comes from different backgrounds and has their own story. Miscommunication happens even when we all speak English, haha.”
What sometimes makes me quite jealous are the enormous tips they get to receive from the guests at the end of the week. We're talking thousands of euros. So I really want to know how you end up on such a superyacht. What do I need to do to get that job? Kerry is very clear about that: “If you have a bit of skills, then everyone deserves the chance to work on our boats.” “But it's a very sought-after job, yes,” Fraser adds.
And they will also have famous guests on board again this season, but who they are, they are keeping a secret for now. “You have to watch the episodes for that!” Through the show, they have actually become celebrities themselves, but would they ever charter a superyacht themselves? “We don't earn that much money,” laughs Fraser. I actually had no idea, but I later discovered online that a week on the yacht where everything takes place costs about $325,000. “And if you know how much we know about our guests... I wouldn't want that. We know when they sleep, shower, go to the bathroom. Really everything.” Anyway, they prefer to stay as far away from boats as possible during their own vacation. “Just let me cruise in my convertible over the mainland,” says Kerry. The new season of Below Deck can be seen tonight at 7:00 PM on STAR Channel.
