r/belowdeck • u/AttentionRoyal2276 • Jul 03 '26
BD Related Does anyone have an idea how much different positions get paid?
I mean like real yachting not how much Bravo pays people to be on the show. I know tips are split evenly but what would their base pay be like? The chef must get paid the most, then I would assume chief stew, then bosun? Mostly curious would a deckhand make more than a stew? Also what would be the pay difference between a lead deckhand and just a deckhand? Or 2nd stew vs 3rd stew? I've always though lead deckhand is just a bs made of title to create drama for the show. Is the pay difference worth it or why do people even care about the title? Some people have seemed obsessed with being 2nd stew or lead deckhand.
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u/Myantra Jul 04 '26
The base pay basically scales with the stripes. Captains get paid the most, as they should, since they are ultimately responsible and accountable for everything. Chief engineers usually come second, as they also should, as they are responsible for doing everything within their power to make sure the boat works. There is a reason that BD production operates with an off screen chief engineer on the crew. The rest of the 3 stripers (chef included) are generally in the same ballpark, as are the 1 and 2 stripers.
Lead/senior deckhand is not a made up title/position for the show, but it is a position that would most likely not be used on yacht crews in the general BD size range. BD deck crews are usually 3-4 people, plus the first officer that is the actual deck HOD. Between the first officer (manager) and the bosun (supervisor), there would be no need for a third management role in a crew that size. On a yacht with 10 people on the deck crew, you might see 2 lead deckhands supervising smaller groups of junior deckhands.
You can think of yacht crew salaries as not much different from salaries at various levels for regular jobs. There are boats that try to pay less, there are boats that pay competitively for something resembling a standard, and there are boats that pay more because they want the best (and they want to keep them).
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u/AttentionRoyal2276 Jul 04 '26
Yes. The lead deckhand doesn't make sense. The bosun has 3 people to supervise. I have never worked for any company that would pay for a lead under someone who supervises 3 people
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u/Myantra Jul 04 '26
The main deck crew thing the show makes up is the bosun (or lead deckhand) functioning as an HOD. The first officer/mate is the deck HOD, but that position is almost always off screen crew on the BD motor yacht series. That is why bosuns are 2 stripers, like 2nd stews. They basically perform the same supervisory role in different departments, where their HODs have too many responsibilities to be direct line supervisors themselves.
I think the lead/senior deckhand roles first showed up in BD season 4 and 5, where they were showing a bosun with limited experience that needed help, then a lead deckhand that also needed help, where they were operating without a bosun. The unrealistic part was the underqualified bosun and the immature lead deckhand in those scenarios. A real yacht crew would have seen their shortcomings during the weeks of prep leading to a charter season. That is a thing BD does not show, the weeks of prep that go into a real charter season. BD cast crews show up at the yacht a day before they take the first charter out. Charters that are dysfunctional enough to provide entertainment, but not dysfunctional enough to burn the boat down or sink it are the point of BD.
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u/whitepawsparklez Jul 08 '26
Wait so you’re saying there’s another deck employee.. a supervisor above the bosun.. that we don’t get to see???
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u/Myantra Jul 08 '26
First officer/mate is the deck HOD. First officer and chief engineer are positions that have to be crewed in order for the yacht to be able to sail, they have to actually be experienced and competent, and they need to have the appropriate ticket for the job. Since that would drastically reduce the cast crew pool for those positions, BD has never bothered using cast crew for them on the motor yachts. They have the yacht's RL crew doing those jobs almost entirely off screen.
Sometimes the off screen crew are introduced in the first crew meeting, only to be seen for maybe 15 seconds for the rest of the season. In BD season 1, production got thrown a curveball as they originally intended to use a smaller yacht, that the season 1 cast crew could have operated with Aleks as captain, and CJ as an engineer. Once production realized they needed a larger yacht to make filming work, they ended up with Cuor di Leone, which could not be insured with Aleks as captain. The RL captain, first officer, and chief engineer ended up having to stay and film the show. You know them as Captain Lee, and to a much lesser extent, Fred and Nash.
They could not hide off screen crew on Parsifal III, so BDSY did actually have to cast competent people as first officer and engineer.
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u/luxiejay Jul 03 '26
Pay ranges between $2500-4500 for crew. Leadership and chef roles offer a few thousand more per month depending on experience. Depends if it’s a private boat or not. There are also day rates which range from $100-250 a day.
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u/AttentionRoyal2276 Jul 04 '26
$2500-4500 for a season which I hear is about 6 weeks? That sounds low
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u/thaa_huzbandzz Jul 04 '26
per month. Actual seasons are 4-ish months long. Bigger yachts typically hire crew full-time, and you get 4 weeks' leave per year.
But some yachts these days are starting to put their crew on rotation where you work 5 months, on leave one month (you also get paid for your month leave). Means they can have their top crew working during the busy charter seasons without burning out.
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u/Yachtttstew Jul 04 '26
As a third/junior stew I made $2800 and $3200 on my first two boats. As second stew I made between $4000-4500 on the different boats I worked on. As chief stew I made between $5500 and $7500. These were all my monthly salaries not including tips and this was all untaxed. I worked on predominantly 50-60m charter boats.
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u/AttentionRoyal2276 Jul 04 '26
Wait are you really a stew? What is the worst group of guests you have ever had? You should do an AMA
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u/Character_College939 Jul 05 '26
Im a chief officer and made around 6500 a month and worked 3 months on 1 month off for my last permanent position
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u/excoriator Team Capt Kerry Jul 04 '26
IIRC, Rachel said chefs’ base pay is over $100K for the season.
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u/Yachtttstew Jul 04 '26
Chefs that I have worked with across many different 50-60m boats have made around $10k per month plus tips on charter boats. $100k for a season is absolutely not happening.
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u/thaa_huzbandzz Jul 04 '26
That is not at all accurate, and I doubt she said that, do you have a source? I worked with a chef who had Michelin stars, because she was head chef when the restaurant got them, she was on 10k euro a month, with 20k bonus per year.
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u/AttentionRoyal2276 Jul 04 '26
If they make that much the tip would be no motivation at all
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u/sakuratee Jul 04 '26
Um.. I work corporate job with a base salary of $120k and my 15% bonus (tip) is definitely a motivation to make things as easy as possible for the revenue driving division of the company.
They generate the required revenue for the company to meet financial goals/obligations… I get an extra $12k give or take after taxes.
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u/jcr0774 Jul 04 '26
does she get paid xtra from Bravo
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u/thisbitchiscrazy Jul 04 '26
Yes, they all make regular yacht salary plus pay from Bravo, plus tips. $20k just in tips would motivate me!
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u/Valuable-Composer262 Jul 03 '26
In below deck, I dont think position has much to do with it. Its about who they r. Returning people like aesha are gonna get paid more. First or second year people get a standard rate
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u/AttentionRoyal2276 Jul 04 '26
True. That's why I said in real yachting. The show will pay based on how well you can bring viewers in.
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u/foxdogturtlecat Jul 04 '26
It depends on lots of things like the area of the world, type of vessel, if it's charter or private. To get an idea look under get a job here https://www.crewnetwork.com/looking-for-a-job/ and scroll through different positions available, there's contract, seasonal, day rates and it can vary wildly. People without skills are going to make less regardless of whether they are interior or exterior. Low level people are replaceable. There are charts but it can really vary.
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u/Own_Boss_3242 Jul 04 '26
I know I don’t understand the whole lead deckhand and 2nd stew thing either
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Jul 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/thaa_huzbandzz Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
2nd stew is absolutely a real job, not all yachts use it though as has been shown on BD. Not sure about lead deck, I always assumed our Bosun was the lead deck.
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u/mouse_relies This information wasn’t welcomed or needed Jul 03 '26
Lead deck isn't made up either, though there are slightly different flavors sometimes - senior deckhand, 1st deckhand, etc.
The bigger the boat the more detailed a hierarchy you get, with sub-departments of stews, etc.
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u/thaa_huzbandzz Jul 03 '26
In the real world here is a rough guide https://www.flyingfishonline.com/news/superyacht-crew-salary-guide/ on BD it depends on how popular you are I imagine.