Fans were surprised to discover that they would be getting a full season 2 of Below Deck Sailing Yacht. After season 8 of the original Below Deck was cut short due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it seemed unlikely for a spin-off to be filmed entirely during a period of social distancing. However, producers got creative and found ways to keep everyone involved safe, from the filming crew to the yacht crew to the charter guests.
Below Deck: Sailing Yacht follows basically the same format as the original Bravo series, as a crew of often inexperienced crew is assembled by producers for maximum drama potential. The biggest difference from the original is the yachts. While Captain Lee runs standard mega-yachts, Captain Glenn runs sailing yachts. They have all the luxury of a yacht, but with the added excitement of sailing. While the crew on the original series is mostly responsible for cleaning and meeting guests’ requests, the crew of Sailing Yacht is charged with more technical jobs to keep the yacht sailing smoothly.
Unlike other seasons of Below Deck, the location for season 2 of Sailing Yacht was carefully selected taking into consideration COVID-19 restrictions. Filmed during the summer of 2020, the pandemic was at its absolute peak. Captain Glenn told the Mention It All podcast that Croatia was selected because of its low number of COVID-19 cases. It was not a huge change anyway, as season 1 had been filmed just 537 miles away in Greece. Croatia is a picturesque country on the Adriatic Sea and even has a coastal town that was built on the ruins of an old Roman Palace. With beautiful scenery and a relatively smaller covid risk, Croatia was a good filming location.
As viewers can see in the Below Deck: Sailing Yacht season 2 trailer, none of the crew or guests were seen wearing masks. Despite how things may appear, producers did take many precautions in order to be able to continue filming. For instance, any positive COVID-19 tests would have shut down production, and they wanted to offer viewers a complete season. Everyone, from crew to guests, was tested prior to filming and subject to daily temperature screenings. Everyone onboard also stayed on board, not having the chance to enjoy what any coastal city had to offer. Apparently, the precautions worked and the crew was able to work a full charter season without any added health complications.
With very few movies or TV shows being filmed during 2020, Below Deck: Sailing Yacht has the distinction of being one of the few shows to continue production safely. With the 9th season of the original Below Deck still in the air, “Stud of the Sea” Captain Lee may not be returning to screens any time soon. Viewers will have to get used to Captain Glenn and his sailing yachts to fill the void.
-Featured.jpg)
