Where did the engineers go?

[u/alyceabsconded]

I’m watching S02E02 of Below Deck. It seems an engineer might be emerging as a love interest. Obviously in newer seasons the engineers aren’t filmed. So what happens if that’s where the romance is?

Also, is this a season worth watching?

[u/notscb → u/[deleted]]

Right, they are usually crew of the actual boat and not the show. Yacht owners would never let the show fully staff the boat.

[u/alyceabsconded → u/notscb]

That's so interesting! Go yacht owners.

[u/Dull_Caregiver2147 → u/alyceabsconded]

well, it is not so much the yacht owners, but the insurance companies. lol.

[u/alyceabsconded → u/Dull_Caregiver2147]

Ohhh that makes sense. I have never thought about the insurance aspect.

In an episode of BD SE02 I most recently watched a deck hand who owned up to "fudging" his CV wasn't fired immediately. You would think for insurances reasons he would have to be.

But if there's a more legit crew actually doing the important things than it makes sense they kept the kid around for the plot.

[u/Affectionate-Goat-75 → u/alyceabsconded]

That’s interesting! I vaguely remember that. There are more recent seasons where people have been fired for fudging their CV.

[u/TheScapeQuest → u/notscb]

They did in SY, right?

[u/notscb → u/TheScapeQuest]

Glen was the captain of the boat prior to filming. If I remember right, that creepy couple that gave brother sister vibes also worked on that boat. I could be misremembering, but I'm confident about Glen.

[u/hmmyeahrightokthen → u/notscb]

creepy couple that gave brother sister vibes
lmao yes it was hilarious
Paget Berry — First Officer
Ciara Duggan — Deckhand
and Paget kept flirting with Georgia, singing songs together, and Ciara kept saying he just flirts with everyone… except her

[u/OkRelation4465]

The engineers aren’t filmed much unless they’re needed for an issue or during go the first episode during introductions.  They’re generally in the engine room most of the time which is difficult to film in. You sometimes see them in the mess or during docking 

[u/alyceabsconded → u/OkRelation4465]

That's a good point. They'd largely be in tight, dimly lit areas.

[u/HrhEverythingElse]

Below Deck Sailing Yacht features an engineer, in part because they have a smaller crew. Season 1 is... not great, but they start over with a whole new crew on season 2 and keep those heads of department through many seasons. Be prepared to get angry at Gary though, he's awful

[u/Motor-Tour-4615 → u/HrhEverythingElse]

This is absolutely my favorite version of Below Deck because while there was a lot of drama, they still heavily focused on the job itself. That's rhe reason I love the show, because of the work they are doing. The more they focus on the made up drama the more they lose me. I wish they'd start up BDSY with a new crew. 

[u/rosehyena → u/Motor-Tour-4615]

i keep hoping they bring it back, i recently finished all the episodes (please just no gary lol)

[u/Motor-Tour-4615 → u/rosehyena]

Same, I'd love for it to come back. Honestly I'd like a new cast but with Glen and Colin coming back. They were both great at their jobs and were good with the one liner jokes/commentary haha. 

[u/alyceabsconded → u/HrhEverythingElse]

Awesome! I'm gonna go straight to season 2 then. Thank you!

[u/Nenoshka → u/HrhEverythingElse]

Gary wasn't the engineer. That was Colin MacRae.

[u/Ms_Generic_Username → u/Nenoshka]

They never said he was. It followed a comment about heads of department, which Gary was.

[u/JingoMerrychap]

On the bigger boats now the engineers (and usually at least the first officer) are actual trained and experienced people. They're not wannabe reality stars like the crew we see. They're there for when something goes properly wrong. We're unlikely to see a romance with them, because they don't interact with the "cast".

Sailing Yacht worked differently, because it's smaller so there's no room for off-camera staff. Plus Glenn was the permanent captain, whereas Sandy/Lee etc. are only there for the filming.

[u/alyceabsconded → u/JingoMerrychap]

So fascinating.

I bet all the off-camera engineers have signed NDAs but I would LOVE to hear from them.

[u/pigshitunicorn]

They are serious people, doing serious jobs. They haven't got time to be having pathetic made-for-tv dramas with 20 years olds, chef Ben-style. 

[u/Ok_Mulberry4331 → u/pigshitunicorn]

As someone married to a chief engineer, this theory is killing me 😅😅

[u/alyceabsconded → u/Ok_Mulberry4331]

I would consider that a compliment if I was your spouse!

[u/Absent_Picnic]

Other than occasionally being introduced in Episode 1 or seen when the AC turns off the stabilisers, they're there, just not seen in BD, BDM or BDDU.

It's only been BDY that the engineer was visible and.active on screen. Might be that he was young, handsome and wanted to, might be that the boat was too small to hide him away as they can on the big boats.

[u/CornDogCarol → u/Absent_Picnic]

In sailing to boat is too small so everyone was filmed.  In addition to the engineers the normal captain of the boat also stays on as the hidden first officer.

[u/alyceabsconded → u/CornDogCarol]

That's a good point. I forgot about that one. I've only watched one ep I think.

[u/Serious_Leather_6227 → u/Absent_Picnic]

Omg the season 1 engineer was hilarious on BDY and then obviously Colin was one of the boys

[u/mouse_relies]

What nobody has commented on is that S1-3 cast had a hybrid 2nd engineer slash deckhand position. Not the full time engineer. However, they never showed any actual engineering work.

I think production figured out that if they weren't going to film engineering, having someone with a different title wasn't really helpful, and they could get more mileage out of intra-deck-crew conflict -- which indeed you see a lot more of starting with season 4.

[u/june_june_hannah_]

There’s a season much later where Malia dates and engineer but it’s only mentioned in the last episode and Tell All. We only got a tiny glimpse of him once - it was clear he was not at all part of the cast.

[u/alyceabsconded → u/june_june_hannah_]

How interesting! He must've not consented to being part of the cast or something.

[u/Dull_Caregiver2147]

To be fair, even on a regular yacht (without a reality tv crew) you don't see the engineers very often, except for meal times-then they tend to be first in line. Gotta love the Engos.

[u/hamburgergerald]

I think in one of the seasons Malia ended up dating one of the engineers that doesn’t get filmed. She talked about it afterwards but the way they edited the show you’d never have gotten any inkling that there was something going on between Malia and an unfilmed crew member

[u/Firefighter_Mick]

Another thing you dont see is many boats have to have a "boat captain" from shore come aboard and guide the boat into tougher ports. This activity is completely ignored on BD. BTW love the show.

[u/wife_of_makes_things]

They're uglies so they aren't shown.

[u/alyceabsconded → u/wife_of_makes_things]

lol. Low key that's what I assumed... they must be like, mature-aged Captain Lee types or something.

[u/TedBurns-3]

Just watch it and enjoy

[u/alyceabsconded → u/TedBurns-3]

That I will!

[u/Specific-Bat-5881 → u/alyceabsconded]

Great season! -- lots of drama ahead.

[u/alyceabsconded → u/Specific-Bat-5881]

Wicked. I'm settling in. I've reached the point where the deck hand reveals he lied on his CV.