Captain Lee Rosbach Says Ashton Pienaar's Overboard Accident Still "Haunts" Him
Find out why the Below Deck boss said he hopes "it never goes away."
Season 6 of Below Deck was unlike any other for Captain Lee Rosbach, not just out of all the charter seasons of the series but in all of his 35 years in yachting. That was not only because of the breathtaking backdrop Tahiti provided, the unforgettable charter guests, and the hardworking crew, but it was also mainly because the M/Y Seanna yachties experienced a near-tragedy when Ashton Pienaar fell overboard.
So when Captain Lee had to say goodbye to the yachties for the season, he shared during the Below Deck Season 6 After Show (clip above) that he felt a special connection to each and every one of the yachties. "We've all gone through something that I'd never wish on anybody, but we went through it, we got away with it, we dodged the worst bullet ever imaginable," Captain Lee said, referring to saving Ashton from losing his life during the overboard accident. "How can you go through that with a group of people and not have it bring you closer together? Because that's not the sort of thing that happens to people."
As has been the case multiple times in the past, reflecting on the incident left Captain Lee speechless. "I don't have words for it; it's just something that we went through together, and it still haunts me," he shared. "And I hope it never goes away. I don't want it to go away."
Captain Lee elaborated, "It keeps me on my toes, makes me a better person. In 35 years, nothing like that's ever happened to me, and you have to make sure that you do everything in your power to make sure it never happens again."
Ashton shared an emotional moment when Brent Freeburg, the cameraman who helped save his life during the overboard accident, surprised him at the Season 6 reunion earlier this month. Like Captain Lee, Ashton said that the incident has changed him forever. "It was a massive wake-up call. I think you get complacent, you start forgetting things on deck," he said during the reunion. "It's a dangerous job we do, and I think it was just a massive wake-up call."
Relive Ashton and Brent's touching reunion, below.
