Captain Lee Rosbach Gives a Revealing Look at His Life Before Below Deck in His New Book

Captain Lee Rosbach was just a simple yacht captain before he joined Below Deck. But then again, if you read his new book, Running Against the Tide: True Tales from the Stud of the Sea, out now, you'll soon find out that his life before Below Deck was anything but uncomplicated.

Still, having cameras follow your every move at work and watching it all back on TV have definitely been new experiences for Captain Lee. And fame can have a way of affecting even the most grounded, level-headed individuals among us.

So does Captain Lee think he's changed at all since becoming a bona fide celebrity? "Working on a TV show has been a learning experience, but at the same time, it hasn't changed who I am or what I do. First and foremost, I'm still a captain, a sailor. Whether there are cameras there or not, I do my job, try to keep the clients safe, try to keep my crew safe, and try to keep the boat in good shape," Captain Lee says in an excerpt from the audiobook of his new memoir, which you can check out, below. "I've got a lot more people who know who I am now, but I don't think working in TV has changed me. If you thought I was a decent guy before, I'm still a decent guy. If you thought I was an ---hole before, then that's equally unchanged. It's all I know how to be."

After working as a welder and then a restaurant and bar owner earlier in his career, Captain Lee said he finally found his calling when he started working on the high seas at the age of 35. "It had the excitement of working the high steel, the beauty of living in a place of infinite horizons, and eventually it had the freedom of being the boss. Every day is different. Every minute provides new problems to solve, new dangers to navigate, new paths to chart. It's not a life or a career that everyone would want. If it were, then it wouldn't be for me," Captain Lee shares in the clip. "At the end of the day, I'm the captain of my boat and my life, and I'm exactly where I want to be."

Photo courtesy of Simon & Schuster Audio

We wouldn't want the Stud of the Sea to be anywhere else, either.

Check out Running Against the Tide, in stores now, to learn even more about Captain Lee's extraordinary life before Below Deck, including how he first got into yachting and the wildest experiences of his career so far.

Captain Lee will be back for more Below Deck when he returns for Season 6 on Tuesday, October 2 at 9/8c. See what's in store for the Stud of the Sea and his crew, below.

Your First Look at Below Deck Season 6!