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Rob Westergaard Reveals What First Mate David Said to Him After That Docking Mishap
"I just f--ked up big time," the Below Deck Med yachtie said of his heaving line mistake.
It wasn't totally smooth sailing for The Wellington crew as they docked in Ibiza in the September 7 episode of Below Deck Mediterranean. The stern line fell into the water not once, not twice, but three times as deckhand Rob Westergaard tried to throw it to the dock.
Rob eventually got the stern line successfully to the dock, but bosun Malia White was definitely not happy with how long it took the deckhand to do so, later explaining why every second counts during docking in the Below Deck Mediterranean Season 5 After Show, which you can view, above.
"That's a thing on deck that's like a rite of passage is your heaving lines, you get those heaving lines on the dock. And if you don't, if it falls in the piss once, then that's usually a deck fine, meaning like a six-pack of beer. If it falls twice and then it falls a third time, that's rookie. That's a rookie, rookie error," Malia said. "I normally wouldn't get so upset, but that heaving line as we're coming in is critical for us docking. That was pulling our stern in, especially in that space where we were going."
"We were about to lose the stern, and those are errors that just can't happen," Malia continued. "That's jeopardizing the boat and potentially putting us in a bad situation. So yeah, I came down on him."
Though Captain Sandy Yawn couldn't see what was happening on the aft deck while docking the boat from the wing station, she later heard about the incident and reflected on what could have gone wrong. "When the line goes in the water, that's very dangerous," Captain Sandy said during the After Show. "I could crash into another boat, crash into the dock."
Rob, who shared during the After Show that he felt "under pressure" and "like an idiot" during the docking, said that he knows how much damage a mistake like this could cause. "Captain Sandy's relying on the measures we take to secure the vessel. If it's just gonna be floating around and doing its own thing, that could cause a lot of s--t, going into other boats," he said. "I was in my head. I just f--ked up big time. I know the consequences of this. It's something so small, but it can have a big effect on everything."
Knowing how crucial it is to successfully throw a heaving line, The Wellington's first mate David, who we don't usually see appear on-camera on Below Deck Med, offered to help Rob. "You know, David actually came to me and was like, 'We can go to the dock and learn how to throw a heaving line,'" Rob revealed in the After Show. "I know how to throw a heaving line; I just had a brain fart — three times. Like, leave me alone. It happens to the best of us."
Want more Below Deck Med? New episodes air every Monday at 9/8c or catch up on this season through the Bravo app.
There's more docking drama on the way on Below Deck Med. Check out a preview, below.
