What Does Captain Lee Rosbach Think of the Below Deck Mediterranean Crew?
"I see a whole lot of ego," the #BelowDeck boss said of #BelowDeckMed's batch of yachties.
Captain Lee Rosbach has been watching Below Deck Mediterranean closely, and he's not exactly thrilled with the deck crew's work this season. "I’m a little bit surprised at the attitudes of the deck crew, the guys, in particular," he recently told The Daily Dish. "I mean, you would think that they’d act like they’d been around women before. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. It’s like this is their first exposure to good-looking women. And that’s the first and foremost thing on their mind."
While the Below Deck captain said that the interior team of Chief Stew Hannah Ferrier and stewardesses Julia d'Albert Pusey and Tiffany Copeland "are doing good work," First Mate Bryan Kattenburg and deckhands Bobby Giancola and Danny Zureikat could use some improvement. "They’re just all over the place. And I don’t see any structure, I think, is what I’m missing in the deck department," he said. "And I see a whole lot of ego. I mean, the testosterone level on that boat and the deck part is just, as far as I can see, over the top."
Captain Lee went on to explain that the deck crew needs to stop ruling by committee and start paying more attention to the orders of Captain Mark Howard. "Everyone serves at the pleasure of the captain. And I try to make it very clear: Here’s your responsibilities. I’m not going to micromanage you," Captain Lee said. "I think everybody knows my policies. Ignorance is not knowing and making a mistake. Stupid is knowing and going ahead and doing it anyhow. I see a lot of stupid going on there. I see people, you know, just doing things that they know are wrong and just going ahead and doing it anyhow. And that’s something I have a low level of tolerance for."
That may immediately bring to mind Danny, who, despite being instructed to not cross the line with the charter guests by Captain Mark and several of his crewmates, has continued to do just that this season of Below Deck Med. "I don’t know [Danny] personally, never met him, but from what I’ve observed, he has absolutely no direction whatsoever," Captain Lee said when asked for his thoughts on the deckhand. "He’s definitely crossed the line with guests. A direct order from the captain, to disobey that, you’re toast. On my boat, that’s not even open for discussion. Bags are getting packed. In fact, they’re not even getting packed. You’re on the dock. We’ll get your bags for you. You’re done. It’s insubordination. And it shouldn’t be tolerated."
Even though Captain Lee remained mum on the matter when Danny's fate on the Ionian Princess seemed uncertain earlier this season of Below Deck Med, he did admit to The Daily Dish that he would have given the deckhand a plane ticket home "on the spot."
But when asked about his thoughts on the way Captain Mark is running the yacht and if he would have done anything differently, Captain Lee once again declined to offer up his opinion. "Everyone has their own style of management. I’m sure he has his reasons for doing what he’s doing. He’s there in the middle of it, in the mix, and so only he knows exactly what’s going on," he explained. "And it wouldn’t be right of me to try and be a Monday morning quarterback, because I know exactly what he’s going through and I know what he has to deal with. So I’m sure he has his reasons. And he doesn’t have to make those reasons plain to anyone. He needs to run his boat the way he sees fit to do it. And he’s a very competent captain."
But Captain Lee wasn't shy when it came to commenting on his old colleague Chef Ben Robinson's activities in and out of the galley this season, especially when it comes to his hot-and-cold relationship with Hannah. "It seems like Ben wants to get involved, but he doesn’t want to get involved, like he’s afraid of something. I’m not quite sure which it is," Captain Lee said of Ben's fluctuating closeness with Hannah this season. "She made a pass at him and he just blew her [off]. And then [he] asked her out on a date. I don’t know! Seems like he can’t decide whether the faucet is putting out hot water or cold water. So, I’m not sure. That’s a difficult one to read."
He also said he was taken aback when Ben marched right up to Captain Mark to report Hannah's mishandling of that disastrous dinner featured in last week's episode (clip below). "That seems like a really harsh move for Ben to make. You know, run right up to the captain’s office," Captain Lee said. "He’s never done that with me about another crew member, and we certainly had as bad, if not maybe worse, things happen on our charters [on Below Deck]. So, I’m just a little surprised."
But Captain Lee said that Ben's tumultuous relationship with Hannah this season of Below Deck Med is not uncommon among chefs and chief stews in yachting — or unusual for Ben, either. "That’s kind of like Ben’s M.O., right? [He had] issues with [Below Deck Season 2 and 3 Chief Stew] Kate [Chastain], he had issues with [Season 1 Chief Stew] Adrienne [Gang], he had issues with Hannah. So, I think it’s just the nature of the beast there."
See the interesting dynamic between Ben and Hannah this season of Below Deck Med play out below.
