Episode 3 of Below Deck Sailing Yacht picked up right where we left off last week, with the drunken crew partying in the hot tub. Everyone, that is, except Chief Engineer Colin MacRae who had had a long day of taking the boat engine apart, cleaning it and putting it back together. Colin understandably turned in early.
The Night Off Debauchery Continues
Everyone was still watching Chief Stew Daisy Kelliher and Deckhand Alex Propson make out. But will Daisy even remember kissing Alex in the morning? Or will she claim she was blacked out, as she did after her makeout session with Gary King in Season 3?
Deckhand Chase Lemacks must be new to yachting, since he’d never seen this level of drunken debauchery before. “I’m a redneck Southern guy,” he said, “and this is crazy for me. This crew parties!” Oh, Chase, this is just another night off on any Below Deck franchise. Better get used to it. You’re gonna see a lot of this in the next six weeks.
At precisely the same moment Madison Herrera was puking her guts out in the bathroom, co-worker Lucy Edmunds took a tumble out of her upper bunk. I’m actually surprised that doesn’t happen more often, the way these people drink. Hearing the distinctive THUNK of a body hitting the deck, Daisy ran down the hall to make sure Lucy hadn’t broken her neck. They decided they’d better put up the plastic crib guard to prevent any more swan dives from the top bunk.
“I feel like this is a public service announcement,” Daisy said. “If you can’t handle your alcohol, you shouldn’t be picking the top bunk.” Can’t argue with that.
Meanwhile, Alex was so drunk in his upper bunk, he kept trying to set his water bottle on Captain Glenn Shephard’s head, unfortunately waking the captain out of a sound sleep in the lower bunk. “Dude, what’s going on?” he asked, somewhat irritated.
“Oh . . . my bad,” Alex drunkenly mumbled. He’s going to hear about that in the morning. Can you imagine that happening to Captain Lee Rosbach from the original Below Deck? I can already hear the “God dammit!” issuing from his mouth, as he handed the offender one of his famous tickets home.
The Return Of The King
The next morning Glenn woke up at 7:00 am to a message from Gary. “Hey, Cap! Guess who’s back? I’m out of quarantine! I’ll be there in 5 min.” Wow. All this time I thought Gary was at home. I guess he was quarantining nearby. How convenient!
Gary got a very warm welcome from Captain Glenn. “I’m f***ing so relieved,” Glenn smiled. “This boat is just not the same without Gary. My first officer is my right arm. He knows what I’m thinking. We’re like an old married couple.”
Making his presence known in the crew quarters, Gary crawled into bed with a still-sleeping Colin, who was thrilled to see him. “My boy!” Colin exclaimed.
“I’m hugely relieved to have Gary back,” Colin added. “We desperately need him on deck right now. As the crew woke up and greeted the Prodigal Bun, Lucy was realizing she’d injured her back falling out of her bunk, even though she didn’t remember much of it. She had a really nasty scrape down her spine. Chase kindly administered first aid, while Gary introduced himself to the rest of the crew.
Gary went in to greet Daisy, still in bed. “Come on, wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!” he yelled enthusiastically.
“It’s really good to see Daisy again,” Gary said in an interview. “We’ve bumped heads, we’ve touched tongues.” Gary was looking forward to picking up “where we left off” last season. But first, it was time to give the new deck crew some badly needed instruction on how to actually be a deckhand.
The Parsifal III Gets Off The Dock
Finally, it was time to test drive the Parsifal III. Now that Colin had the engine running again, they could take the boat off the dock and find out if the chief engineer’s repairs had worked. And so far, so good. As long as they keep the speed on the low side, everything should work. Colin saved the season for everyone. Give that man a raise!
In a slow moment, Gary asked his crew if he’d missed anything while he was gone. At first, Chase didn’t want to “spill the tea,” but then admitted that he’d kissed Mads during a game of Truth or Dare.
“Then this guy [pointing at Alex] made out with everybody on the crew,” he added. I think he meant the “female” part of the crew, cause I didn’t see any guy-on-guy action, even as drunk as they all were.
When Gary asked, “Who’s the best kisser out of all the girls?” Alex volunteered, “Daisy. She wins.”
Gary was a little threatened by Alex’s skills in the romance department. “It took me two and a half years to kiss Daisy. Good for him.” Yeah, right.
Back to training his deck crew, Gary had his hands full instructing them on how to dock the boat when they headed in from the test drive. “Coming late to the party,” Gary said off camera, “my main concern is that these guys were by themselves for the whole first charter. And now they’ve kind of taken their own initiative, which is great, but there’s one way to do things on this boat: my f***ing way, bitches!”
As Gary was bringing his crew up to speed, Glenn radioed for Daisy, Gary, and Chef Ileisha Dell to meet him in the crew mess for a preference sheet meeting. Time to prepare for Charter #2.
“I feel much better going into charter two,” Daisy admitted. “Honestly, charter one was a complete f***ing disaster. As long as my stews stay on top of service and I don’t get any more negative feedback from Glenn, I think we should be fine.”
As the day wound down and the crew called it an early night, Gary went looking for Daisy. “You hooked up with someone,” he accused her. He pretended he was joking, but we all know he was feeling a little jealous. “Do you have a little crush on him? Opposites attract, I guess.” This is nothing, Gary. Wait till you have to watch Daisy and your “Sea Doggy” Colin hook up. That’s gonna be rough.
Back in her cabin, Lucy was on the phone with her dad back home. She told him she had the worst “hangxiety” ever. That’s a new one. First of all, most dads I know would not want to hear their daughters ever admit that. But Lucy told her dad about getting so drunk she fell out of her bunk and scraped up her back “really bad.”
“You are one of the worst drinkers I’ve ever met in my life,” he told her. “You’ve just got to get over it. Or don’t drink. There’s your answer.” Too bad she’s not on Captain Sandy Yawn’s boat. Sandy could talk her through that.
Charter #2: It’s The Sweet One
The next morning, the crew woke up to face Charter #2. As Alex rolled over in his top bunk, his glasses fell off the edge of his bed and onto Glenn below. Not missing a beat, Glenn just calmly picked them up and dropped them on his nightstand. I don’t think he even opened his eyes. I hope this isn’t going to be a recurring theme, for Glenn’s sake.
Daisy met with her stews to remind them of what they needed to focus on during the upcoming charter. “I feel like you two worked well as a team,” Daisy told them, referencing the disastrous first charter. “I wouldn’t take [the first charter’s guests’] feedback so personally. It was a really strange charter.”
“All crew, all crew,” Glenn announced on the radio, as the crew was putting the finishing touches on the boat. “Guests will be here in less than 20 minutes.”
“Mads won’t let me hold the champagne anymore,” Lucy complained. “She doesn’t trust me.” Cue footage of Charter #1 when Lucy dumped an entire tray of champagne glasses on the deck, making a boozy mess of broken glass just minutes before the cranky (non-sailing) guests arrived.
The smiling guests arrived and introductions were made all around. These guests already look nicer than their previous counterparts. When Glenn told them they’d be going sailing as soon as their luggage was loaded, the smiles got even bigger.
Coming down the stairs during Daisy’s tour of the boat, one of the guests spilled his champagne. Wait! Is that Justin Guarini, who came in second on the first season of American Idol? It is!!! I had to rewind all the way back to the preference sheet meeting, where I saw his name on the guest list. These days his claim to fame is playing “Lil Sweet” in the Diet Dr. Pepper ads: “It’s the sweet one!”
As they prepared to leave the dock, Glenn was feeling very optimistic. “I’ve got my first mate back. We’re able to get off the dock. Only so much sh** can go wrong, and then something has to go right. Fingers crossed.” Don’t jinx yourself, Glenn. I have a bad feeling about this.
In the galley, Ileisha was preparing snacks for the guests to enjoy with their champagne. Daisy took out a tray of cucumber & salmon and feta & watermelon hors d’oeuvres. Yum! Both of those sound delicious! In addition, she brought Burnt Butter Scallops with shaved truffle on top. It’s all about the food!
As the guests enjoyed their snacks, Glenn notified the crew to get ready to sail. He would be taking a starboard tack, meaning the port (left) side would be underwater when the boat heeled over. Thanks for that excellent clarification, Daisy!
The Parsifal III really is a beautiful boat, especially when all the sails are up. Even though I hate sailing. I don’t like feeling like the boat is going to tip over. Even though things are falling over left and right below deck (he told you to “stow,” people!), the guests (and Glenn) were exhilarated with the heel. “So romantic!” the guests exclaimed. “It’s beautiful, honey!”
After the sail, the crew dropped anchor for the night. The principal charter guest came to the captain with an unusual request, “We wanted to know if we could possibly do dinner as a buffet?” What is this? A cruise ship?? The guest explained that they wanted to do it that way, so that “all the crew could eat with us . . . to let them experience it.” Well, that’s different.
“Wow,” Glenn responded. “I’ve never done that.” That’s a really sweet thought (“It’s the sweet one!“), but I’m wondering how Ileisha will feel about cooking for 15 people, rather than the six she was expecting to have to feed. I wonder if she ordered enough groceries to feed them all? Somebody didn’t think this through. But I guess you can never tell the guests no (unless you’re Captain Lee), so he was off to tell Ileisha the good news.
Captain Glenn approached Daisy with the unusual request. “They’ve just asked me if all the crew can have dinner with them,” he told her, as Daisy widened her eyes in utter shock. “I don’t want to turn them down if there’s a way we can do it.”
Other than the fact that the chef wouldn’t be able to send up hot meals while sitting at the table, Glenn saw no reason why it couldn’t work. “This request is crazy,” Ileisha said. “I’m thinking, ‘Oh my god, can I do this?’ We can’t say no, but it’s insane.” Eventually, she agreed to serve family style and include everyone.
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Tensions Arise Among The Deck Crew
For some reason, Chase had decided to argue with everything Gary told him to do. When Gary complained about all the extra equipment in the lazarette (aka “the laz”) and wanted it stored elsewhere, Chase explained that they’d used everything at the beach picnic. When Gary said they’d need to get out four paddleboards for the guests to use, Chase questioned whether four were actually necessary. “What the f***?” Gary complained to Colin, calling Chase “Mr. Know-it-all.”
“Is he getting on your nerves?” Colin asked. “Not a fan,” Gary confessed.
When Colin said he hadn’t had a problem working with Chase, Gary rebutted, “He didn’t tell you how to do things . . . [He] just doesn’t listen either.”
Colin finally saw Gary’s point, when Chase questioned everything Gary asked him to do. “[He’s] got huge potential. If harnessed in the right way, he’s going to be the biggest asset on deck. But that’s going to require some guidance and leadership from Gary,” Colin observed.
The Chief Engineer asked Gary what he was going to do about it. “Nothing,” Gary said. “Six weeks, bro.” Later when Gary reprimanded Chase for leaving the Sea Bobs full of sand following the beach picnic, Chase argued that he thought they’d been rinsed thoroughly. I guess not, though, as sand was dribbled across the deck all the way to the swim platform.
“Gary could tell me [to] go f*** myself, I’m an idiot,” Chase complained. “But come on, bro. Don’t do it in front of guests. That’s really a sh**** dick move.” Uh-oh, friction is brewing between Chase and Gary. Wonder who’ll win this one? Does anybody want to place any bets?
Realizing that Ileisha is suddenly cooking for 14 (Alex had already gone to bed since he was on the early shift), sweet Colin offered to help. She said he could clean the mussels if he was so inclined. “I can do that,” he said.
As the guests trickled up for dinner, Daisy whispered to one of the junior stews, “Could you run down to the master and do a really quick turndown?” Normally that would be handled while the guests were at dinner, but it’s hard to get that done when everyone’s at the table together.
When everything was ready, Ileisha quickly ran down to her cabin to change into her black uniform. “There’s no way I would have pulled this off without Colin’s help,” she breathed. But will there be enough food for everyone? And will it still be hot when it gets to the “buffet?”
After applauding Ileisha’s beautiful dinner, the primary raised her glass and offered, “A quick toast to a night that we will never forget with friends we will always remember. Cheers!” What a difference between these nice people and the two Karens from the last charter.
Admitting that his chef really pulled off an amazing feat, Glenn said, “I’m so proud of Ileisha. She’s doing a great job. It’s a massive win for me and the whole crew.” And she did it all without having a giant meltdown like we’ve seen chefs do in the past when things didn’t go perfectly. Ileisha seems refreshingly down-to-earth and calm, especially for a chef.
Colin told the guests that he’d been working on superyachts for 14 or 15 years, and “in all of that time, I’ve never been invited to eat with the guests before. So thank you, guys, for just treating us with so much respect.” Touched, the guests were “so happy” they were all able to spend the evening together.
After leaving the dinner early to check on the hot tub, Chase discovered it was cold and turned the heater on. Gary had the same idea and also went up to check the jacuzzi, not realizing that Chase had just been there. He was also surprised to find it cold, rather than steaming. Chase told him, “I just turned the heater on. It was cold.” However, Gary was irritated that it was filling up with “only cold water.” He radioed, “Chase, do you want to come up here and I’ll show you this jacuzzi?”
For some reason, Chase decided it was a good idea to ignore his boss and help clear the dinner dishes. In the meantime, Glenn wandered onto the sun deck and asked Gary what was going on with the jacuzzi. The captain also spotted a metal fitting right next to the hot tub that was covered with fingerprints. “I’ll go get a chamois,” Gary said.
After calling Chase for a second time, the deckhand finally showed up to see what Gary wanted. Gary told him that when the jacuzzi’s cold to only use hot water to fill it up, rather than trying to heat it, since the heater takes too long.
Chase didn’t like being corrected (cause he already knows everything). “F***, man, why does this guy keep throwing me under the bus?” he whined in an interview (certainly not to Gary’s face). “I’m trying my hardest to be the best deckhand possible. But all I’m getting is sh**.” Not a great way to get ahead, buddy. When your boss corrects you, just say, “Yes, sir,” and do it that way from now on. Suck it up, buttercup. It doesn’t pay to argue. This will not go well for Chase.
TELL US – WERE YOU SURPRISED TO SEE ILEISHA PULL OFF THE DINNER FOR 14 ON SUCH SHORT NOTICE? WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN THE SHOWDOWN BETWEEN GARY AND CHASE? HOW FUN WAS IT TO SEE JUSTIN GUARINI?
[Photo by: Fred Jagueneau/Bravo]
