Below Deck fans were surprised to see exactly how green the new crew of the Valor is.
Two of the deck crew, and one of the stewardesses, have never worked in yachting.
New deckhand Bruno Duarte didn’t even know what the “starboard forward cabin” was.
Newbie Chris Brown thinks he’s there to party.
Not sure I’d want to be on a boat where any of the crew members didn’t know that starboard means the right side of the ship.
Oh, and they don’t know how to do any of the knots either. Or how to zip cushions on to the seats on the deck so they don’t blow away.
Lead deckhand Nico has to ask the captain to help him do something as simple as dropping the tender because his crew is totally clueless.
Methinks it’s going to be a rough season for Captain Lee.
But really, it’s okay. Because the deckhands we see as crew of the yacht are really just window dressing. There’s a whole REAL yacht crew running the boat behind the scenes.
They always introduce the First Officer and the Engineer in the first episode, and then viewers don’t see them appear on Below Deck again unless there’s a real emergency that requires their visible participation in front of the cameras.
The stewardesses are just as inexperienced as the deck crew.
“You’ve got one stew with some experience, and one with zero,” Captain Lee tells Chief Stew Kate Chastain.
Predictably, she is not thrilled with the news.
And it turns out worse than it sounds. The first-time stew, Jennifer, is a mom who is now pursuing her dreams of working on a yacht. Because it makes perfect sense to leave your eight-year-old to be on a reality show.
Jennifer’s been a cocktail waitress, but that’s the full extent of her service experience.
Rookie Brianna has a little bit of stew experience, and she took a bartending class. But she’s never actually mixed drinks.
I’m starting to feel REALLY sorry for the charter guests who actually paid money for the yacht charters while appearing on Below Deck.
Things we’re left wondering
Don’t deck crew have to take some sort of instructional classes in order to actually count as part of the crew? Safety classes? First Aid? Something? Anything?
If Nico isn’t experienced enough to be given the Bosun title, should he be training a bunch of rookies?
Below Deck airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.