Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 4 kicked off with some major Parsifal III engine problems.
The issues had the first group of charter guests stuck at the dock the whole time.
Thankfully chief engine Colin MacRae managed to save the day and the season by getting the engine back up and running.
However, Below Deck Sailing Yacht viewers have had some harsh criticism over the situation, expressing that the owner was at fault.
Colin has seen those messages and set the record straight.
The hunky engineers also shut down accusations that the hit Bravo show is scripted.
Colin MacRae explains Below Deck Sailing Yacht engine drama
Taking to Instagram, Colin shared a video of him shirtless and working on an engine to kick off his setting the record straight about the Below Deck Sailing Yacht drama. Colin simply began his lengthy message by stating he was going to shut down the claims the engine failure was scripted.
“The crew literally join the boat a day before the first charter, and I had no reason to believe the engine would not run,” he wrote. “But when I did go to start it, it would not turn over at all. I immediately suspected the starter motor, which we luckily had a spare of, so I replaced that, to no avail.”
Colin went on to explain that he went through a long process to determine if the issue was the gearbox or engine, some of which viewers saw on the show. The engineer revealed he began to suspect the engine was “hydra locked,” which means filled with salt water.
“The issue was that there was a small hole in the aftercooler, and water had been filling up the engine while sitting at the dock,” Colin explained. “You saw a lot of hesitation from us on TV as to what to do next, but to cut a long story short, I got asked by the owner of the boat to do anything I could to get that engine running.”
The video footage on the IG post was shot by Captain Glenn Shephard as Colin found a way to hotwire the engine. It was a long process, but as fans saw, it worked, and Colin was stoked.
“Anyway, I can totally understand why people would think this is staged, but I can assure you, a catastrophic failure of this magnitude nearly cost us the season. Not something anyone wanted,” he shared.
Colin ended his message by teasing that this is just the beginning of all the engine trouble Below Deck Sailing Yacht viewers will see happen on Parsifal III this season.
Below Deck stars react to Colin MacRae’s message
It didn’t take long for the comments section of Colin’s IG post to become flooded with remarks from the Below Deck family.
Captain Glenn, of course, chimed in, showing support for Colin writing, “Yup.” Below Deck Down Under star Captain Jason Chambers also commented, giving a long paragraph explaining how it’s all part of the yachting world.
Stew Lucy Edmunds wondered how people thought this was scripted. Deckhand Chase Lemacks gave a shout-out to the show, and Colin called what he did a miracle. Chase also had good things to say about most of the guests.
As Monsters and Critics previously reported, Below Deck Sailing Yacht fans sounded off on the “Karens” complaining to Captain Glenn after the stews had to clean their disgusting cabins.
Colin MacRae has set the record straight that Below Deck Sailing Yacht isn’t scripted, and the engine drama was beyond real.
What do you think of Colin’s post?
Below Deck Sailing Yacht airs Mondays at 8/7c on Bravo. Seasons 1-3 are streaming on Peacock.