Captain Lee Rosbach has to rely heavily on his deck crew in order to maintain the safety and integrity of the boat, but he’s fed up with his crew’s lackluster performance on Below Deck season 9. It’s no secret that Captain Lee runs a tight ship, but he also encourages his team to grow. For example, he’s often shown teaching his crew advanced skills such as undocking and driving the yacht they’re on. He’s happy to promote the exterior as long as they do a great job. Of note, Eddie Lucas went from being a Deckhand to a Bosun and is now a First Officer. On Below Deck season 9, however, Eddie has had to spend more time on deck than in the wheelhouse due to the deck team’s incompetency.
Captain Lee asked Eddie, as the former Bosun, to pick the deckhand with the most experience to be Lead Deckhand. Eddie thought that Jake Foulger was the most qualified and appointed him the head of the deck crew. However, little mistakes have been making Captain Lee become exasperated, such as the team taking too long to put up the water slide for the guests. In one episode, the deck crew failed to secure the outside seat cushion. While the yacht was underway, the cushions flew overboard. In another instance, not one but two jet skis managed to unclip from the yacht and float away, leaving Captain Lee furious at what he called “rookie mistakes.”
Captain Lee doesn’t consider himself a micromanager, but the frequent mistakes from the deck crew on Below Deck season 9 have caused him to keep a close eye on them. In the most recent episode of Below Deck, Captain Lee caught deckhand Wes O’Dell texting someone on his phone while on duty. He also saw Rayna Lindsay roll her eyes after Eddie gave her an order over the radio. Captain Lee called Jake into the wheelhouse and told him to talk to his team and address these issues. In an attempt to help out the struggling deck team, Eddie was in the middle of refueling jet skis. However, Captain Lee was unhappy about his First Officer doing such a menial task and ordered him to let the deck crew handle it.
Rayna started off strong on Below Deck season 9 but went on to become unhappy in the middle of the season due to certain racially insensitive comments made by Chief Stew Heather Chase. Even though they talked it over and Heather apologized, Rayna admitted that this was hard to get over. Although she talked to Eddie about it, it didn’t go any further. Rayna shared that she felt disappointed in how the issue was handled and felt betrayed by her superiors. Eddie made an attempt to boost her morale by allowing her to anchor the yacht, but Rayna thought it was just a way of appeasing her.
The exterior members of Below Deck are really struggling this season. Some viewers attribute it to poor leadership skills from Eddie and Jake. Others believe that Rayna’s poor attitude needs to go. A lot of fans are furious that Heather’s racist comment has yet to be addressed by Captain Lee. Many fans think Heather should have been fired, and Eddie has shared that he recommended that Captain Lee let her go. It’s unclear if this will ever get addressed on the show, but Below Deck season 9’s deck crew is making Captain Lee want to jump ship.