Captain Lee: The Crew Behaved Like Two-Year-Olds
The captain is a little disappointed by the behavior of some of his crew, and he's not holding back.
Well, this episode certainly did have some surprises. I think it had as many for me as it did for you guys at home. Not sure I liked what I saw either. I witnessed some behavior that was not exactly what I expected from my senior staff. In fact, I think that some of them behaved like two-year-olds that got their binky taken from them, kicking their legs, stomping their feet, and whining. It was more like Romper Room than M/Y Valor. I’m not going to apologize for doing what I think is in the best interest of the crew overall and/or the yacht. If I’m wrong, then I will own it, correct it, move on, and move forward.
Let’s get started with the elephant in the room. EJ and Nico Scholly. Nico, I’ve given you a free hand with the deck crew, and it’s not working. I’m not blaming you because you weren’t given all the proper tools to succeed as far as crews go. I realize that, so I’m not sure why you resent getting some help. You have obviously given up on the crew by your own admission (“they’re not going to get any better”), so I bring in someone who can work with you. And, as he and I have a history, I know what he can do — that is, if you let him. But you seem to have taken personal offense at me trying to help you out, even I know you have a lot on your plate, and you’re frustrated. You two are supposed to work together towards a common goal and run the deck like it should be, not you doing everything you can to see that he fails. If you think standing back and making him fail makes you look better, you had better take another look. You’re acting like a spoiled child, and it’s not a good look for you. You don’t have to report to him; you need to work with him for the good of the yacht and the season. How long he stays will probably depend on how quickly the crew progresses. I’ve always been honest with you, and that isn’t going to change now. If you have a beef, bring it to me; don’t pout like your big boy pants got misplaced. Now, let’s see if you have what it takes to be a leader. I personally think you do…might take a bit, but I’m not tossing in the towel over this. I hope you don’t either.
Chris Brown, I have no sympathy for you and having to sleep in the crew mess. You made your own bed, so now you get to sleep in it. Your lack of work ethic and respect for Nico caused me to bring in someone to help us out. I would love to see you suck it up and do something positive so we don’t need an extra person, but I’m not sure that will happen in your case. We will see. I would be careful what I ask for if I were you, because you might just get what you want. Getting fired is fun — really? In what world does that fall into the fun category? Why do I think that is the one thing you have probably had extensive experience with?
Briana Adekeye, you continue to progress well as far as I can see. I love the fact that you do not hold back when asked an awkward question but are not malicious with the answer. It appeared to me that you handled Matt Burns with grace and dignity while not totally embarrassing him either. He did a good enough job of that on his own. You also didn’t come back to the boat and talk smack behind his back to cause him further embarrassment. That to me displayed a lot of class on your part. Well done. I hope you keep progressing in the manner in which I think you will. I also loved the fact that even though you weren’t that attracted to Matt, you did give him the benefit of the doubt but stayed honest in your responses when questioned. Nice display of integrity.
Baker Manning, you continue to impress. I was glad to see you didn’t adopt an adversarial position with the new bosun. Still willing to learn, still the great smile, and positive attitude — well done! Are we going to still make mistakes? Of course, but it’s how you handle it after that makes a good hand. You, I feel, are on the right course, and I do appreciate it.
Bruno Duarte, that goes for you as well. On this charter, you showed a willingness to learn and didn’t take it personally when shown a better way to get something done. In fact, you appreciated it. Good job. I’m glad you at least showed a willingness to give the new crewmember a chance to see if he has what it takes. It’s never easy coming into an existing crew and getting accepted.
EJ, I appreciate you dropping what you were doing to come in and help me out. I know I’m asking a lot. Coming in what I see now is going to be a hostile environment for at least some time isn’t going to be fun. I can see from this episode that some people are not going to make your job easy. Hell, if it were easy, everyone would do it. I’m sure it’s going to get worse before it gets better, but you have my gratitude and support.
Matt, Matt, Matt. I am not going to elaborate on how you handled yourself this episode. No need for me to do that. Instead, I will compliment you on the fact that you owned your behavior and didn’t shy away from taking responsibility for it. Takes a big person to do that. I hope I don’t see a repeat performance of that. I do think once was plenty. I also noticed that you don’t function too well in the galley on a hangover. You didn’t really impress the guests, and I’m sure the criticism hurt, so let’s just put this behind us and move forward in a positive fashion and nail it next time. So you got knocked down — let’s see how you get up and move on.
Kate Chastain, I didn’t have much interaction with you this charter so far. I thought that the way you welcomed their feedback on their dinner was done in a positive fashion. The fact that you didn’t get all defensive and offended I thought was good. Handled it with class, which I’ve come to expect from you. I see you’re still having your hands full with Jennifer Howell, but I think you are dealing with it well, considering all of the extraneous things we have going on around us this season. Nice of you to offer to let Jen have some extra time off when she wanted to do something special, though I’m not sure I understand why she complained about it, got it, and then didn’t want it. Guess she showed you, huh?
Jen, please, enough with the whining. When you can’t make it to work on time, and you slept there at your job, something is wrong. And then taking an additional 20 minutes to do your hair while the chef takes care of a guest that has obviously beat you out of bed is just plain wrong on so many levels. You should have been up at least an hour before to make sure that everything was in order. It’s not like they were up all night partying and drinking. And then you want sympathy. Seriously? Well, it’s in the dictionary between “s---”and “syphilis,” so that’s where you’ll find it. You are not dumb, you’re attractive, and you can be very funny, but this “poor, poor me” attitude is not going to serve you well. I don’t care if you are sexually frustrated; that is way more information than I need to have about someone. I really think that if you spent as much time learning about your job as doing your hair, you would be an outstanding stewardess, and I would love to see that happen.
Well, there you have it. Still not all that happy with things, and I am trying to effect a positive change. But change never comes easy or without consequences, but it will come, and I have every confidence that it will work. So until next week, may the wind be at your back and calm seas beneath your keel.
Capt. Lee
