Captain Lee: "Dead People Don't Tip Well"
Captain Lee weighs in on the crew's performance on the first charter of the season.
Well, sorry that I missed this last week for the premiere, but for those who didn’t see it, Kate and I were in New York doing some promo work for the show and we had the privilege of being guests on Andy Cohen’s show Watch What Happens Live. What a treat! And now that brings us to the second episode of the season. But before we get into that I do have one comment to make to Rhylee that I saw on Episode 1. I think I heard you say that your job in Alaska involves a lot of heavy lifting. I guess that covers everything but your luggage, eh? Just an observation early on. So let's get down to it.
We have my friend Mr. Foam man, Steve, back again, and as usual, he can be a handful. A well-intentioned, fun-loving, not-a mean-bone-in-his-body handful. And this trip is no exception. As he stated when he left, he didn’t know, because he didn’t remember. Good thing we documented it. And yes, we are still friends.
Kate, as usual, you handled Steve and his antics with your usual grace and charm. I thought the best line of the night was when Ashton told you he did a bit of dancing as a profession and you queried, "Ballroom?" I damn near fell out of my chair when you said that. Your crew performed well, but it appears that you may have an issue or two looming on the horizon. It’s way too early in the season for tensions to be that tight for some people. Great first charter for you and your crew.
Ross, love the way you just keep your head down and get your work done but still observe everything that is going on around you. Be careful though. I’m not sure that your well-intentioned help will be appreciated by everyone so tread lightly. All in all a great first charter for you.
Ashton, dancer huh? Works for me. Love your passion for life, fun, and adventure. You may want to ease into that a bit slower on your nights off so as not to alienate your crewmates. Between you and Rhylee, you got yourself a 6 am on deck call. And this is Charter 1, so you may want to tone it down just a bit. Just an observation. You have all the makings of a great crewmate, just don’t get in your own way and let the little things work themselves out. So far a pleasure to have you on board.
Rhylee, not sure what you are thinking. I don’t think I would be quite so assertive right out of the gate. Knowing when to be quiet can go a long way. You may want to take a bit more time to get to know your bosses and crewmates before you show the lack of respect that you displayed. Oh, and did you not see which fenders went where when you took them in when we left the dock? Odds are the same fenders go back in the same spot when we go back to the dock. An observation you should have made. It’s in the details. You are a hard worker, you just need to work a bit smarter, not harder. And until you’ve earned some stripes, having a little respect for crew that know more than you may be in order.
Chandler, not sure what you were thinking when you let a guest go out without a life jacket, especially one like Steve. Had you told him no, not without a jacket, I would have totally backed that play. Dead people don’t tip well. I didn’t undermine you, you did that all on your own. If you come out and tell your crew that you are not their boss once you’re off the boat, then stick to it.
Can’t change the rules in mid game and expect it to go well. You were trying to reason with people who were drinking, and that never works out well. You don’t have to babysit the crew on their night out. It's not part of your job description. Once they get back to the boat, that’s different. If you wanted to go back to the boat, you should have. It’s been done before. Ashton would have had to pay his dues in the morning along with Rhylee; it was on them. Now you have put yourself at odds with your whole crew when you didn’t have to. Could have been handled better, and now you have an additional mess to straighten out. We’ll see next week how this mess plays out. You were correct about Rhylee, but you were never going to get anywhere trying to reason with her in the crew mess. Things were too far south by then. That was a lost cause at that point, pal. But there is always next week, so hang in there. Also good effort and good call on the beach picnic, you did your best and gave it your all, but it wasn’t going to work, so good call on that.
Caroline, it causes me concern to see you so upset over something so small. This may be an assumption on my part, but Josiah was correct in the fact that you as third stew should not be interrupting the Chef and Chief stew while they are discussing dinner plans. Whatever it was could have waited for the proper time. That being said, once it was over, let it go, no big deal.
The only one who hung on to it was you, and it upset you when it shouldn’t have. I was glad to see you take the high road in the van when Chandler and Rhylee were going at it. That was a no win as well. I certainly hope that you don’t let the small stuff get in the way of being the capable person that I feel you can be. Just let it bounce off, no big deal. Roll with it.
Adrian, well-done sir. Food was outstanding, presentation was as well and I love your demeanor in the galley so far. Love it that you use local stuff as often as you can. It really gives it an authentic flare that I think is appropriate for our location. Time will tell as we are only one charter in. I would give you an A under “plays well with others.” Good job first charter in.
Josiah, I thought you did a good job first time out. Didn’t see you get flustered, upset, at all. Kept your head down and delivered. Followed Kate's lead as you should. Well done. I thought it was nice of you to give Caroline a little pep talk on the bow as well, as she seemed to need a little pick me up at that point. So far I’m happily satisfied with your performance. Keep it up.
So there we have it, first charter in the books, and we have a long way to go. I’m sure this is really, in all seriousness, just the beginning. So keep your seatbelts fastened, because severe turbulence can occur at any time. Everyone stay safe out there and I’ll be here with more of my views next week. Till then...
