TV show- "Below Deck"

I believe it's either or. Either the boats normal Captain OR the first officer stay, probably depending on the insurance and/or owners preferences.

The First Officer on the show this year, is the actual Captain of record, David Pott.

And he was the one in the pilothouse with Sandy at the time of termination and reviewing all the documentation. To my knowledge, the first time he's ever been seen on the show.

Do you suppose Sandy actually runs the boat or does the actual captain run it? I think Sandy is there just micro manage and irritate the crew.

Captains on that size yacht rarely run it, or let me rephrase that......run it less than 1/2 of the time.........the 1st officer runs the boat a lot of the times.......the Captains dock it a lot of the times. But I'd say Sandy does a lot of the time as their runs are usually fairly short from what I see.

In this case, Sandy is an actor, who is employed by Bravo to portray the captain on TV. David is employed and insured by the owner and handles the important stuff, since the owner has ultimate control and responsibility for the yacht. As olderboater mentioned, David was on the bridge checking regs during the Valium issue. Bravo would have the decision of what to do with the stewardess since she works for them. David had to deal with the legalities of the Valium onboard since that could fall on him and the owner. For what it's worth, in a conversation with a former crew member, I was told that the TV captains do not handle or control the operation of the vessel. The exception was the first year of the original Below Deck. Bravo chartered "Cuor di Leone" and Lee was the actual captain of record. Bravo planned to cast an actor with a license as the captain but the insurance company turned him down. At the last minute, they convinced Lee to go on camera and the actor became first officer. As for Lee, the rest is history.

I did not say she wasn't a captain. I said she is not the legal captain of record on THIS boat. David Pott is the permanent captain on the yacht used in the show. He remains in control, representing the owner, not Sandy.

I'm not sure what you are trying to prove but far as the show is concerned she is an actor. She was hired by Bravo to play the part of the captain on the show. I didn't imply anything other that what you may have come up with in your mind. I am well aware that she is a captain but the discussion is about who is the captain that controls the yacht and that Is David Pott on behalf of the owner. You can take offense at me refering to her as an actor if you choose, but it's a fact and she seems pretty proud of it.

I don’t think she is responsible for the designation as an “actor” in that case.

And probably would take offense to it.

I’d say she’s a captain/actor. Not an actor/captain.

I believe Sandy is the one at the controls when docking and running the boat a lot of times during the show. Perhaps David Pott is the Captain of record and #1 in command, but she is handling the boat a lot just as a first officer would.

Slow week eh. Contracts keep you employed even if not working, and he's under contract with the producers. Pete's future is definitely in question though. Being a vocal racist and sexist are seldom good things for one's career.

Not sure what's with our SEARCH feature, but I put in Below Deck and after searching 4 pages there was no mention of the thread, even when I checked titles only, despite me knowing that there's a long thread on it. Maybe the mods can locate it and fold this into it.

Edit: Moved to existing thread.

In the mean time we watched last night. The drama is amusing, but it really puts the industry in a bad light. Three things jumped out at me from last nights episode:

1) The chef threw yet another hissy fit over the guests preference sheet and quit 16 hours before a charter rather than just telling the guest that a 10 course meal wasn't going to happen. If I were her employer I'd make sure her next gig was behind a hot dog stand if I didn't arrange for some drugs to be in her bag as she went to the airport.

2) Capt. Lee threw a hissy fit because his stern thruster wasn't working. He had a ton of space to make his spin and a double wide slip with a floating dock between his boat and the next, 2 working motors and a bow thruster. Talk about manufactured drama. I know Lee is better than that. It made him look like an under qualified amateur.

3) One of the stews doing laundry put the white shirts in a bowl of bleach and soap. The crew started complaining about the smell, claiming they were getting light-headed. The engineer got involved and said the stew created Mustard Gas, as in WW I Mustard Gas, by combining bleach and soap. Bleach and soap do not make mustard gas. If it did we'd all be dead the first time we washed our whites. Bleach and AMONIA create a gas called Chloramine which can be deadly. Soap was used in mustard gas as a bonding agent so it would stick to the skin. As for the smell, it's the clean (and harmless) smell I get every time I spray bleach in my shower to kill mold. It's not a smell you want to subject your guests to but it's not going to kill anyone.

Sure wish these shows would try for a little more reality.

Maybe to be a skilled chef you have to be mentally unstable.

I've known a few chefs, and in general found them to be abusive alcoholics. Seems they think they're Gordon Ramsey and have a right to act that way. But quitting right before a charter? She'd pay a big price with me.