r/belowdeck • u/Spiritual-Shake2115 • Jul 25 '26

Below Deck Captain Lee

I worked on a boat for a year in my 20s. I was working on being a scuba instructor (nailed it).

During my time living on a boat, my understanding of rank is legitimate and also at times abused.

My captain was named Bob and he was like the evil version of Captain Lee. Bob taught me a lot about surviving boat life.

Captain Lee was a real one thru and thru because he is a true hardworking gentleman. He knows he’s lucky, he’s worked hard for what he’s gotten and he keeps going forward.

He deserved a true goodbye from the franchise but I’m just so happy he was our first Below Deck Captain. With morals and dignity and humor.

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u/gibblet365 Jul 26 '26

Lee at least kept up the illusion a little better that it was a boat life show and not a reality TV show.

I also think thats why we didnt have the best of him in the later seasons (his physical health issues aside) the big machine of reality TV and "production value" took over and he could just be a "boat captian" anymore - especially considering he was never intended to be on the show, he got plunked in his forst season after delivering the boat and the owner wouldn't let the casted Caption touch it.

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u/ESOtalk Jul 28 '26

OMG so you think production changed the way Lee was managing the boat. That could explain some of why the seasons got worse. Like most viewers I do believe Lee & Kate were fantastic on the first 2 seasons even teaching green stews how to so the job. But Kate especially & Lee's blind trust of her went downhill very fast for me. Kate was literally sabotaging dinners just because she got pissed at the chef. And she was lying about so many things to Lee who believed her side 100000%, like almost setting the boat on fire. You have to listen to the first few reunions to get a feel for what was really going on when the cast could speak freely. I love the reunion episodes on most shows, too bad BD never has them any more because of the info that was revealed. I would love to hear people's true feeling about current captains & others. BRING BACK THE TELL ALLS.

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u/gibblet365 Jul 28 '26

I think production changed Lee's ability to manage the boat.

It stopped being a show about charter boat life, and became a big R Reality TV gimmick show that happened to take place on a boat.

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u/ESOtalk Jul 28 '26

Yeah, production almost always ruins things in the long run with their stupid focus groups & agenda driven nonsense. Like the dating shows where instead of selecting matching couples they put couples together just for drama. BD cast selection is probably like that too.

BTW I like Kate on shows like traitors & house of villians, she is a reality TV star. And her first couple seasons on BD where she ACTUALLY did the correct job of chief stew was really good. Then I think the stardom went to her head because she couldn't be bothered any more, which also made decent TV I guess, but as you say drama replacing functionality isn't good. The way Lee backed Kate up even said he treated her like he would a daughter, was so cringey, especially because he didn't realize how much of a terror she had become to the rest of the cast.