‘Below Deck’: Captain Lee Admits Would Have Fired Half of the Season 4 Crew, Including Chef Ben

While Captain Lee Rosbach has fired a few Below Deck crew members, he’s never wanted to fire half of the crew – until season 4.

In a throwback blog, Rosbach reflected on after hours actions that had him so steamed, he would have given plane tickets to four crew members. While the incident began innocently enough, the crew’s actions ultimately damaged the boat, which required repairs to the master bathroom.

Chef Ben Robinson, along with deckhands Lauren Burchell, Nico Scholly and Kyle Dixon got drunk in the master cabin. They got involved in aggressive horseplay, which damaged a wall inside the master bathroom. While Dixon had permission to sleep in the guest cabin, the others didn’t have an open invitation to have a party.

Captain Lee’s blog was titled ‘I would have fired all of you’

Rosbach had no idea what was occurring in the master guest cabin until the damage was done. And he was furious when he knew the outcome. “Ben, Nico, Lauren, and Kyle, in what world did you think that your behavior would go unnoticed?” Rosbach snarled in his blog, titled, Captain Lee: “I Would Have Fired All of You.”

“I have rules that all of you are aware of: Don’t embarrass the boat and don’t embarrass yourself. The four of you just totally ignored all of the above. It’s not my fault that you choose to ignore them. You’re all just fortunate that I’m just witnessing your behavior now.”

“Let’s go crew member by crew member in dealing with this debacle,” he continued. “And make no mistake that is being polite, because if we were not on charter seven with only two charters to go, I would have fired all of you including and starting with a senior staff member named Ben.”

“But having two charters to go and given the virtual impossibility of getting four crew to replace you, it is with distaste that I may be forced to keep you all on board,” Rosbach added. “Much to my dismay, I might add. The future guests should not be penalized for your indiscretion and general lack of class.”

Captain Lee blasted the crew, especially Chef Ben

Rosbach reserved his harshest criticism for Robinson, sharing that as a senior crew member he should have known better. Adding, “If that is how the upper crust in England behaves, sorry, but I want no part of it,” he wrote. “You violated both rules and compounded with your behavior last week; you sir, are an embarrassment to the yacht. Your continued behavior after you got back on board was no better.” 

He then ripped into the deckhands, admonishing them for their behavior, sharing that they had no respect for the boat. Rosbach even apologized to the viewers, aghast at what he witnessed occurring on his boat, while viewing the episode.

“This is not what I expect out of my crew, so I apologize to you for their childish behavior and will do my best to see that this sort of thing does not happen again,” he concluded in his blog. “Had I known then what I know now, things would be different. I’m sure you all had higher expectations of them as well.”