‘Below Deck’: Shane Coopersmith Faces a Sobering Reality About His Job

Deckhand Shane Coopersmith comes to terms with the stark reality that he is in over his head on Below Deck.

While he admitted to being green the minute he boarded the yacht, his ineptness is trying Captain Lee Rosbach and bosun Eddie Lucas’ patience. Coopersmith often seems lost on deck, struggling to lift heavy items and generally unsure what he is supposed to do.

The last (paper) straw was when Lucas returned to the cabin he shares with Coopersmith only to find the green deckhand taking a nap. Lucas doesn’t wake him, but leaves looking pretty exasperated. Rosbach also has nothing but criticism for Coopersmith in his blogs.

Shane Coopersmith faces facts that he wasn’t prepared for the job

Coopersmith is seen journaling in his bunk, admitting he truly doesn’t know what he is doing. “I know I messed up a couple times like napping and not preparing myself for this job,” he wrote in his journal seen in a preview clip. “I know I have the knowledge.”

He explains in a confessional that he’s always been an overachiever. “When I was a senior in high school I was always the kid that sat at the front of the classroom and scored high grades,” he said. “I’m a smart person. I know I am. I don’t know what I’m doing in this job. And that’s something that makes me feel really insecure.”

Coopersmith admits to himself that he is in over his head. “I may have taken a big bite to be on this boat,” he says to himself while alone in his bunk. “And I really don’t know as much as I thought I knew.”

“Psychologically I’m in a little bit of a battle with the boat,” he adds in a confessional. “Because as a perfectionist I’m just motivated to always accomplish the job and I don’t ever wanna fall short. But I don’t know how to get there. It’s tough. It’s really tough.”

Captain Lee expresses concerns about Shane Coopersmith’s ability

Rosbach is blunt in his criticisms of Coopersmith. He emphasized in his latest blog that he does not think Coopersmith is a bad guy. He just has no work ethic. “And you take a nap while your crew mates continue to work and do your share of the job,” Rosbach wrote.

“You are so lucky that Eddie didn’t tell me that,” he continued. “Let’s just say you would’ve had the rudest awakening you had ever experienced in your life. If you are going to get anywhere in this world, it all starts with work ethic, which you seem to possess none of. See what you can do about that will ya?” 

Rosbach also addressed Coopersmith’s lateness on deck. “Here is another little bit of advice, when you’re told to be on deck at 0800, if you’re on time to me that’s late,” Rosbach wrote in an earlier blog. “Always be early, it will serve you well, speaks to character sir. And did I see in the previews that you go down in the middle of the day for a nap. Hmmmmm. With so much potential, it amazes me that you want to waste it. I hope it isn’t so.”