At the end of the last episode of Below Deck Sailing Yacht, First Mate Gary King was butthurt that Madison “Mads” Herrera seemed to care more about deckhand Alex Propson than she did about him. “I’m f*cking over this,” he declared.
But Chief Engineer Colin MacRae definitely wasn’t over it. “I think it’s healthy for Gary to be taken down a peg now and then,” he commented. “There’s the old saying, the truth hurts.”
Meanwhile, in the galley, Chef Ileisha Dell was on course five of a 10-course meal. “This is gonna be such a late night,” she complained. “Doing 10 courses on Parsifal is brutal. There’s no space. It’s insane to prep. It takes forever to serve, and it means a late night for everyone.” I feel you, Ileisha. Recapping back-to-back episodes of Below Deck Sailing Yacht is no picnic either, believe me.
Course number five consisted of Local Baby Pink Peppercorn Squid with Lime Aioli. “It’s a cephalopod!” primary guest Bryan squealed with delight.
Number six was Sea Bream with Celeriac Puree and Fennel Slaw. The guests were moaning with pleasure.
The seventh course was a Rosemary Crusted Beef Carpaccio with Parmesan and Microgreens, which Bryan declared, “Hugely brilliant.”
Served at 11:45 pm, course eight was a Surf and Turf Beef Filet with Grilled Prawns.
The ninth course was a Lemon Sorbet Palette Cleanser. “One more to go!” Ileisha said gratefully.
The final course, number 10, was a Limoncello Ricotta Cheesecake with Raspberry Compote. “Oh, my God!” Cheffie told Captain Glenn Shephard. “Dessert’s out! That was the longest service.”
“You know what we should do to celebrate?” deckhand Chase Lemacks asked Ileisha. “Make out!” Ileisha, who has a boyfriend, just laughed. Sounding a little desperate there, Chase.
And to all a good night
Dinner service was done, and the crew drifted off to their beds. The guests also headed off to their cabins with tummies full of Ileisha’s delicious food. Mads wasn’t sorry to see them go, as it meant she could also finish her work and go to bed at a decent hour.
Gary was still angry at Mads and wasn’t talking to her, or even looking at her, for that matter. “All the sh*t that’s been said has just got me thinking,” he told Colin.
The next morning, Gary came up behind Chief Stew Daisy Kelliher and wrapped his arms around her neck. “What time [did you get] up?” he asked her.
“Late,” she told him. “Lucy [Edmunds] let me sleep in.”
“I don’t want to affect mine and Gary’s relationship,” Daisy interviewed, “by trying to put a boundary between us. But I also don’t want to upset Colin by being inappropriate. I’ve never been in this situation before, so I don’t really know how to handle it.” Boundaries are a healthy thing, Daisy. They keep people from being inappropriate.
Daisy asked the deck crew if they would wear the pink Speedos she ordered during water sports with the guests. The boys weren’t pleased, but it’s part of the job.
“I’m f*cking freaking out,” Chase told Gary, as they were changing into the tiny swimwear. “You can see the wrinkles of my ballsack.”
“Are you trimming?” Gary asked Chase.
“No, I’m not f*cking trimming!” Chase answered. “Trying to put this d*ck in these f*cking budgie smugglers.”
“Brü, your d*ck is definitely not that big,” Gary clapped back.
“All right, Chase, we’re doing this,” Chase pep-talked himself, as he came out of the bathroom.
Boys in budgie smugglers
No, I don’t have a picture (sorry!), but the Speedos were actually not that bad — from the back anyway. I think production was afraid to film from the front.
The boys all had fun terrorizing the interior crew with their obscene swimwear. “Anybody need help doing dishes?” Chase taunted Daisy and Lucy, as they shrieked with disgust.
Even Glenn wasn’t immune to the horror. “What the hell?!” he exclaimed, as he came down the stairs. “Oh, my God!”
“Come give me a hug, Glenn!” Gary said, tugging on his arm.
“No, get the hell away from me!” he said, adding, “Is that a cocktail wienie or are you just happy to see me?” LOL!
“Look, I’m not exactly the kind of guy to rock some nut huggers back home,” said Chase. “But if the guests want a banana hammock, I know I look damn good in them, and f*ck, I’ll do anything to make the guests happy.”
“Just go straight to the swim platform,” Gary instructed Chase, as they walked out on deck. “Don’t say anything!”
“Hello, guys!” Gary said as they passed the guests at breakfast, who immediately did a double-take.
“Well done, gentlemen,” the guests responded. “Thank you both. Good job, God.”
“It’s our crew uniform for the day,” Gary announced, as they proceeded to the swim platform.
Another day, another sail
Once the guests had finished with the water toys, it was time for another sail. “All crew, all crew,” Captain Glenn called over the radio. “FYI. We’re gonna be sailing. Let’s be stowed well. There’s quite a bit of breeze around.”
After stowing the NautiBuoys, Gary and Alex had a chat. “A couple days left, big boy,” Alex said. “How do you feel about it?”
When Gary answered that it had been a good season, Alex responded, “Made some money. You found love.”
“Far from it,” Gary told him.
“You guys are done?” Alex asked.
“I don’t think we were ever a couple, to be quite honest with you,” Gary admitted. “I think I wanted it more than she did. No, I want a chick that’s there for me, brü. Not just when she’s drunk.”
“I see how dysfunctional this Mads and Gary thing is,” Alex interviewed. “I don’t know why it’s continued this long. It’s really f*cking weird … I think Mads deserves better than Gary. [And] I am better than Gary.” If you could cut back on the booze you might be, Alex. The blacked-out drunk look is not all that attractive.
Bryan and his partner arrived on the deck to watch the sails go up. They were both wearing shirts adorned with unicorns simultaneously vomiting and farting rainbows. “He’s a little seasick,” Bryan explained to Chase. “It’s coming out of both ends, the poor thing.”
“This is a nice relaxing sail,” Glenn said, as things were flying off the shelves in the galley.
Preparing for the Pride party
For night two, the primary requested “a Pride dinner with seven courses, each course to represent a color of the rainbow.” The rainbow flags I’ve seen only have six colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple (just like the song my son learned in preschool). As if to reinforce the idea of only six colors, the Pride flag flying on the boat only had six colors, as did the flags I found when I Googled “Pride rainbow flag.” Still, the poem has the color pink included.
Again, Gary caught Daisy alone in the galley and threw an arm around her neck, trapping her against the cupboards. That’s kind of aggressive, Gary. I’m not a fan of the arm around the neck. Neither is Daisy. “Just get in a good mood, you,” he told her. I’m also not a fan of men telling women what their mood should be.
“I get a hug,” he added. “Hug it out.” And of course, he took advantage of the opportunity to try to steal a few kisses. Gary’s behavior is beginning to cross the line, and it’s uncomfortable to watch.
“Stop!” she told him. “Ugh, why would you do that?”
“Because it got you in a good mood. Look at you. Now you’re smiling and laughing.”
“So inappropriate,” she told him, not realizing that Colin was listening to every word from the control room just around the corner. Thank goodness the chief engineer is more level-headed than the first mate.
“Gary is a desperate man,” he commented. “His ego feels attacked if he doesn’t have female attention. And now that I’m in the thick of it, it’s a bit of a sh*t situation to be in.”
A rainbow flag dinner
Speaking of inappropriate behavior, Chase walked into the galley in his pink cowboy hat and greeted Ileisha. “Howdy, miss,” he said. “Wanna save a horse and ride a cowboy?” He just never stops. Fortunately, the chef didn’t see him as a threat, but I find him really annoying.
Mads and Lucy were decorating the sundeck for the Pride party later that evening. And guess what? The Pride flag they were hanging actually had seven colors. A turquoise stripe was inserted between the blue and the purple. I hope Ileisha has some turquoise food planned.
Staying with the rainbow theme, Daisy planned to have each server dress in a color from the flag to match the food. She also asked Gary if he’d do a fan dance.
When the guests came to the table, the whole decked was strewn with rainbow decor, and the guests themselves looked fabulous in their rainbow-themed outfits.
During dinner, Daisy went to visit Colin in the control room. She noticed he was out of sorts. “Are you mad at me?” she asked him. “Or is this about Gary?”
“If you ever told him that you have feelings for me,” he answered, “that would maybe make him back off a little bit.”
“He can clearly see that we’re hooking up,” Daisy said.
“But he’s an idiot,” Colin said. He’s not wrong.
Gary gets a taste of his own medicine
After the dinner was cleared away, the entire crew, including Glenn, paraded up to the sundeck in Pride regalia. “The boys have prepared a fan dance,” Daisy announced.
Gary and Chase really put their hearts into it, and it was hilarious. “If I had dollar bills, I’d make it rain,” shouted one of the guests.
As the guests walked down the stairs toward their cabins, they were laughing about feathers being everywhere. “Did you have a great night?” Lucy asked them.
“We had a terrible time, obviously,” they answered sarcastically. “It was the worst.”
In the boys’ cabin, Colin asked Gary if he was going to hook up with Mads tomorrow night. But then he (accidentally on purpose) dropped the bomb that Mads had shared a “three-way kiss” in the van with Lucy and Alex the other night on the way to dinner. “Do you think she likes Alex?” Colin asked, feigning innocence.
“No way! Did she hook up with Alex in the van?” Gary erupted. “Why didn’t she tell me that? What the f*ck is going on, dude?”
“Oh, it’s too good,” Colin interviewed. “I think Gary needs a taste of his own medicine here because he gets away with everything. So maybe this is karma. This is how it feels.” And he had a good chuckle about it.
Last day of the charter
“How was your night?” Chase asked Alex the next morning.
“Good. This was my magnum opus,” Alex answered. “There were feathers and glitter all over everything.” Alex was on the night shift, so he’d been cleaning all night, while everyone else was sleeping.
Too soon it was time to say goodbye to the guests. These have been lovely guests, and so much fun, even though their preference sheet had seemed to indicate they could be high maintenance. I hope they were happy with their Pride dinner and their party. They really seemed to enjoy it.
“You guys are each family now,” said a guest, as he handed every crew member a tiny Pride flag.
“Absolutely amazing and wonderful,” added Bryan. “I mean, I expected, of course, to have an amazing time, but I didn’t really expect to be embraced by the Parsifal III crew.”
Getting emotional, he added, “I was able to expand our Pride family with you joining us in our celebration. That is a priceless gift that you have given us.”
“Well, we’re happy to be a part of it,” Glenn told him.
“I want to leave this gift for you,” Bryan finished, handing the tip envelope to Glenn. And off they went.
A tip meeting bombshell
Later that afternoon, Glenn called everyone to the salon for the tip meeting. “That charter was a blast,” Glenn told them, as they sat down. “I’m proud of you guys. I’m proud of everybody … I was proud to watch you guys operating like a well-oiled machine.”
“Pride is about including, acceptance and equality. And I think these guests felt our team spirit as we all celebrated together. That feeling is definitely represented in the tip.” That’s good news. Show me the money, Glenn!
After asking for a drumroll, Glenn happily announced that the tip was $30,000 US. “I’m pretty sure this is the biggest tip we’ve ever received,” Daisy said. Everyone was ecstatic.
“We’re gettin’ lit!” Chase shouted.
“But …” Captain Glenn added ominously, “I hate to announce this. We pick up the next charter tomorrow.” So no night out then? And Chase was so excited.
“I was really looking forward to a night out,” Gary interviewed, “so I could actually just chat to Mads about how I feel. And now I can’t because now it’s get the boat ready and f*cking start charter tomorrow.”
“I can’t let all the hard work go unappreciated,” Glenn added, “so in place of going off the boat tonight for a night out, I’m bringing in a chef from a local restaurant called Frauday’s, and we’re going to start with hors d’oeuvres up on the flybridge at 7:30.”
“Here’s to the best team ever,” Glenn added, as he raised his champagne glass in salute. “And [to] the best charter tip. Well done, guys!”
The final charter preference sheet meeting
Late in the afternoon, Captain Glenn called for Daisy, Gary and Ileisha to meet him in the crew mess for the preference sheet meeting.
“Todd runs a wildly successful travel company,” Gary began reading, “and is looking forward to sunbathing under the sails with his boyfriend Grant, mother Debra and his friends. Brad is Ray’s husband. Nick is Brad and Ray’s boyfriend. This trio are a throuple who live, travel and share everything together.” Hmm, I wonder how the sleeping arrangements will work. Is one of the throuple going to have to share the other twin cabin with Mom?
Interestingly enough, Glenn had never heard of a throuple. “So it’s not a menage-a-trois for an evening? It’s a relationship thing?” he asked. You learn something new every day, Glenn.
“He’s just the garnish on top,” Gary clarified.
“Are you gonna be a garnish for me and Colin?” Daisy quipped. Inappropriate, Daisy! I don’t think Colin would find that funny.
“On night one the guests request a ‘Glamazon’ theme party, which is a mix of exotic, jungle and glam,” Daisy continued reading. “[On day two], they want to have an ABC theme party, and they expect all the yacht crew to participate.”
“What’s an ABC party?” Ileisha asked. Glenn explained that it meant, “Anything but clothes.”
“How do you know that?!” Daisy demanded.
“I have another side you’re not privy to,” Glenn said with a wicked smile.
“I’m an ABC party virgin,” Glenn admitted, “but I’ve been naked in front of other people before, just chilling out on the boat.” Ewwwww. Sorry, just not my thing. No thanks.
“I’ll be remaining fully clothed,” Glenn clarified.
Gary and Daisy chat
“I’m gonna miss you when it’s over, Dais,” Gary told the chief stew, as they enjoyed a drink together. “I told you from the beginning that I wanted to explore what would happen between us, but then I came onto the boat and heard you’d already hooked up with someone.” He never stops trying.
“I just can’t deal with this,” Daisy muttered. “Colin’s not going to be happy [with] the way we interact. We probably should stop flirting.”
“But it’s who I am,” Gary insisted. “He knows that. It’s not like I’m trying to … Actually, let me just stop talking.”
As everyone gathered for dinner on the flybridge, Alex and Mads were finally talking. “Things could have gone very differently,” he told her.
“I’m a believer in no regrets,” Mads responded.
As everyone was seated and the beautiful canapés began arriving, Chase made a toast, “Cheers to the fact that we’re all really different, but we come together for a common goal, and we f*cking crush it.”
Later in the crew mess, Gary and Daisy got into it again. “I’m going to stop flirting with you because Colin’s going to get angry,” the first mate said.
“I am with Colin,” she finally told Gary.
“I’m with Mads,” Gary snapped back. Um, no you’re not. “Are we with these people to try and get back at one another?” Let it go, Gary.
“Absolutely not,” Daisy said, walking away from him. “Why would you say that? It’s so f*cking inappropriate.”
Hot tub on a school night?
Rejoining the rest of the crew on the flybridge, Daisy wanted everyone to put on their swimsuits and go into the hot tub. But instead, everyone stepped over the railing and jumped into the sea.
Back in the crew mess, Chase wanted to do a “trust-building” exercise with Gary. “I swear to God, I will catch you,” he promised. So Gary jumped sideways like a baby dolphin, and Chase totally let him hit the floor. Hard. The rest of the crew laughed hilariously. So much for trust.
“You committed so hard,” Chase laughed.
“Nobody’s drinking anymore,” Daisy announced. “We are picking up charter in the morning.”
Alex caught Mads sneaking into Gary’s cabin. “Goodnight,” he told her sweetly.
She just laughed and said, “F*ck off, Alex,” as she climbed into bed with Gary.
“Why does this feel so good?” he asked her.
“Cause we’re drunk,” Mads answered. Exactly.
Meanwhile, Daisy and Colin carried a pillow and comforters up to the sundeck for some privacy, since the guest cabins needed to be ready for the next day.
Once everyone had finished their sexy business, they all returned to their respective cabins. “Ugh,” Colin complained, “it smells like sex in here.”
The final pickup day
The next morning, Glenn woke up at 7:30, just a few hours before the charter guests were to arrive. When he walked out of his cabin, he found the mess his crew had left from the night before. “Oh, man,” he said. “We’ve got charter in a few hours, and the boat’s a mess.”
“Last night was a school night,” he went on. “They know the drill, but they probably had a couple too many. Come on, guys.” Glenn walked around picking up after his crew, who were still sound asleep. Go wake them up, Glenn!
“Even though this is the last charter,” he added, “it doesn’t mean we can drop our guard. Not cool.”
Finally, he went to the crew quarters and started knocking on doors. “You guys, it’s eight o’clock,” he said. “We’re picking up in three hours. There’s a lot of sh*t to clean up.”
Or as Gary would say, “Wakey, wakey, eggs and bacy.”
TELL US – DO YOU THINK ALL THE CREW WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE CLOTHING-OPTIONAL PARTY? WHO DO YOU THINK DAISY WILL END UP WITH AT THE END OF THE SEASON, COLIN OR GARY?
