Welcome back to Below Deck Season 11, Episode 16. In this week’s episode, titled “Salt in Chef’s Wounds,” Ben resents Captain Kerry’s “micromanaging” and wishes he’d just “chill out” for the last charter. The crew is tired, but they still have to finish the season strong. The last straw is when Ben disregards a pre-announced cabin inspection, and the Captain feels blatantly disrespected. Here are some of the highlights from Below Deck Season 11, Episode 16.
Ben thinks the captain’s nitpicking
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It’s the final charter of the season. Captain Kerry does a walkthrough with Fraser to make sure everything’s perfect for the guests. Fraser and his interior crew pass with flying colors.
Ben, not so much. When Kerry does his walkaround with the Bosun, he finds small things that need attention: a drain that wasn’t cleaned properly, a hose haphazardly tossed into a corner rather than wound up neatly, a wave runner encrusted with salt that wasn’t rinsed thoroughly enough. Ben’s not happy. He thinks the Captain is being “nitpicky.”
“Captain Kerry’s got his knickers in a knot,” he says. “It’s the last charter. I’m just like, ‘C’mon, Cap, chill out.’ I feel like I have to bite my tongue right till the end and just say, ‘Yes, sir, let’s just get on with it.’ It’s a bit annoying. He’s just micromanaging galore. I’m sick of it.”
You know who’s annoying? Ben. Why shouldn’t everything be as sharp and clean for the last charter guests as they were for the first? Aren’t they paying the same amount of money? Ben’s a piece of work.
Ben gets sloppy
After the guests arrive and the boat reaches the planned anchorage, Captain radios the deck crew. “Standy by, two shots, four on deck.”
Sunny radios back, “Four shackles at the waterline.” That’s not what he said.
“I said, ‘Four on deck,’ but that’ll be fine,” Captain responds.
Ben’s all, “Whatever,” but Kerry tells us that there’s a reason why he gives the orders he does. It’s not just random numbers. “The shackle on deck may save us when [the boat] swing[s] from hitting a reef,” he explains.
Ben thinks the captain is being picky. “It’s the last charter,” he says. “We’ve done so well so far. Let us cruise into the end of the season … It doesn’t matter.” Maybe not to him, but he’s not the boss, is he?
As the guests head in for lunch, Kerry’s making another round of the boat. He radios Ben that the jacuzzi is not hot.
Ben responds, “Kyle’s on it. I’ll come check it for now.”
Kerry adds that he’s “dropping these umbrellas” on the sun deck cause the breeze is too much for them. “At 20 knots, we should have these things down,” he says. He already told Ben about that before they left the dock, but Ben ignored him.
Sunny wants a real man
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Sunny’s talking to Dylan in the crew mess about what they’re going to do after the season is over. He wants to know if she and Ben will be together. She says she’d like to see Ben, but she’s still got her guard up. Their relationship has been so up and down she doesn’t want to get her hopes up.
“We all know this thing about boat-mances,” Sunny interviews, “how they don’t really transfer well in the real world. I’m honestly a little bit nervous about that … I’m looking for someone to love, and I want a man. I don’t want a little boy. I want a dominant man who knows what he wants, respects his woman, and treats her right. You know, treat your woman like you’d like to see your dad treat your mother.”
Then Ben’s not the guy for you, in the long run, Sunny. We know Ben only cares about Ben. He can’t even do his job without whining about it.
Kerry’s not a happy captain
Captain Kerry’s on the prowl and finds the yoga mats and pillows on the deck from the reiki session. Why didn’t anyone pick those up?
Kerry finds Dylan and Sunny in the crew mess and tells them, “The flybridge … is messy right now. We don’t eat when the guest areas haven’t been cleared.”
“100 percent,” responds Dylan, as they both hurry to take care of the oversight.
“Oh, God,” Sunny complains. “Nice way to end the charter season.” Charter season’s not over yet, babe. You have to do your job until the last day.
Next, Kerry finds Ben and Kyle chatting in the tender. He tells them about the situation on the flybridge and scolds, “You can’t leave guest areas messy.”
“I’m f*cking speechless,” he interviews. “It’s not the first day. They know what’s expected of them … Why aren’t you doing your job?” I’ll give you one guess, Cap, and it starts with a “B.”
“This is ridiculous,” he continues. “What the f*ck is going on? I’m pissed … We’re falling apart.”
Meanwhile, Ben is complaining that Captain Kerry thinks he’s in the military. “It’s not the military, mate,” Ben interviews. “It’s a bloody super yacht. I’m sick of it.”
The next morning, Kerry announces that there will be “cabin inspections” at 6:00 pm tonight. “Make sure everything is in order,” he warns.
“We have standards to be upheld throughout the boat,” Kerry interviews. “Standards of cleanliness, tidiness, and we are due to [make] cabin inspections. Make sure there are no fire hazards … It’s part of health and safety.”
“I don’t care if it’s the last two days of the charter,” he adds. “You’re only as good as your last day. No excuses.”
Beach brûlée bingo
Paris still has issues with Chef Nick. He forgot to bring aluminum foil to help keep the food hot. “I’m gonna make a list the next time,” he says. Good idea.
“He’s almost 40,” Paris interviews, “and someone needs to pack his lunchbox … He’s just so unorganized and useless.” But they love his food, except for the primary who can’t stand a grain of salt.
“He stresses you out, doesn’t he?” Ben asks her. “You’ve got that look in your eye like you’re about to kill him.”
“I’m a perfectionist,” Paris interviews. “I will spend hours getting it right. Chef is a bit lazy. He doesn’t really care about the way it looks, what time it comes out. He’s just a dipsh*t.” What did Chef ever do to you, Paris? Stay in your lane, girl.
One of the guests turns down dessert, so she sends her crème brûlée back, telling Paris, “You can eat it.” There was also an extra, so Sunny and Paris gobble them up.
Sadly, one of the guests then asks Fraser, “She sent her crème brûlée back. Is it still there?” Uh oh.
Fraser whips his head around and says, “Let me check.”
When he returns to Sunny and Paris, he says, “Guys, this is why we don’t do this. Primary wants a crème brûlée, and we haven’t got one.”
“Oh, f*ck!” mutters Paris. “She said I could eat it!”
Paris goes back to the table, points at the lady who sent back her dessert, and announces, “You said I could eat it!” Everybody laughs.
“I did, I did!” the guest laughs. “I said, ‘You should have it.’”
“And I ate it,” Paris tells them, laughing. “And now I’m getting scolded.” Paris apologizes, but they’re all very understanding about the mixup.
Cabin inspections
Everyone’s having a little bit of a freakout about the cabin inspections. Xandi says she doesn’t even have time to brush her hair, let alone clean her toilet.
“As a yachtie,” Fraser says, “cabin checks can be weekly, they can be twice a month, they can be monthly. But they do happen, and they’re very important. They show just how much you respect your vessel. So, stay tidy and just have some decorum, you swines.”
Fraser’s bunk looks like you could bounce a quarter off of it, by the way. Was he in the military?
At six o’clock, Kerry heads down to the crew cabins to do his inspection. Everyone does fairly well (Fraser got a 10) until he opens the door to Kyle and Ben’s cabin. It’s obvious they made zero effort to straighten up.
“Whoa, what the hell’s going on in here?” the Captain asks. There are piles of clothes everywhere, beds aren’t made. It’s a sty.
“No attempt to make it clean,” Kerry interviews. “It’s like a bomb’s gone off.” There’s crap lying everywhere, and their bathroom is disgusting. It’s a total bachelor pad, and I’ve seen a few.
“It’s disrespectful,” he continues. “I’m f*cking beside myself. I’m very old school. There is hierarchy. You don’t have to understand why a superior makes a decision, you’ve just got to do what you’re asked to do. There’s no bigger f*ck you to a captain than to go against what he says.” He’s royally pissed.
Ben and Kyle are in trouble
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“Ben, Ben, Kerry,” he radios. “I want you and Kyle to come up to the bridge now.”
“All right, let’s face the music, man,” Kyle says. “Let’s see what we’ve done.” Or in this case, what they haven’t done.
Watching them go, Dylan tells Sunny, “I wonder what the Captain’s gonna tell them? That they’re disrespectful?”
“Um hmm,” Sunny nods her head. Dylan’s hit the nail on the head.
As Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum plop themselves onto the couch on the bridge, Captain asks, “Did you guys not take seriously inspection today?”
“We were just working,” Ben explains. Actually, they were just f*cking around in the laz, pretending to work.
Captain’s upset that their cabin wasn’t just a little messy. “It’s just f*cking rude,” he says. “Every single person on this boat went to their cabin … You’re the f*cking bosun, mate. It’s blatant disrespect.”
“I’ve shown both you guys respect,” Kerry adds. “I’ve been out there f*cking busting my f*cking ass to help you guys out. And this is the way you say f*cking thank you?” You can almost see the steam coming out of his ears. He’s really angry at their total disregard. He’s boiling mad.
“It’s a huge slap in the face,” he interviews. “I’m beyond words.”
Rather than looking the least bit apologetic, Ben can only smirk. What a tool. It’s too bad it’s too late in the season to fire him.
Below Deck, Season 11 continues Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo.
