We’re back on Below Deck Sailing Yacht after a tiny breaky-break with a sore finger holding us back, what will happen tonight? Find out after the break in my recap of Below Deck Sailing Yacht S3:E09 Tensions High, Patience Low!
It’s always about the heel, right? Captain Glenn Shephard has the Parsifal III just about on its side; we’ve got things sliding all over and the belt snapped on the sliding doors to the salon. First Mate Gary King got his fingers in between the doors while they were manually closing them and he’s in his bunk screaming like a little girl. A little girl with a smashed finger, so no shame there.
He takes some painkillers and heads back to work; they’re down a deckie so there’s no time for slacking. Gary’s in so much pain that he’s short-tempered with his one remaining deckie Kelsie Golgia, that ain’t right.
Everything else continues apace as though we aren’t sideways in the middle of the ocean; Chief Steward Daisy Kelliher checks on Gary while Second Steward Gabriela Barragan serves up drinkies to our charter guests. She dropped an entire tray of champagne right before guest arrival so she’s totally in her head.
They set anchor in Cala En Porter, Menorca, Gabriela tentatively approaching Chef Marcos Spaziani in the galley before supper. She went right for him last crew night out, calling him a self-centered narcissist who made everything about him. He flipped her off and basically called her a binge-drinking psycho so things could be a little tense!
She doesn’t actually apologize to him, though. She talks around the edges of it; essentially blaming her disappointing (to her) behaviour on working / living in close quarters with people. Marcos shrugs it off, she’s not apologizing so he doesn’t care, telling her to work on herself.
She cries after.
Also: she didn’t get much sleep and she’s hungover AF, maybe just try to focus on work and not try to solve all the things you feel bad about in this condition, on charter.
Captain Glenn examines Gary’s finger, it’s alright. It’s sore and he’ll lose the fingernail but it will be fine. Gary looks as though he would have liked maybe a LITTLE more coddling than that.
Third Steward Ashley Marti watches her crush and her boss flirt in the kitchen; they just need to bang it out and get it over with! Daisy insists she wouldn’t even hate-hump Gary and yes she would and no, self-loathing isn’t the same.
Captain Glenn is really on about Gary heating up a needle and driving it into the centre of Gary’s finger to relieve the pressure; Gary is down for no much self-mutilation. Chief Engineer Colin MacRae is down to help/watch because that’s his idea of a good time, that and stirring up drama between fellow crew members.
Much screaming ensues below deck followed by lots of blood all over the crew mess table. Gary is amazed, Captain Glenn was right, it feels awesome!
*Blood all over the table*herk*
I love that the Bravo producers did a great juxtaposition between the luxury of bored guests sitting at a beautifully decorated table trying to decide what to do next while the yachties heat up needles and jam them into their fingers on their considerably less decorated table below deck. And then get back upstairs to work on the guest ‘experience.’
This means Captain Glenn is doing Gary’s First Mate job, but before we know it Marcos has a tonne of food ready to come up; vegan food is his gift to the world.
I mean. I guess you don’t get to choose your gift…
The guests love their beautifully-plated dinner; the vegan food looks so amazing even the carnivores are drooling. They play some parlour games and are in bed before midnight woooo. These are my kind of guests!
Gabriela is working late shift, but she can keep Ashley up if she needs to. She doesn’t, sending Ashley to bed but there was probably nothing she could have done that would have pleased Ashley. Ashley haaaaaates Gabriela, remember, which is why it’s so mystifying that Gabriela chose to confide in Ashley about how uncomfortable she was on the ship.
It’s 6:00 am, is this the last day of charter? I love last day of charter! But maybe they’re still staying for a bit, since Captain Glenn is heading for protected waters for kayaking and other water toy use.
Gary suggests an impromptu picnic for the guests at a little inlet where they can swim safely; tension surfaces in the galley between Gabriela and Marcos again. I don’t know if Gabriela is aware that she is the Marvin Hagler of yachting; she only moves forward. She can only be in charge, she doesn’t seem able to follow or let someone else lead. That may be admirable in some situations but when there isn’t a clear chain of command (or even when there is like with Ashley), diplomacy and teamwork will get you much much further ahead.
Gabriela heads to the beach with the guests, a bag full of booze and a fruit tray. Ashley goes on break but uses the opportunity of her superior being offship to tattletale to Daisy about what Gabriela confessed to her while hungover.
Daisy is concerned but doesn’t take the bait, she’s not comfortable talking to Ashley about Gabriela without both being present.
Did we mention that a lot of the reason Ashley hates Gabriela is that Ashley keeps trying to sleep with Gary and he’s been preferring to share his bed with Gabriela instead?
Although he really likes Daisy.
Yachting is complicated.
Marcos’ food is so gooooooooood. Colin can’t believe his fried tofu, he’s a magician!
The guests again go to bed before midnight, this time around 11:00 pm! They’re basically me, but rich and tiny and on a yacht. So same same.
Gabriela is trying to be friendly to Ashley but Ashley haaaaaates her and Gabriela is frustrated so talks to Kelsie about it. She’s sensing the negative undercurrent with the rest of the crew, no doubt because Ashley is going around repeating what she said about not drinking with the crew any longer because she doesn’t trust anyone.
Gabriela…is a complex individual, as we all are, she’s just having a bit of an implosion right now as lots of people working in close quarters do. She just needs a little breaky break. Kelsie gives her great advice; fresh start, move forward and don’t dwell on the negative.
Will she find her peace?
Finally, today is last day of charter! Wooooo! Captain Glenn works on finding a way to sail before the guests leave; Daisy is worried about serving a full breakfast then clearing and stowing in time for a full sail but Captain Glenn is DETERMINED. Our heel is going to be 13 knots!
The guest looooove the sailing and it is very beautiful and majestic if you don’t listen to all the things breaking inside the Parsifal III that the crew wasn’t given time to stow.
They make a big deal out of it, but really it’s over in a matter of minutes, the guests are happy and it’s time to send this lovely group packing.
One smooth docking later, show us the tip!!! Oooh it looks big! Let’s pretend to clean the boat while we wait to find out just how big…
It is $20,000 which means $2,500 each wooooooo! That’s an awesome tip!
Currently we only have two crew members on deck with one Colin they can borrow; will they hire another deckie for next charter? Yes! There will be a deckie coming for next charter AND they get a day off the next day yay!
Gabriela is very much looking forward to this reset, she has a lovely chat with Daisy in cabins and I have high hopes that she can move forward with positivity.
And with that, we’re oot! Wooooo! Enjoy your summer, peeps!
