Welcome back to Below Deck Sailing Yacht! Captain Glenn Shephard has been sailing the Parsifal III sailing yacht for 13 years. This season he’ll be sailing her in the azure waters of Sardinia, Italy. But will he actually be sailing her? Spoiler alert: probably not this week.
Meet The Season 4 Crew
Happy to be returning to the Parsifal, Daisy Kelliher is back for another season as Chief Stew. “I don’t feel like I’m a chief stew anymore,” Daisy told us. “I feel like I’m a life skills coach . . . All I do is just babysit.”
Also returning is First Mate Gary King, who claimed he has “no game” with women. From what I’ve been reading in the media, Gary had better find some game this season. At least if he wants to keep the flirtation going with Daisy.
Colin Macrae is also back as Chief Engineer. Colin’s pumped to be returning to the boat as a single man since he and his longtime girlfriend have split. “I’ve got nothing tying me down,” he said. “I haven’t been single in so long.” Colin came ready to mingle.
Bringing the culinary skills is Chef Ileisha Dell. “People would describe me as energetic [and] sensitive,” Ileisha offered. “I’m a chef. I’m a little crazy.” As long as she can wow the guests with her cooking, it’s all good.
Lucy Edmunds (nicknamed “Lucky”) is on board as a Steward (I guess we’re not calling them stewardesses anymore — too sexist?). She claimed that even though “Lucky” is her name, she doesn’t have any luck at all. She says, “I’m clumsy, which can be taken [as] unlucky.” I’ve never heard that particular equivocation before. Let’s just call a klutz a klutz, okay?
Joining the crew as a Deckhand is Chase Lemacks from South Carolina. His claim to fame is that people “either love me or hate me.” He admitted, “They just think I’m too high energy, extra, maybe crazy.”
Completing the Inside Crew is Madison (“Mads”) Herrera, who apparently came for the party, rather than to be a Steward. “I wouldn’t be opposed to screwing the crew,” Mads announced. “If we get some banter and you can make me laugh, we could probably end up having sex.” Her parents must be so proud.
The last member of the crew is Alex Propson, who signed on as a Deckhand. “Definitely not the peacekeeper,” Alex confessed. “I’m kind of the wild, chaotic, black sheep part of the family.” Alex came for “hot boy European summer.” He and Mads are going to make quite the pair.
Welcome Aboard, Crew! (Except Gary, Who Had Covid)
As each member of the crew arrived and greeted Captain Glenn, everyone seemed happy to be back aboard the Parsifal and looking forward to making some money over the next few weeks. Except for Gary, who had Covid and was still at home recovering. Captain Glenn was waiting for him to test negative so he could join the crew. “I don’t know when he’s coming,” the Captain complained. “It sucks massively.”
Meanwhile, Ileisha was wheeling her suitcase down the dock, wearing the same squishy rubber sandals that I have (only in white — mine are bright yellow). Those shoes are sooooo comfy!
As everyone got acquainted and settled into their tiny, windowless sleeping quarters (that’s the part right there I couldn’t do), Mads revealed, “I’ve been a yachtie for two years. The hardest part about it is the way I look.” Really? Not the endless hours making beds, cleaning toilets, and waiting hand and foot on rich assholes who think you’re only there to serve them? Okay.
“People think I’m going to be a bitch,” she continued. “But I swear, I’m a ray of f***ing sunshine.” Oh boy. I think Mads is going to be a piece of work. And of course, Mads already got one of the boys to deliver her suitcase to her cabin for her.
In order to avoid the drama that happened last year over the position of second and third stews, Daisy informed Mads and Lucy that they would both be “Junior Stews.” She stressed that they would be a team, before making shift assignments to each of the girls.
Since Gary was not yet on board to lead the deck crew, Captain Glenn asked Alex and Chase to walk around and get familiar with the boat. At the same time, they should make a list of things that needed to be done. Sadly, they haven’t figured out where any of the supplies were yet. I’d start by opening some of those cabinets and looking around.
As Chase said later in the show, “We’re a brand new deck team, and we’re supposed to pick up a charter tomorrow without our boss [Gary] on board. We’re not ready. I’m thinking we’re kind of f***ed.” Somebody’s got to step up and take charge. Who will it be?
One questionable advantage of watching this show live (I usually record and watch the next day sans commercials) is seeing the ads. Apparently, Captain Glenn got himself a fat contract with DoorDash. Nice.
Colin Steps Up To Lead The Deck Team But Gets Sidetracked By Engine Trouble
Following the crew meeting where Captain Glenn informed the group that Gary had Covid, he asked Colin to stay behind. Glenn asked Colin if he would step in to lead the deck crew in Gary’s absence, and Colin said, “I’ll do whatever it takes. I’m always willing to help out.” But he wasn’t sure he could fill Gary’s shoes, as the First Mate had over two years of experience already on Parsifal.
Uh-oh! Trouble in the engine room. Colin informed the Captain that the main engine won’t start. “Give me an hour,” Colin said, “and then I’ll tell you if it’s a state of emergency or not.”
“They just crossed the Atlantic to get [the boat] here,” Glenn commented. “The thing was running fine.” Colin went right to work figuring out the issue. In order to sail, they need to be able to get the boat off the dock, which requires an engine. As Glenn said, “People are chartering a boat . . . not a hotel. They want to go somewhere. If we can’t start the engine, we’re f***ed.”
Meanwhile, provisions had been delivered, so the crew got busy bringing everything on board, as Glenn called Daisy, Colin, and Ileisha to the dining area for the first preference sheet meeting of the season.
The first guests were eight women (Girls Trip!) with very specific requests regarding activities and dining. Daisy got to work planning sleeping accommodations for such a big party.
Out on deck, the boys muddled through without a leader, but they were satisfied with their work. Despite “not knowing where anything is,” they felt good about all they’d been able to accomplish. “This bitch is sparkling,” Chase pronounced.
Inside the boat, Daisy was happy with her new crew and praised “their initiative and their common sense. They’ll be Mini Daisy One and Mini Daisy Two by the end of the season.” Pleased with the shape of the Parsifal, Daisy decided they could stop for the night. Likewise, Captain Glenn told the deck crew they could “knock it on the head for today.” Cheers!
As the crew sat outside on the deck relaxing with a few beers, Alex unwound his man bun and let his long hair down. “You and Gary are going to have a hair competition,” Daisy teased. Eventually, Chase and Alex wandered down into the engine room to see if they could give Colin a hand with his repair work. Admirable of them to check on Colin, while everyone else was sitting around drinking beer. “Tomorrow, we’re not moving,” Colin direly predicted.
By 10:00 pm, Colin had finally narrowed down the problem as being in the engine itself, not electrical or gearbox related. Having had enough for one day, he told the boys, “Lets go to bed.”
The Captain came out to the deck to tell Daisy and the crew that the problem with the boat was the main engine. “We’re not going off the dock tomorrow,” he glumly announced. “So we’re gonna have to keep these guys entertained.” The guests are going to be very sad that they’ve paid a pretty penny chartering a boat that can’t go anywhere.
Though he claimed to be “devastated,” Chase saw the boat’s inability to leave the dock as a blessing in disguise. “I don’t have a first mate around to show us how to get on and off the dock,” he said. Good point. “All the deck team has to do on this charter is keep the boat clean and distract the guests with a little bit of a good time.”
After instructing them to “get some good rest tonight,” everybody went off to bed. No drunken carousing on night one!
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The Charter Guests Arrive
The next morning, the crew made last-minute preparations before the guests arrived. Colin regretted not being able to help out on deck as much as he’d have liked, since he was still working in the engine room. “I want to see these guys succeed,” he said. “Because if they succeed, then we all succeed.” The (hopefully) fat tip at the end of the charter gets split evenly among all the crew members.
In the boat’s cockpit, Captain Glenn was talking on the phone with Gary. “Hey, dude, how you doing?” Glenn asked.
“Yeah, not good,” Gary answered. “Got another positive result.” He was frustrated and didn’t understand why he couldn’t test clear, when he was feeling better. I miss Gary. He’s always the life of the party. Hopefully, he’ll be returning soon. Get well, Gary!
When the Captain radioed for the crew to get into their charter uniforms as the guests were 30 minutes away, everyone took a deep breath. Show time! “Hope they don’t try to hug us, bro,” Colin joked. “I smell like a yeti.”
As the guests walked down the dock toward the boat, the crew lined up in the cockpit, ready to greet them with cold towels and champagne. Welcome to the boat, ladies! We’re not going anywhere today.
“It’s not gonna be easy for Glenn to be the bearer of bad news,” Daisy narrated. “But it’s me who has to deal with the pressure to make the guests happy and have incredible memories. So the current plan is to keep their glasses topped up, their stomachs full and their memory short.”
Right before Daisy took them off on their tour of the boat, Glenn broke the news to the ladies about “a little problem with our main engine.” While assuring them the crew would figure it out, he sadly informed the guests, “I don’t think we’re going to be able to get off the dock today.” He did assure them that they would still do their best to entertain them. So that’s the bad news. Aaaaaaaand, here’s Daisy!
“Glenn, you’re breaking our hearts,” one of the ladies moaned. They recovered from their bad news quickly, though, as they toured the luxurious boat and checked out their plush cabins.
“When are we getting drunk?” one of the women asked. “Now,” answered her friend. Nice rebound, ladies. Smiles returned as Daisy brought out platters of macaroni and cheese truffle arancini bowls, followed by rib eye hors d’oeuvres with horseradish cream. Yum!
In the galley, Ileisha declared, “When you’re on a new boat, the first meal you cook has to look good, it has to taste good and you have to wow them. I know what everyone’s thinking. Is she a sh** chef? Is she amazing?”
“I might look young and small,” she continued, “but I’ve been cooking for 16 years. Don’t mess with me.”
Naughty Drunk Ladies
Glenn went up to the deck to see how the ladies were taking not being able to leave the dock. Even though the boat couldn’t go out, he offered a couple of options: they could go for a ride in the tender or they could “get out the toys” (aka the jet skis — good luck with that one since the deck crew hadn’t yet been trained on any of that equipment). He finally talked them into going out for a tender ride to enjoy the scenic beauty of the local area.
While he was hoping to be able to leave the dock tomorrow, he couldn’t be 100% sure. But he promised to give them updates as soon as he had more information.
When Glenn told Daisy the ladies wanted to go for a tender cruise, Daisy said, “Send Alex with them. He’s hot and the guests will love that eye candy.” She’s not wrong.
When the already inebriated ladies went out with Alex, they all flirted furiously with him. “Alex may be the hottest guy I’ve ever seen,” one of the guests commented. “I should’ve done more makeup.”
As the deckhand was handing out drinks to the women following their swim, one of the ladies expressed her appreciation. “Thank you, hotty-hots, for serving our drinks.” Oh my, these women were drunk. They were “grabbing each other’s boobs” drunk. At least they were having a good time.
When the tender full of guests arrived back at the dock, Captain Glenn innocently told them, “When you ladies are ready, we’ll get you off.” That line elicited a huge cackle.
“Off the boat!” Glenn clarified, laughing. Naughty drunk ladies! Meanwhile, Colin brought Captain Glenn some very bad news. “The engine’s full of water,” he reported. “I guarantee this boat’s not moving for a few days.”
While in the lounge, the guests were trying to pry an answer out of Daisy about whether they’d be able to sail the next day. Daisy dodged their questions with, “I have barely spoken to the engineers.”
As Colin explained it, “The after cooler is meant to cool down the air going into the engine using salt water. But there’s been a malfunction, and that salt water has ended up inside the engine, where there’s only meant to be pure, clean oil.” Bummer. That sounds bad.
Colin realized that it would be irresponsible of him to try to repair a huge issue like this alone. So he would be calling in the manufacturer of the engine to come and give him their opinion of what should be done. Glenn told him to get them here ASAP.
As the guests were seated at the table waiting to be served, one of them complimented her friend, “Karen, you look like Aphrodite.” To which Karen answered, “When I die, I’m going to come back as a man, so I don’t have to do any of this [hair and makeup]. I can just put on boxer shorts and be bald, and I’ll be like [makes a peace sign].” Karen’s my kind of girl. I like Karen.
For dinner, the ladies were served fresh local oysters in a “cabsab vinaigrette” (whatever that is), followed by lobster and shrimp ravioli with white truffle and beef filet with roasted garlic puree. Yum. But they were so drunk, I wonder if they could even taste any of it. One of the women actually ended up tilting over backward in her chair onto the deck.
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As the other women laughed, Chase and Alex ran to help her up. It was pretty funny, and thankfully she was unhurt. She chose another chair, but it happened again! Ass over teakettle, as they say. Get that poor woman a chair that doesn’t try to throw her off like a rodeo bronco. Her friends were laughing so hard they were crying. And so was she, so all good.
After dinner, the ladies had requested an “EDM Party” (EDM=Electronic Dance Music — I had to Google it), so the crew got all dolled up for them. The boys wore body paint and makeup, and the girls applied glitter tattoos and feathers, and they had multicolored flashing lights strobing on the sun deck. And of course, Alex was requested to take his shirt off. When one of the ladies asked if Alex would give her a lap dance, he pointed at Chase, “That’s your man, right over there.” And Chase was more than happy to comply. They’re workin’ for the money, honey.
Finally, Daisy took pity on poor Chase and sent him off to bed. I hope he showered first, cause he was a dirrrrrrty boy. And the guests went off to spill alcohol in the hot tub, before finally heading off to bed, leaving Alex to clean up all the mess.
The next morning the Caterpillar engine people arrived bright and early. The news was not good. The engine was full of seawater, so the only way to repair it was to disassemble the entire engine, clean out all the salt water and reassemble it. Basically, they had to rebuild the engine.
When Captain Glenn asked how long it would take to complete the repair, the engineers said, “About 15 days.” I actually gasped. Isn’t that like a third of their charter season?
“If it’s gonna take 15 days,” Glenn pronounced, “our season is finito. We’re done.”
Well, they must have found some way to speed up the repair job, because there were previews of things to come “this season on Below Deck Sailing Yacht.” Stay tuned.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK ALEX IS HOT? WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE CREW MEMBER? ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE GARY/DAISY/COLIN LOVE TRIANGLE?
[Photo by: Fred Jagueneau/Bravo]
