Welcome to the Below Deck Mediterranean Season 9, Episode 2! In this week’s episode, called “Sneak, Sip, and Sink,” Elena and the crew learn to “never wake the chef.” Captain Sandy sends Joe and Nathan over to a neighboring superyacht to see if they can beg, borrow, or steal some rosé since the provisioner still hasn’t come through. Following a talk at the dinner table about fidelity and cheating in the yachting industry, Nathan and Gael (who has a boyfriend) sneak off in search of “a few wee strawberries” back on the boat. Here are some of the highlights from Below Deck Mediterranean Season 9, Episode 2.
Never wake the chef
Last week the guests were drinking and wanted midnight snacks. Overwhelmed and under-experienced, Elena attempted to wake the chef to help her, but he refused. He’d just spent close to 18 hours in the galley and needed his rest. He has to get up at 6:00 for breakfast, so no.
Deckhand Gael is on the overnight shift, so she volunteers to make grilled cheese while Elena makes the drinks. One of the guests also comes down to help.
Finally, the guests have their drinks and sandwiches, so everyone’s happy. I just hope they clean up the galley. Chef will not be pleased to find a mess when he needs to prepare breakfast.
At last, Elena gets to bed at 6:30, just as the rest of the crew is getting up for the day. Jono’s proud of himself for standing firm and refusing to cave to pressure.
When Aesha says hello to Jono, he tells her what happened last night. “Ellie came in,” he says. “She asked for mac and cheese, and I said, ‘No, I’m sorry, I can’t … I was waking up this morning at 6:00. I couldn’t.”
Aesha reminds him that “late-night snacks” were specifically requested on their preference sheets. In a flashback to the preference meeting, Jono says, “If there’s any, like, cooked snacks, I’ll take care of it.” Whoops. Busted! Aesha suggests that, in the future, he could prep something in advance for Elena to warm and serve.
As for Elena not getting to bed until 6:30 am, “[A stew] should never be to bed more than an hour after the guests,” Aesha says in a confessional. “If she’s with them the whole time, she’s getting nothing done.” She’s cautiously hopeful that, with time, Ellie will keep learning and improving.
Still no rosé
Captain Sandy and Aesha are both texting with the provisioner to see if they can get some wine. The provisioner says he can get it to them “later this evening,” which is totally unacceptable. Are these people supposed to be professionals? They don’t seem to understand the urgency of the situation.
Sandy calls Jono to the bridge and says she heard there was an issue last night with the guests wanting late-night food. “I’m gonna address that in the meeting,” she says. “When you go to bed, you’re down.” It’s okay to wake the chef if he just went down or if he’s on a break. But if he’s been asleep for a while, it’s forbidden. She also suggests that he prepare snacks in advance for the night stew.
Meanwhile, Sandy gets a text from the inept provisioner. “Do you still want the wine delivery at 5pm today?”
“That’s too late!” she texts back. “Our charter is over in 3 hours.” Under her breath, she mutters, “They’re f*cking fired.”
Excuse me, neighbor, do you have any gray poupon rosé?
It’s the guests’ last lunch, and they specifically asked for rosé for lunch. Sandy suggests they send someone to the big superyacht that’s anchored behind them and beg “nicely” for four bottles. It’s worth a try. Iain sends Joe over to try to charm the other boat out of some wine. It’s the yachting version of borrowing a cup of sugar.
Sandy tells Joe, “Meet me on the bridge, and I’ll give you some money.”
Joe pulls up to the side of the yacht and addresses the officers looking over the side, “We need four bottles of rosé. What do we need to do to get that from you? Name a price, we’ll put it in your pocket.”
When the captain quotes not less than €75 a bottle, Joe responds, “What if I see the brand, and it’s no more than 20 quid?”
“If you’re interested, okay,” the captain answers. “Otherwise, we’re gonna take off here in a minute.”
Finally, Joe accepts the deal, hands over the money, and shakes hands with the captain, who looks kind of familiar. Is Captain Lee moonlighting on the Greek Islands?
The end of a chaotic charter
Bri’s struggling with the laundry. One of the guests is missing some articles of clothing, and the third stew hasn’t been able to find them. Ellie makes a point of letting Aesha know (tattle tale), but the chief stew is working on being positive. She doesn’t want to be endlessly nagging, so she tries to compliment where she can to build confidence in her two green stews.
Despite all the provisioning struggles, the guests are cheerful as they disembark. The primary especially praises Jono’s food and shakes his hand in appreciation. He admits they were disappointed in the lack of provisions and “a few clothes went missing when they went for a press,” but they had an “amazing” time otherwise.
At the tip meeting, Sandy tells them, “It’s easy to do a good job when things are going your way. When they’re not, and you still show up … that’s what people look for in character.”
After congratulating the deck crew (“good job”) and Aesha for “leading with kindness,” Sandy adds, “Never wake the chef.” She explains the plan for Jono to make paninis ahead of time, which the late-night stew can heat in the panini maker.
“No, Captain,” Ellie interrupts. Uh oh, don’t do it. But she does. “It wasn’t just the paninis. It was a whole thing, that’s why I woke the chef.”
“Never wake the chef,” Sandy reiterates. “Maybe on big boats, cause they have more than one chef.” But not here. Got it?
The tip is €13,000 ($15,000), $1250 per person. Not bad for a short charter where nothing seemed to go right.
Jono extends an olive branch
Heading back to work, Jono tells Ellie, “Just know not to wake me up ever again.” But graciously, he adds, “The lesson is that I will prepare stuff ’cause I’m empathetic that you were under a crazy situation, and I don’t want that to happen to you ever again.”
That was very kind of him, but of course, Ellie doesn’t take it that way. I can see she’s going to hold a grudge and make trouble for herself.
As predicted, she’s upset that she didn’t get any sympathy. “What about the fact that I was up for 25 hours? It was all about waking up the chef!” Bri tries to comfort her, but she pushes her away. Maybe she’s just tired from being up all night and getting too little sleep, but she’s losing her sh*t.
And she just can’t let it go. “I feel like Jono has affected the captain’s perception of who I am,” she interviews. “It’s not Captain Sandy who’s making me upset. It’s Jono who’s making me upset.” She needs to just get over it, or she’s gonna find herself on a tender back to the dock.
Nathan wants “a few wee strawberries”
On the first crew night out, Gael walks out in street clothes, makeup, and her hair in waves. She’s stunning, and Nathan’s drooling.
“Gael?! Holy f*cking sh*t, she’s attractive,” Nathan interviews. “She has a boyfriend. But I owe no loyalty to anyone.”
At dinner, Joe and Nathan tell Gael, “We’ve got a bromance.”
Gael says, “I think I’ve got a bromance with you two also … I’m a rose between two thorns.”
Aesha and Gael have an in-depth conversation about how hard it is to have a relationship in the yachting industry. “We’ve just got to see how it goes,” Gael says.
“Interesting to say the least,” comments Nathan, who views Gael as a challenge.
When they return to the boat, Nathan asks Gael, “Are you gonna keep me company?” She agrees, but the cameras are following them, so they return to their respective cabins.
As he’s getting ready for bed, Gael texts Nathan, “For the record, keep your eye on me.”
“Where should we meet that has no cameras?” he texts back.
“The starboard bow locker has no cameras,” she responds. “Let’s go there … Tell me when you get there and if you get caught.”
“All this for a few wee strawberries,” he texts back.
“Maybe I like him, like a little tiny bit,” Gael interviews. “Maybe I just want to hang out with him. I’m not harmin’ anyone.”
When she gets Nathan’s “All clear,” up the stairs she goes to meet him in the storage locker. How romantic.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Below Deck Mediterranean airs Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo.
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE BELOW DECK MED SEASON 9, EPISODE 2? DO YOU THINK NATHAN WILL BREAK GAEL’S HEART?
