The deck team on Season 3 of Below Deck Down Under has weathered stormy seas so far, including deckhand Harry Van Vliet’s hand injury and a jet ski capsizing with a guest on board. But now bosun Wihan Du Toit is in hot water for how he’s managing his team.
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In Episode 8, Captain Jason Chambers asked deckhand Johnny Arvanitis to pick up the anchor, but the chain got stuck as it was coming out of the water. As Johnny tried to fix it, Wihan and deckhand Adair Werley were busy looking at photos of the guest excursion with tortoises on her phone. Although Harry asked why the anchor was taking such a long time, and if he should clean the sun deck again, Wihan and Adair continued to look at her phone, with Wihan commenting, “Wow, that’s gorgeous!” The whole thing was captured on CCTV — and seen in the bridge by Captain Jason.
“Just like, come on!” he exclaimed while watching them.
How did Captain Jason react to CCTV footage of the deck team standing around?
Captain Jason wasn’t pleased to see his bosun standing around looking at pictures on a phone as his deckhand struggled with the anchor chain.
“Are you kidding me? I can see everything on the CCTV,” Jason said in his confessional. “There’s no sense of urgency. We’re in a crowded anchorage. We’ve got swell coming in. I need all eyes on deck. It’s not acceptable.”
Jason scolded the deck team on the radio.
“Wihan! Come on, guys. Why are you standing around?” he exclaimed.
Although Wihan started to help, it wasn’t quick enough for Jason, who added on the radio, “I’m drifting! You’ve got me in the air.”
The anchor chain was fixed and sorted, but later on charter Jason saw another example of the deck team working less than efficiently when Adair came down to the crew mess to fill her and Wihan’s coffee cups.
“You’re on deck though,” Jason pointed out to Adair as she refilled the cups. “Are you on your break?”
“I’m not on a break,” Adair said, and Jason responded, “How can you have coffee when you’re working?”
Adair then gave the captain an explanation about how she was just refilling the coffee and heading back outside.
“You guys are missing the point. You’re on deck. Not on break,” Jason told her.
Although Adair was shocked she could only have coffee on break, Jason emphasized, “That’s what it’s about. That’s what’s called the real world.”
Jason expressed his frustrations to chief stewardess Lara Rigby, who overheard the exchange.
“They just don’t understand. It’s not a retreat. We’re here to work,” he said.
Captain Jason demands Wihan change his deck leadership style
Captain Jason called Wihan to the bridge for a talk after the charter guests departed.
“So, I need you to sharpen your team up,” he said. “Caught Adair down getting you and her coffee this morning. Like that’s the moment that I need you to step up and go, ‘Hey. No. No coffee. 7 o’clock, we’re on.’ Not teaching your team the right way is not a leader.”
Jason had a stern warning for Wihan.
“At the moment, I’m talking to you like a head of department,” he said. “Now, the next step is me actually going out there and being that hard guy, and you don’t want me to. Because then I’m actually talking to you like a deckhand. So, don’t get me in that position."
Jason then brought up the fact that Wihan sent Johnny on the guest beach trip instead of attending himself.
“It would have been nice for you to actually pencil that in and be there firsthand to know how it was done,” he told Wihan.
Captain Jason had another concern: negativity from Wihan.
“That’s gotta stop,” he warned Wihan. “That infection will spread like a wildfire. If it’s not sorted out, I’ll make changes.”
Although Wihan promised to adjust, he was caught on camera as he left the bridge saying to himself, “I don’t have time for this bulls—t.”
After the charter was over, Jason also meet with the heads of department: Lara, Wihan and head chef Tzarina Mace-Ralph.
“I know you’re working at 100 percent,” Jason said to Lara. “I can tell. We all know … I get it. When you see the deckhands standing around or getting another coffee — it’s starting to get me too.”
Jason left the three to chat. In addition to managing his deck team, don’t miss how Wihan is trying to manage his complicated love life now.
