Captain Jason Chambers has been keeping up with all the Below Deck franchise drama — and he has plenty of hot takes.
“I have been watching Below Deck Mediterranean for sure [since] Aesha [Scott] is on it. I don’t usually watch Med that much. I might just slip in and get some bites of it,” Jason exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting his partnership with J&J Vision Acuvue Oasys Max. “I don’t mind watching Sailing. I like watching Captain Glenn [Shephard] and I watch Captain Kerry [Titheradge] on Below Deck and I like watching [Chief Stew] Fraser [Olender] work. This season I’ve been watching all of the Med because Aesha is on it.”
Season 9 of Below Deck Mediterranean presented many obstacles for Captain Sandy Yawn, including issues with Chef Johnathan Shillingford. Jason explained to Us why he also sided with Johnathan, who refused to get up late at night to make food for the guests.
“One charter or two charters in, you just get up and get into it and then adjust afterwards. They made the right adjustment. I saw in later episodes that he was prepping some meals prior to going to bed so he made the adjustments; he seems like a good chef that way,” Jason noted. “He can easily adjust to what’s going on. He’s had some low periods but has learned to rise up to the event.”
While he understood why Sandy defended Johnathan, Jason admitted he would have gotten up to help with the request. Jason weighed in on Below Deck drama as well after Captain Kerry’s cabin checks in the most recent season raised questions about how necessary or standard those inspections were in the industry.
“It’s a monthly thing that has to be done. It’s a requirement from the official logbook. You have to just do a quick cabin check,” he explained. “The captain doesn’t have to do it but the first officer or someone has to do it.”
Jason pointed out that Kerry was doing a “monthly requirement,” adding, “You have to actually just look for general hygiene, cleanliness and that is what it is about.”
While reflecting on his experiences, Jason opened up about his approach to firing staffers — including on Below Deck Down Under.
“In the real world, we want to try and keep them and improve them to the point that they succeed. That makes us feel better as captains that we’ve actually accomplished what we’ve set out. But when it comes to these franchises, we do only have nine weeks. We don’t have a year or six months so we want to try to see a result.”
A shorter charter means less time to wait for someone to improve.
“If we as captains don’t see that result actually coming out at the end of nine weeks, we will make a decision. Because we want to see a success story,” he added. “We come to the boat and we don’t know the boat or the crew. We want to put that crew together and walk away with the best outcome..'”
With Below Deck Down Under coming back for a third season, Jason is excited to be back at the helm. That’s why Jason has partnered with J&J Vision Acuvue Oasys Max after watching himself struggle with his contacts (with Aesha assisting him) on the show. He has now been properly fit for a pair of contact lenses, been trained how to properly put in the lens and made this a part of his routine.
“It was a struggle. During season 1, I had my glasses for the first time. I’m 53 now and it was only in my late 40s that I started to wear glasses. I didn’t really think I needed them. I thought I was invincible there for a while,” he recalled. “Then I was doing season 1 and I just went, ‘I need glasses.’ So I started wearing glasses and I just couldn’t find them. I was leaving them on the bridge. I ended up buying three pairs of glasses for every boat that I worked on and the crew would just bring ’em back to the bridge.”
“I went into a local shop and then they just did a little test for two seconds. That’s when I had these contacts. I was never shown how to put them in and never really shown if they were the right contacts,” he continued. “I didn’t even know how to put them in and it was a struggle. After that, Acuvue reached out, and I went for an eye exam. I actually learned about eye health and learned how to put them in properly.”
Jason added: “I’ve had so many people message me saying, ‘I have the same problem.’ Now not only have I got the right understanding of eye health but I had the right contacts for me too.”
With reporting by Justin Ravitz
