Below Deck fans across the world were devastated to learn that Captain Lee Rosbach is officially leaving the yacht St. David due to persistent mobility issues.
In Monday's episode of the show, the 73-year-old announced his departure after he was forced to use crutches after undergoing back surgery ahead of season 10.
The news came as a shock for viewers as the Bravo star has been a firm favorite ever since the first season kicked off in 2013, with the fans soon proclaiming him to be the ‘Stud of the Sea’.
Captain Lee Rosbach announced he was leaving the yacht St. David due to persistent mobility issues on Monday's episode of Below Deck
However, his departure from the series had long been rumored due to his ongoing health issues.
The great grandfather - whose No. 1 fan is Christina Applegate - was forced to use crutches to get around the vessel due to nerve damage he suffered after undergoing back surgery ahead of season 10.
'My injury, it's getting worse. The left side of my body, I don't feel anything. I expected a lot more progress than I'm experiencing, and the most frustrating part about it is, I can't do a godd*** thing about it, and it's hard,' Lee explained in a confessional.
'One of my biggest problems now is I'm not able to observe. I don't know who's doing what, it's my job. The pain's getting worse, not better. I owe it to my crew to do right by them. They expect that out of me.
'There comes a point if a captain is really being objective, he should be putting the best interests of his crew first because that's your primary responsibility. As soon as you step on board, check your f***ing ego at the dock. That's where you leave it.'
Rosbach - who has 43 years in the yachting industry - later confronted his crew about how 'hard it's been' and apologized for letting them down: 'So I've made a decision to leave the boat.'
After having appeared in nearly every episode since the show launched, Captain Lee has played a part in some of the most shocking moments in the show’s history.
Meanwhile he’s also provided plenty of hilarious moments thanks to his instantly iconic catchphrases in his confessionals.
From firing staff to kicking off at unruly guests, these moments are why the reality star will always be a Below Deck icon to viewers across the globe.
Season eight: Furious Captain Lee kicked guest Delores off the boat in the middle of the night
Captain Lee famously lost his cool after a guest named Delores jumped into the water after a dinner
The showdown happened only 12 hours into the charter, and it was enough for Captain Lee to decide that it was time to pull the plug on the trip
The drunk guest faced the captain's full wrath thanks to her dangerous antics
It took a lot to get Captain Lee really mad and one guest named Delores faced his full wrath thanks to her dangerous antics while drunk.
'I definitely had an inkling that she was gonna be more than a handful, Captain Lee recalled in the Below Deck After Show. 'I kind of got the sense from the rest of the guests that she was wearing thin on them as well, because she was definitely wearing thin on my ass.'
Delores was part of a group of middle-aged boat enthusiasts who had enjoyed quite a bit of the alcohol onboard My Seanna, at which point she thought it would be a good idea to go for a late-night swim after a Great Gatsby-themed dinner.
The issue with that decision was the fact that both the Captain and the chief stew had clearly instructed against that.
'Delores jumping in the water is the ultimate "F*** you" to the captain,' Captain Lee fumed in a confessional interview. 'She’s drunk. It’s dark. I don’t need somebody jeopardizing their own life on my watch.'
The showdown happened not even 12 hours into the charter and it was more than enough for Captain Lee to decide that it was time to pull the plug on the trip.
As he tried to convince Delores to get out of the water and told her 'Get your goddamn ass back to this boat — now', she defiantly shouted back: 'I have paid a lot of money.'
The captain explained how serious the situation was in a confessional, stating that 'jumping in the water is the ultimate "F*** you" to the captain'
A furious Captain Lee responded: ' I don’t give a s*** what you paid! Your charter just ended.'
He then told the rest of the guests who are still sitting at the dinner table that he was taking the boat back to the dock and ending the charter.
The captain explained how dangerous the situation was in a confessional as he stated: 'The Caribbean when it gets dark and once you get outside that moon that we cast just from the boat itself, anything goes wrong, we're never gonna find her.
He continued: 'She can be hollering, and she could be over there when actually she's over here. You have no sense of direction at all as to where sound is coming from. It's one of the most unsafe things I can think of.'
Season three: Unimpressed Captain loses all patience with Chef Leon Walker over a galley fire
Captain Lee was known to clash with staff, especially when they put their fellow crew and guests in danger
Chef Leon (left) was called up to speak with the captain after a galley fire and his flippant attitude immediately rubbed Captain Lee up the wrong way
The fact that Chef Leon seemed intent on avoiding any acceptance of blame did not impress the captain, and he was fired
Captain Lee was not a happy man when a galley fire occurred in season three.
The fire happened after Chief Stew Kate Chastain put a pizza in the oven, and a bag of popcorn in the microwave, for the crew's guests before going back upstairs to look after the group.
By the time stew Racquel 'Rocky' Dakota went down to check on the galley, there was smoke everywhere due to the fact the pizza was burning in the over and the popcorn was also burnt in the microwave.
Eddie Lucas jumped in to extinguish the fire, and Captain Lee got to work interrogating the whole crew to understand what went wrong.
It turned out that two greasy sheet pans had been left in the oven and were the sources of the fire.
When Chef Leon was called up to speak with the captain about the serious issues, he had a surprisingly flippant attitude which immediately rubbed Captain Lee up the wrong way.
The fact that Chef Leon seemed intent on avoiding any acceptance of blame did not impress the captain.
It was the final straw when Leon - who had also caused issues after rejecting food requests - then accused Kate of drinking on the job and Captain Lee told him to pack his bags.
Later on, the captain claimed the chef was the 'single most disruptive force' he'd ever 'had the displeasure of working with.'
'The fire in the galley was your fault. Period.,' he wrote in a blog addressing the firing. 'The clean, dry sheet pans in the oven were neither clean nor dry.'
He continued: 'Now when I asked you about it, I already knew how and why the fire started, and you just couldn’t bring yourself to admit that your dirty oven and sheet pans caused the fire.'
Season one: Captain Lee kicked guests off the yacht over a suspicious powder
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The very first episode of Below Deck made it clear that Captain Lee did not take kindly to guest breaking the very clear rules onboard his boat
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Second stewardess Kat Held had been cleaning out one of the guest bedrooms when she found loose white powder on the counter as well as a rolled-up dollar bill
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The captain immediately canceled a journey to St. Barts and turned the boat back around in order to follow maritime law
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Captain Lee Rosbach shares his adventurous life on Instagram
The very first episode of Below Deck made it clear that Captain Lee did not take kindly to guest breaking the very clear rules onboard superyacht, Honor.
Second stewardess Kat Held had been cleaning out one of the bedrooms when she found loose white powder on the counter, as well as a rolled-up dollar bill and a small bag full of white powder.
She immediately reported her findings to chief stew Adrienne Gang, who shared the information with Captain Lee in the morning.
The captain immediately decided he had to cancel the journey to St. Barts and turn the boat back around.
Guests had initially been frustrated about the route change after crew members didn't explain why it happened.
However, Captain Lee spoke with the guest after the boat docked and explained that the zero-tolerance policy regarding illegal substances on the boat was something he took seriously.
The furious reality star let them know how he felt about the suspicious white substance being found on board and explained that whoever possessed it had put everyone's lives and careers in danger with their potential contraband.
According to maritime law, if anyone knowingly permits the possession or usage of any illegal substances, it is a criminal offense. Meaning that the owner of the boat can be charged and the boat can be confiscated so the guests had to be removed right away.
Reflecting on his decision in his memoir, Running Against the Tide: True Tales from the Stud of the Sea, the captain later explained: 'It was a tough situation to be in. On the one hand, we want clients to be happy.
'On the other hand, I don't want my boat to get boarded by the Coast Guard, and I don't want to go to jail for 25 years. I made the decision to kick them off the boat.'
As the guests packed their things and got ready to leave, Captain Lee says that he assigned a crew member to make sure they didn't hide anything on board.
He continued: 'After they'd left, I then told the crew to take the boat apart. I didn't want any hidden stashes left on my boat. If I found any powder I couldn't account for, it was going over the side.
'It was a hell of a lot of work, we didn't find anything, and we lost some clients, but it was more than worth it to get that kind of garbage off my boat.'
Season five: Hilarious moment Captain Lee became a messenger for King Come-On-I-Wanna-Lay-Ya
Season five saw Captain Lee delighted fans when he made an unexpected appearance at an Hawaiian-themed party as a messenger for 'King Come-On-I-Wanna-Lay-Ya'
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His shirtless moments on the show often left viewers feeling flustered
Captain Lee wasn't always firing staff and telling off guest, sometimes he just liked to have a little fun.
The 10th episode of season five saw him shock his guests and crew in a new way after he made an unexpected appearance at an Hawaiian-themed party.
He made his way to the Luau as a messenger for 'King Come-On-I-Wanna-Lay-Ya' and proved he truly does live up to his Stud of the sea title.
The moment not only delighted his guests, but immediately sent viewers into a spin as well.
All ten seasons: Every time Captain Lee blessed viewers with his truly incredible one-liners
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No-one has a way with words quite like Captain Lee, who became most loved for his extraordinary one-liners
No-one has a way with words quite like Captain Lee, who became most loved for his extraordinary one-liners.
The reality often shared his unique philosophy on life with sayings such as 'Life is like a s**t sandwich. The more bread you have, the more s**t you have to eat' and 'A deckhand with only one good arm is about as useful as a one legged man in an ass kicking contest.'
Elsewhere, he always had the most interesting ways to declare when something had gone wrong.
'We screwed the pooch so many times we should have a litter of puppies running around,' was a particular favorite, as well as 'I’m madder than a p**sed on chicken'.
He certainly wasn't happy about firing staff as he once pointed out: 'We’ve gone through more deckhands than a condom salesman in a w***e house'.
In fact, staff never wanted to get the captain angry enough to the point where he would say, 'I’m gonna eat someone’s ass for dinner'.
Meanwhile, he always had the best way of saying no, including: 'I would rather drag my d**k through 10 miles of whiskey bottles than to have those a******s on my boat again' and 'I’d rather have someone pull me through a knothole by my d**k than have Mr. Lit Dickery on board again'.
