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Captain Kerry Titheradge has officially fired the first Below Deck Season 12 crew member from St. David — though he took no pleasure in doing so.
Following a series of "schoolboy errors" from Caio Poltronieri, Captain Kerry summoned his new bosun to the wheelhouse at the end of Episode 5 for a conversation he admittedly "didn't want to have" with him.
"I've really wanted you to succeed here," he told Caio. "The thing is is we keep having these little errors that keep adding up. Each time I think that we got to a place of no more errors, we get another error, and the problem with that [is] I'm losing confidence in you."
Captain Kerry concluded, "The expectations of the job on this boat and what I need, you're not there yet. So, I gotta let you go, mate."
Before viewers could see Caio's reaction to his dismissal, however, the screen faded to black.
Why Caio Poltronieri was fired on Below Deck Season 12
Earlier in the June 30 episode, Caio had owned up to his job performance "not flowing yet" aboard the yacht, as he struggled to adjust to a new vessel and Kerry's style, while also managing a three-person deck crew for the first time in his career.
"There is still a long way to go," he confessed. "My job [is] on the line and I really care about it. It's stressing me."
Up until that point, Caio's mistakes had been mounting, including everything from guests' luggage not making it aboard the boat to his lack of communication in critical sailing moments, such as docking and clearing narrow passageways.
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Prior to the most recent charter, though, Caio made another "huge error" that left St. David in danger of suffering damage while Kerry was trying to pull the yacht in position in the slip, leading the captain to issue him his second stern warning of the season.
"Your faults are my faults," he explained. "I've gotta have someone in place that doesn't make errors like that, OK? I'm gonna be watching you this next charter."
In a confessional, Captain Kerry elaborated, "Safety is first. Safety is before everything else. I have no choice but to apply full pressure. He's got one last chance. So, going into this charter, he's gotta pull a rabbit out of a hat to stay on this vessel."
Throughout the charter, Caio's safety mistakes persisted, however, and Kerry admitted he no longer had "any confidence" in his bosun: "With Caio, I'm running out of excuses on why he's not getting his job done right. He's let me down. He's letting his team down. It's too much for him."
The Below Deck crew weighs in on Caio Poltronieri's leadership
Indeed, Caio's deckhand crew, which included Jess Theron, Kyle Stillie, and Damo Yorg, didn't feel supported by their leader, either, especially when he blamed them for his own errors on them.
"I think it's bulls--t," lead deckhand Jess vented in a confessional. "I'm tired of Caio putting the blame on everybody else. What you want to see from a leader, you want them to take responsibility. If the first thing you're gonna do is point fingers, that's not someone I want to work for."
Later, while speaking to Captain Kerry one-on-one about Caio not giving the deckhands regular breaks or having much managerial experience, Jess added, "I think he's very scatterbrained. We definitely need someone who's a bit more level-headed."
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That's when he shared his belief that Caio was "out of his depth" and "not instilling confidence" in his team.
After confronting Caio directly about the lack of a structured break routine, Jess was largely unsatisfied his response, adding in a confessional, "I'm really pissed off. I'm starting to think that Caio's not cut out for this anymore. My respect for Caio is declining rapidly."
Elsewhere, Damo told Kyle, "I'm reaching the point where, like, sometimes he goes to do something that I don't think's right, and I'm like, f--k it. Like, let you go fail."
He also agreed with Jess that communication and time management needed "to be a lot better."
Caio, for his part, copped to him and his team making "stupid mistakes" on the Episode 5 charter, noting that the "synergy between the deck crew" could improve.
Although they were receptive to his suggestion of daily deck crew meetings, Captain Kerry had already made up his mind, however, and cut him loose in the end.
As you await to see his reaction, take a closer look back at the other errors Caio made on Below Deck Season 12, prior to Captain Kerry firing him.
