On Bravo’s “Below Deck,” it’s not unusual for charter guests to come across as entitled and even disrespectful. It’s always the crew’s job to maintain professionalism and work around these challenges.
However, in season 10 of “Below Deck Mediterranean,” the dynamic shifts as one crew member seems to be letting loose a little too much. His carefree attitude and inexperience at sea quickly take a turn when he makes the shocking decision to touch a jellyfish.
Max Salvador Mistakenly Touches a Jellyfish During a Charter
Someone might need to remind “Below Deck Med” deckhand Max Salvador that the ocean isn’t a petting zoo, especially when the creature in question is a jellyfish.
In episode 2 of the Bravo series, Salvador is at the stern of the Bravado when he sees several jellyfish surrounding the yacht. “I love these beautiful blue-purple chandelier jellyfish. They’re [expletive] gorgeous. They look like majestic,” he shares in a confessional.
As if hypnotized by the sea, Salvador makes the poor decision to touch a jellyfish, even telling chief stew Aesha Scott, “You can grab them.” However, after wiping his face, Salvador’s eye begins to sting, and Scott must call in her bosun, Nathan Gallagher, to inform him that his crewmate is in pain.
As he runs into Captain Sandy Yawn, he tells her, “[It’s] burning and I don’t know what to do,” adding that the pain is like having “tabasco in the eyes.”
Luckily for Salvador, Captain Sandy didn’t lose her cool over his jellyfish curiosity. After a quick rinse, he was able to shake things off and get back to work.
The ‘Below Deck Med’ Crew Face Several Mishaps
Things have not gone so smoothly for the crew on season 10, especially for Gallagher and his deck team. Because Gallagher arrived at the Bravado on the first day of charter after suffering from food poisoning, he was unable to get to know his team and was thrown right into action.
The deck team hit a few bumps during their first charter, from taking an hour and a half just to get the water toys out, to watching a jet ski float away. To make matters worse, when Gallagheer tried to use the mechanical lift to bring another jet ski onto the yacht, it ended up colliding with a light fixture and breaking it.
In fact, Salvador and deckhand Christian Trimino are already butting heads, and the first charter isn’t even over. When both men took the tender to take their guests to shore, Trimino states in a confessional, “When I feel someone trying to step on me, my reaction immediately is fight mode. Max is pretty demeaning. That triggers me.”
And, it doesn’t get any better as the men find themselves at odds while tightening the lines as the yacht heads to shore. “We look like amateurs,” Captain Sandy admits in a confessional. The question now is, can the deck team pull it together before it gets worse?
