Below Deck’s Kate Chastain Offers Update on Captain Lee’s Health After His Exit as Captain Lee Speaks

Credit: Cindy Ord/Bravo

You can’t keep a good “boat daddy” anchored down.

Just recently, Below Deck fans witnessed Captain Lee Rosbach have to make the heartbreaking decision to step down from his captain duties halfway through the charter season on season 10 of the franchise.

As far back as season nine, Captain Lee has battled nerve and mobility issues that have plagued him well into the current season of the franchise. These medical issues ultimately derailed his ability to continue to competently serve as the St. David’s captain, and he called the ordeal a “humbling experience.’

Thanks to his real-life best friend and former chief stew, Kate Chastain, we have an update on how the OG Below Deck captain is doing.

“I was at Captain Lee’s house delivering a birthday present to his wife when he decided [to do] that,” Kate told E! News. “I knew before the crew knew. That was almost a year ago and Captain Lee was at BravoCon, he’s healed, he’s feeling great.”

Kate elaborated on how “difficult” the decision to leave the boat early must have been on Captain Lee, saying that Lee will always “go down with the ship,” or until Bravo must forcibly make him walk the plank.

“I know that it was a very difficult decision for him to make because every captain goes down with the ship, and I’m sure that Captain Lee, for him to walk away from a boat, was so hard,” the Bacardi ambassador said. “Like I said, I think Captain Lee will go down with the Below Deck ship.”

And if you needed photographic evidence that Captain Lee is on the up and up, TMZ recently shared a photo of Captain Lee hitting the gym and embodying his playful “Stud of the Sea” moniker to a tee.

‘Below Deck’ star Captain Lee Rosbach is on the road to recovery after leaving the show due to health issues, and he’s even lifting weights at the gym like a champ. https://t.co/uSNIhXXI1w

— TMZ (@TMZ) December 19, 2022

According to sources at the outlet with “direct knowledge” of Captain Lee’s health situation, Lee has been making great strides in his recovery progress, and he is working with a “team of experts” to ensure that he’s getting back to full strength and “hitting the gym every day.”

Season 10 of Bravo’s Below Deck airs Monday nights at 8 P.M. EST.