There’s been quite a high turnover for staff on the second season of Below Deck Down Under as Captain Jason Chambers fired deckhand Adam Vincent Kodra during Monday’s episode titled ‘The Wheel of Misfortune.’
The 34-year-old Brooklyn native – whose only experience was on commercial vessels – accidentally dropped the anchor while the 47-year-old super-yacht Northern Sun was cruising at full speed (13 knots) near Green Island.
‘You’re definitely a good bloke, you’re definitely good in the breach, but on deck I don’t think you have the experience for super yachts and that anchor being dropped underway is kind of where I draw the line,’ the Australian 50-year-old said.
‘We’re gonna let you go and we’re gonna bring in a lead deckhand [Luka Brunton]. I just need someone with a lot more experience.’
Adam replied: ‘I apologize for even creating that for the time that I was here, but thank you so much for giving me the opportunity.’
Later in his confessional, Kodra confessed: ‘I can’t believe it. I was learning a lot and I was having a lot of fun. It just sucks that it’s getting cut short. I completely messed up. You don’t have anyone to blame but yourself.’
And while the hit Bravo series showed the skateboarding enthusiast embraced by four castmates in a quick farewell, third stewardess Margot Sisson clarified that the audience missed most of his tearful exit.
‘I feel like it’s being shown as though we were all just like, “Mmm bummer. Bye!” When really, I was devastated. We were all devastated,’ the 29-year-old Seattle native admitted Monday night via Instastory.
‘And what you didn’t see was the whole ceremony that we had saying goodbye. Adam actually gathered all of us in the f***ing engine room or whatever and he stood in the middle and he went around each and every person saying what he loved about all of us individually. Everybody was crying.
‘Harry [Van Vliet] and I were like ugly crying into each other. It was heartbreaking. And this is nothing against Jason’s decision, like, I trust that man with my life honestly. But I think it’s important for you guys to know that it was a much harder and sadder goodbye then what’s been shown.’
On Tuesday, second officer João Franco shared an Instagram tribute to Adam stressing that the conversation to let him go was definitely ‘a little longer than the few seconds’ depicted onscreen.
‘Adam, my boy you are scholar and gentleman. You held your own and took away only the positives of this! Just incredible!’ the 33-year-old Zimbabwe native wrote.
‘These qualities did not escape Jason and he didn’t let it go unnoticed right until the end and that in itself speaks miles. Driving a boat is easy. The true challenge is being assertive while also trying to guide a team, all the while preserving the respect of the crew. Both Jason and Adam did quite fine.’
Kodra replied via Instastory: ‘Thank you for the guidance my brotha.’
The US Merchant Marine Academy grad also received Instastory shout-outs from deckhand Harry Van Vliet and chef Tzarina Mace-Ralph, who gushed: ‘I cried a million tears when you left! Stay who you are! You are perfect.’
Adam originally joined Below Deck Down Under in order to raise money to buy a home for his mother and younger siblings in New York.
‘I never really did anything like this before. I knew it was going to be a big shock when I came into it. I learned an insane amount,’ Kodra said.
‘My next plan is to hopefully get up to captain in the commercial world, get my mom and kids in a house. And then, after that’s done, I’ll probably go back to yachting.’
On the shocking August 10th episode – titled ‘The Turnover Day’ – second stewardess Laura Bileskaine was fired for climbing into Adam’s bunkbed to give him a seductive massage after he explicitly told her he was not interested in her sexually.
The Latvian 31-year-old was also let go for defending bosun Luke Jones, who was also fired for climbing into heavily-intoxicated Margot’s bunkbed while naked despite the cameraman ordering him to leave and speak with producers.
Catch more drama aboard the 167ft-long former Japanese fisheries research vessel in Below Deck Down Under, which returns with two new episodes next Monday on Bravo.
