Captain Jason Chambers Got Advice From Hannah Ferrier Before Joining ‘Below Deck Down Under’

Given his 20 plus years of experience in the yachting industry, it’s hard to believe that native Australian Jason Chambers is the youngest captain in Below Deck franchise history. As much of an adventurer as he is a skilled leader, Chambers prides himself on balancing an unwavering work ethic with a hearty appetite for fun and water excursions. This inaugural season of Peacock’s Below Deck Down Under finds Chambers working with two first-time department heads, Chief Stew Aesha Scott (of Below Deck Mediterranean fame) and Bosun Jamie Sayed, in addition to veteran chef, Ryan McKeown. We’ll get to see Chambers’ mentorship firsthand as he leads a fresh crew of yachties in a season set in the Whitsunday Islands, a group of 74 isles near the Great Barrier Reef.

In the premiere episode, Chambers keeps his cool under pressure when there is a disastrous hydraulics leak that renders the bow thruster temporarily useless. With the high tide window closing quickly, he works with his team of engineers to fix the yacht while the rest of the crew caters to the restless charter guests. Once the problem is fixed, Chambers risks the entire season by taking the yacht out as the tide dwindles. This is the first instance of Chambers putting his expertise and experience to good use to make sure the charter stays on schedule.

Before the premiere of Below Deck Down Under, we got the chance to speak to Chambers about the upcoming season, his leadership style, and the advice his good friend and Below Deck Med alum Hannah Ferrier gave him.

Decider: How did you get involved with the Below Deck franchise?

Captain Jason Chambers: They reached out to me on a recommendation from some of my friends. I thought it was a bit of a joke at the start, but the more I looked into it and the more I spoke to the franchise, I was overwhelmed at how nice and accommodating they were. Plus, they weren’t afraid to play with the format. It’s not just about the crew’s interactions now. The backdrops are different. They’re going further afield to places offering more adventure. That’s what I’ve been doing for many years now. When they told me they’re going to Australia, I was like, “Come on, I’m here. Let’s do it.”

According to Instagram, you and Hannah from Below Deck Med are friends! Did she give you any advice beforehand?

Yeah, she’s from the same location I’m from. We know each other, and we have mutual friends too. She was probably the one that made me sign on to do this show. I reached out to her about the conversations I had with the production team and she told me: “You’re a great fit for it. Just be yourself and just go and have fun.” That’s what I like to do, and I think I’ve done that. I spoke to her as well as Aesha yesterday, so I will have plenty of support going forward.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Decider.com (@deciderdotcom)

What is it about the Whitsunday Islands that makes it a great location for Below Deck Down Under?

It’s the last group of collective islands near Great Barrier Reef, which we all know is massive. It’s a Marine Park Zone, so the marine life there is amazing. From a yachting perspective or a boating perspective, it’s also got everything that you want.

In the premiere, you mention “shark feeding time.” Is that a real danger that divers have to be aware of in the Whitsunday Islands?

Three years ago, two people got taken in the Whitsundays, so sharks are there. They’re everywhere in Australia. As we all know, Australia’s got the most dangerous land and marine life in the world, so you have to take that into consideration.

From the first episode, it’s clear that you are a very hands-on captain. You’re even wiping down tables with microfiber clothes. What’s your philosophy about running a crew?

We have a new boat and we have new crew, and we have 48 hours to get ready. This is 100% reality. These are paying guests. So as a captain, I am in charge of every department and we have to work together to get the boat up to the best standard possible. At the start, I have to be on top of everyone to show them where I want things to be. I pay attention to service and maintenance and cleanliness with our guests in minds, but I also am concerned with the technical aspects of running the boat with safety being paramount.

Right from the jump, you tell the yachties that it’s a “prerequisite” to get into the water in their downtime. Can you talk about balancing fun and duty on a mega-yacht?

With a charter boat like this, or even with a regular holiday, when the staff around them are enjoying their environment, the guests tend to just enjoy themselves as well. When you’ve got stiff people around you, you kind of feel stiff yourself. If the crew members are enjoying the voyage, having a banter around, and showing that they’re friends and that they love what they do, that allows everyone else just to relax and enjoy themselves as well.

Part of the appeal of working in the yachting industry is travel. Imagine working on a boat on the interior as a stewardess for five years of your life and never touching the water. What a boring job! Jump in the water, refresh, reset. We work 16-, 18-hour days sometimes. That little splash in the water sometimes just makes you think, “Wow, this job’s great.”

Aesha Scott is a Below Deck veteran whose first gig as Chief Steward is on Below Deck Down Under. How well did you two work together? Did she help you adjust to the cameras?

The whole reality TV aspect was there at the start, but then it was gone for me in 24 hours. That’s how real this show is. When Aesha walked on, I met her and let out a big sigh of relief. I had watched her on the show beforehand and knew her attitude. Her positive outlook on life is something I like in a crew member.

She didn’t really need to help me adjust to being on a television show. After the guests came aboard and the boat broke down, it all become very real. It was time to work, and I didn’t notice the cameras anymore. We were just trying to get out of the harbor! I was there for six weeks to do a job with all these charters, and everything else just disappeared.

How do you think she did as Chief Stew for the charter season?

It was her first step up into that role, like it was Jamie’s first time as Bosun. I had to be a little bit hands on, and I think Aesha really appreciated that I was looking over her shoulder and was there for her. We were both trying to get to the same place. We became close friends in the process.

It must have been disheartening to have a hydraulics leak on the first charter of the season. Was it as stressful to experience the malfunction as it was to watch it in the premiere?

And that’s just in episode one! There are more malfunctions to come. It took my whole 20 years of experience to bring it all together that day. Usually, a charter season occurs over a three- or four-month period. You have time to deal with issues and problems. This franchise puts it all into six weeks. Everything that you see on this show is real. Malfunctions usually do happen in yachting but stretched over a longer period of time. That’s why the Below Deck franchise is so successful. It gives the audience the ability to actually see what we do in a heightened state.

Captain Lee is known as the “Stud of the Sea.” What would you like your nickname to be?

See, the thing about it, Australians don’t give themselves nicknames. We have to get it from someone else, and if we don’t like it, an Australian will give it to you. I’ll wait to see what the audience gives me, and I’ll pretend.

I think an early fan favorite is “Captain Cutie.”

Funnily enough that’s come up, because my mate’s daughter actually called me that as well, which is a bit weird [laughs]. She’s going to own that one, I think.

One of my favorite moments from the first episode was you face-timing with your daughter. How do you balance fatherhood with a yachting career?

There are many captains and first officers out there that have worked so hard and so long to get where they are. You followed this life of adventure and being a pirate and explorer, but when you have a family, it’s like, oh, wow. What do we do? [laughs] Every step we take, we are just trying to give them a better life and to see them as much as possible. Our biggest dream to just sit back and look at the world with our families one day.

Where to stream Below Deck Down Under