See Who Captain Kerry Fired After “Safety Mistake” on Below Deck Season 12
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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.
Caio Poltronieri’s firing on Below Deck Season 12 resulted from a series of mounting mistakes that Captain Kerry Titheradge could no longer overlook. In the June 30 episode, Caio admitted that his performance aboard the yacht “wasn’t flowing yet” as he struggled with adjusting to a new vessel, managing a three-person deck crew, and adapting to Captain Kerry’s leadership style. Caio confided, “There is still a long way to go. My job is on the line, and I really care about it. It’s stressing me.”
Caio’s mistakes included failing to ensure guests’ luggage was loaded onto the boat and poor communication during critical sailing moments such as docking and navigating narrow passageways. Before the latest charter, Caio made another “huge error” that left St. David at risk of damage when Kerry was attempting to position the yacht. This mistake led Captain Kerry to issue him a second stern warning, saying, “Your faults are my faults. I’ve gotta have someone in place that doesn’t make errors like that. I’m gonna be watching you this next charter.”
Despite the warning, Caio’s safety mistakes continued throughout the charter, and Captain Kerry admitted he no longer had “any confidence” in him. “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.” This prompted Captain Kerry to make the difficult decision to fire Caio, prioritizing the safety and efficiency of the crew.
The Below Deck crew had strong opinions about Caio Poltronieri’s leadership skills, with many feeling frustrated by his lack of accountability and ineffective management style. Jess Theron, the lead deckhand, voiced her dissatisfaction with Caio’s tendency to shift blame onto others. In a confessional, Jess expressed, “I think it’s bulls–t. 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.”
Jess also shared her concerns with Captain Kerry, mentioning that Caio failed to provide the deckhands with regular breaks and lacked managerial experience. She described him as “very scatterbrained” and emphasized the need for someone “more level-headed.” Jess added that Caio was “out of his depth” and was not instilling confidence in the team.
Damo Yorg, another deckhand, also grew frustrated with Caio’s approach. He confided to 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. Let you go fail.” Damo, like Jess, agreed that communication and time management needed to improve.
Caio, on the other hand, acknowledged that he and his team had made “stupid mistakes” during the Episode 5 charter and admitted that the “synergy between the deck crew” needed improvement. While he suggested daily crew meetings to address these issues, Captain Kerry had already made the decision to let him go, citing Caio’s repeated mistakes and failure to meet the team’s expectations.
