It pays to be the Stud of the Seas! For eight seasons, Captain Lee Rosbach has helmed the superyachts on Bravo’s Below Deck, and also had to deal with plenty of drama with his crew along the way. According to Cinemaholic, the Florida-based skipper is worth approximately $1 million.
The beloved but sharp tongued captain likely brings in up to $210,000 a year by helming the yachts featured on Below Deck, Worldwide Boat reports, as that’s the salary for skippers of boats in the 150 feet to 177 feet range. His current yacht, My Seanna, measures in at 185 feet.
Captain Lee grew up in Michigan, and even though he spent plenty of time on boats growing up, he worked in the restaurant industry until the age of 35. That’s when he moved into the world of yachting and became a captain. After more than three decades skippering vessels throughout the Caribbean and South Pacific, he’d been able to earn a healthy living from his captain’s salary.
Lee’s paycheck from Below Deck has not been disclosed, but his presence on the show since its 2013 inception has helped raise his profile to branch out into other ventures. He became a published author in 2018 when his memoir, Running Against the Tide: True Tales from the Stud of the Sea, was released.
The tome’s description on Amazon reads: “From having to reclaim his drunk captain’s lost papers in the Dominican Republic to unwittingly crewing a drug boat out of Turks and Caicos to navigating the outrageous demands of the super-rich in New York City, Captain Lee’s tales from the high seas run the gamut, proving time and time again why he’s a fan favorite: he’s occasionally profane, he’s often surprising, but he’s never dull and, for the first time, he’s here to tell all.”
In the book, Lee wrote about his time on Below Deck: “Working on a TV show has been a learning experience, but at the same time, it hasn’t changed who I am or what I do. First and foremost, I’m still a captain, a sailor. Whether there are cameras there or not, I do my job … I’ve got a lot more people who know who I am now, but I don’t think working in TV has changed me.”
Captain Lee has his own online store, where fans can purchase mugs with some of his salty sayings on them, coaster sets, T-shirts and autographed photos. And if that’s not enough, fans can purchase a Cameo message from Captain Lee for $250 for a personalized video, or $4,000 for a message to a group or company.