Below Deck: The Truth About Captain Lee's Replacement, Sean Meagher

Bravo's "Below Deck" is getting a new captain for Season 9. Speculation has been brewing about fan-favorite Captain Lee Rosbach and his health since the trailer for the upcoming season dropped in August. In the trailer, Captain Lee was seen having some sort of illness that caused him to be stranded on land and was replaced by a new captain on board superyacht "My Seanna," but he has assured fans that he has been on the mend.

"I am much better," he told E! News about his brief absence on the show. "The timing was mainly screwed up. Because we have such a tight shooting schedule, it was imperative that the guests' charters start and end on time so it didn't have a domino effect and impact every charter after that." Captain Lee also confirmed that his medical issue was "not related to COVID at all," but he had to make the decision to join the yacht at a later date because of COVID restrictions during production.

Although Captain Lee's brief absence threw the yacht crew for a tailspin, he was replaced by the newcomer Captain Sean Meagher. Find out the truth about him below.

Captain Sean Meagher has an impressive resume

In keeping viewers invested in Season 9 of "Below Deck", Bravo hasn't revealed too much information about Captain Lee Rosbach's replacement, Sean Meagher, but he's certainly qualified to oversee the deck crew. According to My Seanna's Charter Index page, Captain Sean was a commander of the yacht and served as the charter captain. His biography notes that he was born and raised in Cape Cod and was given his first sailboat when he was 8 years old. At 18, he also became one of the youngest captains to work for Hy-Line Cruises, a local ferry boat company.

Throughout his career, Captain Sean has sailed to the polar ice caps and the South Pacific, as well as commanded search and rescue vessels on the Colorado River. He also has an impressive resume off-land where he has completed a five-year mission to photograph wildlife. It's clear that Captain Sean enjoys nature and wildlife — so much so that he has partnered with The Ocean Voyages Institute and has spoken around the world about the dangers of plastics in the ocean. Captain Sean is said to be a perfectionist and will do anything to keep his customers happy.

Viewers will no doubt get to see his personality on air when "Below Deck" returns to Bravo on October 25, but also how he gets on with the rest of the crew.

Tensions will be running high on Below Deck Season 9

With Captain Lee Rosbach taking a backseat for the first half of "Below Deck" Season 9, all eyes will be on Captain Sean Meagher to see how he handles being on camera, especially since he didn't have any experience with being on reality television, and only took over the yacht by chance. In an interview with the "Gangplank Report" podcast, Captain Sean revealed that he was actually responsible for delivering the yacht for the show, and never thought of starring in it.  "I happened to deliver My Seanna on down to St. Kitts for Below Deck. And through just kind of a lot of coincidence and pandemic stuff, I wound up staying in St. Kitts," he told podcast hosts Adrienne Gang and Jenn Bennington (via Monsters and Critics). "Lee was delayed, so I was then asked to step in and be the relief captain onboard My Seanna." Though Captain Sean was called in at the last minute, he admitted he "had a lot of fun doing it."

While Captain Sean enjoyed his experience filming on "Below Deck," he has no intention of replacing Lee, saying, "Nobody can replace Lee. He's a big part of the reason why the show is successful as it is." Still, Captain Sean is enjoying the promotional duties that come with being a reality star, posting on Instagram about the interviews he's done, and sharing insights on how he operates his yachts.

With Captain Sean's passion and talent, it wouldn't be surprising if he got his own Bravo spinoff in the future.