‘Below Deck Mediterranean’: Captain Sandy Yawn Talks ‘Rocky’ Season 11 & ‘Game of Thrones’ Locale

Below Deck Mediterranean Season 11 is gearing up to set sail with Sandy Yawn once again at the helm. Joining the no-nonsense captain aboard the M/Y Akira One are other familiar faces including Chief Stew Aesha Scott, Bosun Nathan Gallagher, and Deckhand Joe Bradley. Rounding out the team is new Chef Joy Lefaucheur, deckhands Cooper Dawson and Luke Brumer, and stews Gen Lillie, Kayley Smith and Kat Johnston. 

Together they’ll strive to deliver top-notch service for charter guests looking to have the time of their lives in picturesque Dubrovnik, Croatia. Yawn has taken pride in being a regular fixture for the Bravo franchise. The trailblazer recently celebrated her second wedding anniversary with Leah Shafer. The 61-year-old remains grateful, overcoming numerous hardships over time including addiction, kidney cancer and a near-fatal motorcycle accident in 2015. She shares all this experience to inspire and help others. 

Here Yawn gets candid about Below Deck Med, life lessons, and if we’ll ever see another female captain in the franchise.  

BELOW DECK MEDITERRANEAN — Pictured: Captain Sandy Yawn — (Photo by: Fred Jagueneau/Bravo)

This is your 10th season across the Below Deck universe. What does that mean to you? 

Sandy Yawn: Well, I’m older. I am watching the episodes, and I have to lose weight! I have to get my skin right. Man, I was hard on myself. Let me tell you something, 10 years is a long time. So, taking care of ourselves is number one. I told Leah after watching that I thought I had to get myself back together. I used to work out every day. Then for some reason I didn’t for like a year. Now I’m back into it. On the other side of that, for me personally, it has been epic. I get to drive a boat every year. It is fun. With all its problems, glory, new crew, different people in and out of our lives, different guests. To me, it’s a variety of personalities I sometimes enjoy and sometimes I don’t. The majority of the time the best part has been working with production because it’s fun. 

I think you look great! 

Thank you. 

Tell us about Akira One. It’s an older vessel in build and bigger than Bravado.   

Older vessels come with problems. Old pipes, old things that break. As far as running it, I had to get used to it. The particular slip we’re in had the wind always on the side. It was always pushing me in one direction. The boat layout was great for charter. I think it flowed really well. It’s an older boat back in the Benetti glory days. It’s made in Italy. They are very nice vessels. 

One of the constants for you on board has been Aesha. You’ve become such good friends. I believe she called you her work wife. What’s it like to have back for another season?  

Over the years Aesha and I have become really close. She is just a kind human being. She just makes me laugh. Some of the things that come out of her mouth, I’m not surprised. She has such a great heart. We have such a good working relationship. I’m so proud of her with how far she has come over the years as chief stew. She really works hard. She writes the drink menus down for her stews and makes sure they know how to make the drinks. She lays it out for them so they don’t have to look it up on Google. It’s all there. She does the work. 

She also got married [fiancé Scott Dobson] a few months ago. How happy are you for her? 

I’m so happy for her. Sadly, I couldn’t make the wedding. It was a long way to go and very expensive, but I’m very happy for her. I know how much they love each other. It’s so nice to watch people grow through the years. The beginning of that relationship started in school. It was many years later they reconnected. It’s a beautiful love story. 

Nathan has also returned as bosun. We saw him mature in the role toward the end of last season. Joe Bradley is also back in the mix. Those two saw their friendship implode in the past. What can we expect from that dynamic? 

I have no idea what happened between Joe and Nathan. In the trailer you can see there is already a certain energy on board. The first day you go on board you want to make sure leading a deck crew that you put your judgments aside and lead. I think Nathan has a big learning curve there. Joe, he likes to poke the bear. I think we’ll see that relationship play out. For me, it’s heartbreaking for me because they were such good friends. To watch something that was so wonderful become so polarized, that’s hard. 

As for the rest of the crew, there are ones who have been at this a while with those who are just starting their careers. How does this season’s group compare to others? 

Every year brings different personalities and dynamics. We have some consistency on board. Joe and Nathan come back, and they are the complete opposite from last year. People change. Some people change in a great way. Some people change in a not so great way. Now you have to deal with that. Over the years you get to know them. My first season with Bugsy [Christine Drake] and Malia [White], Hannah [Ferrier] and everybody, we still stay in touch. I hope that for them. Throughout when you think of 10 years and then before the TV show. You just create this vast network across the globe. It’s an incredible experience. Comparing the crew, there is no comparison. Every personality is different. 

What do you face challenge-wise as a captain? 

Boat stuff really. The big stuff for me is the boat stuff. Personality conflicts I can handle. I’ve lived life. I know how to diffuse things and make it work. I’m Peter Pan. My family refers to me as Peter Pan. I know how to make it a Peter Pan moment. Basically, it’s usually boat breakdowns and something like that would affect me more. It’s mechanical where you think, “Oh my goodness, this charter season has to continue.” If we hit the dock it’s, “Wow is this structural damage? Is the boat offline now? Are we going to be able to charter?” If a system breaks down mechanically, I mean one season we had to leave our anchor. You’re not allowed to enter a port without one. Imagine if we lost the other anchor. Anchors are required on boats. It was difficult in those situations. 

What can you tell us about the guests this year? 

They were great. There were some great guests and not-so-great guests. I think overall I feel like this was a really rocky season from me looking at it from me looking at it 30,000 feet above. I think it’s a great season, but we dealt with a lot. We had a lot of challenges. 

Tell us about the locale. 

Dubrovnik, come on! It’s Game of Thrones time. If people don’t watch Game of Thrones, I guarantee you people will watch it after. The place is just spectacular. It’s beautiful. The food is good. The people were cool with a lot for people to do. The cool part about Croatia is it has the barrier islands. Weather-wise, we could almost get off the dock every charter. We’re protected, which was really great. 

BELOW DECK MEDITERRANEAN — Pictured: (l-r) Aesha Scott, Cooper Dawson, Kayley Smith, Joe Bradley, Captain Sandy Yawn — (Photo by: Fred Jagueneau/Bravo)

Were you a big Game of Thrones fan prior? 

I watched it. I have also been to Dubrovnik before. Being back there and immersed in the Game of Thrones experience, I watched the seasons over. I went, “They didn’t even change anything in Dubrovnik.” They actually filmed it the way it is. There was no set design or things like that. It was amazing. 

How would you say you’ve grown as a captain over time? 

I think I pause more. I listen more. I give people time before I have a conversation to cool off. It was very different from being out there working for a billionaire. Different demands and constraints. You’re able to pull back a little bit, but if you’re working with the guy with the expectations of finance, budgets, that’s on our shoulders. Below Deck really takes the weight of that off of us, so we really just are able to focus on the fun stuff. And sometimes the not so fun stuff when the boat breaks or the crew are melting down. I don’t have the pressures you would have overall if it weren’t for the TV show. 

BELOW DECK MEDITERRANEAN — Pictured: Captain Sandy Yawn — (Photo by: Fred Jagueneau/Bravo)

I love how you’ve been giving back through your Captain Sandy Charities to promote maritime education and career paths at the K-12 level. 

Because of the TV show we are getting more people to charter boats, buy boats. However, we still have a deficit with crew and personnel on the shipyard side and labor. Just like skill paths including mechanics, carpenters, electricians, plumbers. The charity I have is for in-school curriculum. To educate kids so there are jobs for them, if they aren’t college bound or even if they do go to college, these jobs are incredible. If you want to go to sea, that’s maritime. If you want to go to shore, there is shipyard building. There are all kinds of stuff sales, charter brokers. 

I just spoke to 80 kids in Wales, the U.K. this morning in the classroom. They are all sending me their CVs. They are all 10 and 11. I’m going to help them with their future. At the age of 19 you can actually get a license to become a captain. I said in between those ages you can work really hard and take these classes that build it up. College is very expensive. Maritime education is very expensive too. Curriculum is expensive. Going to school for these kids is expensive. I have over $100,000 in my education. It’s not cheap. You take these classes and learn, but they are expensive. It was exciting to talk to the kids this morning. The charity is working by reaching these people. That is wonderful. 

Will there be a time where we will see another female captain part of the franchise? 

I hope so. For women, women have babies. If you are going to go into maritime and go to sea, do it at 19. Prepare yourself so you can step on a boat at 19 and go to sea. And when you’re ready to come home and have a baby, do that. A lot of women want to have children. They are not going to go to sea and leave their children at  home. That’s why. It’s not the man going, “You can’t have a job in the industry.” Maybe some owners may say it because they see that [the woman] may leave them in five years and have a baby. That might be the case. I think for women that’s the difficult part. There are some female captains out there. You just don’t see them a lot. You have Captain Kate McCue, who is on a big cruise ship. I think she is on the Four Seasons yacht now.

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It has been over a decade since your motorcycle accident and cancer scare. How do you look back on it today? 

You have to take care of your body. Whatever pops up in my life, I will deal with. Life is for the living. Whatever your diagnosis is, as long as you’re not in pain, life is for the living. I will never forget hearing that and thinking, “Oh my gosh, you’re right.” Whatever is happening in your life, it’s just temporary. If it is an illness, it’s a marathon. You want to make it so you can sustain yourself. Make sure you monitor that with your physician and exercise. That is my thought process. I’ve found that more life is for the living, so go out and have fun. Guess what? Tomorrow may never come. That happens over and over again. When you see on the news what happens to people, you think, “Oh my goodness. We wake up every day in this house, and we are so happy.” There is nothing but pure joy here. When the heavy comes, I’m going to navigate that and work through that and get back to my happy. I want to just be happy. I always tell the crew never take this away. I sit down with the crew with a smile and say, “See this? I like it. This feels good. “ You should never take my smile away. 

Below Deck Mediterranean Season 11 premiere, June 8, 8/7c, Bravo (Next Day on Peacock)