In one of the latest episode of Below Deck Mediterranean, Captain Sandy Yawn got upset and told stewardess Elena Dubaich that she should never wake up the chef if the guests require late-night snacks. Only that’s not fair or true. As seen throughout the tenure of all the Below Deck franchises, many crew members on the reality series have awakened the sleeping chef when the guests’ food request could not be fulfilled by them. And most of the time, the chef understands. Not Chef Jono Shillingford. Captain Sandy is out there for herself and lacks awareness of her hypocrisy. She may be the central figure in publicity images for the show, but she will be the sole reason she sinks this ship. But hey, she’s the perfect Bravo persona!
Back for its ninth season, Below Deck Med follows the trials and tribulations of some of the world’s most majestic superyachts. For Season 9, fan-favorite Below Deck Med and Below Deck Down Under star Aesha Scott has returned to where it all began, serving as the Chief Stew under Captain Sandy this time around. This season, the high-class clientele will board motoryacht Mustique in the beautiful locale of Greece. Captain Sandy is back for her eighth season. And like her previous charter seasons, it’s her rules. Which are, and have never been, consistent.
To Wake or Not To Wake, That Is the Question on ‘Below Deck Mediterranean’
So your charter guests are a bunch of young 20-something British friends on holiday on a superyacht. Their charter had already been effected when the provisioners did not send the endless bottles of wine and Rosé that were ordered. The charter guests are not thrilled, but they’re going with the flow thanks to the leadership of your chief stew. It’s late night and the kids want to party and have unshockingly gotten the munchies. They’re demanding nachos and grilled cheese, among other things. Messy, greasy snacks to soak up the booze. But you’re the only stewardess up at this hour. They’re already demanding endless beverages and now, they want you to make them food. They’re already complaining about the slow service behind your back. Plus, you’re not a professional chef who can whip up something special for this five-star demanding group. So, what do you do? You call in the reinforcements and ask the chef to assist.
And now the chef throws a hissy fit and refuses to oblige, even though the preference sheet from the eager Brits requested late night snacks for their experience. Who’s at fault? Is it the stew or the chef? According to Captain Sandy, you never wake up the chef. Which contradicts her previous rules from a few seasons back.
During Below Deck Med Season 5, following the unjust firing of Chief StewHannah Ferrier and ChefKiko Lorran, the yacht was saved by Bosun Malia White’s boyfriend at the time, Chef Tom Checketts. Chef Tom didn’t come on board in the best frame of mind and was easily irritated. During one of the charters, Chef Tom was awoken from a nap to slice cucumbers. Yes, slice cucumbers. But who was the person to wake him up? None other than Captain Sandy. Even with Chef Tom throwing a temper tantrum about losing precious nap time, Captain Sandy was adamant that the chef was hired to cook. So what happened between those four seasons? Did the rules change or does Captain Sandy simply have a fascination with asserting her authority? As a female in a male-dominated industry, Captain Sandy often overextends herself to ensure everyone knows who runs the ship. It’s an obsession with dominance that has gone overboard.
Captain Sandy Is an Endless Contradiction
As asserted many times throughout her time on Below Deck Med, guest experience is the number one goal on Captain Sandy’s ships. Her micromanaging techniques have found her undermining her crew in situations that other captains throughout Below Deck never do. She was seen criticizing Chief Stew Hannah Ferrier’s lack of table decor prowess following her seeing prolific tablescapes at a boat show. She has gotten on the case of every Bosun with her obsession to get every single water toy in the ocean. Especially that gigantic water slide. But fans are quite aware that her obsession with water toys came after seeing a bigger boat with their toys out. Captain Sandy is all about making sure she’s the center of attention. She wants to be liked. She even makes sure the offspring of famous singers post photos with her on social media so she can claim them as her friend every time they return for a charter. So her desire to ensure the guest experience is first rate makes sense. So this incident with Ellie and Chef Jono was perplexing.
The situation was alarming because, at its core, guest experience is number one, yet Captain Sandy was willing to forgo that just to have a scene where she got mad and asserted her authority. Captain Sandy is a menace and a hypocrite. Her bias toward the exterior is unmatched and has proven she’s willing to throw the interior under the bus. Captain Sandy had her mind made up and rather than trying to learn the truth, she took Chef Jono at his word and admonished and embarrassed Ellie in front of the entire crew at the tip meeting. Even Aesha was not so sure that Captain Sandy was entirely right, but having worked with her in the past, she knows trying to push back would only cause trouble for her later. Thanks to Aesha’s leadership, she came up with a plan that Chef Jono should prepare paninis in case of an emergency in the future. But she also told him to read the preference sheet because the late night snacks were in fact his responsibility. Perhaps Captain Sandy’s desire to side with Chef Jono also stems from him having more stripes than Ellie and wanting to assert her authority on someone significantly below her. Whatever the reason is, Captain Sandy has continued to double down on her move and excuses. It’s getting tiring.
It’s Time for Captain Sandy To Abandon Ship
All good things must come to an end. And it might be time for Captain Sandy to move onto greener pastures. As will be seen later this season, Captain Sandy is set to propose to her partner Leah Shafer.She has since gotten married, so maybe the happy couple deserves an extended honeymoon together. Captain Sandy’s long tenure on the program has come with a mixed reception. Some fans enjoy her desire to be seen on camera more than any other captain ever does. Others have had it with her and believe she’s the source of a lot of unnecessary drama. With the late-night snack debacle being the latest in a long run of controversial decisions, there has been one major Below Deck alum who has questioned Captain Sandy’s decisions.
Of course, with this discourse, the Daddy of the Sea disagreed with Captain Sandy’s statement of never waking up the chef. It’s become common that Captain Sandy and Captain Lee Rosbach will never agree on management choices. Nor will she ever reach his status as the best captain in the Below Deck Cinematic Universe. So when Captain Lee came out with his statement, many fans rejoiced that the authority of the sea has spoken on the right way to handle things. He shared on social media, “If the guests want it and the stews can’t handle it, of course you wake up the chef.” Of course, someone’s sensitivity had caused Captain Lee to have to clarify his statement that was not intended to slam Captain Sandy. He was just stating the truth without context, which makes the chef-waking up rule even stronger against Captain Sandy. Fans of Below Deck Season 10 remember when Captain Sandy rescued the charter season by temporarily replacing Captain Lee on the St. David when he was physically unable to. Like Captain Sandy does, she was trigger-happy about firing Captain Lee’s crew without consultation. Yet another power move.
With two major Below Deck captains on both sides of the argument, maybe it’s time for Captain Kerry Titheradge, Captain Glenn Shephard, and Captain Jason Chambers to weigh in on things! At the end of the day, it is Captain Sandy’s ship to run it as she wants. But when the cameras are rolling and superfans can recall when she’s defied her own rules, she deserves to be called out. Her actions have caused damage and will now bring a lingering aftermath and tension between two of her crew members. If Captain Sandy wanted to right her wrong, she would step in and admit defeat. But her pride will always get the best of her.
