Captain Sandy From ‘Below Deck Med’ Gets ‘a Lot of S*** That’s Unfair,’ Malia White Says
Below Deck Mediterranean bosun Malia White says Captain Sandy Yawn should get the same level of respect given to Captain Lee Rosbach from Below Deck. But Yawn often gets “a lot of s***” instead.
Showbiz Cheat Sheet attended White’s live Total Ship Show podcast broadcast where she and chief stew Katie Flood, who both worked for Yawn, said Yawn is an amazing leader and person.
Yawn stepped in as a relief captain on Below Deck so Captain Lee Rosbach could seek medical attention before returning to finish the season. Deckhand Katie Glaser appreciated having a woman at the helm, which is something that guided White in her yachting career.
Captain Sandy from ‘Below Deck Mediterranean’ is an ‘amazing person’
“I think that Captain Sandy gets a lot of s*** that’s unfair. Captain Lee can do whatever. He can say whatever,” White said. “But as soon as Captain Sandy pulls that same big d*** energy, she gets a lot of s***, which I don’t stand for because women as captains and women as anything in a leadership role have the same right to be as direct.”
“She also has a really beautiful empathetic side,” Flood said. “And so understanding.” White added that Yawn can be intense but said “She’s an amazing person.”
Captain Sandy listened and helped on ‘Below Deck Med’, Katie Flood recalled
White focused on Yawn’s talents, leadership, and skills. “Is she a good captain? Yes, she is. And does she deserve to be treated just the same as Captain Lee? Yes, she does. She’s got the same qualifications. She’s got the same experience. So, yeah, I f***ing love Captain Sandy.”
“She was nothing but absolutely incredible to me,” Flood recalled. “And, you know, without her, I would have been really f***ed because that whole experience was, like, absolutely wild. That whole Lexi (Wilson) situation was f***ed up.” Flood’s second stew Lexi Wilson on Below Deck Med Season 6 clashed with nearly every crew member and was eventually fired.
“She’s so empathetic,” Flood continued about Yawn. “And if you actually go to her and you show her, like, I’m struggling like she will sit down with you, and be like. ‘OK, This is what I think you need to do.’ From a captain, that is the kind of energy you need. We need to be able to go to them and confide in them and trust them, be like, ‘Look, help me.’ And she said, ‘Look, this is what we’re going to do.’ That’s a good captain.”
Malia from ‘Below Deck’ said Yawn had a first on season 7
White did not return for Below Deck Med Season 7, which is when Yawn grazed a few cement dolphins in the harbor. “This season was the first time we’ve ever seen Captain Sandy hit or touch anything,” White said.
Flood said the reason Yawn made contact with the dolphins was due to the deck crew. “The most unqualified bosun in Below Deck history,” she added. Bosun Raygan Tyler struggled from the beginning, being filmed taking more smoke breaks than working. She also didn’t seem to be as confident calling distances during docking, which is when Yawn got uncomfortably close to the cement dolphins.
Returning Below Deck Med deckhand Mzi “Zee” Dempers told Showbiz Cheat Sheet he missed White’s leadership on deck. “Malia was definitely lead from the front or lead by example,” he said. “That’s definitely something that Malia had in her personality. But at the same time giving an opportunity for others to grow. Malia wanted to teach you all the time and she wants to see people grow and do well and excel in their careers.”
Below Deck Season 10 is on Monday at 8 pm ET on Bravo.
