This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Sandy Yawn, a superyacht captain and star of ‘Below Deck Mediterranean.’ The following has been edited for length and clarity.
When I started my yachting career more than 30 years ago, I’d never seen a woman captain.
Women worked on ships, but they were few and far between in the world of yachts, and I’d never seen one at the helm.
I fell into yachting, or maybe the job found me. When I started working maintenance on boats, I had no idea yachting could be a career. Decades later, I’m a superyacht captain. I want to create opportunities for other women to get into this industry.
For a long time, I didn’t have any female role models
I first became a yachtie after getting sober in 1989 and working the 12-step program. I just needed a job.
I knew nothing about yachting as a profession. I answered a classified ad for a job maintaining boats in Fort Lauderdale. The owner of one of the boats I worked on offered me a full-time position as a crew member.
When I started working on boats, I didn’t have any female role models. Instead, the people I admired were the ones working on themselves in recovery on my 12-step program.
My first real role model within the industry was a male captain. He taught me about maritime finance and how to drive a boat, and eventually, he paid for me to go to sea school, where I began working toward my maritime license. He took a chance on me, and I was hungry to learn.
I wanted to change my life, and I did whatever it took to succeed. I started out as a deck crew member and worked my way up. In many ways, my biggest motivator was my hunger.
As a woman, you absolutely have to work harder
Many years later, I finally met a woman in the industry who inspired me. By then, I was already a captain, but she was running a much bigger vessel.
I remember watching her take the boat out of the marina at the Monaco Boat Show.
I felt so proud to see a woman at the helm of a 240-foot boat. I thought to myself, “One day, I want to do the job she has.”
She later told me that when she pulled into Antibes, in the south of France, all the men on the docks were watching her. They were waiting to see if she’d crash and fail.
I’ve experienced that same judgment. Facing that kind of resistance only made me want to work even harder.
Becoming a captain was difficult, but I knew I could do it. I had to log a lot of sea time, and the test wasn’t easy. I hadn’t been to school in years, and I’d been kicked out of 11th grade. But I found the process fascinating. I was learning, and I loved it.
Below Deck was a great opportunity
Initially, when I was approached about Below Deck, I’d already been a captain for more than 20 years.
I wasn’t going to do the show because I thought it would ruin my career. All my friends advised me not to do it, worried that we were professionals and the show would highlight the salacious stuff.
But I thought it was a good opportunity, and told myself I could always walk away if I wanted. It was the best thing because we’ve shown the world the career opportunities in yachting and that women can lead in them.
Below Deck has been the best. The global exposure and the chance to show women that there are real careers in this industry have been so important. After all, I never knew it existed.
For women trying to forge a career in any male-dominated field, my advice is to take all the classes you can and learn every skill available to you. You can walk into the space with all that knowledge and continue to learn.
Teaching younger yachties
With some young people, it’s all about the experience and not putting in the time to learn. When I find someone who is interested in learning and shows initiative, I invest in them.
I make it clear I’m willing to teach them. A lot of captains don’t allow the crew on the bridge, but I usually bring one person up to be a watch officer. This is when you can teach them things while working, like an apprenticeship program.
However, I won’t let people on the bridge if I’m navigating, as I need to be focused.
My advice for other women wanting to become captains is to start off on small boats. That’s where the real problem-solving happens.
On big boats, the engineers solve the problems, but on smaller vessels, you do everything yourself. In my case, I read manuals on every piece of equipment because I didn’t want to rely on calling out a technician to come save me.
It teaches you to be self-reliant and practical.
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