Captain Sandy Yawn is in the thick of it as she fills in for Captain Lee Rosbach on Below Deck this season.
Captain Lee is best known for his silent but strong leadership. He holds a high standard, keeping his direction succinct, and to the point. Captain Sandy, on the other hand, loves to involve herself in crew drama. When Episode 5 left off Sandy was mopping floors, motivating Camille Lamb, shooing Alissa Humber, and destroying the deck crew’s sleep schedule. This week though, she is down to business and threatening to send people packing. We love to see it!
Sandy Snoops Out The Drama
She’s like a bloodhound for the goss. After their run-in the night before, Sandy approached Alissa to discuss Camille’s lack of motivation. Alissa broke into quiet tears when she gave her side of things, which broke my heart for her. Camille has been relentless in shrugging off her work. In the era of quiet-quitting, I at least expect more silence.
Sandy went straight from her conversation with Alissa to address things with Camille. She essentially ordered Camille to apologize, a strategy that has been scientifically proven to never work, but what do I know? Camille admits she has an attitude problem, and Sandy piles on saying “it’s not that hard.” Captain Lee is there in spirit, I just know it.
In the end, Camille apologized to Alissa and all seemed well…at least for a few hours.
Camille Fails To Walk The Walk
Is anyone surprised? Camille didn’t even make it through the day before trying to take a break in the captain’s quarters. I’ve never seen anything like it. She seriously walked right up to the bridge and told Sandy she was trying to avoid running into anyone for fear that they might ask her to help/do her paid job. Sandy tries to make nice and suggests Camille get some rest if she’s not busy. Dismissed, Camille heads down to her cabin.
Eventually, Chef Rachel Hargrove calls Camille on the walkie to follow up on some silverware. Camille puppy-dogs back that Sandy sent her on a 30-minute break. Immediately, Sandy hops on the walkie and tells Camille not to throw her under the bus. Again, I’ve never seen anything like it. After the exchange is finished, Camille is in tears. She calls Rachel a “weird red-headed chick,” and heads back to Sandy to complain more about the interior.
Once back to the bridge, Camille tells Sandy she thinks the greater issue is too many weak links on the interior team. I’m sorry, WHAT and WHO is she referring to??
Camille Adjusts Her Attitude Schedule
So after Camille finishes complaining to Sandy about being asked to do too much “bitch work,” the Seductress of the Sea (I’m still working on Sandy’s pet name) hatches a plan. She calls Fraser Olender and Ross McHarg into a meeting and announces that Camille will now be on the interior full-time. In order to compensate Ross for his loss, Sandy offers to be out on deck more. Ross seems less than enthused about the idea of more Sandy time. He insists having Camille off his team will be reprieve enough. Lol.
After the meeting, Fraser decides to directly address Camille and explains to her what a chain of command is. Maybe she skipped that day at orientation or something? Camille doesn’t seem to understand though, and she insists that her directions should come from Fraser and not Alissa. Maybe Chef Rachel can whip her up some humble pie or something?
The Guests Enjoy St. Lucia
This charter is one with a calm, gracious and respectful group of guests. They maximized their time in the Caribbean by playing a game of tennis with the St. David deckies and nomming on an exquisite meal provided by Rachel. What I would give to even smell something she whips up.
One guest is stung by several jellyfish, but the deck crew is quick in rescuing her. Katie Glaser event provided a nice vinegar bath for her troubles. I do love the random side moments this series gives us. When else will I get to see what life could be like on a high-end motor yacht?!?
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During her departure, the primary, Gigi Fernández leaves a MAJOR tip. Over $30k! The crew makes good use of that money later during their night out.
Drinks All Around
Bosun Ross lives by the motto “work hard, play hard.” After successfully removing Camille from the deck team and swindling his original deck schedule back from Sandy earlier in the episode, it’s time to party. Ross drinks himself silly during the crew night out and ends up flirtatiously close to both Alissa and Camille in the hot tub. I think we were all pretty unimpressed with his display, but no one was more bothered than Katie. This angel has been locking lips with Ross in the light of day! That’s a major commitment for yachties!
Ross quickly apologizes to both Katie and Camille the next morning, saying he doesn’t remember what happened, but that’s not an excuse for his behavior. Everyone seems to move on easily. It feels doubtful he won’t sin again, though.
…There’s More Camille
But maybe not for long.
The final moments of this week’s episode sealed Sandy in my heart for Season 10. I was skeptical at first, but I think she’s going to prove herself. After Camille tells Alissa to “hang on” over the walkie, Sandy calls her back to the bridge for yet another motivational speech. This time, though, she’s handing out tickets home. This is what the people want!!
Sandy tells Camille she has one more charter to prove her worth, or she’s going to be sent home early. Camille launches into a full meltdown, negative self-talking in a guest cabin bathroom while a camera crew and Alissa stand by. At this point, I actually started to feel bad for Camille, but not because she was being treated unfairly. Clearly she’s going through something big money in gorgeous Saint Lucia can’t solve. Following up with her next week may get sad.
TELL US – DO YOU FEEL BAD FOR CAMILLE OR DO YOU THINK SHE’S DUE FOR A MELTDOWN? ARE YOU GLAD IT WAS CAPTAIN SANDY WHO IS HERE IN CAPTAIN LEE’S STEAD?
[Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo]
