10 minutes with Captain Sandy Yawn from "Below Deck"
Talking boats, tv, and more!
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#captainsandy #belowdeck #belowdeckmed
#pepperstewart #pepperstewartshow #boats
#tvshow #boat #bravotv #peacock #peacocktv
#yacht #yachtlife #superyacht #cowboys
Talking boats, tv, and more!
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#captainsandy #belowdeck #belowdeckmed
#pepperstewart #pepperstewartshow #boats
#tvshow #boat #bravotv #peacock #peacocktv
#yacht #yachtlife #superyacht #cowboys
Category
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PeopleTranscript
00:00Superyacht, a superyacht captain and a superyacht, I'm fascinated with those because those are
00:05like a hotel on water.
00:08And we're going to talk to Captain Sandy.
00:09Captain Sandy, what is happening?
00:11Hi, thank you for having me.
00:15Oh, okay.
00:16So I want to dive back a little bit and see, I've watched the show that you've been on
00:23the Below Deck Show and watched that kind of see.
00:25And so what I'm curious, the curiosity that got me was at what point growing up or your
00:32background where you was like, man, captain in boats, driving boats, that's where I want
00:36to be.
00:37You know, it's so far from how I grew up.
00:40I actually grew up on a ranch and we had horses and cows and pigs and lots of animals.
00:46My dad was a hunter.
00:47We had 42 dogs and we always had a bass boat.
00:53So we grew up water skiing and I answered an ad in the paper one day, got a job on a
01:00boat and started that track and thought, wow, I can make money at the same time I'm getting
01:05a suntan and a workout.
01:07I thought that was pretty cool and working on the water.
01:10And it looks interesting.
01:11So did you start, so I guess you started on smaller boats and then kind of worked towards
01:15that.
01:16How do you become a captain?
01:17I know there's like a licensing thing and stuff like that.
01:20So how does, how do you do that?
01:23Well I started on small boats, washing them, maintaining them.
01:27And then I got a job for a guy who gave me the opportunity to learn, which was, you know,
01:33if you're, if you don't have that opportunity to learn, how are you going to learn?
01:39And the TV shows actually shown millions of people that there's jobs in the industry,
01:44which I had no idea.
01:45I just answered an ad in paper years ago.
01:49It's pretty cool.
01:50The money's good.
01:51Sorry about the dog barking, a little bear, no, the money's great.
01:57And the cool thing is, is I started a charity, founded a charity and we have created an in-school
02:02curriculum which will educate kids in school and let them know about the maritime industry.
02:08And it's something that I didn't seek.
02:10I had no idea it existed.
02:12And when I found it, it was like, oh my gosh, I can earn money in this industry.
02:17It was pretty awesome.
02:18Yeah.
02:19And, and it's, and it's so, it's so interesting to watch the show.
02:23I know that it's, it's, it's for TV and they, they do, you know, some things happen to kind
02:28of help with the TV, but how, how much, you know, involved from what, what you see on,
02:35on TV to what is going on, is that, are there out there for, you're out there, what, for
02:39a week or so, and they've condensed that down to.
02:44That's correct.
02:45For six weeks.
02:46And there's a lot of footage.
02:49Everything that you see actually happened.
02:50No one produces us.
02:53It's a real job.
02:54They really act like that.
02:55And I think it's the pressure.
02:58It's like a pressure cooker, right?
03:00So you're in this little, it's a big tube on the water, you know, but still it's like
03:05small living quarters for people.
03:07They work, they wake up, they eat breakfast together, they work all day.
03:13They have lunch and dinner.
03:15And it's always, it's like a family at sea with all the drama, just like at home, right?
03:20With your brothers and sisters, your parents, it's the same thing.
03:23The only difference is it's a real job.
03:26We are responsible for lives at sea and, you know, you just got to keep them on that track.
03:31When they start to lose it, I just say, go count your cash under your pillow, right?
03:37Right.
03:38And you've been at it for, you've been at this for a while and you've been fairly successful.
03:41You know, you were, you won the distinguished crew award.
03:45You had the fire, you had the pirates.
03:48I watched that.
03:49I watched that episode.
03:50You talked about that.
03:51So I was like, what happened?
03:52So what happened with the fire?
03:53And then what happened with the pirates?
03:54Well, you know, pirates are thieves at sea, so they're everywhere.
03:59Not just in the Red Sea.
04:01They're in the, they're everywhere, Caribbean and I was transporting a boat for an owner
04:08in Dubai.
04:10And on the way, our boat caught on fire.
04:12At the time, Yemen was in a civil war.
04:16There had been a lot of pirate attacks.
04:19The year prior the USS Cole was attacked, it was an election year, so it was like polarizing.
04:24And we had security on board, he was getting intel.
04:28He kept informing me and I was like, listen, all you're doing is stressing me out.
04:32When the pirates are off the bow of the boat, let me know that.
04:37That's the time to tell me, not, you know, build me up.
04:40So we had the fire.
04:42The cool thing is, is that when you're on a boat, you train, train, train.
04:46We do fire drills, man overboard drills.
04:48We never stopped training.
04:49So we're prepared.
04:51We handled it really well.
04:53It was the calm in the middle of the storm.
04:56We did not get, you know, no pirates boarded us, but we called a warship because there's
05:01a coalition of warships after September 11th that monitor those bodies of water.
05:06I heard warship 68.
05:07I called that warship.
05:08It rescued us, took us into Hodeidah, Yemen, where I spent 13 days wondering if we were
05:15going to get, you know, taken.
05:17So the good news is, is we didn't.
05:20And we made it out alive.
05:23Golly.
05:24That's, that sounds, that sounds insane.
05:28It was, it was stressful.
05:30So now you've, you've been on the boat for a while, you've done that for a while and
05:33now you're, you know, you're going on to speaking engagements and you've got the book out.
05:38How did the book, how'd the book come to be, be, be the calm or be the storm?
05:43You know, the book came from the fans.
05:46They watched the show.
05:47They go, we love your leadership skills.
05:49And I just think, what leadership skills?
05:51All I do is treat people how I would like to be treated.
05:54That's all I do.
05:55I always think that when I have to let someone go, they already feel bad.
05:59Why would I make them feel worse?
06:01I come, I come from the human element side and we're actually taught that in C school.
06:07We have to take a class.
06:08I think it's called, what do they call it today in the corporate world, D, E, and I.
06:13So we take, it's called human element, it's called health.
06:16And we take that class because we have to learn how to treat others.
06:19We have to learn that when you're at sea, these are your people that are going to put,
06:23you know, they're going to be in your lifeboat, so you don't want them, you know, putting
06:27a hole in your lifeboat.
06:28You want them to help you paddle the lifeboat.
06:30And it's just about leadership.
06:32The book is great.
06:33I'm very proud of it.
06:34It was the hardest thing I ever did in my life to sit down.
06:38I had a collaborator, because I am not a writer, who grilled me daily and just talking about
06:46my life, sea stories, and you know, I come from a long line of addiction in my family.
06:51So I struggled with that.
06:52I got sober at the age of 25 and it's like my life has been aligned for me.
07:00When you do the next right thing in life, things just come your way.
07:05When you're just out there, you know, and it's about, you know, me, me, me, it's not
07:11like that in life.
07:12It's all about giving back, taking care of yourself, mind, body, and spirit.
07:16And that's what I try to do on a daily basis.
07:19It is not easy.
07:21It takes work and perseverance.
07:23And just like today, my sister came to visit my birthdays tomorrow.
07:27She's from Florida.
07:28She wanted to see Red Rocks, but to get to the top of Red Rocks, it is a hike.
07:33So she was like ready to turn around and I'm like, it's worth the climb, you know, don't
07:39come this far and then give up, continue on your climb, but take rest along the way, recharge
07:46your batteries.
07:47And so basically the book is about that.
07:49Okay.
07:50And so I guess the book, it's on Amazon.
07:54On Amazon.
07:55Yes.
07:56You can get it anywhere.
07:57Okay.
07:58Yeah.
07:59Okay.
08:00And one of the questions I've got for that boat.
08:03When you're docking that boat, does the boat go sideways?
08:07Does it have a, does it have a setting to where once you roll up, you can float sideways
08:11or do you have to manually turn that thing?
08:14I have to make it move sideways.
08:17You know, we don't have a stern thruster.
08:19We just have two engines and a bow thruster.
08:22Half the time the bow thruster doesn't work properly.
08:25So you're really struggling.
08:27The reality is, is you're only good as your team when it's docking, when you're docking,
08:30because I don't have eyes in the back of my head.
08:32I can't see there's, you know, it's 190 foot boat.
08:36I'm, you know, probably 45 feet in and you can't see behind you, so you have to trust
08:41your people.
08:42And again, it's like investing in your team.
08:44So your team have your back and so far so good.
08:48I mean, I, you know, I haven't damaged it.
08:51That's the good news.
08:52I've, I've, I watch, I watch so much.
08:54I've tried to, I've tried to figure out how to, because my boat's tiny, it's 30 foot.
08:58It's a little 30 foot regal.
09:00That's not tiny.
09:01That's a lot tiny.
09:03And I've, I've been crashing into the dock, knocked a hole in the side of it because both
09:08previous boats I had before that were smaller boats and they were easy to maneuver.
09:11But in the, in the docks, I just, I just fight with it all the time.
09:14So I've been watching every time y'all get ready to dock and y'all are sitting, I'm watching
09:17where they're going, what they're doing, how they're up, back, what's happening.
09:21See, but the difference is your boat's a lot lighter.
09:25So it's more affected by wind and current, whereas our boat's a lot heavier.
09:29Yes.
09:30If you have a big wind and it starts the momentum, it can work against you.
09:34Also, I have a team.
09:36We prepare before we go into the dock.
09:39So we always talk about our approach, what my expectation is.
09:43We always have that conversation.
09:45They asked me what side fenders are on, where are we going on the, you know, in the
09:49marina.
09:50So it's all about communication and preparation, you know, preparing for docking and
09:55practice, you know, we practice together.
09:58Just like if you watch the beginning of our season, we're not as smooth as we are three
10:02or four charters in.
10:04It comes with practice.
10:07And that's what I need, I need a lot more practice, but this watching this show, I
10:11don't know, I watched, I think the Mediterranean seasons and then I was like, well,
10:16what is this?
10:17I started watching season one.
10:18I think I'm like season seven or eight of the original thing.
10:21And it's just it's entertaining.
10:23I'm learning stuff.
10:25And then, you know, the crew makes it even better when they decide to go out and have
10:31dinner. Yes, I'm glad I'm not at those dinners.
10:35That's all I got to say.
10:37I just, I wonder is, you know, a lot of the people that are on the cast with you, when
10:43the show airs, the show comes out, they watch that back and go, oh, my God, I cannot
10:48believe I did that.
10:49I'm sure they do.
10:50I mean, the reality is that you forget the cameras are there because of the fourth
10:54wall. They teach us not talk to the cameramen and women, so we they'll get in
11:00trouble. So we, you know, we don't want to get them in trouble.
11:03So we have that fourth wall.
11:06Yeah. And people forget, so they drink a little and they start behaving a certain
11:13way. And then they watching, oh, Lord, well, maybe I shouldn't drink that much.
11:17I'm like, don't you realize in your bunk that you see the camera right there?
11:21Watch. I mean, it's right there.
11:23Yeah. I think we've got it.
11:26We've got a picture of the book.
11:26We've got a picture of the book of it.
11:29It's fun. Yeah, I have a book.
11:31Oh, yes. Awesome.
11:32Thank you. Thanks for that.
11:34Yeah. So right there. Yeah.
11:35Go anywhere and buy it.
11:36Amazon has it on sale right now.
11:38The Kendall's on sale.
11:40They're they're all on sale now.
11:42The the youth thing you were talking about earlier is that can that be found on your
11:47website as well for the foundation?
11:50So here's the plan.
11:52The wonderful thing.
11:53I'm in the state of Florida.
11:55They funded this entire program, so it's going to roll out in Florida first.
11:59And my goal is to roll this out in every state across America because there I
12:07wasn't college bound.
12:08I got kicked out of 11th grade.
12:09I was on that merry-go-round.
12:12The maritime industry said, hey, we'll take you when everyone else said no.
12:17And if you're committed and it's hard work, but it's like a feel good work.
12:22Yes, you have your days where it's challenging and you have some clients or
12:27owners that aren't so wonderful to work for.
12:29But if you keep your eye on the goal, it's a great career.
12:33And we're 50,000 people short in our industry.
12:38We need 50 more thousand people.
12:40You work in a shipyard, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, welders make 20
12:45percent more than they do on a typical employment.
12:53Yeah, I never think about that, and you think about the people that work out in
12:57this old rigs out on the sea, out on the oceans and stuff like that, been in the
13:01ocean. You never really think that much.
13:03And then that got me thinking I was watching this about the deckhands and your
13:08stewards and all that stuff that it's a rotating employment thing where you get
13:14different people.
13:14So when when you have that on those ships, do you get to pick who comes on your
13:21crew or are they just that you just randomly get stuck with whoever?
13:24Good question. I get to pick crew when I'm not on the show.
13:29You see the casting calls.
13:31They do cast for crew.
13:33They cast for, you know, but, you know, the clients pay.
13:37The crew have and it's usually crew that really never worked on boats before,
13:42which I love because you get you get to give them the opportunity to see if they
13:47really want to work in this industry.
13:49And some people stay and some people go.
13:51Some people transition into yacht sales like Bobby.
13:54Bobby's in yacht sales now.
13:56You know, Bugsy's on her, you know, Bugsy's is still working on boats.
14:01Malia is her track is to be captain.
14:04Max, for my first season, is a first officer on a boat in Spain.
14:09Wes has a big license now and Joao is now a captain on a 40 meter.
14:14So these people, they you know, our show gives that opportunity for people to
14:19advance. If you're there for TV, it's not going to work.
14:23Be there to do the job and, you know, cast for the show.
14:27But more importantly, you don't have to be from a state that's surrounded by
14:30water. You can be from Colorado or any other place, Wyoming, wherever, Austin, and
14:36you can work on a boat because all it takes is one class.
14:41It's called STCW.
14:43Go to Maritime Professional Training.
14:45That's where I went to school.
14:46It's in Fort Lauderdale.
14:49That class costs about nine hundred dollars for the week.
14:52Once you have that certificate, you need to pass a physical and a drug test and
14:57then you're at sea.
14:59But there are other jobs that are land based.
15:01If you don't want to, you have a family, you might have to relocate near the
15:05shipyard or in sales or charter broker.
15:08There's so many positions.
15:11It's wonderful.
15:12Yeah. And I've never I've never thought about that at all.
15:15And then watching this, it piques my interest.
15:17I even look at even watching something, man, if this was 20 years ago, I'd mind
15:21trying to be a deckhand or something just to get out and try it and see how it
15:24goes.
15:26Yeah, pretty awesome.
15:28So how's the book tour?
15:29How's the book tour been going?
15:30You've had book signings and some speaking.
15:33Honestly, great.
15:34Detroit Boat Show brought me in, sold a lot of books there, met a lot of people.
15:40I just did the Miami Boat Show.
15:42I I'm running out of steam.
15:44I need a little break.
15:46So I'm not doing the Palm Beach Boat Show, but I am doing a Women's Expo in
15:49Jacksonville. It's in March.
15:53I think it's like the 15th or 16th and 17th of March in Jacksonville, which is
15:59really cool. So I'll be selling my book.
16:01I think I'm speaking on stage.
16:03And then after that, I'll probably do one other one and then off to Europe,
16:08hopefully.
16:09Yeah. OK.
16:11All right. That will work.
16:12It sounds good. We'll throw your website out again.
16:16It's
16:20CaptainSandyYong.com.
16:22There you go. It's CaptainSandyYong.com.
16:24They can get the book.
16:25They can check out your merch, your order books.
16:30If they want to have you come speak somewhere, they could book you there.
16:34Yeah, that's right. So, in fact, I got two big speaking deals coming up I'm very
16:38excited about. And I love speaking because if I can help change someone's life,
16:44it's worth it. Of course, we all have to make money and that's such a feel good
16:48way. I love my job as a captain.
16:51I get to take people out to sea and, you know, hopefully it's good weather and
16:55they have the best experience ever and then, you know, pay it forward by showing
17:00crew members. But it's now I'm at that stage of my life.
17:03I'm turning 59 tomorrow that I just want to do the next right thing and help
17:08people along the way.
17:10My journey of making money, you know, like it's a it's a win win.
17:15Right. Right. OK.
17:16All right. OK. Captain Sandy, man, I appreciate you visit with me and fill me in
17:21on what you got going on in the show and stuff like that.
17:24And we'll keep an eye out on what you got going on.
17:27Maybe you swing into Dallas to a boat show one day and I love Dallas.
17:33I love Dallas. I got a lot of friends in Dallas.
17:35Yeah. All right. Well, Captain, I appreciate it.
17:38And we'll see you down the road. Yeah, thank you.
17:41Thanks for having me. Thank you.