Raise your hand if you're ready to sail the seas once again — and this time in Croatia. Below Deck Mediterranean's Hannah Ferrier chatted with Bustle the day before the Season 2 premiere and opened up about the new episodes and how the show is finally introducing its first female captain, Sandy Yawn. As chief stew, Ferrier couldn't have been more thrilled to step onto the yacht and work with another woman in a leadership position. It's something most fans will agree has been long overdue in the franchise.
"I was really excited when I got on board," Ferrier tells me via phone. "I love women being on top and women in power."
According Yawn's Bravo biography, she's quite the accomplished yachtie. She's been in the business for 27 years and is "only one of a handful of female captains in the yachting industry." It's impressive, to say the least, and beyond exciting to see another woman in power take the Bravo small screen.
And while Ferrier agrees, fans will see her and Yawn butt heads every now and again. "I think we definitely had our ups and downs, especially at the start of the season," she says. She's quick to add, "I think no matter whether it's a woman or a man, it's always about gauging how you like to be managed and how they manage their crew."
After filming two seasons of Below Deck Med, Ferrier can make the comparison between Yawn and Captain Mark Howard from Season 1 — and it sounds like they couldn't be more different. "It was chalk and cheese with how Sandy managed her crew compared to Mark," she says. "Probably my personal style is more Mark's style of management."
That said, the Bravolebrity says it doesn't really matter what the crew thinks about the captain, because they need to be respectful and make sure they're meeting their bosses needs. As Ferrier notes, "At the end of the day, the captain's the captain, so it's not about them changing to you, it's about you changing for them."
Despite the drama, there's no arguing that seeing two women in major roles during the second season is fantastic. In my opinion, the more, the merrier. Who else can't wait to see even more women being badasses?
Below Deck Mediterranean premieres Tuesday, May 2 at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
