Skip to main content

Below Deck star Captain Sandy Yawn explained those huge inflatable water slides seen on the show and Below Deck Mediterranean aren’t always just stored on the superyacht. And, she added, they usually need to be brought in for charters.

“They ship the slide back and forth between boats,” Yawn explained to Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “Each boat does not have its own slide.” Below Deck Mediterranean Season 7 had a few unusual starts on deck when deckhands Storm Smith and Mzi “Zee” Dempers were delayed due to quarantine. And the superyacht’s slide was MIA.

Captain Sandy explains why the ‘Below Deck Med’ crew couldn’t get another slide

Below Deck deckhands hate the slide, but the guests love it. Not being able to deploy the slide during the first few charters meant that the deck team needed to make sure all available water toys were deployed – which didn’t exactly happen all the time.

Captain Sandy Yawn uses her radio in the bridge on 'Below Deck Med' which features yachts deployed with slides.
Captain Sandy Yawn | Karolina Wojtasik/Bravo

Yawn said the slide is usually the main attraction when it comes to water sports. “Of course, they wanted the slide,” she said. “They were like, ‘Yeah, we wanted the slide.’ I don’t blame them.”

She also explained why the crew couldn’t just use any superyacht slide if one was available in Malta. “Slides are built for boats,” Yawn said. “It has to be built for the size of the boat, so each slide is custom made.”

The ‘Below Deck Slide’ has a Twitter account and Captain Sandy loves it

The missing slide also became fodder on Twitter when someone created a “Below Deck Slide” account. Yawn loves the banter she’s been having with the account. “I think it’s hilarious,” she said.

Yawn and “the slide” have had several exchanges as the highly anticipated arrival of the slide keeps mounting with each episode. In fact, Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen introduced the “Shady Slide” during a Below Deck cast appearance. “I’m ready to work, boss. It was nice being in nyc with @Andy, but I gotta trim my eyebrows,” the slide account tweeted along with a photo.

Last week, Yawn tweeted, “Release the Slide! Maybe @BelowDeckSlide will get out of customs this week!” So is it possible the slide will never make an appearance this season – which would actually be a first for a Below Deck superyacht? Yawn won’t say. “Stay tuned!” she said.

Why do ‘Below Deck’ deckhands hate the slide so much?

Many of the water toys take quite a bit of muscle to deploy. But there’s nothing quite like the slide, making it the most hated water toy for most deckies. First officer Eddie Lucas explained the water slide’s size made it so cumbersome and arduous to deploy. So, how much does the slide on Below Deck weigh? “The water slide … it weighs like 700 pounds,” he said in a confessional on Below Deck Season 2. “It’s huge.”

Related

Below Deck Med’s Colin Macy-O’Toole Reveals ‘the Worst Part’ of Being a Deckhand (and It’s Not the Slide)

Lucas also observed how the slide is time-consuming to prepare for the guests. “The water slide is five hours of pain and suffering,” he shared. “For one little hour of guest enjoyment.” 

And while the deck team has a shared hatred of the slide, former deckhand Colin Macy-O’Toole said he’s not a fan of all the luggage they had to carry. “I think the worst job about being a deckhand is the luggage,” he said during an episode of Below Deck Galley Talk.

So will the Below Deck slide ever show up? Stay tuned. Below Deck Mediterranean is on Monday at 8 pm ET on Bravo.

Best in Entertainment