Katie From ‘Below Deck Med’ Reveals Why She Took a Break From Yachting – ‘I’m Gonna Give It 1 Last Shot’
Chief stew Katie Flood from Below Deck Mediterranean revealed that she needed a break from yachting, sharing that the job wore on her mental health.
She didn’t cite specifics but said the grind and perhaps a recent breakup caused her to take a step back. Flood said she isn’t leaving yachting forever but is giving the industry “one last shot.”
Below Deck Med’s Katie Flood said her mental health was deteriorating
Flood said her break from yachting is ending and she could be joining a new boat. But added, “I’ve had a few interviews so I’m waiting to hear back,” she shared on Malia White’s Total Ship Show podcast. “I’ve been hanging on by a string with yachting. But I think I’m gonna give it one last shot.”
She stepped back from the job because she said it can be extremely draining. “I speak about anxiety a lot,” she remarked. “The industry alone is so demanding on every aspect of your life. Your mental, your physical, spiritual, – it really does consume you. I’ve kind of taken a step back now because I really realize my mental health is really deteriorating here. So that’s why I have sort of taken this break now just to find myself again.”
Being on ‘Below Deck Med’ also contributed to Katie’s stress
As many Below Deck viewers know, the crew are on the job 24/7 with nearly no downtime. Flood said between being on Below Deck Med last year and then joining a demanding boat, she needed to step away for a while. “I was on probably the busiest boat I’ve ever been on in my whole entire yachting career,” Flood said. “And then I had the show coming out at the same time. So that was a lot mentally to go through.”
“So, when the end of the season came around, I was like, ‘I can’t like, I’m not happy, like, I’m genuinely not happy,'” she continued. “Like I’m miserable. I don’t get to work out. I don’t get to do yoga. And I don’t get to do anything positive because all we’re doing is working or we’re at sea.”
“And then you just don’t have those moments that get off the boat and just get a coffee and call your friends and family,” she added. “Then they have s***ty internet because you’re offshore somewhere, you know? So, yeah, that’s definitely exactly what happened.”
A relationship with a crew member also complicated matters
Flood also said being in a relationship in yachting is exhausting. She shared two breakup instances with former Below Deck Med deckhand Jack Stirrup. Both times she and Stirrup broke up as she was heading into charter. She would try to put on a happy face, but felt like she wanted to cry.
Most recently she dated a chief officer who tried to kiss her stew. “I was dating my chief officer for the last year on this last boat I was on,” she revealed. “It was so hard for people not realize when we were not in a good place. You have to keep it together. But then like he tried to kiss one of my stewardesses. It was f***ed.” Flood and her boyfriend also shared a cabin, which further complicated matters.
“I don’t think, looking back now it was the smartest move [to date the chief officer],” she added.
Flood said the break from yachting has been good for her. “And honestly, a lot has happened for me and my personal life, especially over the last four months since leaving yachting, it’s been a bit wild, but I feel so much better now,” she said. “I’m much more confident. I just I feel more like myself, you know? And I definitely, I’m feeling like a lot stronger than I was, for sure.”
