Who Are the ‘Below Deck’ Female Deckhands Who Used to Be Stews?

Not all Below Deck female deckhands started out on deck. A few Below Deck crew members started in the interior and moved out on deck – and really shined.

To date, no deckhands have moved into the interior. And only one crew member, Anastasia Surmava temporarily moved from third stew to chef on Below Deck Mediterranean Season 4. But thus far, two female Below Deck stews moved to the deck. And one Below Deck Sailing Yacht female deckhand previously worked as a stew.

Isabelle “Izzy” Wouters loved moving from stew to deck on ‘Below Deck’ Season 8

Isabelle “Izzy” Wouters started Below Deck Season 8 as a stew, but chief stew Francesca Rubi could tell Wouters’ heart wasn’t in her job. So when deckhand Avery Russell had to suddenly leave before the first charter, Wouters asked if she could move out on deck.

Despite wanting to be on deck, Wouters admitted she was nervous. “But there was a really good team around me; James [Hough] and Shane [Coopersmith] were really friendly,” she recalled to Decider.

Her confidence grew when bosun Eddie Lucas took note of her dedication. She was eventually promoted to lead deckhand. “Eddie [Lucas] was a really good leader and good motivator,” she recalled. “And he was like, ‘Why are you getting your head? You’ve done all this stuff, you’ve got this huge license, you can do this.’ And so I started to get confidence from that and actually being given the opportunity to do stuff.”

Courtney Veale moves from stew to deck on ‘Below Deck Med’ Season 7

Courtney Veale is the first stew to move to the deck on Below Deck Mediterranean. Instead of replacing bosun Raygan Tyler, Captain Sandy Yawn promoted deckhand Storm Smith to provisional bosun and brought Veale in on deck. Veale worked with Yawn last season as a stew and finished the season with chief stew Katie Flood down to only a two-person team.

And while she is new to the deck, trying new jobs comes naturally to Veale. She worked at Disneyland Paris as a Disney princess and told Decider she loves to wing it when it comes to trying something new in her career.

“Most of my life, because usually, I apply for jobs and I have no idea what’s going on in them,” she said. “And then when I get there, I end up learning the job, basically. With fruit platters and meat platters and things like that, I’m fine with that. I could do that all day and all night. But the actual cooking side of things, definitely less confident with. I used to be a nanny, so I used to cook for the family, but that was super basic stuff, not stuff that you serve on charter. I wish we could have just done pizza, pasta, salads, but no, we went for lobster and steak.”

Ciara Duggan was a stew before she was a deckhand on ‘Below Deck Sailing Yacht’

Even though she was a strong deckhand on Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 1, Ciara Duggan spent most of her yachting career in the interior.

“Ciara has worked extensively as sole stew, chef and first mate, running small yachts with her boyfriend Paget,” according to her Bravo bio prior to season 1. Duggan’s now-ex boyfriend Paget Berry was the first mate on Parsifal III and she took on a deckhand position. “This charter season, Ciara steps in as a deckhand and although she has been dating her boyfriend Paget for over four years, they have never worked in the same department.”

The former couple seemed to get along well on deck, despite a few arguments. Duggan continues to work in yachting after leaving the show.