Captain Sandy Yawn found herself in one of the worst possible scenarios to start the new charter season: down not only a deckhand, but a bosun as well. The Season 10 premiere of Below Deck Mediterranean kicked off with a sputter, not a bang, as Sandy texted newly promoted bosun Nathan Gallagher to find out his ETA, and got a disappointing FaceTime call in return.
“I got food poisoning and I’ve been up getting sick and all sorts ever since,” Nathan revealed of his status. “So, I’m hoping that I can be better by tomorrow.”
It came on the heels of deckhand Tessa Budd also texting the captain, “I got horrible food poisoning. Several people in my hotel did. I can’t make it to the boat. Be there tomorrow. Could not be more sorry.”
With less than 24 hours to go until motor yacht Bravado’s first charter left the dock in Marina Port Vell in Barcelona, Spain, Sandy was panicked.
“We need you. Wow,” she said on the call to Nathan, grimacing. “Get some rest and hydrate. Hydrate, hydrate.”
She confessed just how dire the situation was if Nathan didn’t return. “If Nathan isn’t here, I don’t have my bosun. I don’t meet the manning requirements for the vessel. I won’t be able to leave the dock. I don’t know what we’re going to do,” she explained.
Max Salvador steps in as temporary bosun during Nathan Gallagher’s absence
Forced to find a temporary solution for her missing bosun, Sandy asked returning Season 8 Below Deck Med deckhand Max Salvador to take over in the Sept. 29 episode.
“You’re gonna run the deck until we get Nathan, our bosun,” she told him. “Just get it cleaned. Turned around.”
But as new deckhand Christian Trimino tried to find his way around, he lamented, “I don’t know what to do. Ugh, I wish the bosun was here.”
As the hours until departure dwindled, Sandy called the team together for a meeting.
“Deck team, little bit of bad news,” she announced. “We’re missing two. So, they have food poisoning.”
When asked when Nathan and Tessa would arrive, Sandy had no answer. She asked hopefully, “So, it’s just us. You can do this right?”
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While Max confidently declared in his confessional interview to producers, “We can do it! Bosun Max. That has a nice ring to it,” Christian didn’t have as much faith. “We’re not going to be able to do it,” he predicted.
Luckily, the team got a lift when Nathan shared he’d be on the boat the morning of departure, along with deckhand Tess.
“Oh yeah. Thank god,” Sandy muttered to herself.
With just four hours to go until the first charter, Nathan rated himself at feeling 70 percent.
“Yesterday was a disaster, but we’re here. We’re going to make it work,” Nathan told Sandy when he arrived.
However, Nathan had a lot of jitters as a first time bosun.
“Obviously, I thought I was going to have 24 hours on the boat,” he confessed. “Figure out where things are. But 24 hours have been cut down. I barely even know who my team is. Jesus Christ, this is gonna be a fun season.”
Nathan Gallagher to face both professional and personal challenges in Below Deck Med Season 10
Although he called the charter season “one of the toughest times” in his entire life in the Season 10 trailer, Nathan also got a big surprise months later. After rekindling his romance with Below Deck Med Season 9 stew Gael Cameron, the two welcomed a son, Kayden Cameron-Gallagher, in June 2025. But getting to that point looks to be a bumpy ride, as the trailer shows not only a montage of hookups, but Gael tearfully telling Nathan, “You’ve hurt me so much, and not only did you hurt me the first time, you hurt me again and again.”
RELATED: Nathan Gallagher Reveals He Suffered An Injury Before Gael Cameron Gave Birth: “Not Ideal Timing”
Nathan also appears to run into trouble navigating his team as a bosun, with the trailer showing Sandy yelling at him, “Get your f—king s—t together on this deck, you understand?”
Don’t miss Nathan and Gael giving a sweet update on life with their baby boy, including documenting a big “first” for Kayden.
