So, Did João Franco Really Become a Captain After Below Deck Med Season 4?
The Below Deck Med bosun reunited with an unexpected crew member after the charter season ended.


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Captain Sandy Yawn Reveals the One Quality That's Holding Travis Michalzik Back
"João has what it takes to be a captain. I'm not so sure about Travis."
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31:51S4 - Sneak Peek10 Moments from Below Deck Mediterranean Season 4 You Didn't See On Air
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2:26S4 - Sneak PeekBen Robinson's Epic Rant About Vegans Will Leave You Speechless
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1:13S4 - Sneak PeekTravis Michalzik and Jack Stirrup Give You a Lesson in Yachtie Slang
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1:24S4 - Sneak PeekThe Below Deck Mediterranean Crew Drank Beer Out of a Shoe?!
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1:47S4 - Sneak PeekJack Stirrup Reveals the Grossest Moment You Didn't See On-Air
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2:47S4 - Sneak PeekAnastasia Surmava and Aesha Scott's Bartending Tips
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3:57S4 - E18 | Part 6Jack Stirrup Cheated on Aesha Scott?!
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2:48S4 - E18 | Part 5Captain Sandy Yawn Spills All the Juicy Details on "Smoking Hot" Girlfriend Leah Shafer
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1:11S4 - E18 | Part 4Jack Stirrup and Travis Michalzik Were "Freezing Their F---ing Dicks Off" During That Slumber Party
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2:08S4 - E18 | Part 3Hannah Ferrier Responds to Captain Sandy Yawn's Comment About Lacking Passion
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2:31S4 - E18 | Part 2Captain Sandy Yawn Thinks João Franco Made One Major Mistake This Season
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2:07S4 - E18 | Part 1João Franco Dishes on the Hookup Fail You Didn't See On-Air
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3:06S4 - E17 | Part 5Captain Sandy Yawn Reveals the One Quality That's Holding Travis Michalzik Back
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2:52S4 - E17 | Part 4João Franco Likely Caught That Virus from a Very Gross Source...
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1:49S4 - E17 | Part 3Why Travis Michalzik Describes Rooming with Ben Robinson as "F---ing Carnage"
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1:42S4 - E17 | Part 2Ben Robinson Has Some Management Advice for Hannah Ferrier
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1:20S4 - E17 | Part 1Were These Charter Guests the Most Boring in Below Deck Mediterranean History?
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2:38S4 - E16 | Part 6Aesha Scott's Most Outrageous Statements: A Retrospective
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2:38S4 - E16 | Part 5Aesha Scott on Jack Stirrup's Grand Proposal: "That's What a Woman Wants"
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2:00S4 - E16 | Part 4Jack Stirrup Thinks That First Hook Up with Aesha Scott Wasn't His "Best Performance"
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2:56S4 - E16 | Part 3Why Ben Robinson Terrified Aesha Scott and Anastasia Surmava
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1:57S4 - E16 | Part 2Captain Sandy Yawn Says João Franco Wouldn't Have Questioned Her If She Was a Man
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3:11S4 - E16 | Part 1Hannah Ferrier Reveals the Real Reason She Nixed White Glove Service
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3:28S4 - E15 | Part 5Captain Sandy Yawn Opens Up About Being Arrested for Drinking and Driving
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1:16S4 - E15 | Part 4Why Ben Robinson Believes the Sirocco Galley is Cursed
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1:32S4 - E15 | Part 3Captain Sandy Yawn Calls Out Anastasia Surmava for Being "Lazy"
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1:48S4 - E15 | Part 2There Was More of Jack Stirrup's Naughty Poem That You Didn't Hear On-Air
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2:01S4 - E15 | Part 1Was Anastasia Surmava's Slow Plating for the Cameras to Blame for Her Cold Food?
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2:04S4 - E14 | Part 7Was Travis Michalzik Actually Jealous of Jack Stirrup's Relationship with Aesha Scott?
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1:42S4 - E14 | Part 6Aesha Scott Reveals the Exact Moment She Realized Her Feelings for Jack Stirrup
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2:20S4 - E14 | Part 5Did Travis Michalzik Ever Hear from That Guest He Gave a Note to After the Charter?
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2:07S4 - E14 | Part 4Captain Sandy Yawn Has a Theory About Why Guests Are So Attracted to Her
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4:03S4 - E14 | Part 3Does Ben Robinson Think He Overreacted to Travis Michalzik's Wild Partying?
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2:42S4 - E14 | Part 2Ben Robinson Reveals the Major Mistake He Made with These Charter Guests
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1:03S4 - E14 | Part 1Why Captain Sandy Yawn Had to Laugh About Colin Macy-O'Toole's Mishap
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2:55S4 - E13 | Part 4Ben Robinson Was in a Strip Club When He Got the Call for Below Deck Mediterranean?!
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3:56S4 - E13 | Part 3Watch Ben Robinson React to Mila Kolomeitseva's Most Shocking Moments
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2:45S4 - E13 | Part 2João Franco: "There Were Boobs Everywhere" on This Charter
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2:16S4 - E13 | Part 1The Real Reason Hannah Ferrier Decided to Let Aesha Scott and Jack Stirrup Room Together
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4:44S4 - E12 | Part 5Hannah Ferrier: "It Is Not Acceptable to Physically Touch Another Crew Member"
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3:16S4 - E12 | Part 4João Franco Breaks Down Explaining Why the "Love Tap" Triggered Him
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2:47S4 - E12 | Part 3Did Anastasia Surmava Want to Make Travis Michalzik Out to Be a Villain?
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2:51S4 - E12 | Part 2The Ultimate Example of Jack Stirrup's Laziness Didn't Make It On Air
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2:14S4 - E12 | Part 1Aesha Scott and the Cameraman Never Got an Apology for Being Thrown Up On?!
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4:18S4 - E11 | Part 5Is João Franco Secretly Attracted to Aesha Scott?
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3:08S4 - E11 | Part 4The Real Reason Hannah Ferrier and Travis Michalzik's Romance Was Doomed from the Start
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1:53S4 - E11 | Part 3Hannah Ferrier Dishes on João Franco's Awkward Romantic Hints
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1:55S4 - E11 | Part 2João Franco Admits to Being Jealous of Travis Michalzik's Pineapple Speedo
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1:55S4 - E11 | Part 1The Below Deck Crew Dishes on Anastasia Surmava's Increasingly Commanding Attitude
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2:58S4 - E10 | Part 5How Travis Michalzik and João Franco's Dive Could Have Easily Turned Deadly
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2:12S4 - E10 | Part 4What Did That Rowdy Guest Tell João Franco After Being Kicked Off the Yacht?
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3:27S4 - E10 | Part 3Captain Sandy Yawn's Story of Escaping Pirates Will Leave You Speechless
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2:45S4 - E10 | Part 2Anastasia Surmava Claps Back at Johnny Damon's Complaints About Her Food
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2:27S4 - E10 | Part 1João Franco Explains How the Yacht Was "Half a Meter" from Disaster During That Docking
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3:35S4 - E9 | Part 1Jack Stirrup Responds to His Insensitive Rape Comment
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3:12S4 - E9 | Part 2Captain Sandy Yawn Explains Why Jack Stirrup and Travis Michalzik Endangered the Crew
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1:43S4 - E9 | Part 3Captain Sandy Yawn Was "Always in Her Cabin Crying" During Her First Season?!
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3:45S4 - E9 | Part 4The Real Reason Hannah Ferrier Cancelled the Date with Travis Michalzik
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3:56S4 - E9 | Part 5Aesha Scott Reveals Why She Wouldn't Let Jack Stirrup Kiss Her at First
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1:08S4 - E9 | Part 6Aesha Scott Explains Why Her Mom Imagined Jack Stirrup Had a "Snake Penis"
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3:29S4 - Sneak PeekJoão Franco Reveals How Jezabob Has Gotten Him into a "Lot of Trouble" in the Past
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5:05S4 - E5João Franco Reveals the Shocking Way He Learned Ex Brooke Laughton was Unfaithful
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3:46S4 - E3Why Travis Michalzik Regrets How He Confronted Mila Kolomeitseva About Her Homophobia
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1:02S4 - E1Your First Look at the Below Deck Mediterranean After Show
The end of this charter season of Below Deck Mediterranean was especially bittersweet for João Franco. Though he was sad to say goodbye to his fellow Sirocco crew members, especially Captain Sandy Yawn, the bosun couldn't wait to set sail for his new captain gig.
And now we have proof that all of João's nautical dreams really did come true after Season 4 of Below Deck Med. João recently shared a bunch of photos on Instagram of that captain job we saw him land in the Below Deck Med Season 4 finale. "I left Zimbabwe with nothing but a backpack, a few gold coins and hope... 3 years later, my first charter as a captain on a 30m (100ft) vessel was with [Club Yacht Charter] 5 days after the show ended," João shared in the post published on October 2. "It was incredible and also f&@king scary!!!!"
View this post on InstagramA post shared by João ⚓️ Franco (@joaograntfranco) on
One of João's fellow Below Deck Med crew members even came to see the new captain at work. "I had Jack [Stirrup] visit me and 'test the equipment,'" João said.
Below Deck Med alum Bobby Giancola, who has also become a captain, previously congratulated João on his new gig in November 2018.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Bobby Giancola (@bgcola28) on
As much as João's job may look like something out of a music video (see below), he has also shown that even the boss has to put in some elbow grease like the rest of the crew (also see below). "Captain= 10% driving, 90% management, and 100% leading by example. Dusty, sweaty and getting down and dirty in a shipyard, trying to keep up with with our project! Late hours, hard labour and working on the weekends!" João captioned one photo of him on the job in June. "As [Ashton Pienaar] said, they make us strong back home."
View this post on InstagramA post shared by João ⚓️ Franco (@joaograntfranco) on
João's plans for the future include getting his OOW license, which he is currently working on, and appearing at events. "I have so many people to thank! So here is One Big THANK YOU!!! I hope to see a few fans at the charity events and would love to meet a few die hard fans," he said in the October 2 post. "Who knows what the future will bring. Whatever it is, you’ll be sure to find it posted on [Instagram]."
The Below Deck Med yachtie reflected on what the future holds for his career in yachting during an interview with The Daily Dish in July. “I look for any opportunity that comes,” he said. “I very much felt like every time I’ve had an open ear for something and something has come my way, I’ve been open to the opportunity. Yachting is, I love it, I enjoy it, it’s very stressful, but it all depends on security. It all depends on if I get offered something amazing.”
João showed his gratitude to Captain Sandy for helping him achieve success in the yachting industry on Twitter earlier this week. "It was you who believed in me and it is you that I have to thank!" he tweeted. "All my respect and appreciation goes to you thank you @CaptSandyYawn."
It was you who believed in me and it is you that I have to thank! All my respect and appreciation goes to you❤️ thank you @CaptSandyYawn #BelowDeckMed https://t.co/ALLweoXhJo
— João Franco (@joaograntfranco) October 1, 2019
Watch Captain Sandy dish more on her deck crew in the Below Deck Mediterranean Season 4 After Show, above.
Try not to tear up while watching Captain Sandy and João's emotional farewell in the season finale, below.


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