Below Deck Mediterranean Captain Sandy Yawn announces engagement to partner Leah Shafer

Captain Sandy and her partner of five years Leah Shafer got engaged after Sandy popped the question during a romantic weekend, after thinking about proposing “for years”

Captain Sandy Yawn of Bravo’s Below Deck Mediterranean has popped the question to her partner of five years, Leah Shafer.

The Captain, 59, announced her engagement on her social media by posting sweet photos of her and Leah from the proposal with the caption: “It’s official! I asked Leah to marry me, and she said YESSSSS!

“We are engaged! Stay tuned for the wedding.”

Speaking to E! News, Sandy, who has been dating Leah for five years, shared: “I have been thinking about marrying Leah for years. I knew from the minute I met her, but the timing had to be right. I wanted to make sure we could truly do life together first.”

Dishing on the proposal, Sandy revealed: “Leah wanted the fairytale, and to me, Leah represents elegance. I planned a boat ride to a beautiful cove. I had it decorated with flowers with a path to a small table accompanied by three violinists where we could sit and have a small date.”

How did Captain Sandy and Leah meet?

Sandy and Leah, who is a gospel singer and aesthetician from Denver, have been together for five years, with Sandy announcing the relationship in May 2019 on X, formerly known as Twitter, by sharing her interview with The Cheat Sheet and writing, “Love is Love!” and “So Happy,” in two separate tweets.

The couple met through Facebook after Leah messaged Sandy to congratulate her on her Below Deck show.

“She sent me a nice message that said, ‘I came across your show, congratulations, many blessings,’ ” Sandy revealed, adding that the inclusion of “many blessings” piqued her interest as a self-proclaimed spiritual person.

After exchanging messages on the social networking platform, the pair finally met in person in Los Angeles where Yawn was living at the time.

Sandy has previously opened up in her book, Be the Calm or Be the Storm: Leadership Lessons from a Woman at the Helm, about the importance of her romance with Leah.

She wrote, “I believe God has a way of preparing you for ‘the one.’ He knew I wasn’t ready for her all those years ago. And she wasn’t ready for me. We were both being prepared for each other. God waited for us. He gave me opportunities to make different choices and be more conscious, so that when that sweet little Facebook message came across my page, I was open.”

Before Sandy, Leah was married for 20 years to Ross Shafer, with whom she shares a teenage daughter, Lauren “Lolo” Rae, according to her website.