Here is a snippet from Discovery Channel’s live chat transcript with Capt. Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie….
Discovery: Welcome to our weekly Deadliest Catch chat series. Tonight’s guest is Capt. Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie. How’s he doing these days? Find out, and see what he thinks about life at sea with his sons, and being on the show.
Phil Harris: I would like to thank everybody that sent cards and presents, little gifts, get well cards, there was a pile of them. I’d like to thank each and every one of you for doing that, you didn’t need to do that. I looked at and read every one of them, and I appreciate it. I’d like to thank the individuals who did that.
eddie and diann: Hey Phil, my wife and I think you and the Cornelia Marie are the best part of the show, so are you getting better?
Phil Harris: It’s hard to say. I’m on a six month program as far as medicine, and I still have 2 months to go before they go back in and see if the blood clot dissolved or if we’re going to have problems. I look better than I did, I was pretty run down. I also have to go to the hospital every three or four days, even now.
Time Bandit fan: Phil what happened to you during the hurricane?
Phil Harris: Well, it was blowing easterly about 100 out, we were hit by a great big wave and it launched me from the bed into the wall.
paula2317: We love watching the show, but being a parent myself, how hard is it to be the dad with the boys on deck as part of the crew?
Phil Harris: Well, it’s kind of hard with those two because Ding and Dong know exactly how to push my buttons like nobody else can. It’s rewarding, being able to watch your kids, and hang out with them in a work environment. It’s sometimes nerve-wracking also because those guys can bring my blood to a boil.
Laura: Hello Captain Phil. How is it working with the film crew?
Phil Harris: The film crew’s great. You start out and you have a time where they’re getting to know you and you’re getting to know them. It’s about a two week thing where you get to know each other and come to some ground and start progressing to where they can get some work done and I respond more to their questions. It takes a little bit, though, a couple week deal before I get to know the guy. The two film crews I’ve had on the boat were great guys. The one was very instrumental in helping me when I was sick. He kind of took care of me, went way above and beyond being a cameraman.
Sarahlu03: Captain Phil, thank you for giving us your time tonight, I am happy to hear that everything is going to be ok with you! I was just wondering why doesn’t the Cornelia Marie have a sorting table like the other boats?
Phil Harris: Number one, I’m not okay yet. Like I said, I still have 2 months to go. We don’t know whether I’m going to be all right or not. I’m kind of in a zone where anything could happen, that blood clot could turn around and go to my heart again, I wouldn’t survive it a second time. I still have 2 months of medication and then we see what’s going.
As far as a sorting table, we have one that’s built into our launcher which we sort from, which is different than the rest of the guys. It works, it’s a lot faster. As time goes by, I might switch to a sorting table like the other guys have. For the time being, our sorting table works great and the guys don’t want to change it.
HeidiJJ: OK, the mullet thing. I’ve been watching since season one, and have never seen any of you guys with an “authentic” mullet. Tell your kids to go rent “Joe Dirt” - that’s a mullet! So is this an inside family joke that just hasn’t been explained well in editing, or are your kids really too young to know? BTW - Your hair? The longer the better!
Phil Harris: Well, thank you very, very much. And that’s exactly the way I feel. They get a kick out of claiming that I have a mullet. They think that’s funny, I try to remind them daily that they’re idiots. But, I just have a normal haircut, it’s the way I’ve worn my hair forever. So, thank you very much for saying something nice about the hairdo.
Lhiiiz: Phil, you credit the camera man with watching over you during your illness, so do you think without him there things would have been…more dire?
Phil Harris: Yeah, they could have. He was there, kept an eye on me. I couldn’t lay down because my lungs were filling up with blood. When I was lying down, Todd made sure if I was falling asleep, that I could clear my lungs, they were filling with blood and you can drown on your own blood. He made sure I was up and okay so that I didn’t drown.
hrussell: Phil, how is your health going? What is going to happen if you can not be on the boat anymore?
Phil Harris: I don’t have an answer to that question, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m not ready to retire. I still love what I do. It’s going to be a bad day if they tell me I can’t go back. I don’t know what’s going to happen, I’d probably freak out. I don’t want to think about that. Crabbing’s the only thing I’ve ever done that I enjoy. I hope and pray that’s not the case.
Vickie: I read somewhere that you make bird feeders in your spare time. I was wondering if you sell them online? If so where can I buy one?
Phil Harris: Well, I don’t sell them online. I build them, custom build them. I built one for the president of Boeing. One for a memorial for a kid killed in Iraq. They’re a lot of money, like $1,000 apiece. They’re custom built and I make them especially for that person. I find out what that person likes, what his hobbies are - if he plays golf or whatever - and I build the birdfeeder to match what he does.
slushie000: What’s the rest of your family like?
Phil Harris: Well, there’s only my two boys, my dad and myself. I think everybody knows what my kids are like. And then my dad, He’s kind of the rock of all of us.
