Deadliest Catch

As the season comes to an end the crew of the Cornelia Marie is scrambling to fish the last of their quota and get back to port to offload.  Continuing to battle the freezing spray and personal injuries such as a sprained back, frostbite, and even complications from a surgically repaired pelvis the weary crew continues the gut wrenching work, while at the same time having the health of their Captain weighing heavy on their minds.  Despite it all they are able to get the remainder of their quota on board in time to meet their deadline and return home where the Harris brothers learn the truth about their father.  Not wanting them to loose their concentration on the job at hand, Captain Phil Harris has never told his sons of just how serious his medical problems are.  Having had a blood clot pass directly through his heart and end up in his lung, he is lucky to even be alive.  However, there is little chance he would have the same fate if another clot appeared, and is forced to give himself injection as well as make daily trips to the local hospital.  With his health in such jeopardy, there is much doubt as to whether he will ever return to the Bering Sea.  But he is at peace in knowing his boys have a strong foundation to carry on even without their lifelong mentor and father on board.

For the Northwestern the mood is much more upbeat as a record season has Sig and crew smiling from ear to ear.  Edgar even gives up the opportunity for some long overdue rest to work on a practical joke to play on his elder brother.  Creating a “dummy” of a deckhand he climbs on top of the wheelhouse with it, and mischievously throws the dummy downwards as if a deckhand had fallen.  But the Captain, knowing his brother all too well, doesn’t even flinch realizing it was a prank all alone.  With the throwing of the flaming torch, meant to bring good luck the following season, the last pot is hauled the the crew and boat head to port to offload from another successful season.

On board the Wizard the mystery of the bottomless holding tank is finally revealed during the offload when a hole the size of a watermelon is discovered in the wall of the tank.  The hole had allowed the crab at that level to be dumped back into the open sea without the knowledge of the Captain and crew.  Each time the tank appeared close to full, the crab at that level would be released back into the Bering Sea causing the crew to wonder if their trip would ever be completed.  All in all with a catch of 2.5 million dollars and a payout of 68 thousand dollars per deckhand no one can really complain.

Sadly we learn about the fate of another fishing boat, the Alaska Ranger that sank just two weeks after the end of the crabbing season sending all 47 crewmen on board into the freezing sea where only 42 would be able to be rescued in time.

With only six days left in the Opilio crab season the race is on to fill the boats and meet the deadlines.  After pulling up an entire sting of blanks, Capt. Keith on the Wizard has managed to move his pots and after a twenty seven our soak, they are at least managing mediocre numbers.  The relentless work of pot hauling is also now combined with the responsibility of clearing the boat of ice.  As the freezing spray continues to build on the boat forming more and more ice the danger of the already dangerous job becomes much greater.  Even a few inches of ice can add thousands of pounds of ice to a boat making it unstable and a threat to roll over in the Bering Sea.  The task is not one that the crew enjoys, that is except for the greenhorn Crosby who seems to be enjoying everything about the trip so far.  After clearing the ice it’s time to get back to the pots and with three out of the four holds already full it seems like it won’t be long before the trip is over.  However, pulling up pots only half full of crab makes the filling of the last tank a much longer process than anyone imagined and this only lead to more tension on deck between the weary deckhands.

The Northwestern is also faced with the problem of freezing spray causing Captain Sig to refer to his boat as an “Ice Magnet”.  Hauling pots only a mile away from the approaching ice pack, the crew is forced once again to stack the pots on deck and try to keep up the good numbers in an area further south.  The entire process takes 36 hours and as much as the crew would like to keep fishing the same area, they realize losing the pots to the approaching ice would cost them thousands of dollars.

There’s lots more crab need to be caught aboard the Time Bandit where the Hillstrand brothers and their crew need to put close to two hundred thousand more pounds of crab on board in just 36 hours.  The tired crew is also up against building seas as well as fatigue when a large wave hits the boat and knocks the rope dangerously out of the block ending up around the greenhorn Shea.  Reacting quickly, however, he is able to escape and quickly return the rope back to the block narrowly missing an almost certain death as the weight of the pot falling would have easily taken him overboard as well.  As the tired crew continues to grind away without break it becomes apparent that the youngest Hillstrand, has been taking his own share of breaks as a perk of being the Captain’s son.

For the North American the season is finally winding down, and by all means has been a successful return into fishing after the boat’s three year hiatus.  Not nearly as successful as the crew had been hoping for, was the greenhorn nicknamed D-BO, who Captain Sten gracefully has to explain that he just wasn’t fit for crab fishing.  Regardless, there is no shame as D-Bo is well aware he was able to at least in part hold his own out on the Bering Sea.  While returning back to St. Paul to offload they also pause to reflect on the life of the brother of greenhorn Davin Nes, who was killed as the season started.  Jeff Nes had fallen from a stack of crab pots stacked four high on the deck of the Sea Warrior and perished.   Davin and his other brother Jonathan had flown home for the funeral just before the start of their season.   Sadly the world’s most dangerous occupation had claimed another life far before his time.

The Northwestern arrives at St. Paul harbor to offload only to find the freezing temperatures have quickly begun to turn the port in to a field of ice. Unwilling to risk becoming stuck in the ever thickening ice, Captain Sig attempts to leave as quickly as possible. With the ice surrounding the boat, even at full throttle the boat barely moves. Sig continues to alternate between forward and reverse trying to free up enough space to work the boat around towards the open ocean when a combination of strong winds pushing onto the ice pack towards the aft section of the boat begins to slowly spin the bow out to sea. Although the going is tough through the first thousand feet, once they clear the ice then can begin to attempt to rescue their gear from the rest of the ice pack which is drifting slowly southward and soon will be on top of the pots. Not willing to risk losing the gear which is worth aroung one hundred thousand dollars, Captain Sig manages to race back and the crew takes turns clearing ice and then hauling pots. To further frustrate the Norwegian captain the pots are full of crab, a good sign nonetheless, but with the ice pack descending on their location they will all have to be hauled and stacked to be moves to another area.

Over on the Wizard, tensions boil over between Captain Keith and brother Monty. Keith goes so far as to get in the face of an unsuspecting cameraman who attempts to continue recording long after the Captain orders the equipment off. This is far from the first time tempers have ignited in the Wizard’s wheelhouse. A while later and they call a truce putting family in front of fishing and begin turning their attentions to the hope that their new greenhorn is much more successful then the last. However their mood soon turns sour when the first seven crab pots come up with barely a crab.

Life on board the Time Bandit also shows tension between members of the same family. With Neil now retired from his duties on the deck, the brothers turn to Jonathan’s son to run the hydraulic crane. Fatigue and inexperience take it’s toll on the 25 year old Scotty Hillstrand and soon his sloppiness causes a 1000 pound pot to come off the launcher and almost injure one of the other deckhands. Luck also turns around the wrong way for the fishing as well as full pots are coming up loaded with only females and juveniles and have to be dumped at the rail. No sense wasting time sorting crabs that cannot be kept. AT the same time a wave sends the boat on a roll and the youngest Hillstrand loses control of the pot with the crane and it almost takes off the head of the boats greenhorn.

Lastly on the Cornelia Marie, Captain Phil checks in with his son Josh and lets him know he won’t be returning to the boat this season and more dramatically may not even be able to fish again. For a proud son who thought his father was invincible and would continue to fish into his seventies the news is heart wrenching. The blood thinners he is currently on to protect him from a life threatening complication also would make it unsafe to fish as even the slightest injury or wound would be too risky.

With Cornelia Marie Captain Phil Harris staying on land for the first time in seventeen years, he turns his boat and the entire million dollar operation over to the boats engineer and longtime friend, Murray. The entire crew is drained both physically as well as mentally by the time the offloading of their catch is complete and the boat returns to the fishing grounds. As for Phil he discovered that he is lucky to still be alive as a blood clot which formed in his leg traveled through his body and ended up in his lung. While his health is still in jeopardy, had the clot ended up blocking an artery while at sea it would have meant almost certain death. He is able to speak with both his boys as well which certainly provides a boost of everyones spirits.

Over on the Northwestern a lost anchor becomes an anything but routine chore out on the open waters. The anchor broke off during the last storm and along with it’s chain rests on the ocean floor and needs to be retrieved if they are to continue fishing. Edgar is able to put together a homemade grappling hook from some spare metal found on the boat. They then drag the hook over the ocean floor and with amazing luck manage to hook on the anchor chain right away. As they are bringing it up, Edgar attaches a line from the crane to help support the weight, however the boat starts drifting and the extra tension caused by the weight of the boat causes the line to snap. As they race t maneuver the boat and attach other lines to the five thousand dollar anchor the perilous ordeal turns into a four hour marathon. Eventually the anchor is rescued without injury to any of the crew.

On board the Wizard the crew is just starting to get some rest after 3 days of nonstop fishing, when they are awakened by an alarm. A quick inspection reveals a water piper has begun leaking spraying sea water used to in the holding tanks into the engine room bilges. If the leak cannot be repaired, the holding tanks will empty meaning a loss of all of the crab in the aft tanks and a loss of many of thousands of dollars. Reacting quickly Captain Keith is able to patch the leaking using some sheets of rubber and two large hose clamps. Afterwards it’s back to port to offload the crab as well as troublesome greenhorn Moi, whose replacement is already on his way to meet the boat.

As the powerful hurricane and the strong winds and heavy seas that it brought along with it finally subside, the entire fleet struggles to repair the damaged done by Mother Nature. Over on the North American, the deck boards have been broken up, steel plates cracked on deck and bait and gear scattered. The storm and it’s fury have caused around $5,000 in damage to the boat but most importantly the captain and crew have escaped harm. Over on the Early Dawn, the crew also has plenty of damage to repair, however time in of the essence as their current position puts them in the path of another storm including possible seas of around 40 feet. In less than an hour the crew is able to scramble and patch up the deck as well as tie down any loose pieces of equipment.

Damage done to the boats is easy to fix, however on the Cornelia Marie it is Captain Phil Harris who was beat up the most. While laying in his bunk he was jarred loose by a heavy wave rolling the boat, throwing him into the corner of some furniture and possibly breaking several ribs. The resulting injury has made breathing a painfully enduring process. Captain Phil, however, has no time to worry about his own health and returns to his wheelhouse a few hours later to return to work. His condition worsens and soon along with the pain comes the sign of something much more seriously wrong when he begins coughing up blood. At first he tells the Discovery Channel’s producer, not to say anything as he knows it would weigh heavy on the minds of his two boys on board and needs them to stay focused on the job at hand.

Captain Phil’s condition slowly worsens and he decides to confide in his long time friend Murray about his symptoms. Murray figures that there is a good chance when he broke his ribs he also punctured a lung resulting in the difficult breathing and apparent internal bleeding. Again Capt. Phil asks Murray not to tell either of the captain’s boys. It isn’t long however, that Murray decides that Phil’s life is too important to risk and shares the information with his sons, Jake and Josh. Josh quickly confronts his father in the wheelhouse and tells him he needs to start thinking about his health as the money just isn’t important enough to risk his life. Before he leaves Captain Keith on board the Wizard calls over to the Cornelia Maria on the radio and Phil describes his situation. Captain Keith tells him to take care of himself and not to be afraid of calling the Coast Guard if he needed to. Taking all of this advice, Captain Phil decides to set the gear one last time and head to the nearest hospital at St. Paul. With the approaching storm, the Cornelia Marie is forced to circle the island until the seas subside. Captain Phil then makes his way to the hospital, and they immediately find that there is no puncture or broken ribs as suspected. However he needs to be seen by a specialist as the test reveals there is definitely something serious going on causing his symptoms.

With the Cornelia Marie still on Dutch Harbor, trying to at least make a quick fix on one of her engines, time becomes of the essence. When the repairs are made, and the boat begins to steam back towards the fishing grounds, it’s all hands on deck to get the gear prepared and baited. However, it doesn’t take long for Capt. Phil to notice his son Jake has taken one to many breaks and questions his work ethic as well as threatening to cut some of his pay. At 22, Jake still lacks a bit of the majority of most seasoned deck hands, and regardless off being the Captain’s son or not, needs to keep up with his share of the work, especially while cashing in on around $100,000 annually.

Nobody’s getting a break over on the Northwestern however, as a call from the processor increases their quota and at the same time they have asked for the catch two days earlier. The already fatigued crew will need to work all through the night again, after already working 24 hours straight. But a tired crew on the Bearing Sea can be a recipe for disaster and it isn’t long before a pot is left unsecured on the launcher. Coming off the roll of a wave the put is knocked loose and slides towards the sorting table, catching deck hand Jake in between. The rest of the crew immediately frees him, pulling him from harm. But it’s another reminder that no one can afford to overlook safety no matter how much the Captain has pushed them. After a few more grueling hours all of the tanks are full and Captain Sig turns the boat towards port to make the journey back to offload.

Over on the Time Bandit, the crew continues pulling up strong numbers of crabs per pot, in a race to beat the approaching weather. The help out as an extra man on deck, Captain Jonathan Hillstrand head down on deck to lend a helping hand. Trying to add more flair to the task at hand, his attempt at an underhand throw of the grappling hook comes back to smack him right on the nose. With a bloodied face he returns back to the wheelhouse to consult with brother Andy and clean up his wounds before returning for the final pot. Now with all of their holds filled with opilio crab it’s time to head back to offload. However it won’t be an easy time for any of the boats as a hurricane is pounding the entire fleet with 40 foot seas and 100 knot winds. The Bearing Sea has begun to unleash it’s fury in pure Opilio season tradition.

The latest episode of Deadliest Catch rejoins the rescue attempt on board the US Coast Guard helicopter as it struggles flying it’s rescued passenger back to Cold Bay.  Flying straight back through the center of the approaching low pressure system, means strong headwinds, and the ever increasing danger of icing up causing eventual engine failure.  In addition, the helicoptor is running low on fuel and would be literally flying on flumes when they arrived.  Deciding not to risk the lives of the entire crew to save one man, they turn around and return to St. Paul.  Luckily upon landing they meet a civilian pilot who agrees to fly the patient to Anchorage for medical attention.

Meanwhile on the Cornelia Marie, Capt. Phil and crew are still battling heavy seas running on only one good engine.  They decide to ride out the rest of the storm at anchor, but the heavy seas soon take their toll on the anchor line which only adds further to their list of needed repairs.  Aftor the storm subside they are able to slowly limp back to Dutch Harbor, where they are met by the local boat mechanic.  The prognosis is not good, as the actual problem cannot be determined, leaving Capt. Phil with a difficult decision to either fish the rest of the season on one good engine or call it quits while the engine can be completely taken apart and worked on.

Having similarly bad luck is Capt. Keith on the Wizard.  Although mechanically everything has been sound, the equipment has not been kept in proper shape and pots are being pulled up with holes and open doors.  Leading to the Captains frustration, is the greenhorn Moi who has given Captain about all he can take.  Captain Keith orders a quick meeting with the crew and lashes out at them as well as their work ethic.  The crew continues back to work but then the greenhorn makes a huge mistake and returns to the wheelhouse to confront the Captain in an episode he would soon regret.

Over on the Time Bandit, Capt. Andy had taken the advice of his brother Jonathan on where to drop their first strings.  The results are not overwhelming as they average only about 175 crabs per pot.  He decides to think for himself and moves the pots over to an area known as “Maggoo”.  After a full soak the crew is delighted to find much more crabs per pot, many as high as 1100 per pot.  Meanwhile luck on the Northwestern is almost as good as the weary crew as been pulling pots for 24 hours straight, while managing an average of around 675 crabs per pot.  Although the crew is tired they know they are far on their way to filling their tanks and cashing in on the thousands of dollars of “opillio” gold up for grabs.

It’s the start of the 2008 Opilio season, which only makes the job even more dangerous as the threat of ice???????? build up only leads to an even more hazardous situation. Before the boats even leave Dutch Harbor we hear about a deckhand falling off a stack of pots from a height of about two stories, landing on the rail and killing himself without even leaving the dock. The captains take a moment to reflect on the loss and are reminded of their own mortality before heading out to face the brunt of a powerful Arctic storm.

Before getting underway the Wizard has to take on some more diesel fuel at the fuel dock. With hurricane winds accompanying the storm this is no easy task for the 156 foot long boat as the winds hit her broadside. This pales in comparison, however, to what the boat will face later on in the open sea. Before the season started Capt. Keith decided to fish the boats maximum number of pots. Now facing heavy seas of 20 to 30 feet, the extra weight on board leaves the boat very unstable, a captain’s worst nightmare. Luckily they are able to press on and steam through it.  Their luck changes soon afterwards as they lose their hydraulic systems, leaving them without any working machinery and no way to start fishing their pots.

Over on the Northwestern, Capt. Sig and most of the crew has a bad case of the flu, making a tough job even more miserable.  Regardless, they soon leave port and steam towards the approaching storm.  Making good time, they arrive on the crab grounds ahead of the powerful storm.  So, in Norwegian tradition (Or at least Northwestern tradition) deckhand Matt takes his turn at biting the head off a raw herring for good luck to start the season.  Meanwhile the Time Bandit, with Capt. Andy Hillstrand taking his turn in the wheelhouse, in already pulling up their pots.  The numbers at first are relatively small so Andy instructs his crew to start stacking the pots on deck to be dropped in a another location.  The instruction seems to turn their luck around as the pots begin coming up fuller and fuller.

The luck isn’t as good over on the Cornelia Marie.  After spending around $50,000 to overhaul the engine back in port, it isn’t long when the system begins to overheat.  With few options while out at sea, it appears Capt. Phil will have to make the long trek back for repairs.  Lastly we hear of a worker on a processor having seizures who desperately needs medical attention.  The only option is a rescue by a coast guard helicopter and a transport back to be medivacked to an area hospital.   The only problem is they will need to fly directly through the storm, risking icing and low fuel, putting their patient and entire crew at a great risk.

It’s a fight for bragging rights between the Time Bandit and the Wizard on who will win the weekly Captain’s challenge.  Each boat was allowed to designate one string of 25 pots as the Captains string and the winner would be chosen based on the most crabs during those strings.  Although the Wizard pulls up many pots with over 100 crabs, the last few have small numbers of crabs which brings their average on the string down to a 62.  The Time Bandit continues the lucky streak and ends up with a 75 keeper average on the string.

For the crew of the Northwestern this season has bee anything but easy.  Lacking the high number of crabs per pot they have had to work long hours pulling up low numbers of crabs to fish their quota.  To add insult to injury (Or may the other way around) the picking hook gets thrown about in the heavy seas and ends up whacking Edgar on the forehead, leaving a battle scar of the toil of this year’s season.  Things are even worse on the Early Dawn where it’s almost a mutiny as the crew goes behind the back of the Captain to suggest the owner lease out the boat’s remaining quota,  Obviously the crew has lost of all of their faith in their Captain.

On board the North American a test pot comes up with decent numbers, so Captain Sten decide to try a Haily Mary and “Carpet Bomb” the surrounding area with all of his remaining pots.  In order for his short two week season to be successful he will need those pots to produce strong numbers and his bet pays off.  Capt. Sten previously had never had a pot with more than 100 keepers and soon his numbers are easily exceeding that.  Over on the Cornelia Marie a hydraulic fitting on the crane ruptures and begins leaking hydraulic fluid, while leaving the crippled crane lifeless on deck.  Another daring repair at sea, 30 feet above deck in heavy seas, seems like just another days work to these guys.

Over on the Time Bandit we had another family reunion when Jonathan’s son returned to take the place of his brother Andy who needed to attend to some family business.  We also get a glimpse into the memory of their father (And Grandfather) as the boat is brought in close to the beach to pay respect to his final resting place, facing north and overlooking the approach to the harbor, buried halfway up a mountain.  When it’s all said an done it’s been another profitable season for everyone.  More importantly everyone returned home safe.

The crew aboard the North American continues to struggle as obsolete or missing equipment provides setbacks.  The buoys are hard to find as the boat travels at night without being properly outfitted with high powered sodium lights.  After three of years leasing their quota, rather than fishing, they have no sorting table.  This leaves the hard working crew to have to be constantly bending over and sorting the crabs in the totes.  Another dangerous issue is the fact that in heavy seas the filled totes are constantly sliding all over the deck and could easily take out an unsuspecting crew member as they weight several hundred pounds each.  The lack of proper provisioning isn’t the only obstacle facing the North American as the deck boss is already butting heads with this more experienced crew.  Of course hauling good numbers of crab can easily solve all but the most complicated personality problems.

Meanwhile, aboard the Wizard, Captain Keith goes out on a gamble and attempts to fish an area known as the “Slime Bank”.  This area held record numbers of crab back in the eighties but since has seen little fishing as the crabs seemed to all but disappear.  The aptly named area yields slightly more than large jellyfish as the crew pulls up 19 empty pots.  The hard work of pulling the pots comes without the reward of earnings and before long the Wizard is off to another area to drop it’s pots and try for some late season magic.  After a short soak the numbers look good in an single test pot which came over the rail with around 50 keepers.  However, their new found luck is short lived when a weld on their coiler breaks off, meaning the line on the rest of the pots will need to be hand coiled.  This extra work can be very tedious as well as time consuming but there is no possibility to make the repair while at sea.

Over on the Time Bandit we find Capt Jonathan taking care of an injured bird that found it’s way on the boat while out at sea.  “Squawky” as the bird is named, is treated to a short rest in the captains quarters before being returned to the deck where he disappears a few hours later.  Aside from that, it’s all business pulling pots as an approaching storm front starts to bear down on boat and crew.  Not fairing much better that the bird, we find Capt. Phil aboard the Cornelia Marie continuing his ritual of coffee, Red Bulls, and cigarettes.  To help keep his strength up, his son delivers him a sandwich stuffed with egg and sausage.  How’s that for a healthy diet?  To make matters worse he seems to be coming down with a cold and after 26 hours straight at the wheel decides to take a bit of well earned rest.  Good news is he has finally found the crab.  After a mediocre start his crew has been pulling up large numbers, and even while under pressure from his processor to get back in a few short days to offload, it looks like another very successful season for the Cornelia Marie and her crew.