# Deadliest Catch starts tonight. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 3, 2007, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543 "2007-04-03T11:52:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/21 "2007-04-03T17:49:59Z")
[QUOTE=Cheesesteak] Sig is a real slavedriver. He’s got a crew of tough old salts, and they were practically begging him to let up last season. So he lets them get maybe 4 hours of sleep, then it’s back to another 18 hour shift, and Sig is kicking himself for being a big softie. The scary thing about it was Sig’s attitude, basically that he tells them to fish, and they fish, like they’re just robots you turn on and let loose on the deck. [/QUOTE] I grew up in Stonington, CT. Known for it’s lucrative fishing fleet, long haulers, line haulers, Draggers, Lobstermen etc…etc… Sig is a normal Capt’n. I grew up with old Portugese salty dogs, and they were all like that. Hands deeply caverned with cracks and callus’, worked their ass off to get their own boat, and some missed the ship. They’ve got stories of 30 meter waves. and boats that have done a barrel roll and came out clean. They tend to be gruff because their personality dictates it. They mean no harm, and are the nicest guys when they are not behind the wheel. They’d bend over backwards for their closest brethren, and take fishing very seriously. When CT, put harsh quotas on it’s fishing many lost their livelihood. They are a gruff bunch, and like Sig, they push until there is is nothing more to push. But 60k for 30 days work is nice. VERY NICE. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/22 "2007-04-03T20:53:50Z")
Please tell me it’s not going to run opposite American Idol. If it is, I’m going to be in one heck of a dilemma. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/23 "2007-04-03T20:55:04Z")
[QUOTE=kiz] Please tell me it’s not going to run opposite American Idol. If it is, I’m going to be in one heck of a dilemma. [/QUOTE] Don’t they re-run it (ad nauseum) on the Discovery Channel once the premiere of the episode has aired? ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/24 "2007-04-03T21:26:58Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Don’t they re-run it (ad nauseum) on the Discovery Channel once the premiere of the episode has aired? [/QUOTE] They do. If I remember correctly, it’s usually either Friday or Saturday night. Considering I’ve never seen an episode when it originally airs, you’d think I would’ve memorized the rerun schedule by now _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/25 "2007-04-03T21:50:26Z")
[QUOTE=kiz] They do. If I remember correctly, it’s usually either Friday or Saturday night. Considering I’ve never seen an episode when it originally airs, you’d think I would’ve memorized the rerun schedule by now _sigh_ [/QUOTE] I was pretty sure they do. I’m the queen of missing stuff on the first run. I need EVERYTHING on On Demand. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/26 "2007-04-04T01:16:12Z")
[QUOTE=Turek] I looked for a cite but couldn’t find one, but I seem to remember them mentioning crew members could make in excess of $60,000 in a season. Considering that leaves the rest of the year to work your “day job,” that’s a pretty nice chunk o’ change. [/QUOTE] Here are the totals from Season 2: Time Bandit $12,000 per deckhand Maverick $10,500 per deckhand Cornelia Marie $26,500 per deckhand Northwestern $30,000 (crab) per deckhand $15,000 (cod) per deckhand ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/27 "2007-04-04T02:03:48Z")
Well, that rescue was something else. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/28 "2007-04-04T02:24:37Z")
I find myself unable to say anything coherent after watching. It’s not because of the rescues or the weather or the job itself. I think it’s the whole _gestalt_, from Dutch Harbor to ice sheets to seeing how these men push themselves to the breaking point. There’s something about yet another rescue next week…??? ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/29 "2007-04-04T02:26:47Z")
[QUOTE=Philster] I rarely pop ino Cafe Society, but this might have made it worth it. Please tell me we DO have a new narrator. I couldn’t take 10 seconds with the original guy. [/QUOTE] Interesting. I think Mike Rowe is the second best voice-over man in the business, second only to Will Lyman. What is it, just out of curiosity, that you dislike about him? Or are you perhaps refering to the original original narrator, not Mike Rowe but the guy who also does shows like Monster House and Monster Garage? He, I agree, was totally wrong for a show like Deadliest Catch. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/30 "2007-04-04T02:31:45Z")
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper] Well, that rescue was something else. [/QUOTE] Indeed. Kevin Ferrell, the survivor we saw pulled from the water, was the only crew member of the _Ocean Challenger_ found alive. He was also the only one in a survival suit. The fact that those guys and gals work in one of the most dangerous, dynamic, exhausting, and unpredictable environments is one thing. The fact that they do it in the Bering Sea, where survival times are measured in minutes should you end up in the water, is completely astonishing. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/31 "2007-04-04T02:32:03Z")
[QUOTE=Cheesesteak] Sig is a real slavedriver. He’s got a crew of tough old salts, and they were practically begging him to let up last season. So he lets them get maybe 4 hours of sleep, then it’s back to another 18 hour shift, and Sig is kicking himself for being a big softie. The scary thing about it was Sig’s attitude, basically that he tells them to fish, and they fish, like they’re just robots you turn on and let loose on the deck. [/QUOTE] There’s no way that I would (or could) ever work on a crab boat, but if I did, I’d want to work for Sig. Yes, he drives his men to exhaustion. But as others have pointed out, the _Northwestern_ is always at the top of earnings heap. And it’s not just because it’s a big boat, it’s because Sig really knows what he’s doing. And I also agree with another poster that, as much as Sig drives the men, he always puts safety first. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/32 "2007-04-04T03:11:07Z")
[QUOTE=kiz] Please tell me it’s not going to run opposite American Idol. If it is, I’m going to be in one heck of a dilemma. [/QUOTE] Nope. It runs opposite _House_. VCR time. ---
**Author:** ![Nightingale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Nightingale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightingale)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/33 "2007-04-04T11:26:33Z")
Sig also strikes me as a guy who doesn’t ask anything from the crew that he isn’t doing himself. In one episode last year I think he had been awake in the wheelhouse for something like 3 days. And even though he’s a hardass, my impression is that he puts the safety of his crew foremost. And I love Phil. He didn’t cut Jake any slack last year, but you could tell he was really proud of him. It’ll be interesting to have the older son aboard this year. P.S. I feel sorry for Mrs. Phil. I would go crazy with a husband and two sons out doing that job! ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/34 "2007-04-04T11:33:23Z")
I’m a fan of Phil (of the Cornelia Marie) as well. The interaction with his son was great, and knowing what these guys go through, you just knew that him coming down on his son last year was at least partially out of concern that he knew what he would be getting into. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/35 "2007-04-04T11:35:48Z")
> [@kiz](#): > > There’s something about yet another rescue next week..??? Well, they said that there were four men in the water, and they found one last night, and until I read the following post, they had sort sort of left it as a cliffhanger. . . [QUOTE=Scruloose] Indeed. Kevin Ferrell, the survivor we saw pulled from the water, was the only crew member of the _Ocean Challenger_ found alive. He was also the only one in a survival suit. The fact that those guys and gals work in one of the most dangerous, dynamic, exhausting, and unpredictable environments is one thing. The fact that they do it in the Bering Sea, where survival times are measured in minutes should you end up in the water, is completely astonishing. [/QUOTE] Not that it will probably ever come up again, but not all of us follow the Alaskan fishing boat industry, and IMO, that’s pretty high on the spoilerage factor. Unless I missed something, I don’t think that was revealed last night. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/36 "2007-04-04T13:21:35Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] Well, they said that there were four men in the water, and they found one last night, and until I read the following post, they had sort sort of left it as a cliffhanger. . . Not that it will probably ever come up again, but not all of us follow the Alaskan fishing boat industry, and IMO, that’s pretty high on the spoilerage factor. Unless I missed something, I don’t think that was revealed last night. [/QUOTE] My apologies. I guess I figured the show wouldn’t return to that issue as the Ocean Challenger wasn’t crabbing. Looking back, I see your point on the cliffhanger thing. I’ll ask a mod to spoil-box it. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/37 "2007-04-04T13:31:19Z")
[QUOTE=Scruloose] My apologies. I guess I figured the show wouldn’t return to that issue as the Ocean Challenger wasn’t crabbing. Looking back, I see your point on the cliffhanger thing. I’ll ask a mod to spoil-box it. [/QUOTE] Done. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/38 "2007-04-04T13:39:18Z")
I loved watching the grocery shopping for supplies. The woman was carefully selecting items for each menu she had planned. The men were just sweeping stuff off the shelves into the cart. Here’s a snippet from an article about Captain Phil in Anchorage Daily News. > [@](#): > > Captain Phil Harris lost a crew member overboard. He broke his back (twice), all his fingers, both shoulders, an ankle and a wrist. Many of the guys he started fishing with were killed on the job. Both his wives left him. Jeesh. The [full article](http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/8740988p-8642674c.html) also tells about the filiming, how the cameras are set up, etc. There is a spoiler in the article about the Ocean Challenger. ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/39 "2007-04-04T13:40:16Z")
This is my first season watching from the start - I’ve only seen random episodes here and there before. This seems like a rough show to be a part of. Has the TV crew ever been in serious danger? Obviously that boat last night that went down didn’t have TV people on it, but that could certainly happen to any of the boats out there, right? I guess if you can find fishermen willing to take risks to do what they do, you can find TV people willing to take the risk to get it all on tape. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543/40 "2007-04-04T14:09:31Z")
[QUOTE=Slacker] This is my first season watching from the start - I’ve only seen random episodes here and there before. This seems like a rough show to be a part of. Has the TV crew ever been in serious danger? Obviously that boat last night that went down didn’t have TV people on it, but that could certainly happen to any of the boats out there, right? I guess if you can find fishermen willing to take risks to do what they do, you can find TV people willing to take the risk to get it all on tape. [/QUOTE] Here’s a [video of a crabber](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_8hOai9hGQ), with a TV crew aboard, that was hit by rogue wave estimated to be about 60 feet in height. Everyone on board was lucky to have survived. Had the boat rolled over, it is unlikely that anyone could have donned survival suits. If they could make it to the water’s surface, their only chance of survival would have been the life raft & EPIRB. Searching for survivors in those conditions would be next to impossible. Even if they survived the event, they’d be on their own out there for quite awhile. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadliest-catch-starts-tonight/398543.md?page=3)