They’ve referred to her several times as a ‘greenhorn’, which in my mind implies a 1/2 share. I certainly don’t know if that is the case, or if my inference is incorrect.
I’d love to see Blake win his bet. I love how he polled the crew about pulling up another pot or heading to St. Paul, and his lead (first mate?) came back and told him it was his (Blake’s) decision.
I also like how one captain described crabbing. To paraphrase, he said the first string was luck, but everyone after that was skill. Also enjoy seeing the random fish (cod, I’m guessing) caught in the crab pots. Back in the day when we’d go crabbing down in Cross Bay, we’d get the same thing - an unlucky snapper in with or instead of a tasty blue claw.
Yeah, he was last guy I would have expected to show that type of emotion. On camera, anyway.
That scene reminded me of an incredible article I read years ago about Alaskan Crab Fishing called “When Hell Freezes Over” by Michael Finkle. Finkle originally got underway with a crab boat to shadow the crew for the purposes of writing the article. One of the crew couldn’t handle the stress of the job and locked himself in the berthing area for the entire trip. So the captain offered that crewman’s job, and his share, to Finkle. Finkle agreed. For days he worked on deck in hellish conditions - conditions we can now imagine thanks to the ‘Deadliest Catch’. Like everyone else, he was working about 20 hours a day with maybe four hours off. After a few days, Finkle cracked under the pressure. He broke down in the middle of the deck and started crying. The crew, along with the deck boss, stopped fishing and came over to him. Without saying a word, they all embraced him in a group hug. It was the last thing Finkle was expecting.
Despite their rough, almost robotic exterior, those guys are only human and they’re working in conditions that most humans couldn’t possibly endure. That kind of stress could break anyone.
Trunk: You were right about the cliffhanger re: Ocean Challenger. Again, my apologies for the spoiler.
When Phil Harris’s son Jacob(?) was a greenhorn last season, they made a point of saying he was working for scale - $150/day, and no shares. By the end of the season they voted to give him a half or full share.
That was his deal, but he was in a 2nd season as a greenhorn (somehow, not sure of the details, perhaps he had only worked a partial season previously), and was bucking for full share status from the beginning. Dad shot him down HARD on camera early in the Opelio season, but the crew voted him a full share (reducing their pay in the mean time) for that season. The consensus was that he had earned it, and had the skills to be a “full share” guy.
The impression that I got from this years 2nd episode was that he’s kicking crab and taking names this year… and picking on his older brother, the new greenhorn, and having a grand time of it.
Sig didn’t cry. He teared. Real men don’t cry, we tear. I tried to explain this to my wife, but she didn’t get it.
I’ve been searching far and wide for this article online - to no avail. I read the article in the Jan '99 issue of Coast Guard Magazine . IIRC, it was reprinted from a Reader’s Digest edition. The CG archives go back to October of 1999 (ain’t that a bitch!) I didn’t have any luck with RD archives. If anyone finds it, I’d love to get a copy. It is a fantastic look at Alaskan fishing. The author describes the wet, cold, and painful environment in a way that television cannot.
I did not realize she was getting a share too. It does make sense considering she is cooking for the guys. She managed to get it together to make them a meal that cake looked delicious!
I think it would be really cool if Blake was able to bring in the most crab this season,considering he is the rookie. He is very confident so he just might do it.
The remainder of the rescue was something else too, the deceased fellows lying next to their living crewmate for the ride back, man that has to be tough on a guy.
Having sailed past the graveyard of the Atlantic in a storm in a Destroyer and plied the Med doing 90-degree rolls (45 each way) in a 13,000-ton 600-foot-long Cruiser, I no longer want to watch boats in storms, thank you very much. Both episodes put the ships into drydocks for repairs, one in San Juan, PR, for several days and the other in Toulon, France, for several weeks.
I have never expereinced anything like this so its good to watch. I never really new what all went on during this show so its quit a learning experience.
So last night’s episode was pretty rough, wasn’t it? Matt’s looking at missing a court date (though I assume he could leave the ship when they offload crab and make his way back to Seattle, probably losing his share though), Lenny’s finger get smashed to bits, and the Cornelia Marie breaks a prop. You gotta love Sig though when Matt tells him he thought Sig shouldn’t be concerned about his court issues: “It’s not your job to think with that little head of yours.”
Yeah, good episode. Mostly just fishing – I like that.
I kind of wish there were better ways of tracking the catches, though. They’ve made it sound like Maverick is hauling in crab hand over fist, and they’re in last in the counts they show.
Is that because they just haven’t brought in the catch yet. . .or what?
It was sort of a throwaway, but one of the “finger guy’s” shipmates said, “the doctor told him to keep it clean and dry. . . everything on the boat is dirty and wet.”
Lenny’s finger injury was fairly gruesome, but probably tame compared to some of the others that have happened in the past.
That is rough about Matt, I really like the Northwestern and it’s crew. Sig tries to play the tough guy role, but he really seems to look out for his crew as much as he can, and I think he’ll find a way to make this happen for Matt. I had the same feeling that they will drop Matt at an offload, depending on where they sit with quota, but I hope his gamble on the location pays off so it won’t matter.
Blake just doesn’t seem to “get it”, does he? Phil explicitly told him not to go blabbing, and then hours later he is throwing info out there. Honestly, i would have probably done worse than taking his crab and welding the pot shut.I just don’t like Blake much I guess, I can see why they didn’t think he was ready to captain last year.
The finger thing was kind of gross. When he said he could flip it I was like “oh no don’t look.”
I hope they get that taken care of fast!
Then Blake, he is just trying to keep getting the big tips. He should have gone about it a different way but it was really great, it gave me a good chuckle
