With a history of fishing in his family, Harris, who as a high school kid was voted least likely to succeed, became a living legend in this dangerous job undertaken in one of the world’s harshest environments, the Bering Sea.

Numerous escapades fueled by alcohol, copious amounts of various drugs combined with womanizing and a bizarre family life meant Harris was pegged as “a rock star even before he was a TV star.”

A turbulent marriage produced two sons and plenty of pain. Alcohol took a toll on his relationship and his work. A second marriage proved more disastrous, especially for Harris’ two sons. In 2005, the Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch debuted, and Harris was on the road to becoming a reality-TV celebrity. In 2008, he was at the height of his TV fame, but his bad habits began taking a toll, and his health deteriorated.

In 2010, Harris suffered a massive stroke. With his consent, Harris’ last hours were filmed by the show’s producers, with 8.5 million viewers tuning in to watch.

An unflinching portrait that will surely satisfy Harris’ fans.  Please visit captphilbook.com for more.

From EW.com

Tonight, Deadliest Catch returns for its ninth season on Discovery, and there is top-notch drama even before the fleet leaves Dutch Harbor. Here, courtesy of exec producer David Pritikin, is a tease of what’s to come.

• Elliott Neese is now his own boss: Fired from the Ramblin’ Rose in the offseason, the show’s youngest and most polarizing captain has gone more than $1 million in debt to buy his own boat, the F/V Saga. Most shocking perhaps: Seeing the pride in his father’s misty eyes may, at least for a moment, have you thinking you’ve misjudged Elliott. “People love him or they love to hate him. I think this is truly his redemption year,” Pritikin says. “You find yourself kinda getting what his angst is all about this season. Seeing him with his father, who’s working on deck, is a great story for Elliott.” But, Pritikin warns, “He goes through the season not without his problems. His boat is aptly named for him this season — the Saga.”

• Jr. gets extra competitive: Elliott and Seabrooke captain Scott ‘Jr.’ Campbell don’t make any bets this season, but with more of the fleet fishing the blue grounds, Jr. will show us a bit of a different side. ”He’s still a great guy,” Pritikin says, “but he has some devious tactics of his own this season.”

• Battle for the Northwestern wheelhouse: Brothers Sig and Edgar Hansen get into it while the boat’s still at the dock. ”Edgar’s been wanting a place in the wheelhouse with Sig for years now, and he’s feeling that he deserves it, and Sig is thinking about it, but he wants Edgar to show more initiative. He doesn’t want to hand it to him,” Pritikin says. “This season we find out if Edgar gets the wheelhouse or not.” He’s got competition: Fan favorite Jake Anderson is also now pushing for a captain’s seat.

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• A Time Bandit money crunch: The ice during last year’s relentless winter did a number on most boats, including the Time Bandit. The Hillstrand Brothers sunk a lot into repairs. Now there’s added pressure for them to earn to stay afloat. Bad news for the fleet, but good news for viewers: ”During Opi season, the ice does return again, and equally as bad,” Pritikin says. “The guys have never seen anything like it. It seems to be common place, the ice is always there.”

• Danger abounds: While there’s no dramatic medevac this season, there will be serious injuries, Pritikin says. In the premiere, we see a minor one. Time Bandit deckhand Mike Fourtner is positively giddy getting to do some needle work on Andy Hillstrand. “He’s an EMT as well, so any time he has the pleasure of hurting his boss, it feels great to him,” Pritikin says. “Obviously he wants to help him, but certainly the guys like to play around with you. That’s life on a boat, right? He knows it’s not life-threatening, so he might as well have some fun with it.”

• Greenhorn drama: A big story line on the Wizard this season, Pritikin says, is whether a greenhorn (a newbie) will make it through the season. “Capt. Keith is notorious for having greenhorns lose it on this boat,” he says. Capt. Wild Bill Wichrowski is back, this time as skipper of the F/V Cape Caution. Longtime Catch fans will be worried watching his greenhorn Mikey Mitchell at the rail (do not lift your foot!). But there’s more tension than waiting to see if someone’s going to get caught in the rope and be pulled overboard. “It’s a good story on the Cape Caution because there’s two father-son combinations: Wild Bill and deckhand Zack and then Mikey and his father Kerby, who used to be the captain of the Cape Caution,” Pritikin says. “Mikey and his dad drive Wild Bill crazy this season, but I think Mikey causes more havoc later on as well, not just in the first episode. His father puts him in jeopardy at one point as well.”

• Only one Harris brother: While Jake continues to deal with his personal issues, “He’s not with us this season,” Pritikin says. “He’s got to put some of his demons behind him before anybody lets him back on a boat. We wish him the best. We hope to see him return.” Josh Harris is back on the Time Bandit and contributes to the overall theme of the season: “It’s this youth rising movement, young versus old. A lot of these guys have been deckhands for many, many years and they all want to step up now. Josh is one of them. He wants to carry on his father’s legacy and buy back the Cornelia Marie, the boat his father, Phil, captained. This season we find out if Josh buys the boat back or not.”

• New views and ways to interact: Tonight’s premiere features some beautiful, haunting underwater shots looking up as the fleet heads out of Dutch Harbor. Before each episode this season, the captains will host a pre-game show called The Bait. They’ll talk about what happened the previous week and tease what viewers will see that night. “It’s the blue-collar View,” Pritikin laughs. There’s also a new Deadliest Catch Fantasy Game.

Some of the Deadliest Catch Captains visited Austin to participate in the SXSW festival.  Johnathan Hillstrand , Sig Hansen and Keith Colburn had a lively conversation with Shira Lazar of “What’s Trending” about how they use social media.  It was a good conversation and humorous as Johnathan talked about why he stopped following Alec Baldwin on Twitter.

“It was probably going to sea on the Cornelia Marie for the first time. It was for Phil’s memorial. To be part of such a special occasion, and to be documenting it made me really appreciate the community here and the culture of fishing. It was a unique experience and it would have to be my favorite memory“.

This is a quote from Matt Fahey answering the question, “Name a memorable moment on the job?”  As Matt stated in the quote, there is a strong fishing community.  However, there is also a very strong community around the Deadliest Catch and its fans.  Those folks who support the fishermen of Deadliest Catch also support the guys who bring the show to our living rooms – the hard working camera crew.  Matt Fahey is one of the camera guys that make “Deadliest Catch” possible.

Recently, the Cornelia Marie family learned that Matt Fahey was diagnosed with Stage III B colorectal cancer.  Today is the first day of Matt’s chemotherapy treatment.

We’re going to try and help.  One Deadliest Catch supporter is auctioning off a prized possession to help raise funds for Matt.

Check out this beautiful cap that was signed by Capt. Phil and the Cornelia Marie crew (Jake, Josh, Ryan and Freddie) and our long time camera man and friend Todd Stanley. It was signed for a radio station in Alaska and given away in a drawing.

It comes in a beautiful mirrored acrylic case with a dedication plaque on the front. The hat will be sent registered and insured mail. The bids must be emailed to Cindyharmer22@gmail.com. The bidding will begin on Friday, Jan 25th and run for two weeks ending midnight CST on Feb 8th. The winner will be notified by email with payment instructions. As soon as payment has been made and confirmed, the hat will be shipped registered and insured mail. The bidding starts at $300.00 and S&H is included in the winning bid. Good luck!

Cindy is a longtime supporter and trusted friend. She will keep active bidders notified by email as to what the current bid is. She will post the nightly highest bid on Matt’s Facebook page and on a news feed to keep everyone current.  This will also be posted on Matt’s donation site as well.

Of course, you don’t need to bid on the cap to help out. Just visit Dumbasscancer.org and give what you can. The idea behind all this is to continue to bring awareness to the high cost of Matt’s medical expenses and help the fundraising effort. Lastly, “Thank you Matt” for bringing us the stories of Capt. Phil and the Cornelia Marie… and of course the rest of the guys on the show. Now, let’s kick this thing ‘Cornelia Marie Style’!

From Matt’s Facebook page:

It’s been difficult to find the words. There’s so much to say, and now, so many to thank.

So here it goes…

Cancer Blessing

On Nov. 16th I found out I had cancer. That evening I had my first surgery ever.

2012 was a huge year for me. Adventures and challenges presented themselves; success and its rewards were reaped. Most people would be happy with a year like that, yet contentment eluded me. Something was still missing. Now I know what it was. What a way to end the year.

People often ask if I’m scared when I’m on a boat in the Bering Sea. I’m miserable out there, but not really scared. I love the job, the challenges, and the people. I fly home proud and better at what I do, but I’m beaten down physically and mentally. You need to have a little disregard for your health/sanity to do that job, or youth, which isn’t an option for me anymore.

I took a job offer in Afghanistan last year, hoping to have a life-changing experience.

I craved it.

Now I can see that I needed one. I was willing to roll dice in a war zone and sought the adrenalin that it promised. The adrenalin came and went, but the life change never did.

Then cancer.

Nothing makes a person take stock in their life like facing one’s own mortality. My life change came in a way I never saw coming. Cancer has been a blessing for me in many ways. In the first week of my recovery, I had a couple of poopy-pants days about my situation, but knew that of all the tools to beat this, attitude is tantamount to going forward.

So anyway, I have a sweet scar now! The tumor and ~6 inches of gut and butt were removed. My plumbing was re-sectioned with “clean margins”, which is surgeon-speak for “no cancer in the parts that were sewn back together”. Ten lymph nodes in the general area were also removed. An inspection of the liver that has served me so well looked good.

After a quick penis reduction, I was stapled shut, and ferried off to my ~$10k/night hotel room.

Job well done.

I waited to tell my parents. I wanted to get the pathology report before I hit the alarm. It was right before Thanksgiving, and I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s holiday.

The Diagnosis

I was diagnosed with Stage III B colorectal cancer…ass cancer.

In addition, three of the ten lymph nodes had cancer cells in them, which means the tumor started to travel. Not great news. Telling my parents was the hardest part. It’s gotten easier ever since.

The penis reduction didn’t take either.

Six months of chemo and radiation is the standard treatment. I start on Tuesday, the 22nd of January. The success rates are pretty good with this treatment on this type. Thought I was done saying this, but I also have youth on my side, (I know, crazy). Most people who do chemo are in their 70’s, so I have a huge advantage. I’m in my 40’s, and the 40’s are the new 30’s of cancer survival.

Healthy & Carefree

I’ve never been the sharpest pencil in the drawer but I’ve always been a colorful one. If you know me, you know that I have some unique skills and qualities, but occasionally, I can be a dumb ass. My youth was spent being a poor but happy adventurer. I’ve always been pretty healthy and carefree.

So, yes, I was one of “those people” you hear about — the “uninsured.” I’ve sadly been “that guy” too, but am trying to cut down. Whatever time we have here is priceless and it could be worse. But it’s not. Everything is going to be all right.

Dumb Ass Cancer

My family and friends have surrounded me with so much love and support that it’s like a rugby scrum of love and support. A bevy of friends have volunteered to be my little chemo buddies. Family has come through huge in helping me negotiate the treacherous waters of medical bills.

I am the luckiest man alive!

It’s weird to say, but cancer has taught me some valuable lessons. A lot more people want me around than I ever thought, and the other is that I value me, I love me, and I want me to squeeze a few more decades of fun out of me before me takes the dirt nap.

I know. Sounds like the cheesy punch line the coach inspires the team to victory with during halftime, but this cheese is for real.

This all started with some friends offering to help by planning a fundraiser (TBA in Feb.), which led to the idea of a website for donations. My cousin volunteered to spearhead the website, his wife came up with the name DumbAssCancer.org, and they bought the domain for me.

A Dumb Ass with Ass Cancer, and Cancer is dumb. Perfect!

Word spread on FaceBook, and in a matter of hours, an army of people were responding and sharing until it snowballed into a cascade of support and a tsunami of love. A surprising amount of donations rolled in from so many from all over.

I’m floored looking at the names and comments. So many people have called, texted, messaged, emailed, and yes, tweeted offering prayers, advice, well-wishes, and help that I’m overwhelmed responding to everyone.

Honored I am to forever be associated with this name. It is amazing how much cancer touches people. Almost everybody I talk to about it has had a friend or relative with it, and as a storyteller, I feel obligated to document my survival arc, the good and the bad, for better and worse, my journey through Cancerland. Maybe, in some way, I can use my craft to inspire, help, or at the very least entertain.

Gratefully Yours,

Matthew Fahey

FV Cornelia Marie on Deadliest Catch

This blog is in response to a recent article in the New York Times entitled, “A Soap Opera on the High Seas”.  The article was mostly about Thom Beers, the creator of Deadliest Catch but it also attempts to explain why “Deadliest Catch” is so popular.

(referring to Thom Beers) “He turned crab fishing into one of the best soap operas ever,” W. Clark Bunting, the former president of Discovery, says.

For years I have been reading this line, that “Deadliest Catch is a soap opera for men”.  I think that’s condescending.  At the very least, it’s lazy journalism.  “Deadliest Catch” has been on cable now for eight years so we have had a few serious journalists write about the show.  Often, the premise of their articles is based around the question, “Why is a television show about crab fishing so popular?”.  The final conclusion, as if they are discovering an original thought, is that it’s like a “soap opera”.

DEADLIEST CATCH IS MUCH MORE THAN A SOAP OPERA

Yes, Deadliest Catch is episodic television with reoccurring characters which deal with issues familiar to all of us.  But that’s where the similarities to a soap opera end.

As Thom Beers states in the article, there has to be good storytelling first and foremost.

Instead, they made hard work conform to the expectations of a drama. “All of my stuff,” Beers told me, “is based on the three-act structure, as if I was writing a play.”

Beers, meanwhile, was trying to extract a formula from “Deadliest Catch,” settling on a few rudiments that have since become staples of his work. There had to be a ticking clock; there had to be teams in competition with one another; and there had to be a primal, omnipresent external threat.

Good conflict makes for good story and “Deadliest Catch” has plenty.  There are four classic conflict types:

I believe “Deadliest Catch” also taps into the universal story of the “Hero’s Journey”.

FV Cornelia Marie leaving Dutch Harbor

THE GREENHORN STORY IS UNIVERSAL

The late Joseph Campbell authored a book entitled, “The Hero with a thousand faces”.  Mr. Campbell studied myths and stories from different cultures around the world and found that there was one universal story that everybody shared.  He called it the “Hero’s Journey” and laid out the steps and structure to the story.

In a nutshell, the hero leaves the ordinary world by answering a call to adventure.  He meets mentors and acquires training that will help him on his journey.  He crosses the “threshold” never to return to the ordinary world the same.  He is tested and eventually is confronted with death or his greatest fear.  Out of this moment of death comes a new life.  He now looks to return home with a new treasure, but not without being severely tested once more as he has crosses back into the ordinary world.  The hero returns home with the treasure, which may transform the world as the hero has been transformed. The hero has changed and is never the same.  (This is an extremely abbreviated version of the different stages of the Hero’s Journey.  Click here for the full version.)

Every Greenhorn carries a story in their heart and a question mark on their back… Will they make it?  Will he go home broken and defeated?  The merciless Bering Sea humbles the hardest soul and quiets the anger and angst of any young buck.  The life they once knew is now a distant memory.  Their world is now 40 feet of beat-up wooden deck, and a dictator with an ego as large as the Bering Sea.

It’s a physical and mental test.  As they Bering Sea, Skipper and crew transform the Greenhorn to seasoned fisherman, we learn what drives him and what’s been holding him back.

Good storytelling is mandatory but there’s more going on here that has produced longevity with the audience.  There has to be something underneath the story that resonates with the audience… and “Deadliest Catch” has this by the boatload.

HARD WORK AND THE AMERICAN DREAM

“Deadliest Catch” and the Cornelia Marie are a metaphor for the American Dream.  Through fishing, a man can still work hard, play by the rules, take a risk in life and get ahead.  However, this is not just an “American dream”.  The show resonates with men and women across the world through this universal theme of “making your way in life through hard work”.

For the past four years, the world economy has been struggling.  We are now experiencing major changes in what is valued in terms of work.  The industrial age is long over.  We no longer need as many folks who can provide physical ability with limited “knowledge” skills.  These types of jobs certainly don’t bring high wages. The warning now is: if someone overseas can do the job cheaper then that’s where the job is going.

Freddie Maughtai of the FV Cornelia Marie

You certainly don’t find these type of “skilled or craftsmen” workers on the cover of business magazines or being interviewed by “Charlie Rose”.  Who are the heroes of young men now?  What does the media tell us about the definition of “success”?  American boys growing up today hear about people like “Bill Gates, “Steve Jobs” or “Mark Zuckerberg”.  They even made a feature film about “Zuck”. These are the definitions of successful men in today’s society.

What if you’re not a programmer… or even comfortable on a computer.  Or even worse, what if your definition of torture is staring at a computer screen for eight hours a day.  What if we as people aren’t meant to be sedentary with our brains tied into computer terminals.

WE LONG FOR WORK THAT IS REAL

This idea that we are all not cut out to spend hours toiling away in an cubicle is shared by many.  Mathew B. Crawford wrote a book entitled, “Shop as Soulcraft”.  In his book, Mr. Crawford “questions the educational imperative of turning everyone into a “knowledge worker,” based on a misguided separation of thinking from doing.”

I was so happy when I found his article entitled, “The Case for working with your hands” in the New York Times.  In this piece, he mentions the “Deadliest Catch”.  In Mr. Crawford, I found someone who felt like I did when it came to the idea that maybe working with your hands is not only a good alternative to “knowledge work” but may be more natural and satisfying.

The imperative of the last 20 years to round up every warm body and send it to college, then to the cubicle, was tied to a vision of the future in which we somehow take leave of material reality and glide about in a pure information economy. This has not come to pass. To begin with, such work often feels more enervating than gliding. More fundamentally, now as ever, somebody has to actually do things: fix our cars, unclog our toilets, build our houses.

When we praise people who do work that is straightforwardly useful, the praise often betrays an assumption that they had no other options. We idealize them as the salt of the earth and emphasize the sacrifice for others their work may entail. Such sacrifice does indeed occur — the hazards faced by a lineman restoring power during a storm come to mind. But what if such work answers as well to a basic human need of the one who does it? I take this to be the suggestion of Marge Piercy’s poem “To Be of Use,” which concludes with the lines “the pitcher longs for water to carry/and a person for work that is real.” Beneath our gratitude for the lineman may rest envy.

These two passages strike at the heart of why I think “Deadliest Catch” is popular.  We long for work that is real because it’s more human to undertake this type of work.  Through the show, an invisible class of men (and women too) see a world they long for… a world where good people can work hard and with a little guts and determination – can make something of themselves.

CAPT. PHIL – WORK HARD, PLAY HARD

The popularity of “Deadliest Catch” owes a lot to one man – our late skipper, Capt. Phil Harris.  Phil embodied many of the elements I write about in this article.  He worked harder than most men, and enjoyed himself along the way.  Folks could identify with him – he bared all – his bravado and vulnerability.

When asked what his dream was as a child, he answered: “To try and be successful no matter what.  I always had this idea that I could very easily just become a bum and homeless.  (Laughing.)  That idea still keeps me motivated.”

As I wrote in an earlier blog post, I still receive emails from around the world as viewers of the show find out about the loss of Capt. Phil.  Often, the email starts out “I hope you don’t think I’m strange but I feel sad even though I never actually met Phil…”.  I don’t think they’re strange.

If you have watched a lot of episodes of Deadliest Catch, then you’ve actually logged a lot of hours with another person who decided to let the cameras in to show the good, bad and ugly.  Phil decided if he was going to do it, he was going to go all the way… so the cameras kept rolling.  So, I would think it would be strange if you didn’t feel anything after watching that episode.

Phil will be remembered forever by anyone who watches season six and this story element is unique to “Deadliest Catch”.

WHEN DOES A BOY BECOME A MAN

In today’s society, when and where is the threshold that a boy crosses to become a man?  Is it after puberty?  The arbitrary dates of 18 or 21?  When they become a father?  In many societies and for thousands of years, there have been ceremonies and activities to mark these occasions.  Today, this passage from boyhood to manhood goes seemingly unnoticed.  When does a guy feel like a man?  You can be 25 years old and still be living your life as a boy… untested and lacking confidence.

I believe that young men of today long for the feeling of being a “man”.  They feel the need to test themselves to see if they “have what it takes”.  Today, that often takes the form of athletic endurance competitions and sports.  Perhaps, some young men even join the military to engage in the ultimate test of manhood – combat.  These young men long to be Greenhorns and enter the Hero’s Journey as explained earlier.

For me, one of the definitions of being a man is the ability to support my family.  If I can’t bring home enough money to feed my family and provide them with what I need then I am a failure as a man.  Where this definition of being a man intersects with hard work is where “Deadliest Catch” lives.

STORIES FROM LETTERS

Letter from Valiant

Hardly a day goes by that I don’t receive a least one email from a guy looking for a job.  (This despite our contact page that states that we don’t have any job openings.)  The reasons vary but often include the ideas I have talked about so far.  I would like to some letters I have received in the past.  This first letter I just received today.  Valiant has a wife and young boy and lives in Slovenia.  He was born and raised on a small island in the Mediterranean Sea.  He spent his adult life working as a waiter, lifeguard and construction worker.

Life here is not easy and we hardly make ends meet month by month, my family is getting  hungry and I can not offer my son basic things let alone something more. Almost every night he falls asleep crying his eyes out… and it hurts me and its breaking my heart. I have done many different things in my life to be better to live better, I got a lot of experience down the way, but better life is slipping away always just by an inch.

I want to work as a greenhorn and prove myself and maybe be something more later on…I have been fishing since I was 5, I know how sea behaves, am used to the boats, to cold, wet and long hours… am hardworking and fast learner and I will do my best to satisfy and prove myself to you or anyone who would be willing to hire me!!! (If you can help Valiant, please email him at vali.susak@gmail.com)

Out of the thousands of letters I have received, none of them ask for money.  They ask only for a job… for a chance.  Here is another:

Hi my name is Jim, I’m currently a roughneck in Pennsylvania (US) (1 yr) i worked on a navy ship for 4 yrs and now id like a shot on the CM i have a 2 yr old daughter and a fiance…. id like to prove myself and show i can do the job…… i know you don’t have any openings but i would like to learn from the best please contact me… at least give me a shot……..

I feel for these men.  I have been there… where you’re just looking for a break.  Not a hand out, just a way out.  It seems no matter how hard you try, you can’t get ahead.

My name is Bobby, i live in portland,tn and i m a 15 year. pipefitter fire sprinler systems and worked wet hard and in food storage freezers at 32 below zero… and there is no work here ive worked out of town for nearly 15 years and would be honored to just work i have a ten year old son to provide for and only work i have now is repairing small engines it doesnt pay the bills please give me a chance and ill make you proud. thank you guys.

Some guys are so desperate to break into the fishing business that they are willing to work for free.

I know you guys get probably thousands of e-mails from people wanting to work, and im no different. I know im not the only one who will say i’ll work for free, but i’d work for a full year FREE… I’d like just one chance.

I feel this is where “Deadliest Catch” provides a disservice.  The numbers they place on the screen for deckhand earnings do not take into consideration any expenses.

Recently, I flew back from Alaska and sat next to a fisherman returning from Dutch Harbor.  He was a greenhorn and just finished working the recent King Crab opening in the Bering Sea.  He had just completed six months working on a fishing boat and made essentially nothing.  The few thousands that he was paid barely covered his air fare in and out of Dutch Harbor.  For the record, the Cornelia Marie does not operate this way.  If you work, you get paid.

Many of the letters I receive are not very elegant in their writing style.  This doesn’t surprise as most of the fishermen I know don’t spend much time on the computer writing.  If you wanted to reach Capt. Phil, you could have visited him or called.  He didn’t do email nor did he care about Facebook, twitter and the rest of them.  The only computer he used was on the boat.  In this letter below, we see it clearly stated, “I want to become a man, a real man!”.

Like Jake,l have been an adict,too.and,that is why l feel close to him.will be honest to me to meet the brothers,think we got a lot in common.what is my hope? …be sure that you can save my life,and make my dreams come true.l am 37,and after all mistakes made in past,the only thing l want is to become man.a real MAN!!

Some of the letters are hard to read as many folks around the world have been dealt difficult situations.  My heart goes out to all.

THE DEADLIEST CATCH STORY IS OUR STORY

I have had folks from all walks of life tell me they would like to “give it a try”.  For various reasons, the story of the greenhorn calls.  I believe this is why I receive so many letters from folks wanting to go out fishing on the Cornelia Marie.  It’s the young man who’s ready to push himself, test his will and gut check his courage.  It’s the unemployed father that finally feels like a man.  He couldn’t find work in the new knowledge economy but he can work miracles with his hands.  He’ll bring home the big paycheck and show his son that’s there still a place in the world for a guy like him.

For the record, everything written in this article applies to women as well… I just focused on men because they make up nearly 100% of the Bering Sea crab fishermen.  Of course, women perform and enjoy hard working jobs.  I have a sister that is a professional, full-time welder and my mother (Cornelia Marie Devlin) was a cannery foreman in Alaska.  So, take that guys!

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Thom Beers, Creator of Deadliest Catch

I met Thom Beers while at the televised memorial of Capt. Phil.  He introduced himself as the creator of “Deadliest Catch”, but I of course knew who he was.   I could tell he took great ownership in the show.  At the time of Phil’s passing he seemed to be highly involved in all aspects of the series.  By most public accounts, his career was built on the back of “Deadliest Catch”.

The New York Times attempts to profile the genre he created in this article but falls short in their attempt.  The reasons they cite for the popularity of the “Deadliest Catch” are more simplistic than what the show deserves.  In this passage below, the creation of “Deadliest Catch” is explained.

In 1998, a Discovery Channel executive named Steve Burns approached Beers — at the time barely a year into a new career as an independent producer — about making a one-hour special called “Extreme Alaska.” It was supposed to include a 15-minute segment about Alaskan crab fishing, at the time the deadliest occupation in the United States. That January, Beers and two cameramen set out from the Aleutian Island port of Dutch Harbor, where the Bering Sea crab-fishing fleet delivers its catch. The plan was to spend a couple of days out of port on a crab boat called Fierce Allegiance, get the footage and go home.

Instead, Beers and his crew found themselves stuck at sea for a week as the boat battled an uncommonly ferocious storm. Waves swelled to the height of a four-story building. Beers pitched in with the work on deck, only to fall victim to the fisherman’s ailment known as “the claw,” the muscles and joints in his hands knotting up hopelessly. Still, he was aware of the elemental intensity of the footage: the crew lurching back and forth on the slick wood and steel in their orange and yellow rain gear, the prehistoric strangeness of the snow crabs, the terrifying void of the heaving sea. When he got back to California, he called Burns. “Listen,” he said. “There’s something big here.”

 

This is a good article on Thom Beers and Deadliest Catch.  I recommend reading it if your a fan of DC or other Original Productions shows.  I may have to provide my take on why the show is popular in the next blog.

Do you remember during the fifth episode of Season 8 when the crew of the FV Northwestern finds a rat aboard?  The crew plays around with the critter until finally it goes overboard.  Well, now apparently the State of Alaska is investigating the FV Northwestern for “harboring a rat” which can amount to a fine of up to $200,000 dollars.  This story definitely has to be filed under the “Are you kidding me?!?” category.  It’s a real story which you can read and/or listen to right here by By Stephanie Joyce, KUCB – Unalaska.

FV CORNELIA MARIE in Bristol Bay (Photo courtesy of Jack Molan, Capt. FV Columbia)

The FV Cornelia Marie (CM) finished a 64 day salmon tendering contract on August 17th.  Once again, the Skipper for salmon tendering was Jerry Meals and the deckhands this year were Colton Meals, Mark Wicks, Boris Roderiguiz and Casey Arcin.  Overall, the salmon season went well for the Cornelia Marie and crew.  The crew had some time to do repairs and maintenance on the boat such as replacing lights.  The season started in Bristol Bay and finished in Prince William Sound.  All total, the CM loaded on nearly two million pounds of salmon.  She is now back in her home port of Kodiak, Alaska.

The summer ended with a FV Cornelia Marie presence at the Commercial Fishermen’s Festival (CFF).  The festival was a lot of fun with many fishermen from the “Deadliest Catch” attending.  The FV Time Bandit was represented by Capt. Johnathan Hillstrand and his son Scott.  Also, there was the Time Bandit’s newest deckhand – Ryan Simpson.  Ryan is no greenhorn, but rather an experienced deckhand who spent many years on the deck of the Cornelia Marie.  The FV Northwestern was represented by Matt Bradley.  I got to know Matt and his wife and had a great time with them.  The Cornelia Marie booth had Jake Jolibois and Todd Stanley.  You may know Jake as a deckhand on the FV Kodiak for many years but recently has been helping out with the CM.  Todd Stanley made his first appearance at a Commercial Fishermens Festival and had a great time.  He was on hand to share some of his photographs and stories of the countless hours he spent with Capt. Phil in the wheelhouse of the Cornelia Marie.  Also, on hand was Capt. Harry Lewis from past appearances with the FV Incentive.

Todd Stanley and Capt. Rick Quashnick (Photo courtesy of Todd Stanley)

One of the highlights of the festival for me was hearing Capt. Rick and Donna Quashnick tell stories about Capt. Phil.  The Quashnicks were very close to Phil because the FV Cornelia Marie and the FV Maverick were partner boats for 20 years.  The Quashnicks continue to own and operate the FV Maverick during the summer.

Thank you to the organizers such as Elizabeth McMaster, Cyndi Mudge and our good CM friends, Rick and Donna Quashnick.  Special thanks to the Pilot House, one of the coolest places on the West Coast.  Of course, it would not be a festival without the folks who attended and brought all their love for the fishermen.  It was great to meet so many supporters of the Cornelia Marie.  From the “Pirates” to the gals who kept Mr. Stanley out too late at Mary Todd’s – you know who you are.  Thanks for the good times!

Thanks for visiting the Cornelia Marie.

According to the Anderson family website and news reports, the remains of Jake’s father, Keith Anderson, have been found. According to KOMO news, “Last Saturday, a hiker reported finding human remains about a mile from the spot where Anderson’s truck had been found.

Sheriff’s deputies brought in cadaver dogs to search the area and were able to recover enough remains for the King County Medical Examiner to make the identification on Tuesday.

An announcement about the discovery of Anderson’s remains was delayed until all members of his family had been notified.”

We first reported on the disappearance of Jake’s father on January 13, 2010 when we were asked to get the word out. We wrote several blog posts as more news broke about the situation.  We also helped spread the word when the Jake and his family held fundraising events.  As recently as March 29, police seemed to have new hope in regard to finding out what happened.  According to that KING report, Jake thinks foul play was involved.

Jake Anderson is a deckhand on the FV Northwestern but is also a friend to the FV Cornelia Marie.  You may remember when Capt. Phil and Capt. Sig swapped Jakes.  Jake Harris went to fish on the Northwestern and Jake Anderson fished on the CM.  Jake A. enjoyed his time on the Cornelia Marie and Capt. Phil spoke highly of his work ethic.

I did not like reporting on this story.  However, once we posted that first report to help out the family; I felt obligated to see it through to the end.  I would rather report on news such as Jake receiving his USCG Mate’s License and getting married.  Jake is a great guy and we hope this will bring closure and peace to him and his family.

The FV Cornelia Marie lost one its past deckhands and engineers – Mark Anderson.  Mark passed away from ongoing heart problems with a recent complication of pneumonia that took his life.  You can see Mark during Season three of Deadliest Catch.  During that season Murray Gamrath was Engineer.  Upon Mark’s passing, Murray said:

I met Mark while fishing on the Cornelia Marie. While working with him we became good friends and I realized what a good person Mark is. Mark was an excellent deck hand and engineer. Great work ethics and always a pleasure to work with. Always had a smile on his face and willing to work and got along well with everybody. It is sad to see he has passed as such a young age. We will all miss him.

 

Murray’s wife Jody also had the opportunity to work with and get to know Mark.  She had this to say:

Personally I am grateful I was able to spend the summer of 08 with Mark and really get to know him. He was way too young with too much potential to be gone. He was a true and loyal friend, fun to be around, witty, could always make me laugh, generous to a fault. In some ways he was just like the stereo type of a fisherman, but in many other ways he was not at all. The summer I worked with him he kept me laughing and kept me on my toes. We played pranks and had water balloon fights but most important he made sure Murray didn’t leave me behind at the cannery when he didn’t know I had gone up to use the internet and in between trying to knock me in the salmon filled tanks he made sure I didn’t get knocked out from whatever was being loaded/unloaded overhead when I frequently wasn’t paying attention. I could go on…. I will miss his random calls that always brightened my day…….

I thank both Jody and Murray for their comments about Mark Anderson.  The Cornelia Marie family sends our condolences to Mark’s family, especially his mother and sister.