I've been a little hit and miss on the blog the last couple of weeks. Though there are many contributing factors one of the larger ones is that I got stuck watching a T.V. show marathon called the Deadliest Catch. I've seen this show advertised for quite awhile now but I felt the show did not pertain to me. I've never deep sea fished. I crab on the shore. I don't watch a lot of TV and when I do it won't be about fishing. 

So late one night I couldn't sleep and I was surfing the channels and somehow landed on the Discovery Channel and what was playing ?  Why Deadliest Catch. After exactly 5 minutes I was deeply involved with the lives of these fishing captains and their crews. By the third episode new words had crept into my vocabulary such as greenhorn. It was now about 1:30 in the morning and sleep was calling but how could I sleep when over the radio we were hearing a May Day.

Two marathons and 24 episodes later ( I'm exaggerating…..I hope) sees me playing some favorites.

My alltime favorite captain and crew is Sig Hansen from the Northwestern. Strong nordic stock out of Seattle ,he is someone I can relate to. Like a good seaman he tells stories, runs a fair ship, and has this little tradition for the opening of fishing season…….bite the head off of a herring. Real manly stuff. I just love it when Sig starts speaking Norwegian to other fishing captains to find the crab. Like myself he has those strong Nordic/Northwestern genes.

Returning after a very serious blood clot that almost killed him is Captain Phil Harris, also out of Seattle, along with his two sons is a poignant look at the realities of fishing.

I'm mesmerized at how difficult and dangerous the work is. How much they get paid for a few weeks work ….sometimes as much as 51,000 dollars, and the human struggle stories.

Ok….I'm almost done……if by now you are wondering if you have what it takes to be a fishing captain try your luck here.  If that doesn't work out for you just catch the guys on Tuesdays at 9 pm to see how Opie season is going. Opies are crabs and the guys have to fish for them in the Bering Sea in the middle of winter. I'm holding my breath……I left them out there on the Bering Sea for another week with the worst freeze ever and 40 foot seas. They make me worry.