Deadliest Catch (2005–…): Season 7, Episode 12 - It's Not All Mai Tais and Yahtzee - full transcript
A loose pot turns into a half-ton wrecking ball on the Kodiak, while a crewman on the Seabrooke is nearly crushed by ice. On the Cornelia Marie, the new skipper courts mutiny with a move to untested fishing grounds.
♪
It doesn't take much to unravel
when you're getting pushed every
single day.
This is your last warning. (BLEEP)
keep this up again, you're gone.
Your confidence is built on making
that right move,
but in all honesty, there's always
that ounce of fear.
The forecast calls for more pain.
This trip is just beating the
(BLEEP) out of us.
Start to doubt yourself too much and
it'll crush you.
I ran the wire!
Hey, get back!
Get down!
Get the (BLEEP) down!
For seven days, an Arctic storm has
battered the fleet...
It's going to be wet, boys.
I know, I know. Hang on.
Step back, step back!
..and slowed fishing to a crawl.
Hey, guys, I think I'm going to stop
fishing. This is ridiculous.
Now, the storm is subsiding,
and every skipper is racing to make
up for lost time.
I'm going to try and get this boat
full, try and get this gear on
and make that delivery date.
We're going to push through to the
end.
On the Cornelia Marie...
(MEN CHEER)
Oh, yeah, baby! Yeah.
..the Harris boys are fishing numbers
that would make their father proud.
Spirits are up, the guys are happy.
They can't ask for much more than
that.
It hurts from smiling so much.
How much was in that one?
650? We've had pretty solid 600s
here for a while.
Let the good times roll, baby.
Tony's kicking ass and taking me
with him.
Respect between the deck and the new
skipper, Tony Lara, is running high.
Great guy to work for, great guy to
learn from.
He's a real inspiration on us.
Jake and Josh are both doing a good
job.
It's more than just a job for them
at this point.
Josh, I see him making an extra
effort.
He's the last guy off the deck these
days.
Jake, that's a fisherman.
They're stepping up to the plate,
doing a good job. I'm proud.
Tony is a team player.
He's proven to us that he's a
(BLEEP) rock star.
Now we got us a couple choices to
make.
We got two areas with good fishing.
We've got to pick one.
With a delivery date in just four
days,
and prospect strings over 26km
apart...
I'm kind of leaning toward making a
move here.
But the areas are too far apart.
We've got to consolidate.
The skipper contemplates moving off
good fishing
to consolidate his strings closer to
his offload.
Hey, Jake, Josh -
pull your gear off and come on up
here.
Tony, you rock star.
We put some crab away today, huh?
Yeah, that was a good string.
Yeah, it was.
I'm happy.
So here's what we got going.
We got two spots.
We have to pick an area and go with
it.
The young boat owners still have a
lot to learn about fishing.
I made my decision, but I want to
hear what you're thinking,
because you have to make decisions
and get grey hairs someday.
Tony is committed to teaching them.
Our numbers are better, the crab
looks better up here.
But it'll take us a day to shuffle
this over here.
That's something to think of.
In a day production, you can get a
lot done.
Twenty miles of solid crab is a good
sign, though.
What do you think?
I think where we're at is where we
need to stay.
It's hard to run from 600.
That's the best we've seen.
(LAUGHS) A guy could have worse
problems.
With captain and crew on the same
page, fishing resumes on deck.
I came up here to catch crab and
that's what we did tonight.
We (BLEEP) some crab.
I'm happy.
But in the wheelhouse...
The crab are moving from west to
east.
..Tony is having second thoughts.
Catching the crab isn't the problem.
The delivery schedule is going to be
the issue.
It's a great way to start the
season.
Big change, boys.
I gotta have rocks in my head,
cos I'm thinking about shuffling to
the east.
Get closer to the processor, save
fuel.
I think I'm going to move.
The new plan - stack the gear and
head east.
We'll find out whether he made the
right choice.
But no doubt about it - 600s are
pretty hard to pull away from.
I probably should have my head
examined for stacking on 600,
but we'll know soon enough.
Tony's decision will test the
new-found faith of his crew.
We'll see.
64km to the west on the 33m
Seabrooke...
We were down at the St George
canyon.
This gear was a survival set.
It had nothing to do with my
strategy
of where I was going to fish.
I would normally never have put a
pot here.
Captain Scott Campbell Jr approaches
the gear he dropped four days ago,
far south of where he wanted to fish.
I wanted to get some weight off the
boat
because we had severe icing
conditions coming.
So it was the right call to make
from a safety standpoint,
but from a fishing strategy,
I probably never would have set the
gear here.
After an 18-hour steam...
I'm ready! Put me in the game,
Coach. I am ready to go.
..the crew hits the deck and gets to
work.
I'm curious to see what kind of
numbers we get.
The pot's been soaking for a bit.
Right now, it's our first pot.
There's not going to be much in it,
but it's the beginning.
For the skipper's brother, Chris
'Whipper' Welch...
..this will be the first haul since
his stomach injury
almost cut his king season short.
We've got five guys out there today.
Whipper made his triumphant return.
I've always got to keep a watchful
eye on him because he is my brother.
With a healthy deck and pots to
haul...
You ready? I'm ready.
..the men are set to catch some
crab.
Here we go. The first pot of the
2011 opilio season,
see if we're going to be rich or not
on the survival set.
Money maker! Show me the money!
I know guys that have went out
king-crab fishing,
have gotten into huge storms and had
to dump their gear off,
then landed on a pile of crab.
Maybe that's us this year.
Here we go. This is it right now.
Ah, she's a little light.
Those look like bairdi.
The bairdi crab, a close cousin of
the opilio.
Nah, it's not so good.
Unfortunately for Junior,
not what he's fishing.
Number 2 looks the same - all
bairdi. Wrong species.
So, we got a zero and a zero.
It's hit or miss, and we missed, big
time.
With the survival set coming up
empty...
The longer we're here, the more
miserable it is for me.
Get this gear on and get out of
here.
Junior needs to get these pots on
fertile grounds as fast as possible.
Oh, man, this is horrible.
It's almost unbearable.
(SIGHS)
(MAN GROANS)
(BLEEP)
You all right? (BLEEP). You got to
be kidding me.
♪
♪
(GROANS)
(BLEEP)
Just give me a second here.
You all right, Whip?
(BLEEP)
I got it.
As the Captain's brother, Chris
Whipper Welch,
moved in to stack a pot,
a 23kg block of ice broke free from
the crane...
..striking him in the back.
He got lucky. That could have been a
bad deal.
Could have done a lot of damage.
If one of those chunks of ice hit a
guy in the head,
it would probably kill him.
See all that ice right there? That
landed on my back.
That was a rookie mistake standing
under the crane.
Never stand under the crane this
time of year
when there's a lot of ice on it.
Oh, (BLEEP).
How're you feeling, Whipper? You
going to survive?
(LAUGHS)
That that does not kill you only
makes you stronger.
80km to the south-east is the 38m
Northwestern.
We're on hopefully our last string
here.
We've been grinding and we're coming
up on about 30 hours.
We've been hauling all night and all
day yesterday.
We're not going to get it.
The tank is basically full. I need
to top them off.
Captain Sig Hansen needs an
additional 340kg
before heading in for his first
offload.
This trip is just beating the
(BLEEP) out of us.
Come on. Come on, come on, come on!
Oh, (BLEEP). That ain't good.
But stuffing the ranks on these
numbers...
There's half of what we wanted in
there.
..isn't going to be easy.
We were expecting more.
Ay-ay-ay.
This string's not doing it, man.
The forecast calls for more pain.
We've got to get out of here.
The Northwestern is in a race against
time
to make her scheduled offload in St
Paul.
I'll get it.
Let me finish!
Will you get the (BLEEP) out of my
face? God.
Adding to the tension...
(BLEEP).
..aspiring deck boss Jake Anderson
is feeling the effects of the grind.
(BLEEP) driving me nuts.
Jake's having a rough morning.
(LAUGHS)
I don't have any sympathy for him.
I just want to go (BLEEP) sort
crabs,
get paid just the same as that guy
over there.
I learn all this (BLEEP), still no
respect.
The object of Jake's wrath...
He's harping about a guy that's damn
near twice his age.
..the new deckhand, 50-year-old Kevin
Blakley.
If he expects me or the rest of the
guys to come down hard on Kevin
just because he's a new guy, he's
mistaken.
The reality is, Kevin doesn't have
anything to prove to me
cos he's been doing this for many
years.
I'm not here to impress anybody,
man.
I know I know my (BLEEP). I'm here
to do it their way.
As far as Kevin goes,
the guys, they all got nothing but
good things to say.
I'm not getting involved in this
piddly baby (BLEEP).
I'm not running a day-care centre.
It's a crab boat, for (BLEEP) sake.
Hi, Jake!
64km to the east is the 31m Kodiak.
This is going to be a tough trip.
This is day 3 or 4 for this cold.
I'm trying to stay focused.
I don't feel good.
A nasty flu is putting the already
beaten crew in a daze.
Being sick on a boat in the Bering
Sea
doesn't mean the same as being sick
anywhere else.
This is a (BLEEP) job as it is.
There's nothing good about it,
then you throw being sick in, just
makes life hard.
There's no mercy or remorse.
If you're sick, you've still got to
work.
It's going to be interesting to see
how morale stays
and productivity keeps up.
When everybody gets sick, everybody
gets tired, cranky.
Can't keep up with dangers.
Everybody's sitting there - ahhh.
Coming up. Watch out!
When you're doing a job like this
that's repetitious,
people get lackadaisical. They start
doing it in their sleep.
That's what happens when you're
sleeping.
Coming up.
Whoa, whoa. I got no wire.
I got no wire.
I got no wire!
I got no wire!
(BLEEP)'s going on?
Watch yourself.
I got no wire.
Watch yourself.
Holy (BLEEP).
Holy (BLEEP).
Lucky we didn't kill somebody on
that one.
Looked to me, the knot got sucked up
into the block.
The knot on the picking hook was all
the way up into the block.
The pot came on like it always does,
I brought it down,
and it wouldn't go.
It wouldn't go up any higher.
Calm down, Jake. Calm down.
I'm all jacked up.
As the pot came over the rail...
I got no wire. I got no wire!
..the unusually long bridle allowed
the knot above the picking hook
to suck back into the block,
rendering the hydros inoperable.
Coupled with the rolling motion of
the swells,
the suspended pot quickly became a
340kg demolition ball.
Watch yourself.
It would come across and kind of go
weightless.
If the bridle would have came out of
the hook,
the pot would have free-falled 25ft.
750lb coming down, that amount of
weight falling from that distance,
it could have been devastating.
It's one of those things you hope
never to see, and we saw it.
It's lucky nobody got killed.
Just another day in the life of a
crab boat.
♪
♪
520km to the north-west of Dutch
Harbor...
We're just fished into the next day,
just trying to grind through the
gear.
Captain Sig Hansen is under the gun
to haul 900 more kilos of crab
and make his offload in St Paul.
The tanks are basically full.
This last string here, I'm just
trying to top off the load.
(PHONE RINGS)
Hello? What are you doing?
Before heading out on deck, deckhand
Jake Anderson
reaches out to an old friend.
(LAUGHS)
Oh! Whatever.
Former deck boss, Edgar Hansen.
When you're not there, I'm always
thinking about what you said to me.
W-W-E-D. What would Edgar do?
Doesn't throw the shot, doesn't do
too much, but it's all right.
Bye-bye.
Back on deck...
..the aspiring deck boss admits he's
feeling the strain.
Without Edgar here, I'm always
stressed
on hurting somebody, breaking the
crane or ram's busted,
sodium light's fallen.
I kind of take it out on our new
guy.
I get jealous cos everybody treats
him with respect.
I never was treated with much
respect,
so I take it personal
cos it must be something with me.
When I got here first, I got Matt
Bradley choking me.
I had to throw him on the ground and
finally say, enough's enough.
Don't do that again!
I'm still treated like I'm a new
guy, a greenhorn.
Respect is number one. It's worth
more to me than the money,
that I have respect for my
co-workers and my employer.
You guys ready?
Oh, yeah!
Boom! Yeah.
There we go.
Back in business.
(MEN CHEER)
That'll put a dent in that tank.
This is epic!
Having a good day.
Wa-hoo!
I like it.
What do you think, Nick? Is that
going to do it for us?
That's it.
Beautiful. Set it back, and let's
get going.
With the tanks finally plugged,
the bone-weary crew...
..share a moment of respect.
64km to the north-east,
on the Cornelia Marie...
We shuffled all our gear over here.
We were on some real good fishing on
our prospect gear.
Some guys will try to find what we
found,
and once we found it, we drove away
from it.
Skipper Tony Lara has moved away from
big numbers
to bring his gear closer to the
processor.
Hearing the weather forecast, I'd
rather be here than on the edge.
For what we have to catch, our time
is better spent
hauling gear instead of chasing
600s.
Out on deck...
Crazy spray makes everything a lot
more difficult,
a lot more dangerous.
Falling temperatures and freezing
rain
have made even the simplest of tasks
treacherous for the crew.
Ice on the ground, you've got to try
to be light on your feet.
But when you've been up (BLEEP) 100
hours straight, (BLEEP) happens.
(BLEEP) like that.
It's a bit sloppy out today.
Oh, yeah.
You see a guy like Chief fall
down...
There's loose pots, so you really
got to watch it,
cos they scoot across the deck when
it's icy.
Aw, that sucks.
Yeah, OK, guys. That's the last pot
there.
After a 36-hour grind...
..the men have baited and splashed
75 pots.
We'll find out shortly if I made the
right move or not.
As you know, you're only as good as
your last delivery.
Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
After eight days battling ice and
bitter seas...
We need to slam those hatches off
and start delivering right away.
Our first trip, opie season 2011.
Booyah!
..the Wizard arrives for her first
offload of the opilio season.
I'd really like to see 3,000lb come
off of this boat,
but I don't think we've got it.
I think we're going to come up a
little bit short.
Down on deck...
They got all crab in them, right?
..deckhand Lynn Guitard prepares the
hatches for the offload.
We'll go the small one first, then
I've got it to level the boat off.
No. Leave the hatch covers on until
we're ready to offload.
You could have water pressed on this
the whole time.
If you take the hatch cover off,
it's going to balloon up.
And Lynn, please, I know you get
frustrated with these other guys.
Don't show that frustration to me
again.
Have a word with Lynn. Tell him
if I ever see him
roll his (BLEEP) eyes back in his
head with me what he can expect.
He rolled his eyes at Keith and
Keith didn't like that at all.
Yeah? That was a ballsy move.
He's getting an attitude.
He's ready to quit.
He's ready to flip burgers at
McDonald's.
I roll my eyes at my brother, he
gets (BLEEP).
I'm surprised you didn't fire his
(BLEEP).
I don't understand these guys. They
(BLEEP) complain about everything,
every second of every day.
The second I (BLEEP) look at him
wrong...
It's the worst (BLEEP) job in the
world.
Can you step up without (BLEEP) with
us? Yeah.
That sounded like confidence.
See what I mean? Every little thing
you do.
What's he whining about?
He's saying everybody picks on him
cos he's (BLEEP) stupid?
They can't just ask you to shut
something down,
they've got to (BLEEP) throw in
their extra two cents.
She having troubles? Lynn's PMSing?
(BLEEP) these guys.
By sunrise, all three tanks are
empty...
All right. Boys are going to be
stoked.
..and the offload is in the books.
First delivery, 312,000lb.
$615,000.
Wow.
With one strong delivery behind
them....
The crew of the Wizard prepares for
trip number two...
This one is more difficult because
we need to plug the boat.
..all hungry...
I wasn't ready to come in last time,
so I'm ready for more. Bring it on.
..all determined...
..all happy...
I don't know. I just...
..except for Lynn.
550km to the north-west...
..on the Cornelia Marie...
Everybody was real happy hauling 600
but if we start hauling blanks
today, I'll get that look.
To save time and money, Captain Tony
Lara left a good fishing spot
to bring his gear closer to the
processor.
If we don't have all 400s, I'm going
to cry.
Shortly, we'll know whether I'm a
hero or a zero.
Watch yourselves.
Game on, game on.
OK, drum roll.
(BLEEP).
That just sucks.
About 30.
(BLEEP).
(BLEEP).
With each weak pot that comes over
the rail...
..goodwill between the wheelhouse and
crew slips away.
It's disappointing.
They're the ones that have to pay
for my poor decisions.
It's just more work on them.
♪
♪
500km to the north-west of Dutch
Harbor is the Wizard.
(BLEEP).
After hitting big numbers on their
first trip...
The prospect gear came back duds.
..round 2 is off to a dismal start.
Not enough even to consider trying
to set on.
Lynn, make sure these pots are tied
in tight up there, OK?
Two ties tight. These things may
have to stay on the boat,
as much as I'd like to set them
back.
For deckhand Lynn Guitard...
(BLEEP). Man, come on. What the
(BLEEP)?
Come on, come on, come on.
..the trials at sea continue.
That's our boy.
(LAUGHS) Oh, Lynn.
That's not a (BLEEP).
What was that, Lynn?
Holy (BLEEP). Come on!
Are you trying to create a
late-night comedy show
of hook-throwing exploits, Lynn?
Lynn doesn't think this is funny.
But I sure do.
He either forgot to eat his Wheaties
or he forgot to change his panties.
I'm not entirely sure what happened
that time,
but it looked, uh, Lynnesque.
(BLEEP).
That is... so-so.
Not quite what we're looking for.
180 crab in 19-and-a-half hours?
I don't see you doing any woo-hoo.
180 crab in 19 hours is not hot
fishing.
Time to move. Time to find something
better.
Marginal numbers at best in the
prospect gear, right?
Big-time marginal.
We're probably right on the bubble
whether we can leave or not,
although I don't think we can leave
with this (BLEEP) base we got on
deck, the stack.
Did Lynn tie all these down? He's
the one that put them all in.
There's some gaps in there that
suck.
There's another bunch of ties up
top.
Gaps in the stack allow pots to
shift as the stack grows higher...
One of these days, he is personally
going to screw this entire crew,
and we can't afford to have that.
..putting the crew and boat at risk
in heavy seas.
It's either pick his head out of his
(BLEEP) and do the job,
or we put somebody else on the job.
Kevin seems pretty sharp.
Danny or Kevin. Either or both these
guys show any promise,
I'm not holding them back.
I'm so (BLEEP) done with the Lynn
Can't Do The Job,
And Let's See When He Learns How To
Do It show.
Lynn, get your (BLEEP) in here.
Did you hear me, I want two ties and
I want them tight?
Yeah, I did. Two ties and tight
means what?
What's that mean to you?
Are you comfortable we can put a
full stack on this boat right now?
This is your last warning.
You (BLEEP) this up again, you're
gone.
You understand?
If I have to have this conversation
again,
it's your last season on the boat.
Donnie came up and told me to put
them on somewhat nice -
they're going to be coming right off
anyway.
I've got about 70 pots on deck I've
got to chuck in the water
and restack before I can consider
trying to make a move.
It was Lynn trying to put a (BLEEP)
stack on here.
Lynn needs to do better.
After four long years struggling to
win his place among the crew...
Hey, Lynn?
..the 26-year-old deckhand is sent
below...
The kid probably won't have a
(BLEEP) job at the end of this year.
..his future aboard the Wizard in
doubt.
You're some things you're meant to
do and some you're meant not to do.
I don't know if crab fishing is
something I'm meant to do.
It's one thing to be a nice kid...
If they say no here, I'm not going
to keep fishing.
..it's another thing to be a (BLEEP)
crab fisherman.
700km to the north-west of Dutch
Harbor...
I'm feeling anxious right now.
..on the Seabrooke...
It seems like it's taking forever to
get this crab on here.
After four days lost retrieving his
survival gear...
We're doing to do a little
prospecting here.
I'm expecting big numbers.
..Skipper Scott Campbell Jr finally
arrives at his northern strings.
This is Zhemchug Canyon. This is
where we're fishing.
We're about 50 miles above the upper
guys in the fleet
and about 70 miles above the main
pack of the fleet.
I'll spot-check through my gear to
see what looks best
so I can place these 50 pots I have
aboard in the best spot possible.
We're long overdue to get crab
rolling on this thing.
Ten days into the opilio season...
We've made $2.75 so far.
With virtually no crab in the
tanks...
We're looking for 500s.
If not, it could be an ugly thing.
..pressure mounts for the young
skipper.
First pot inside.
Here's hoping we landed on the
mother lode.
Time to go to battle.
Okey-okey-okey-okey.
Big old, clean school of crab.
That's what we're looking for.
If there's no crab, I'm going to
panic.
Oh, boy. Jelly.
Come on.
Survey says... dammit.
Not what I was looking for.
(BLEEP).
Aren't many crab in that. Aren't
many crab at all.
80.
80 crab.
Doesn't look hopeful right there.
Pushing further north,
the Seabrooke approaches the second
of three prospect strings.
If I don't see anything in this
upper gear,
I'm going to start freaking out.
At a loss.
I'm at an absolute loss.
There's panic up there.
Mayhem.
Frustration.
Is it the bait, an upside-down pot?
Is it the ice?
We did all this work here, you know,
getting ready.
Now it's his turn to produce.
It's the worst start-off I've ever
had.
Ten days on the hunt...
I'm (BLEEP) right now, man.
I haven't been this mad in years.
..3,000 gallons of fuel burned...
The heat's on me now.
..and the Seabrooke pulls up on the
final string.
I need one miracle on this next pot.
(ALL CHEER)
Schwing, Mama! Half-full pot.
Now that's worth getting uptown.
55 hundy right there, boys. Oh-ho,
doggies!
This is beautiful.
Simply, simply beautiful.
Back in action.
Set it back.
Yeah!
560. Yeah.
We're on our way to victory.
Livin' the dream, baby!
That just made it all better, right
there.
Like a weight lifted off the
shoulders.
♪
It doesn't take much to unravel
when you're getting pushed every
single day.
This is your last warning. (BLEEP)
keep this up again, you're gone.
Your confidence is built on making
that right move,
but in all honesty, there's always
that ounce of fear.
The forecast calls for more pain.
This trip is just beating the
(BLEEP) out of us.
Start to doubt yourself too much and
it'll crush you.
I ran the wire!
Hey, get back!
Get down!
Get the (BLEEP) down!
For seven days, an Arctic storm has
battered the fleet...
It's going to be wet, boys.
I know, I know. Hang on.
Step back, step back!
..and slowed fishing to a crawl.
Hey, guys, I think I'm going to stop
fishing. This is ridiculous.
Now, the storm is subsiding,
and every skipper is racing to make
up for lost time.
I'm going to try and get this boat
full, try and get this gear on
and make that delivery date.
We're going to push through to the
end.
On the Cornelia Marie...
(MEN CHEER)
Oh, yeah, baby! Yeah.
..the Harris boys are fishing numbers
that would make their father proud.
Spirits are up, the guys are happy.
They can't ask for much more than
that.
It hurts from smiling so much.
How much was in that one?
650? We've had pretty solid 600s
here for a while.
Let the good times roll, baby.
Tony's kicking ass and taking me
with him.
Respect between the deck and the new
skipper, Tony Lara, is running high.
Great guy to work for, great guy to
learn from.
He's a real inspiration on us.
Jake and Josh are both doing a good
job.
It's more than just a job for them
at this point.
Josh, I see him making an extra
effort.
He's the last guy off the deck these
days.
Jake, that's a fisherman.
They're stepping up to the plate,
doing a good job. I'm proud.
Tony is a team player.
He's proven to us that he's a
(BLEEP) rock star.
Now we got us a couple choices to
make.
We got two areas with good fishing.
We've got to pick one.
With a delivery date in just four
days,
and prospect strings over 26km
apart...
I'm kind of leaning toward making a
move here.
But the areas are too far apart.
We've got to consolidate.
The skipper contemplates moving off
good fishing
to consolidate his strings closer to
his offload.
Hey, Jake, Josh -
pull your gear off and come on up
here.
Tony, you rock star.
We put some crab away today, huh?
Yeah, that was a good string.
Yeah, it was.
I'm happy.
So here's what we got going.
We got two spots.
We have to pick an area and go with
it.
The young boat owners still have a
lot to learn about fishing.
I made my decision, but I want to
hear what you're thinking,
because you have to make decisions
and get grey hairs someday.
Tony is committed to teaching them.
Our numbers are better, the crab
looks better up here.
But it'll take us a day to shuffle
this over here.
That's something to think of.
In a day production, you can get a
lot done.
Twenty miles of solid crab is a good
sign, though.
What do you think?
I think where we're at is where we
need to stay.
It's hard to run from 600.
That's the best we've seen.
(LAUGHS) A guy could have worse
problems.
With captain and crew on the same
page, fishing resumes on deck.
I came up here to catch crab and
that's what we did tonight.
We (BLEEP) some crab.
I'm happy.
But in the wheelhouse...
The crab are moving from west to
east.
..Tony is having second thoughts.
Catching the crab isn't the problem.
The delivery schedule is going to be
the issue.
It's a great way to start the
season.
Big change, boys.
I gotta have rocks in my head,
cos I'm thinking about shuffling to
the east.
Get closer to the processor, save
fuel.
I think I'm going to move.
The new plan - stack the gear and
head east.
We'll find out whether he made the
right choice.
But no doubt about it - 600s are
pretty hard to pull away from.
I probably should have my head
examined for stacking on 600,
but we'll know soon enough.
Tony's decision will test the
new-found faith of his crew.
We'll see.
64km to the west on the 33m
Seabrooke...
We were down at the St George
canyon.
This gear was a survival set.
It had nothing to do with my
strategy
of where I was going to fish.
I would normally never have put a
pot here.
Captain Scott Campbell Jr approaches
the gear he dropped four days ago,
far south of where he wanted to fish.
I wanted to get some weight off the
boat
because we had severe icing
conditions coming.
So it was the right call to make
from a safety standpoint,
but from a fishing strategy,
I probably never would have set the
gear here.
After an 18-hour steam...
I'm ready! Put me in the game,
Coach. I am ready to go.
..the crew hits the deck and gets to
work.
I'm curious to see what kind of
numbers we get.
The pot's been soaking for a bit.
Right now, it's our first pot.
There's not going to be much in it,
but it's the beginning.
For the skipper's brother, Chris
'Whipper' Welch...
..this will be the first haul since
his stomach injury
almost cut his king season short.
We've got five guys out there today.
Whipper made his triumphant return.
I've always got to keep a watchful
eye on him because he is my brother.
With a healthy deck and pots to
haul...
You ready? I'm ready.
..the men are set to catch some
crab.
Here we go. The first pot of the
2011 opilio season,
see if we're going to be rich or not
on the survival set.
Money maker! Show me the money!
I know guys that have went out
king-crab fishing,
have gotten into huge storms and had
to dump their gear off,
then landed on a pile of crab.
Maybe that's us this year.
Here we go. This is it right now.
Ah, she's a little light.
Those look like bairdi.
The bairdi crab, a close cousin of
the opilio.
Nah, it's not so good.
Unfortunately for Junior,
not what he's fishing.
Number 2 looks the same - all
bairdi. Wrong species.
So, we got a zero and a zero.
It's hit or miss, and we missed, big
time.
With the survival set coming up
empty...
The longer we're here, the more
miserable it is for me.
Get this gear on and get out of
here.
Junior needs to get these pots on
fertile grounds as fast as possible.
Oh, man, this is horrible.
It's almost unbearable.
(SIGHS)
(MAN GROANS)
(BLEEP)
You all right? (BLEEP). You got to
be kidding me.
♪
♪
(GROANS)
(BLEEP)
Just give me a second here.
You all right, Whip?
(BLEEP)
I got it.
As the Captain's brother, Chris
Whipper Welch,
moved in to stack a pot,
a 23kg block of ice broke free from
the crane...
..striking him in the back.
He got lucky. That could have been a
bad deal.
Could have done a lot of damage.
If one of those chunks of ice hit a
guy in the head,
it would probably kill him.
See all that ice right there? That
landed on my back.
That was a rookie mistake standing
under the crane.
Never stand under the crane this
time of year
when there's a lot of ice on it.
Oh, (BLEEP).
How're you feeling, Whipper? You
going to survive?
(LAUGHS)
That that does not kill you only
makes you stronger.
80km to the south-east is the 38m
Northwestern.
We're on hopefully our last string
here.
We've been grinding and we're coming
up on about 30 hours.
We've been hauling all night and all
day yesterday.
We're not going to get it.
The tank is basically full. I need
to top them off.
Captain Sig Hansen needs an
additional 340kg
before heading in for his first
offload.
This trip is just beating the
(BLEEP) out of us.
Come on. Come on, come on, come on!
Oh, (BLEEP). That ain't good.
But stuffing the ranks on these
numbers...
There's half of what we wanted in
there.
..isn't going to be easy.
We were expecting more.
Ay-ay-ay.
This string's not doing it, man.
The forecast calls for more pain.
We've got to get out of here.
The Northwestern is in a race against
time
to make her scheduled offload in St
Paul.
I'll get it.
Let me finish!
Will you get the (BLEEP) out of my
face? God.
Adding to the tension...
(BLEEP).
..aspiring deck boss Jake Anderson
is feeling the effects of the grind.
(BLEEP) driving me nuts.
Jake's having a rough morning.
(LAUGHS)
I don't have any sympathy for him.
I just want to go (BLEEP) sort
crabs,
get paid just the same as that guy
over there.
I learn all this (BLEEP), still no
respect.
The object of Jake's wrath...
He's harping about a guy that's damn
near twice his age.
..the new deckhand, 50-year-old Kevin
Blakley.
If he expects me or the rest of the
guys to come down hard on Kevin
just because he's a new guy, he's
mistaken.
The reality is, Kevin doesn't have
anything to prove to me
cos he's been doing this for many
years.
I'm not here to impress anybody,
man.
I know I know my (BLEEP). I'm here
to do it their way.
As far as Kevin goes,
the guys, they all got nothing but
good things to say.
I'm not getting involved in this
piddly baby (BLEEP).
I'm not running a day-care centre.
It's a crab boat, for (BLEEP) sake.
Hi, Jake!
64km to the east is the 31m Kodiak.
This is going to be a tough trip.
This is day 3 or 4 for this cold.
I'm trying to stay focused.
I don't feel good.
A nasty flu is putting the already
beaten crew in a daze.
Being sick on a boat in the Bering
Sea
doesn't mean the same as being sick
anywhere else.
This is a (BLEEP) job as it is.
There's nothing good about it,
then you throw being sick in, just
makes life hard.
There's no mercy or remorse.
If you're sick, you've still got to
work.
It's going to be interesting to see
how morale stays
and productivity keeps up.
When everybody gets sick, everybody
gets tired, cranky.
Can't keep up with dangers.
Everybody's sitting there - ahhh.
Coming up. Watch out!
When you're doing a job like this
that's repetitious,
people get lackadaisical. They start
doing it in their sleep.
That's what happens when you're
sleeping.
Coming up.
Whoa, whoa. I got no wire.
I got no wire.
I got no wire!
I got no wire!
(BLEEP)'s going on?
Watch yourself.
I got no wire.
Watch yourself.
Holy (BLEEP).
Holy (BLEEP).
Lucky we didn't kill somebody on
that one.
Looked to me, the knot got sucked up
into the block.
The knot on the picking hook was all
the way up into the block.
The pot came on like it always does,
I brought it down,
and it wouldn't go.
It wouldn't go up any higher.
Calm down, Jake. Calm down.
I'm all jacked up.
As the pot came over the rail...
I got no wire. I got no wire!
..the unusually long bridle allowed
the knot above the picking hook
to suck back into the block,
rendering the hydros inoperable.
Coupled with the rolling motion of
the swells,
the suspended pot quickly became a
340kg demolition ball.
Watch yourself.
It would come across and kind of go
weightless.
If the bridle would have came out of
the hook,
the pot would have free-falled 25ft.
750lb coming down, that amount of
weight falling from that distance,
it could have been devastating.
It's one of those things you hope
never to see, and we saw it.
It's lucky nobody got killed.
Just another day in the life of a
crab boat.
♪
♪
520km to the north-west of Dutch
Harbor...
We're just fished into the next day,
just trying to grind through the
gear.
Captain Sig Hansen is under the gun
to haul 900 more kilos of crab
and make his offload in St Paul.
The tanks are basically full.
This last string here, I'm just
trying to top off the load.
(PHONE RINGS)
Hello? What are you doing?
Before heading out on deck, deckhand
Jake Anderson
reaches out to an old friend.
(LAUGHS)
Oh! Whatever.
Former deck boss, Edgar Hansen.
When you're not there, I'm always
thinking about what you said to me.
W-W-E-D. What would Edgar do?
Doesn't throw the shot, doesn't do
too much, but it's all right.
Bye-bye.
Back on deck...
..the aspiring deck boss admits he's
feeling the strain.
Without Edgar here, I'm always
stressed
on hurting somebody, breaking the
crane or ram's busted,
sodium light's fallen.
I kind of take it out on our new
guy.
I get jealous cos everybody treats
him with respect.
I never was treated with much
respect,
so I take it personal
cos it must be something with me.
When I got here first, I got Matt
Bradley choking me.
I had to throw him on the ground and
finally say, enough's enough.
Don't do that again!
I'm still treated like I'm a new
guy, a greenhorn.
Respect is number one. It's worth
more to me than the money,
that I have respect for my
co-workers and my employer.
You guys ready?
Oh, yeah!
Boom! Yeah.
There we go.
Back in business.
(MEN CHEER)
That'll put a dent in that tank.
This is epic!
Having a good day.
Wa-hoo!
I like it.
What do you think, Nick? Is that
going to do it for us?
That's it.
Beautiful. Set it back, and let's
get going.
With the tanks finally plugged,
the bone-weary crew...
..share a moment of respect.
64km to the north-east,
on the Cornelia Marie...
We shuffled all our gear over here.
We were on some real good fishing on
our prospect gear.
Some guys will try to find what we
found,
and once we found it, we drove away
from it.
Skipper Tony Lara has moved away from
big numbers
to bring his gear closer to the
processor.
Hearing the weather forecast, I'd
rather be here than on the edge.
For what we have to catch, our time
is better spent
hauling gear instead of chasing
600s.
Out on deck...
Crazy spray makes everything a lot
more difficult,
a lot more dangerous.
Falling temperatures and freezing
rain
have made even the simplest of tasks
treacherous for the crew.
Ice on the ground, you've got to try
to be light on your feet.
But when you've been up (BLEEP) 100
hours straight, (BLEEP) happens.
(BLEEP) like that.
It's a bit sloppy out today.
Oh, yeah.
You see a guy like Chief fall
down...
There's loose pots, so you really
got to watch it,
cos they scoot across the deck when
it's icy.
Aw, that sucks.
Yeah, OK, guys. That's the last pot
there.
After a 36-hour grind...
..the men have baited and splashed
75 pots.
We'll find out shortly if I made the
right move or not.
As you know, you're only as good as
your last delivery.
Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
After eight days battling ice and
bitter seas...
We need to slam those hatches off
and start delivering right away.
Our first trip, opie season 2011.
Booyah!
..the Wizard arrives for her first
offload of the opilio season.
I'd really like to see 3,000lb come
off of this boat,
but I don't think we've got it.
I think we're going to come up a
little bit short.
Down on deck...
They got all crab in them, right?
..deckhand Lynn Guitard prepares the
hatches for the offload.
We'll go the small one first, then
I've got it to level the boat off.
No. Leave the hatch covers on until
we're ready to offload.
You could have water pressed on this
the whole time.
If you take the hatch cover off,
it's going to balloon up.
And Lynn, please, I know you get
frustrated with these other guys.
Don't show that frustration to me
again.
Have a word with Lynn. Tell him
if I ever see him
roll his (BLEEP) eyes back in his
head with me what he can expect.
He rolled his eyes at Keith and
Keith didn't like that at all.
Yeah? That was a ballsy move.
He's getting an attitude.
He's ready to quit.
He's ready to flip burgers at
McDonald's.
I roll my eyes at my brother, he
gets (BLEEP).
I'm surprised you didn't fire his
(BLEEP).
I don't understand these guys. They
(BLEEP) complain about everything,
every second of every day.
The second I (BLEEP) look at him
wrong...
It's the worst (BLEEP) job in the
world.
Can you step up without (BLEEP) with
us? Yeah.
That sounded like confidence.
See what I mean? Every little thing
you do.
What's he whining about?
He's saying everybody picks on him
cos he's (BLEEP) stupid?
They can't just ask you to shut
something down,
they've got to (BLEEP) throw in
their extra two cents.
She having troubles? Lynn's PMSing?
(BLEEP) these guys.
By sunrise, all three tanks are
empty...
All right. Boys are going to be
stoked.
..and the offload is in the books.
First delivery, 312,000lb.
$615,000.
Wow.
With one strong delivery behind
them....
The crew of the Wizard prepares for
trip number two...
This one is more difficult because
we need to plug the boat.
..all hungry...
I wasn't ready to come in last time,
so I'm ready for more. Bring it on.
..all determined...
..all happy...
I don't know. I just...
..except for Lynn.
550km to the north-west...
..on the Cornelia Marie...
Everybody was real happy hauling 600
but if we start hauling blanks
today, I'll get that look.
To save time and money, Captain Tony
Lara left a good fishing spot
to bring his gear closer to the
processor.
If we don't have all 400s, I'm going
to cry.
Shortly, we'll know whether I'm a
hero or a zero.
Watch yourselves.
Game on, game on.
OK, drum roll.
(BLEEP).
That just sucks.
About 30.
(BLEEP).
(BLEEP).
With each weak pot that comes over
the rail...
..goodwill between the wheelhouse and
crew slips away.
It's disappointing.
They're the ones that have to pay
for my poor decisions.
It's just more work on them.
♪
♪
500km to the north-west of Dutch
Harbor is the Wizard.
(BLEEP).
After hitting big numbers on their
first trip...
The prospect gear came back duds.
..round 2 is off to a dismal start.
Not enough even to consider trying
to set on.
Lynn, make sure these pots are tied
in tight up there, OK?
Two ties tight. These things may
have to stay on the boat,
as much as I'd like to set them
back.
For deckhand Lynn Guitard...
(BLEEP). Man, come on. What the
(BLEEP)?
Come on, come on, come on.
..the trials at sea continue.
That's our boy.
(LAUGHS) Oh, Lynn.
That's not a (BLEEP).
What was that, Lynn?
Holy (BLEEP). Come on!
Are you trying to create a
late-night comedy show
of hook-throwing exploits, Lynn?
Lynn doesn't think this is funny.
But I sure do.
He either forgot to eat his Wheaties
or he forgot to change his panties.
I'm not entirely sure what happened
that time,
but it looked, uh, Lynnesque.
(BLEEP).
That is... so-so.
Not quite what we're looking for.
180 crab in 19-and-a-half hours?
I don't see you doing any woo-hoo.
180 crab in 19 hours is not hot
fishing.
Time to move. Time to find something
better.
Marginal numbers at best in the
prospect gear, right?
Big-time marginal.
We're probably right on the bubble
whether we can leave or not,
although I don't think we can leave
with this (BLEEP) base we got on
deck, the stack.
Did Lynn tie all these down? He's
the one that put them all in.
There's some gaps in there that
suck.
There's another bunch of ties up
top.
Gaps in the stack allow pots to
shift as the stack grows higher...
One of these days, he is personally
going to screw this entire crew,
and we can't afford to have that.
..putting the crew and boat at risk
in heavy seas.
It's either pick his head out of his
(BLEEP) and do the job,
or we put somebody else on the job.
Kevin seems pretty sharp.
Danny or Kevin. Either or both these
guys show any promise,
I'm not holding them back.
I'm so (BLEEP) done with the Lynn
Can't Do The Job,
And Let's See When He Learns How To
Do It show.
Lynn, get your (BLEEP) in here.
Did you hear me, I want two ties and
I want them tight?
Yeah, I did. Two ties and tight
means what?
What's that mean to you?
Are you comfortable we can put a
full stack on this boat right now?
This is your last warning.
You (BLEEP) this up again, you're
gone.
You understand?
If I have to have this conversation
again,
it's your last season on the boat.
Donnie came up and told me to put
them on somewhat nice -
they're going to be coming right off
anyway.
I've got about 70 pots on deck I've
got to chuck in the water
and restack before I can consider
trying to make a move.
It was Lynn trying to put a (BLEEP)
stack on here.
Lynn needs to do better.
After four long years struggling to
win his place among the crew...
Hey, Lynn?
..the 26-year-old deckhand is sent
below...
The kid probably won't have a
(BLEEP) job at the end of this year.
..his future aboard the Wizard in
doubt.
You're some things you're meant to
do and some you're meant not to do.
I don't know if crab fishing is
something I'm meant to do.
It's one thing to be a nice kid...
If they say no here, I'm not going
to keep fishing.
..it's another thing to be a (BLEEP)
crab fisherman.
700km to the north-west of Dutch
Harbor...
I'm feeling anxious right now.
..on the Seabrooke...
It seems like it's taking forever to
get this crab on here.
After four days lost retrieving his
survival gear...
We're doing to do a little
prospecting here.
I'm expecting big numbers.
..Skipper Scott Campbell Jr finally
arrives at his northern strings.
This is Zhemchug Canyon. This is
where we're fishing.
We're about 50 miles above the upper
guys in the fleet
and about 70 miles above the main
pack of the fleet.
I'll spot-check through my gear to
see what looks best
so I can place these 50 pots I have
aboard in the best spot possible.
We're long overdue to get crab
rolling on this thing.
Ten days into the opilio season...
We've made $2.75 so far.
With virtually no crab in the
tanks...
We're looking for 500s.
If not, it could be an ugly thing.
..pressure mounts for the young
skipper.
First pot inside.
Here's hoping we landed on the
mother lode.
Time to go to battle.
Okey-okey-okey-okey.
Big old, clean school of crab.
That's what we're looking for.
If there's no crab, I'm going to
panic.
Oh, boy. Jelly.
Come on.
Survey says... dammit.
Not what I was looking for.
(BLEEP).
Aren't many crab in that. Aren't
many crab at all.
80.
80 crab.
Doesn't look hopeful right there.
Pushing further north,
the Seabrooke approaches the second
of three prospect strings.
If I don't see anything in this
upper gear,
I'm going to start freaking out.
At a loss.
I'm at an absolute loss.
There's panic up there.
Mayhem.
Frustration.
Is it the bait, an upside-down pot?
Is it the ice?
We did all this work here, you know,
getting ready.
Now it's his turn to produce.
It's the worst start-off I've ever
had.
Ten days on the hunt...
I'm (BLEEP) right now, man.
I haven't been this mad in years.
..3,000 gallons of fuel burned...
The heat's on me now.
..and the Seabrooke pulls up on the
final string.
I need one miracle on this next pot.
(ALL CHEER)
Schwing, Mama! Half-full pot.
Now that's worth getting uptown.
55 hundy right there, boys. Oh-ho,
doggies!
This is beautiful.
Simply, simply beautiful.
Back in action.
Set it back.
Yeah!
560. Yeah.
We're on our way to victory.
Livin' the dream, baby!
That just made it all better, right
there.
Like a weight lifted off the
shoulders.
♪