More Desperate Hours

Read the rest of Deadliest Catch Creator Thom Beers’ account aboard the F/V Fierce Allegiance from the forthcoming book, Deadliest Catch: Desperate Hours.
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After several days of picking crab, I started to develop what crabbers call “the claw,” which meant my hands wouldn’t open completely. My heavy rubber gloves couldn’t keep the frigid water from numbing my hands. They throbbed and wouldn’t open. Captain Rick and his deck boss, Tony, had seen this many times before and offered up a rather unusual cure: Ureic acid would make the pain go away. They told me to go out on deck and pee on my hands. This was the tonic. So I followed the prescription, and as I finished I looked up in the wheelhouse and caught a quick glimpse of the skipper and his deck boss having a great laugh at my expense. I was a greenhorn on their ship and I paid my dues.

There was also sadness that season. Several boats sank in the heavy seas, and seven men didn’t return home to their loved ones. This is the baggage carried by anyone who’s worked the Bering Sea. We all know someone who hasn’t returned, and it lays heavy in our souls.

Something changes in a person once he’s spent time at sea and I’m no exception. When I returned to Dutch Harbor after the journey, I saw a different man in the mirror. A heavy growth of face fuzz wasn’t the only thing different. I could see it in my eyes. I’d survived and even thrived on this adventure. I spent the day walking around Dutch and grunting like a feral beast. Words didn’t come to me till the second day on land. I felt like I’d spit in the eye of the devil and returned from hell to tell my story.

This spirit carries over to the 100 or so men and women that help create Deadliest Catch. Each November our teams of producers and cinematographers start the adventure again in the tiny town of Dutch Harbor on a small island called Unalaska, stranded in the middle of the Aleutians. Once there our film crews will again set sight on the dented sturdy steel ships that make up the crab fishing fleet. With their hearts in their throats and their hands on their duffels, they’ll bravely board and head out of port for another season. The vast Bering Sea will be waiting for them.

They’ll work under brutal conditions. Freezing cold winds will whip through their constantly damp slicks, bringing chill to the bone. Black ice will creep and thicken on the deck below their nearly frostbitten feet. Giant waves will breach their workspace, threatening to sweep them into oblivion. The constant churn of the sea and the rhythm of the workers will test even the finest of our storytellers. These brave producers and cinematographers will have to keep one ear open for story and the other for the warning buzzer. They’ll keep one eye on the frame, while the other eye scans the deck for danger. All of this will question their purpose and remind them how fragile their very
existence is.

I am proud of all our teams who continue to go to sea, who put themselves in harm’s way to follow the stories and witness the dreams fulfilled by the men and women who venture out on crab boats and together create this magically compelling never-ending drama called Deadliest Catch.
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One of the adventurous producers and cinematographers Beers describes returns to share his behind-the-scenes insights. Look out for Doug Stanley’s production diary on our site with the return of the new season of Deadliest Catch on April 15.

Comments

[Baron Sabo]

Im heading up there the end of sept. Hoping to land a greenhorn job. Any pointers? Anyone

[TJN]

How is Captain Phil, whatever happened to him and his breathing problems?

[Pam Dougherty]

Can you tell me why some of the fishing boats have the bridge in the front of the boat and other have it in the back. I seems like it would be more beneficial to have it in the back so the captain can see what is happening on the deck. I assume that boats that have the the bridge in the front have a TV monitor to see what is happening on deck, otherwise there are some captains out there with very sore necks!!

Regards,
Pam

[Jim]

I would like to see the show explore the idea of having ordinary people accept the challenge of crab fishing and seeing how they survive it. Maybe it could be a competition to see who lasts or is the most successful. It would be entertaining to see the chef vs. the schoolteacher or the taxi-driver vs. the dj. Obviously it would be something like survivor but it sure would be fun to watch, safety would naturally have to be of top priority but wouldn't be necessarily worse than the greenhorns that have to learn the hard way. Sign me up! I would love to see if I could handle that kind of challenge.