Entry No. 7: The Storm Before Opilio Season

The Bering Sea was tossing, not quite a torment; whipped up, but waiting patiently.  The snow was falling lightly and the wind bit hard through the folds of my new Time Bandit jacket, a birthday gift from the Hillstrands and their crew.   As the wind made its now familiar howling and tore through the Time Bandit’s rigging, I struggled to get through the sea door and into the galley.  The steel of the ship thumped with a beat, not with the constant pounding of waves, but with the stomping of dancing feet above my head in the wheelhouse.  We were not facing another Alaskan storm at sea.  The Time Bandit was tied to a dock in Dutch Harbor.  A party inside the ship was raging full bore.

It wasn’t my first night partying in Dutch, but I think it was the best night ever.  The Time Bandit’s galley was filled with crab fishermen, a load of girls from town, and many of the Deadliest Catch regulars.  "Pork Chop," also known as Rick Quashnick, owner and captain of the Maverick, was there telling stories in the galley and swaying back and forth like I had never seen him.  A few feet away Larry Hendricks, captain of the Sea Star, was engaged in yet another fit of hysterical laughter. The house was full and the cheers were deafening. As I climbed the wheelhouse stairs, I squeaked past Mike Rowe, pinned against the wall. He gave me one of those “Can you believe this?” looks as I passed him. 

Upstairs I pried my way through the tightly woven crowd.  Across the wheelhouse, I could see Johnathan sitting at the wheel and changing the dancing music back to a song that had just played several times.  Johnathan had a girl leaning on his arm and a whiskey bottle in his hand.  As he saw me approach he handed me the whiskey and began to dance.  We all began to dance like there was no tomorrow. We had good reason.  Winter had arrived in Dutch Harbor and most of us onboard would soon be risking our lives again.  Tomorrow, the majority of the boats would head to sea.  The time had come again to fish opilio crab and battle ice several hundred miles beyond the harbor’s mouth, out in what Mike Rowe calls “the vast Bering Sea.”

Comments

[Cindy St. Michell]

To Captain Johnathan and the crew of the Time Bandit: My husband Jim St. Michell and his brothers Kim and Mark went to school with the Hillstrands and Russell Newberry in Homer Alaska back in the day. We are just hooked on this show and are really pulling for you guys! Best of luck and God Bless. We will definitely be watching to see how the Opilio season goes. Take care.

[Lou]

Best wishes to the Time Bandit from the wilderness of New Mexico. The ladies of the clinic watch you every week. You are a reminder of our days fighting wildfires in a fire crew. Our prayers always.

[Remmy]

Does Johnathan have a wife?

[jeremy]

This show and website are great.The production diary is probobly my favorate part.great job mike rowe,all production people on boat and land,I hope you run for 10 more seasons!Best show on tv!!!

[Kyle]

hopefully jonathan wont get divorced because of that post

[Eric]

Kyle & Remmy, no need to worry.

http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/deadliestcatch/chat/transcripts/07may01-hillstrand/hillstrand_04.html

6th question down.

On that note, I'm quite interested to see how the Hillstrands do with their crab that nobody's fished in 10 years. Hopefully it turned out well for them!

[Kennedy]

First, all the things you've heard before..love the show, truly addicted, never miss an episode, keep track of the web content..that's sayin' quite a bit for a girl who doesn't watch 'reality' shows. Seriously though, thanks to the Discovery Channel you've come into our homes AND our hearts. I wince when the big waves hit, cheer when you get full pots and cry when you can't. Favorites? I dunno..maybe the Northwestern..Sig and the crew..Edgar is so cute..anyway, God Bless you all and good fishin'!

[BIGE]

First, love the show. hope that everybody stays safe. The greenhorns the best. They make the show so funny. Love when pots are full.

[susi]

have just started watching deadliest catch and am hooked, and only been watchin for a few weeks. and am astounded by the sheer bravery in my mind of all the guys even the greenhorns, they risk there health and safety so that we can eat crab meat, i wish them all the best i really do, dont think i could do what they do so from someone in the uk i take my hat off to them, they are truly heroes and yep edgar is cute:) so is sig tho. take care guys

[Lucy]

Deadliest Catch is my favorite show, and I agree it is one of the best shows on TV. I've learned a lot watching you guys work, and I appreciate crabmeat even more now that I know what all you go through to get it. Wow. When a wave crashes onboard, I cannot even imagine how cold that must be. You fishermen are totally awesome. Best wishes this season and all of those to come, and safe home.

P.S. Sig makes my heart race!

[curious]

Regarding production notes, is Dutch Harbor and actual town or just a port? Are there really a "load" of girls there?

[debbie]

I LOVE this show!!!!!!!!!!

[Roxanne]

I love the music played on these shows. I tried to catch who the artists are in the credits and I was able to catch the name Hein the song was Rain. Does anyone know who the artist is and the CD title?

[susan]

Dutch Harbor is a town. I think I heard on one episode it has about 4,000 people in it...so I guess there would be some women there.

[barbara porter]

hi you guys. it has been really hot here in florida for the past week or so. just got back from riding my harley. but it is awlful outside. i am going to dutch harbor to work in the next couple of months. hope to run into you guys.really like and respect you all for what you do.you really take safety seriously.wish you all the best and take care.