Discovery Channel - Deadliest Catch Diaries

Rising Stakes

Today is just another day on the dock for me.  Our crew has been at sea for more than a week and I am still waiting for “my boat,” the North American to arrive.  It has been a frustrating wait.  Every day takes me further from the stories that are already in progress on other boats out there.  I know that Captain Sten Skaar and the crew of the North American have their work cut out for them.  Their boat has not fished in two years and they are playing catch up.  Not only do they have to prepare the boat for fishing, but they also have to go through a host of rigorous checks of all of their safety systems.  I have received word that some of the other Deadliest Catch boats are beginning to suffer breakdowns and equipment failures.  The stakes are rising for them as well.

Thinking back, this isn’t so different from my start with the show. I had to wait in Dutch Harbor for my first boat, the F/V Sea Star, too.  While I was waiting I learned that there had been a major accident on board the Sea Star.  I was shocked to learn that my assigned boat had just called in a mayday. I heard that the crew had made a routine check and discovered that the lazarette, the watertight stern compartment on the boat, was flooded with six feet of water.  The vessel was in grave danger of sinking, and the ship’s Captain Larry Hendricks had no choice but to call for rescue. I didn’t sleep at all that night.  I spent the hours writing should-I-not-return letters to each member of my family.  It was probably the most emotional night of my life.

Five years later, I truly understand that there are many dangers to vessels in the open sea.  I also understand that the ice and rough waters of the Bering Sea multiply all of the factors that can cause critical problems on fishing vessels.  Thinking again of the North American and of the insidious dangers that we will face this season, I have decided to be more patient.   I now realize that every extra minute that Captain Sten, his brother John, and the rest of the NA crew spend getting their boat ready is a moment well spent.  In this moment of clarity I truly understand what is at stake. That stack of letters still sits on a shelf in my closet at home.  It is only through the care and vigilance of others that they will never have to be delivered.

Season 4 Entry 2: Increasing Seas

With the king crab season now under way, I find myself still standing on the rocky shore of Dutch Harbor.  Through the lens of my camera, I stare out to the north into increasing seas.  In my frame, at the harbor’s mouth, I can see Priests Rock, always the patient observer, staring out to sea as well.  I check focus and wait patiently for my shot.

As I press the red “record” button, descending clouds obscure the rock.  I feel the barometer dropping in my bones.  As I roll camera, the F/V Cornelia Marie crosses my frame rising and falling in spray.  Capt. Phil and his crew are heading out into rough seas once again.  Most of the Deadliest Catch boats are already out there, and the weather is really starting to “come down.”   As soon as the Cornelia Marie clears my frame, I frown, knowing that my cameraman Danny and I are now the last sea-going production team left in town.  This year we have been chosen to film the journey of the North American, our newest Deadliest Catch boat.  Unfortunately the North American, which has not fished for two years, has been delayed with preparations.  As a result, Danny and I are stuck in Dutch Harbor.

As I leave the dock, I load my camera and tripod into my pickup and then I am forced to climb in through the passenger door. The driver’s door is jammed because, earlier, I tried to open it in 60-mph winds.  In one startling moment the door ripped out of my hands, hyper-extending the door hinges.  Now it’s stuck.  Dutch is like that.  It is hard on everything and everyone. 

As I drive back to the hotel, the gusty winds slam against my truck. I pass City Dock and notice two tugboats struggling to keep a cargo ship from ripping the dock apart in the wind.  It is quite a scene, but soon my thoughts return to the crab boats and then to our producers and cameramen who are already out at sea.  I am envious of their situation as they face the growing storm.  I know that these thoughts would seem irrational to most people, even to the fishermen themselves.  Strange as it may be, it has become my professional passion to chase storms.  With the seas growing, I cannot stand the fact that I am not out there.

Season 4 Entry No. 1: Tide Against Current

With the production of the fourth and newest season of Deadliest Catch before us, I again find myself flying out to Dutch Harbor.  The place is not easy to get to.  Many times members of our crew have been turned around mid-flight when the unpredictable Alaskan weather shifted and made landing in Dutch impossible. Almost every member of our crew has a story to tell about the crazy landings that we have had on Dutch’s short runway.  Even when the plane is on final approach, landing is still not guaranteed. As the plane flies into the Aleutian islands' canyons and makes its final turn above the Delta Western fuel dock, all eyes onboard are fixated ahead staring at the gyrating view through the turboprop’s windshield. Ten feet off the runway, while the passengers hang on in terror, the pilot makes the final decision whether or not to commit and actually land the plane.

For the crab vessels, the trip to Dutch is even more of a challenge.  The Bering Sea is just one of the legendary “pieces of water” on this planet. On their way to Dutch, many of our boats will have to brave the north Pacific and cross the Gulf of Alaska.  Eventually they will have to take the narrow and dangerous passes through the Aleutian Island chain.  These passes -- False Pass, Unimak Pass, Unalga Pass -- have infamous reputations known to all northern mariners.

Looking down from my window, I am offered a rare view of these particular passes, more like huge rivers than anything else.  Two great oceans, each with its own tides and currents, are forced to meet and equalize themselves in these narrow places.  The fishermen fear them -- and for good reason!  Many boats have been sunk, and even more have been damaged or run aground in these passes.  When the tide runs against the current the danger triples, the waves stack up and their faces become nearly vertical, their crests pounding down with ferocity.

Somewhere down there a handful of crab boats have departed from Seattle and are now headed for Dutch.  Our newest boat, the boat that I will be on this year, the F/V North American, is down there and so is the F/V Wizard.   Aboard the Wizard, for the first time ever, one of our cameramen, David Farkas, is filming this pre-season journey.  I smile to myself thinking about him being tossed around down there, already engaging the violent sea.  This year we will be sharing this treacherous trip with our viewers.  I can’t wait to see what David captures on tape. I will tell you this … hang on! By plane or by boat, if you are headed to Dutch Harbor; it is going to be a wild ride!

More to Catch:
Want to know more about the journey to Dutch? Find out in our video podcasts.

Want to know more about Alaska and Dutch Harbor? Visit the Wiki.

Photos: Corey Arnold/ DCL 2008 |