Deadliest Catch After The Catch Episode 2 2011

"Relentless & Brutal"

We have Captains Andy Hillstrand, Johnathan Hillstrand, Keith Colburn, and Sig Hansen at the table.

They are discussing the storms. Captain Keith Colburn talked about how the storm was so concentrated and looked like a hurricane on the radar. Captain Johnathan said they get typhoons and cyclones cause they are on the western side. He said the eastern side gets hurricanes.

They show some clips of the guys on the boats getting nailed by waves, running from pots and just fighting the weather and then Captain Sig screaming Get down! as that big wave hit the wheelhouse. Mike Rowe asked Sig who he was talking to Sig said the camera man cause I didn't want him to die!

Captain Bill has joined the table. He said that last shot was about the best shot of the weather on screen. Johnathan said they have seen a lot of that it just never looks that good on TV.  Mike looks at Sig and says you sounded genuinely scared, then he looks at Keith and says you sounded angry, like disgusted.

Mike asked them what do you do when you can't run for cover? Captain Wild Bill said you drive straight into it as slow as you can, so you don't travel and burn a bunch of fuel, minimum speed. Johnathan says sometimes you are going backwards so you have to keep it straight cause if you go sideways it's going to bust your windows out.

Keith said he had no intention of fishing where they were, but they had to get the pots off the boat. Sig, John and Andy were all in the same area. Keith said Sig said misery loves company and there is safety in numbers.  Mike Rowe says your adversity is our gain because you got boats out there that can't fish. All you can do is stay topside and roll cameras. Which is how we got that great footage. Johnathan said one of the chase boats wouldn't run when it heard 40 knot winds coming and there was a young kid on one of the chase boats that said I'll stay out here. That's how they got that footage.

Mike says with Opie it was relentless but you guys cashed out pretty good. There's another kind of relentless with the king crab. When you started out the weather was good but the fishing wasn't, what's the word you guy's used? Sig says f'ng sucked. Mike says that one. Johnathan says the Bering Sea was vast and there was hardly any crab. Mike says the vast empty Bering Sea.

They go to clips of Keith pulling blanks, Johnathan saying this ain't no way to start a crab season, Capt Scott saying I'm at a loss, an absolute loss. Mac White says its hit or miss and we missed big time. Keith says more pain less crab, more pain no crab. Monty not enough is the answer to how many crab. Johnathan says this is the worst trip I've ever been on.

Back at the table Johnathan is singing one is the loneliest number, said he was singing that song, had it in his head for a long time. Sig said the crab wasn't spread out like a blanket like they usually are. It was hit or miss. I'm thinking the way those seas were rolling around they probably threw the crab all over the place.  Keith said he pulled more blanks this season than in his entire career. Sig said we'd watch him stack so many pots it wasn't even funny (Talking to Keith) cause you'd go by and we'd be like where's he going? Then he comes back later going in the other direction. Johnathan says you don't know we pulled blanks for five days and then when we pull some crab you see us freak out. Captain Bill said isn't made up cause we were so excited. Johnathan says they are like little kids at Christmas.

Mike asks do you think you will never see a full pot again? Captain Bill says no cause we know we can't stop until it changes. Andy said Sig kind of started out on the crab so he had a little taste of it, we were just down south. Mike said I don't know what is more cruel though you get a little taste and then they take it. Sig says it was up and down like a roller coaster. Captain Bill says you know the crew when we are on great numbers are like we are a team. But when you are on beep their are like what's that guy doing up there. Their looking at the wheelhouse giving you that look. Sig says the wheelhouse gets real lonely. Johnathan says his guys pull faster when they are on blanks because they know the quicker they pull them the quicker we can get them on crab. I got a bunch of Edgars. I love it Edgar has become a term.

They show a clip of the Kodiak when the hydraulics broke and the guys are pushing pots. They discussed how the first round of pushing pots was pretty motivated then they went down from there. Johnathan talked about how they used to push pots but they had rails on the boat to push the pots on kind of like a train. They said pushing the pots is faster but it's harder on the crew. They talked about how fingers get smashed when you are pushing the pots. That didn't sound like a lot of fun. Then they call Adam McCalden out. The guy on the Kodiak that Bill sent off deck down to the engine room. Captain Bill said the worse the fishing is the harder you gotta work and it wears on the guys mentally and physically. His crew worked 11 months last year; shipyard, tendering, salmon, cod it was a full year for them with no time off.

They show a clip of Adam McCalden gripping on the Kodiak. The ones we seen earlier in the season. Remember when Adam flipped Bill the double bird and they fuzzed out his hands. When they came back to the table from the clip Captain Keith asks Adam is that the number you were flashing 11, for eleven months. Adam says yeah. Right! I'm sure that is not what he was thinking. Adam says he read a wise man often finds him self as a fool, but a fool will realize he can be a wise man. Keith said you didn't look wise or a fool you looked very bad. Adam said yes, very bad but I made everyone a nice breakfast. Mike Rowe says we've seen these relationships go bad. How do you recover from it. Bill said they had to get over it because we still had an obligation to catch crab. It was painful. Adam said it wasn't a piece of humble pie, it was the whole pie. Bill said in two years I've spent more time with him than with his entire family. Our boat family is somewhat dysfunctional but you still got to do the job.

Mike says motivate not alienate. Adam says that was our saying all year. Adam admitted to failing, and that what he did was inappropriate. Mike asked how the crew reacted? He said he apologized to them. He was tired and burnt out, and inappropriate all season which wasn't fair to the guys. Keith pointed out to him his attitude caused the crew to think about things other than fishing which creates a hazardous environment. Bill says you mean like my shot gun. Wonder if he means the pink one. Sig says bottom line is no matter what you gotta do push pots or whatever you gotta get the job done.

Keith then congratulates Wild Bill for not throttling him. LOL Mike says yeah it could have been worse, you could have been on the Wizard. Johnathan says I have the feeling you'd rather be up there, that guy meaning the wheelhouse. Adam says that's my goal that's where I want to be but my attitude needs to correspond. Mike Rowe asks why is he in the position he is in? Captain Bill says a few years ago Adam came to me and said hey I want to run a boat. Kind of like Jake Anderson did to you, and there are not that many guys out there that do that. So we worked through a lot of stuff. He's a good engineer. So if there is a bump in the road sometimes you've gotta over look it cause otherwise you've got to start all over with someone else.  That's kind of sad Bill has put all this work into this kid Adam and now it's almost like Adam thinks he can get away with whatever because Bill doesn't want all the time to have been wasted.

Captain Keith says it's hard for a kid to get motivated, you know go in the wheelhouse and say show me what's on that chart, teach me how to navigate, because they are just bearly surviving to begin with. That's what I was thinking, especially on Sig's boat when they think they are getting four hours of sleep and he's moving the clock back so they aren't even getting that. So when you get a guy like that you want to keep them and teach them everything you can as fast as you can. Then Andy pops up and says in the end though you  gotta catch crab.That's what really sucks no matter how motivated you are. Capt Bill says he told Adam the problems you are having with the guys on deck, you came to me to run a boat, right now if I turned the boat over to you I don't know if you would have any guys to work for you.

They come back from commercial and thank Milani who is singing. Capt Andy says there would be no fights on the boat if we had that kind of something I'm not sure what he said the CC said music. Andy said he was feeling so tiny bubblish. They gotta get her CD to play on the boat.

Johnathan went to Pearl Harbor. He said if you think we run a tight ship I met a gentleman that runs a little tighter ship. They go to a clip of Johnathan aboard the Navy vessel USS Chafee with CO CDR Chase Patrick. Now the first thing they show in the clip is Johnathan asking about the firepower. Chase says a lot of firepower on this ship. Oh god please keep Johnathan away from the firepower. LMAO He'll be launching stuff and we'll have world war three. Johnathan says you carry the tomahawks? Chase says and we carry the tomahawks as well. Johnathan says that is bad ass. Chase says exactly.

Chase points out the radar I couldn't understand what he called it sounded like maybe spy ray but he said it's the most capable radar in the modern world today. That's sort of what makes the ship what it is. They take Johnathan to the bridge he says it's bad ass. Chase says it's probably the same in your world with safety we spend a lot of time on safety. Now Johnathan is in the captains chair or the equivalent. Johnathan's saying where's the dang throttles? You are like Captain Kirk full steam ahead Scotty. Chase is taking a picture of Johnathan in the chair. He says my wife is gonna love that. No your wife is going to cut you off cause you didn't bring her aboard for the day to meet Captain Johnathan. 

Chase says the challenge for the CO is to stay in that chair and not get up. To trust the people that you have with the jobs you've given them. Johnathan asks him if he ever has to yell at anyone. He says no. I don't believe him. Johnathan is walking down the deck shaking hands with people. Then they get to a door that says "restricted area keep out authorized personnel only." It's the combat information center. Johnathan says WOW this is Star Wars here as he walks into the room. Chase says this is where we fight the ship. Johnathan says you shoot the tomahawks from here. Okay Johnathan your interest in the tomahawks is scaring me a little. LMAO I'm actually kind of surprised they allowed the cameras in that room. Chase says we shoot the tomahawks from here. Johnathan is giggling a wicked little giggle. hahaha says I never ever thought I'd get to see this.

They go to the engine room. Chase says this ship has 105,000 chap? horsepower. Johnathan says eat your heart out. Johnathan says take a look at this. That's crazy it's a gas turbine engine that doesn't have pistons. I must say that is probably the cleanest engine I've ever seen. Johnathan thanked Chase for everything they do. LOL Johnathan was like a kid at Christmas on that ship. I hope Johnathan got to go in the torpedo room and see other parts of the ship, they just couldn't show on camera. There was no hiding that Johnathan was excited to tour that ship.

They are back at the table now Chase Patrick has joined them. Johnathan says you could literally get on that ship with white gloves and not find one spec of dirt. He's got a happy ship. The Captains are trying to figure out if a Captain out ranks a Commander. Yes they do. Mike says I thought we might finally have a guy at the table that could trump all these guys. Mike says I didn't catch the name of the boat. Ut oh he'll be in trouble. Mike asks when does a boat stop becoming a ship or vice versa? Chase says we call it a ship. Submarines they call boats, we tend to take offense when someone calls our ship a boat. That's no lie. You can't launch helicopters from boats. 

Captain Keith asks how long is it? Chase said 506 feet. Keith says boy you could haul a lot of crab pots on that. Andy asks if his fuel bill is low? Chase says you right its pretty high. Captain Johnathan asks can you tell me are you guys working all the time are you monitoring if someone is going to shoot us. Chase says oh yeah. Johnathan says you'll let me know. Chase says absolutely. Johnathan says I knew that. Capt Bill asks what class it is? Chase says its a DDG Arleigh Burke Destroyer.  Johnathan says you can't even shoot 'em cause they have anti this and that and if you have anti anti anti he has an anti anti anti anti.  Chase says we are unstoppable. 

Andy says that's the next prank we need to have is to have them come out to the Bering Sea and jam all their radar so they lose all their pots. Johnathan says they will mess you up man you won't have nothing. 

Mike says I'm just curious to hear from the perspective of the man in charge. Chase says it's the same job you guys do as skippers on your boats. The demands on your sailors are the same they work hard. Johnathan says you can tell by how clean your boat is. (Ship Johnathan Ship, you are going to be in trouble) Chase says exactly it doesn't happen because you wish it. They work so hard the deserve positive and excellent leadership. Chase says they have 290 guys on board about 30 officers. Johnathan says 290 guys on board with a bad attitude and starts laughing. They all start laughing. Mike Rowe asks how often do you raise your voice. Chase says every man who comes on board E-6 and junior the blue jackets he tells you I will never raise my voice in anger at you. Chances are you will never see it. It doesn't mean I don't have the capacity for great anger trust me I do. 

Capt Bill asks how about the XO? Chase says the XO is awesome, essentially he runs the ship. Mike asks what is his name. Chase says Justin Kubu he just does an outstanding job, he's able to do it also without really raising his voice which is really impressive. If no one raises their voice then why is it really impressive, I'm not buying the nobody raises their voice thing.  Captain Andy confronts him there's gotta be an ass chewer on the boat. Captain Johnathan says there's gotta be something going on I don't know if it's cause I was on the boat, but everybody was all happy and smiling sob's. Capt Keith says how often does someone contradict your orders or get in your face. Sig says there's repercussion on a boat like his. Ours you get fired but we don't have that luxury at sea all the time. Chase says if train them well so they are really confident and proficient you shouldn't have to yell and berate them and use four letter words to try and motivate them. They should all go execute. 

Andy says so there are really no greenhorns on the boat? Captain Keith says do you have an admiral Monty that works for you? Mike Rowe asks what's your bosses name? Chase says Commodore Dave Welch. Mike asks if he is watching right now. Chase says he's over seas right now but I know they will DVR this and he'll be watching he's a great boss we've got the greatest squadron in the United States. Mike says I'll put in a good word for you for what it's worth. I must say I am impressed that Chase did not correct them every time they called his ship a boat. As a Navy brat and having a son in the Navy I don't think the Captains fully understand how insulting it is to a sailor on a ship to have their ship called a boat. Normally when the cameras are not on you get corrected every time until you get it right. Especially the civilians because they are the ones who don't know any better.  I must have been programed well because I cringed every time they called the ship a boat, as I noted in gold and my boys were on Submarines. I don't think the Submariners really care one way or the other whether you call a submarine a ship or a boat but even they will correct you if you call a ship a boat. Big no no. Captains you gotta work on remembering that one. You don't want to be in trouble with the US Navy.

They are showing clips of Captain Elliot Neese. What is different about his hats are they square or too big for his head. They always look a little unusual. Captain Scott Jr of the Seabrooke, Elliot Neese and Tim Lovins "Cat" from the Ramblin' Rose has joined the table. John and Andy have left the table. Mike asks Elliot if he is still feeling pressure. He said you are only as good as your last season. I could go out next year and bomb and lose it. It's not mine until I get to buy part of it. I think I'll always be on the chopping block. Captain Scott says it doesn't matter how long you've been fishing even if you own the boat. If you are not producing you've got to get someone on there who can because the boat has to be profitable. 

Elliot says you are only as good as your crew.  Elliot says Tim will go 30-40-50 hours. He'll bitch but he'll do it. Tim says yeah but we only bitch in the forepeak we don't take it up to the wheelhouse, usually if we do we keep it to ourselves. That's where we do our jaw jacking. It's different now being on TV he can actually hear us, we forget the cameras are there. Mike asks what it like working for him. Tim says excellent he has worked for Elliot before, he's got that memory, I've always gotten paid I did really well this season. He said I had another job when he called and I went. Elliot said he rather get the job done in a month and a half and go the f home rather than spend three months out there. 

Mike asks Sig what does Elliot need to know if he is going to be a successful captain. Sig says it's great to be gung ho and work the guys. But there is another side where if you are going to much and losing control over your guys or your whole system, what he doesn't know, and I'm assuming this, is you gotta know when to back it down and there is an art to that. Reading how much you can take and then stopping and giving them a break when they need it. Because you give them more juice later.  I think the job can be done more efficiently when its done like that. 

Keith, you can haul more gear when everything is running smoothly, and every crewman is right back in the same position it becomes a dance out there. Or you can just ram it down their throats and have complete chaos, then you look at the numbers at the end of the hour and you see the guys just worked twice as hard for three less pots. Keith says it takes a while to do that well. 

Captain Bill says you can ram with finesse too. Adam says as a crewman it's nice to have consistency everyday. Hauling the same number of pots everyday. Then everyone can get in the same rhythm and flow. Sig says it's that rhythm that keeps them going. Elliot says I can tell when I'm looking at them when they are spent. Sig says, Elliot that's my point though when you look at them and see they are spent, by that time it is too late. If you can recharge them before they hit that level they are going to sleep twice as good, be twice as refreshed and you are going to get twice as much out of them later. And I learned that the hard way. I killed my brother year after year. It just takes time. So is Sig saying he just learned that at the beginning of Opies?  

They are showing clips back and forth of the Seabrooke and Ramblin' Rose. It's hilarious but I'm thinking Elliot isn't going to find it funny at all. Scott talking about how you gotta have a lot of horsepower and we are that boat. Then they show the Ramblin' Rose in need of a paint job, rusty sitting at the dock. Then Scott saying he has enough horsepower to force the boat into the weather if he needs to. Elliot saying it's not the prettiest boat in the fleet but she gets the job done. It's the little engine that could. Scott every single year we try and do something better to make this a top notch vessel second to none. Elliot we are getting a new generator rebuilt that over heated and cracked the head. Scott this boat is built for the weather. Any kind of weather conditions at any given time. Plus we're fast. It's the Corvette of the fishing fleet. Ramblin' Rose crew now we can't take it out of gear or go in reverse. It's always something on the Ramblin' Rose. OMG That was just too funny what a comparison between the two young captains. Like night and day.  

Mike is talking about the maintenance on a boat. Elliot says they just put a quarter of a million into the boat. Mike says that doesn't fix anything right? Just need something new next year. Elliot is listing things off. Keith says what I liked about that segment that you see on different layers is both guys are proud of their boats. That's not what I saw I can't say the Ramblin' Rose guys are proud of their boat. Keith says if you are Captain you work with what you got. Scott says his boat was designed as a crabber like Sig's. Bill's was designed as a crabber. Keith's was an old Army boat that was converted, yours (I think he meant Elliots) that was kind of a tender boat that was converted so it's a different dynamic. 

Sig said the boat can be as good or bad as you want it but if the guy running it isn't doing his job then it doesn't matter. Captain Bill asks and what else is the most important tool? The guys on deck. Scott says finding the right dynamic is it. Mike asks does the crew take on the personality of the boat or does it got the other way? Mike asks Elliot for instance do you guys feel scrapy? OMG I'm ROFL here this is too good. Elliot says its a bunch of young guys of course we feel scrapy. The oldest guy is thirty five. I don't understand what the age of the guys has to do with feeling scrapy. The fact that they are younger they should have more energy to fix that girl up. I mean seriously I'd be buying some cans of spray paint or something.  

Tim Lovins says when I first walked on the Ramblin' Rose I was like big long bleep, I have no idea what he called the boat. I was thinking I don't know cause it was that bad it was in rough shape. I mean compared to what I was working on before. Mike Rowe asks Captain Elliot if he is protective of it? Elliot says my boat of course. It's like talking sh*t about a guys wife. I spend 8, 9, 10 months a year on that boat its my home. I mean people want to talk sh*t about where I live. 

Mike says ultimately whatever pride you have in your boat isn't a reflection of the boat its a reflection of you.  Everyone agrees. Sig says the boats take on different personalities like you said and the crew they try to shine if they are proud of it. But the owners have to be part of that too. And you've developed the personality of a certain vessel and that's what it becomes. Keith says it takes a lot of time before the guys in the fleet say that boat there is a well run ship. 

Bill said when I started running boats there were guys who you just looked up to. There were guys who traditionally caught crab. Sig says consistently. Bill said and you tried to imitate them you tried to treat your crews like they did. You looked at some of these older guys that had the experience and there was total respect there for the guys who had been around for a long time. Elliot starts listing guys I haven't heard of that he looks up too. Mike says role models everywhere. What I just heard there was Captain Bill saying you need to respect the Captains at the table that have been around a while. And Elliot's response was a slap in the face saying I respect these other guys. No one at this table. 

Mike, I get the sense you  are not afraid to work. Elliot says not at all. Mike says we sent the guys out to have some fun, at least I hope you had fun. There was a cage and some sharks. They go to a clip Scott says I'm just trying to figure out why I'm going to jump out of a perfectly good boat to go swim with some sharks. I think I saw this same shark cage on Hawaii Five-O. They put a bad guy in it to make him talk. Scott says most of the time I use bait. Today I am bait. This is just wrong on so many levels. Scott and Elliot put on goggles and some kind of breathing apparatus, they go in the cage. Elliot swam down to the bottom of the cage, and was looking out the bottom so he couldn't see above him. Scott swam down and pinched Elliot and scared the poop out of him. All kinds of bubbles coming out of his face gear. Elliot comes up and says you know you are in the cage but he caught me off guard.

Andy is back playing narrator. John is back also. Elliot and the deckhands have all left. I've noticed that Johnathan and Elliot aren't at the table at the same time this week. Hum. Andy brought the guys Shack cheese burgers with a Portuguese sausage on it. Mike says this segment is how much of that can you get in your mouth at one time. Johnathan takes a big ole bite. Mike says that very impressive. Andy, oh yeah mustard up the nose to Johnathan. Mike says you know what I think we've finally figured out how to have a segment with out Johnathan talking. They are all laughing. 

Mike asks Scott what happened to your finger I know that's rude but you just licked the stub man. Scott tells the story how his very first time running a boat they lost their air compressor. They were in thirty or forty foot seas. It always happens when the weather is crappy. So I'm down there trying to assess the situation. It was kind of a tiny engine room, we took a thirty five footer and the boat went rolling on it's side. I went flying in the air and just so happened to fall on top of the air compressor belt and it caught and I just spun it right off. Mike says did you know you lost it? He says no I just thought I had smashed it. I was so into the moment and trying to save the boat so we didn't roll over I just kind of put my are arm under there (he put his left hand in his left armpit to demonstrate)  put my foot on it and tightened it back up, came up and realized what happened. Mike says you are a greenhorn captain and you cut your own finger off.  Scott says it was what it was so I had to make a decision. We are looking at a 5-8 day season at the time do I go home or suck it up and go out. Andy says it's just a finger after all. Mike, and you said to your self I can think of nine reasons he holds up nine fingers everyone laughs. Scott says I can think of 9 and 3/4 reasons to stay out. He lost the tip of his ring finger. Mike said if you are not laughing the joke is on you. One of you guys told me that. 

They show the clip of the Seabrooke boys tagging the Time Bandit and the retaliating egg bombing. Johnathan says they actually threw 1800 eggs in two and a  half minutes. They bought every egg in Dutch Harbor. $800 worth of eggs. Scott said the poor kids in Dutch Harbor didn't have eggs for weeks. 

The show the clip of Cars 2 where Sig's boat the Northwestern has been crabified and Sig play's the voice of Crabbie. Sig is excited because his children's children will be able to watch this some day. I was impressed Sig did a good job.

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