I am staring into the abyss. In spite of myself, I am a huge believer—I throw salt whenever I use it, not just when I spill some. Do you personally have any superstitions? Check out my My Space page to listen to a few. I would prefer to be back at fishing camp by nightfall with my buddies in the junkyard behind the Kasilof cannery with a bottle of Crown Royal in one hand and a hot dog in the other.
When I left the Hansens on the ice edge last Opilio season, it was degrees. I traveled two and a half days south to the Pacific Ocean, just south of False Pass. That is 65 degrees warmer and it was only 20 out! My guys work in that. Four from the Alaska Ranger, two in Dutch harbor from falling, and seven off the Katmai.
The Bering sea will chisel and mold some of the roughest characters. God bless all the families with lost loved ones. See Also: The Rumpus. Alison Tyler has made being naughty her official trademark. Johnathan is described in the book: Another trait the men admired about him was that he told them what he thought, right now.
And then, when Phillip was gone, Danny turned his ire towards Axel Hillstrand just to have somebody new to bully! Jonathan gave him a stern talking-to; Danny then doubled down on his asshattery, bragging about how he was going to sabotage the ship! At that point, Jonathan said "screw it" and headed back to port just to get rid of him, with cops waiting at the dock just in case Danny did anything stupid.
Jerkass Has a Point : While Derrick Ray did not come across as the best or nicest of captains, and he certainly was not loved by his crew, he did discover drug paraphernalia in the engine room as documented on camera, so his prior suspicion that Jake or at least someone in the crew was using marijuana was almost certainly correct. Jerk with a Heart of Gold : Sig Hansen.
When his wife was interviewed for the Bottle Episode she says he's very sweet when he's home with her and their daughters. He's also heartwarmingly kind to Jake Anderson, although he doesn't skimp on the abuse when Jake screws up.
Jitter Cam : In addition to the usual abuse, the season premiere featured cameraphone footage of crewmen from one boat rescuing all four men from another, rapidly sinking boat, and again when another man had to be rescued after suffering from a heart attack.
Cameras are also attached to hooks, pots, booms and helmets. Karmic Jackpot : A deckhand fell off the stack on a nearby boat. The crew of the Time Bandit fished him out of the water. The rest of their King Crab season was a record setter. Turns out it was in fact a pulmonary embolism that Phil was lucky to have survived; he could have dropped dead right then and there and no one would have known.
Wild Bill mistook the cameraguy's anxiety for being uninterested and the misunderstandings only got worse when he the cameraguy was hours late returning to the boat — Bill thought he was messing around at the bar; while the guy did go to the bar it only to gather enough courage to tell Bill he would have to leave because he found out he had cancer.
The camera guy only got to the "leaving early" part and Bill just exploded at him, the guy exploded back, and it was a horrible situation all around they were able to have a camera-free talk and made up. Kill It with Ice : Crab boats generally don't have hulls rated for going through ice, which makes the ice pack in opilio season a potential problem for them.
The ice pack was an especially big problem in season 8; it covered the fishing grounds twice the first time, only the Wizard and Seabrooke continued fishing.
After that horrible winter the Hillstrands spent just about everything they made to upgrade the Time Bandit with new engines and inch-thick "armor" for the hull.
Laser-Guided Karma : Neese bet Jr. Neese's catch was so poor and only got worse when he moved to another location that the boat's owners threatened to send in someone else, if not fire him altogether. Meanwhile Jr.
And when Elliot finally does manage to get through to his ex-girlfriend in mid-season, he discovered that she was already seeing someone else. Later on, after an attempt to patch things up failed miserably, she filed and won a restraining order against him. And then he got fired for almost letting a sleepy crewman run the boat into an icefield. Things were looking up for him in the next season, though: he bought his own boat and somehow got custody of his kids.
However, with the events of season 11 and the potential fallout, his future looks grim. Junior lied to Keith about how he was doing on the blue crab patch they were supposed to be working together Keith started out well which is why he wanted to share with Junior, but then Keith's area dried up ; the next episode found Junior's deck boss laid up with a staph infection and no antibiotics, and the only one who could help was Keith.
Keith gave them the meds because it's the code of the vast, empty, merciless ocean to help each other in times of need. In addition, the following opilio season was rough on Junior, culminating in him being forced to ask for help from his dad Next season, he suffered a debilitating back injury which may force him to miss the rest of bairdi season. Lighter and Softer : Captain Keith Coburn of the Wizard must have taken an anger management class or something between Season 7 and Season 8, because he didn't have nearly as many blow-ups during Season 8 if any.
Probably the biggest example of this shift was in an episode set during the opilio season, when during an argument about miscommunication sparked by Lenny not speaking loudly enough on deck, causing a buoy to pop as the Wizard was trying to leave iced-up St.
Paul harbor , Lenny told Keith "fuck off" resulting in an Oh, Crap! Keith's response? Go out on deck Keith likely would not have reacted nearly as calmly to a comment like that just a season ago. Dips into Fridge Brilliance when one remembers that Keith felt bad about blowing up at the cameraman near the end of the previous season and admitted that, as captain, he should have had better self-control.
See Took a Level in Jerkass , below. It's quite possible that he's made a conscious effort to correct that flaw. Considering when obnoxious greenhorn Tebo tried to sucker-punch Freddy all Tebo got from Keith was a quick punch for demonstration purposes, i. Even the rain gear room "no more bullshit" speech Keith gave in the next episode to get his crew back under control after Lenny told Monte to "fuck off" which Keith took as a sign of Dane's malignant influence on crew discipline was remarkably restrained compared to the Keith from even just a couple years ago.
His response in season 10 to Monte reporting gear out of bounds and therefore catching illegal crab also fell under this. He could easily have chewed Monte out for this mistake especially because it's his boat, and he'd lose more money than anyone , but all Keith did was calmly tell Monte to rail-dump all the crab.
Loads and Loads of Characters : Each boat features at least five crew, not including the captain, and the show features at least four boats each season, plus the boats that only show up occasionally. Do the math. Look Behind You : Season 11 opened with the Hillstrands lighting up thousands of dollars worth of fireworks safely, on land to the delight of "practically the entire population of Unalaska" which was just a distraction so Sig, Edgar, and Jake Anderson could move the Cape Caution as a prank so Wild Bill would think he'd gone senile.
Loophole Abuse : Neese justifies setting his pots on top of Jr. Love Martyr : Captain Elliott, to his girlfriend Val. Made of Iron : Freddy Maughtai strips to his underwear and jumps into the water during one Opie season to secure a walrus carcass the crew found adrift. In the Bering Sea. In the middle of winter. Most crewman who suffer any exposure to the sea outside a survival suit are hypothermic in moments. When Freddy emerged, he wasn't even shivering.
Manipulative Editing : In season 11, Jake fired a deckhand, apparently because he was late returning to the boat while it was docked as well as constantly being drunk on the job. The real reason was revealed in an After the Catch special - the deckhand had smashed in the door to Jake's room and trashed it in a drunken rage.
For whatever reason, the incident was not shown or even mentioned in the actual episode. Man on Fire : "You see, when you're on the Bering Sea for so long, you go a little crazy Entire crews upon learning of Phil's death.
The Northwestern crew was especially visible, startling to the average viewer of that normally stoic vessel. On a happier note, all of Jake Anderson's friends and family at his wedding which was officiated by Sig! Meaningful Funeral : Phil's funeral was attended by family, friends, and biker buddies.
Half his remains were placed in a beautifully airbrushed Harley-Davidson gas tank the other half was scattered at sea during king season , which was buried next to his mother's grave. There was also a huge memorial for the fans which took place at a convention center in Seattle, he got a nice send-off in New Orleans, and finally a burial-at-sea attended by all his friends. Justin Tennison, an engineer on the Time Bandit, also received one. He died in his sleep at the tender age of 34, due to complications of sleep apnea, just over a week after the end of the Opie season.
Later, once they hit a fishing hotspot, they had a small funeral for him aboard the Time Bandit, and scattered his ashes in the sea. Mood Dissonance : At the end of "Fearless Leaders" the Seabrooke was bringing up fully loaded pots but the crew was too tired from staying awake through a hour grind to celebrate. Meanwhile, the crew of the Ramblin' Rose , who were on the verge of mutiny after Elliot basically ditched them to try and reunite with his ex-girlfriend, began celebrating as they hauled up huge pots while Elliot learned his ex-girlfriend had filed a year-long restraining order against him.
Again with Elliot and his crew: The season 8 finale showed all the boats cheering that their last strings are full ones, except for the Ramblin' Rose — while their pots are full the only one happy is Elliot; the crew has had it with him and his drama. It appears they were just blowing off steam and six months later Elliot claims they've come back. And again with Junior: The crew were hauling pots full of cod and were celebrating He'd just learned that his father was in poor health and likely to pass on shortly, and he wanted to get back to port so he could fly home.
Mood Whiplash : The morale of the captains and crews can drastically shift from pot to pot depending on the catch, which is frequently mined for drama. One minute Josh was celebrating with the rest of the Time Bandit crew then in next scene he discovered nearly all of the Cornelia Marie 's supplies and the Harris' personal items had been stolen from their storage containers.
Within the first ten minutes of the episode, the crew went from celebrating the Seattle Seahawks about to win a playoff game More from season 9: At a SXSW concert for the show the captains went from excitedly talking about what kind of music they like to being deadly serious about no music playing on the boats because they can't afford to get distracted; meanwhile on the Cape Caution Wild Bill went from being elated that lovesick greenhorn Mikey Michell has decided to "man up" and finish the season to being extremely disappointed when Mikey's father decided he's done with crabbing and left in the middle of offloading the catch.
One minute Josh and the new Cornelia Marie crew were celebrating their full pots, the next minute they discovered they were all females and had to be dumped. More Dakka : The Time Bandit has an almost unnerving amount of firepower for a civilian fishing vessel. How does the crew honor the passing of fellow fishermen? They break out pistols, AK's, and AR rifles and fire until they run out of ammo! When John got annoyed over all the ice in the Bering Sea he stormed out of the wheelhouse, grabbed a shotgun, walked out on deck and started shooting at the ice and yelling "And don't come back!
They made Deadliest Catch the show it is along with the other originals! They are so funny and love their personalities on the show. I have missed them since they left! I would be fine with Keith C.
Do not like his rude personality and how he treats others. Had it with him. I like Monte but he should not put up with being treated like dogshit from Keith.
He is very under appreciated. He depends on his brother a lot. Back to the Hillstands!! I believe that the show is just not the same without Jonathan and the Time Bandit. I miss his humour. He is an awesome captain. Bring them back please. Your email address will not be published. Tv Shows Ace. News , Reality TV. Share on Facebook. Share on Twitter. Share on Pinterest.
Share on LinkedIn. Author Recent Posts. Georgia Makitalo. Georgia Makitalo has been a freelance writer for 14 years. In her free time she enjoys traveling, hiking and learning about Pre-Raphaelite art.
Latest posts by Georgia Makitalo see all. Articles You May Like. You only speak for yourself. I like Keith Colbert and glad he is on the air. Jonathan should return!!
I love the larger than life Hillstrands! Bring back Time Bandit.. They deserve it…. It would be great to have he Time Bandit back on the show. Love the original boats and crews! Is there a way that we can send letters or email to you and the Time Bandit crew? We have message boards and ways to communicate with us. Bugga How many years have you captained the boat, and how many years have you been fishing? Melinda: How often do you go to Alaska and how long do you stay?
Andy Hillstrand: I lived in Alaska for 40 years, so I was always there. Nowadays, I spend about 3—4 months a year up there fishing: 2 months for king crab, and 2 months for opilio. Lhiiiz: What was it like to build the Time Bandit?
Andy Hillstrand: It was pretty challenging. We built it with our father, so we built that whole boat in 9 months, which is pretty good: me and all my brothers. I have 5 brothers total, counting myself. But to build a crab boat like that in 9 months is pretty good. Cheryl in NC: Has the show changed the way you do things? That was one improvement we could afford to make. Clint Greetings from Athens, Tx.
I have a two part question. And yeah, we eat the crab all the time! Used him for bait? Andy Hillstrand: Yeah, I would have turned that boat around. I was enraged. No matter if the guys were giving him a hard time, it shows your character if you can keep working. So it just enrages me. Lhiiiz: Have you personally ever had a close call while crabbing? The coils that were wrapping around my hand — I lost my glove, and it happened so fast.
It could have pulled me right over because there was major tension on the line. Kdewberry: Hello! Do you have any other siblings besides Johnathan and if so, do they fish as well? Andy Hillstrand: Yes, I have 3 other brothers besides Johnathan. Neal is on the boat fishing with us on all these episodes. My other 2 brothers — one is a doctor, and one works on the North Slope of Alaska, up on the oil fields.
Andy Hillstrand: The best thing is I have the best home videos of anyone out there! And I guess people come up to me on the street and want to shake my hand and say they love the show. On the average how much time do you spend in the grocery store? You look like contestants in that game show that used to be on where people raced through the market to get the biggest haul in the least time!
Andy Hillstrand: Unfortunately, it takes about 3 hours to do all that shopping. We get everything that you can throw off those shelves — magazines, steaks, produce, slippers, chocolate — you name it. Oh yeah. Yelling at everyone for forgetting the coffee. We had to drink tea. Jen: Were you with John on Black Sunday?
Andy Hillstrand: Me and Johnathan were together when there were foot seas. I think we were on different boats for Black Monday, but we were together for Black Thursday. Sissytulips: Good evening Captain Andy. It appears that all the vessels are running computer software programs. What are these programs used for, and how detrimental is it to the vessel if the system crashes?
Who fixes it when it does crash? But we always write down our numbers, the latitude and longitude, because our computers have crashed more than once. We become the self—certified computer technicians when that happens, and try to fix them ourselves as good as we can. HiVolt Hi Capt. Hillstrand, quite the difference between Indiana and Alaska. What are the positives and negatives of each place as far as you are concerned? Negative — I could only ride horses 3 months a year in Alaska.
Quick synopsis. Ggabalot: Greg from the Farwest Leader had his wife on his last trip fishing. Has your wife ever accompanied you on one of the crab fishing trips? Andy Hillstrand: No, my wife has accompanied me on salmon trips, but never on the crab boat. Decspumpkin: I love fishing and was wondering how hard is it to pick the spots to put the pots?
Andy Hillstrand: The Bering Sea is such a vast area that you kind of go with your traditional spots that you normally fish. But there are so many variables with ice pack and weather and stuff that you have to really just go with your instincts. I love Blake: I am very curious to know how you can go under the boat to cut the rope off your propeller and stay in the water for over an hour and not even be shivering when you came up, but yet a man in a survival suit may or may not last an hour in the same 36 degree water.
Andy Hillstrand: A dry suit is made to keep water out. It has insulated underwear, and a survival suit does not have insulated underwear and it does not keep water out all the way. Water does come in, and all it does is warm it to body temperature. Ragnhild, the lady on the Farwest Leader, was putting on her suit and you could see it was above her nose and water was just pouring off.
Sfscrapper: What size was the rope you cut off the wheel and what size is your wheel? You guys are great! It was wrapped about 3 foot thick around the shaft. I went through 2 knives cutting the rope off — brand new, sharp knives. Doug Hi Andy, are you dive certified? Lhiiiz: So, how many cowboy hats have you lost to the Bering Sea? Andy Hillstrand: laughing That was actually the first time I wore my cowboy hat on deck. I got tired of looking like every other monkey out there in the orange suit.
I ended up giving my hat away to a fan. It made it all the way through the season, covered with bait and everything. SultanaTX: Hey Captain Andy do you miss the old school derby—style fishing, or do you prefer the new way?
0コメント