Something Is Extremely Wrong Here

Aidin and I have vivid dreams. We usually spend our weekends exchanging funny stories about the dreams that we had lately. So since this one is so fresh in my mind, I thought I would share it with you:


I was a greenhorn set to work aboard the Cornelia Marie, and Steve Ward picked me up at the airport. He didn’t talk much, and hardly looked at me except to snort and say, “Those ain’t gonna work.”

He was referring to my blue jeans and boots. Now when I say boots, I don’t mean cowboy boots, or rain boots. I mean girly boots with a thick wedge heel. A few of you saw the picture of the high heels I bought, I’m actually wearing my boots in that picture, just look down.

Boots...no not those! Attached to the jeans. Yes, those boots.

Anyway, my boots are not the point of this story, no matter how much I love them. He dropped me off at the small store in Dutch and told me he would send someone along to pick me up in an hour. I’m not a shopper, I hate shopping, so I was done in 10 minutes, my arms full of rain gear and sweatshirts.

I wasted time talking to the local people, trying to get comfortable, when Josh and Jake Harris walked through the door and herded me outside to the truck. Again, they didn’t say much. I assume they didn’t enjoy the fact a female would be onboard.

Once we got down to the dock, we had to walk down to the end to get to the boat itself. But it wasn’t the Cornelia Marie we all know and love. It was so bizarre. I watched Jake and Josh hop down to the deck and walk across it like nothing was wrong. But trust me, it was wrong.

Wheelhouse? Gone. Pot lauchner? Gone. Sodium Lights? Gone. Shelter deck? Gone.

There was no wheelhouse. None at all. As far as I could tell, there was no galley or anything. The deck was smooth from bow to stern, no shelter deck either in the bow. The other bizarre sighting? No pot launcher. Only the crane was visible as I finally shook my self out of my daze and got onboard.

I stood in the middle of the deck trying to wrap my brain around what I was seeing when Ryan walked up and took my duffel bag for me. “Where are we sleeping?” I asked.

“Over here.”

He led me over to where the wheelhouse would have been, and a small canopy had been rigged to keep a small amount of the rain and waves off of us. In all honesty, it was useless. I remember looking up and thinking, “How do you steer this thing?!”

“How do we launch the pots?” I questioned.

Jake appeared at my side and motioned with his hand to where the pot launcher should have been. A 10 foot hole appeared to have been cut out of the side of the boat. “We push them off. Haven’t you ever done this before?”

“Greenhorn,” I muttered as a reminder. “I don’t see any bins. How do we get the crab into the holds?”

Jake gave me an odd look. “We carry them.”

“We carry snapping, pissed off crab?”

He nodded.

“Great, the Cornelia Marie, catching crabs the hard way.”

And then I promptly got woken up by my son asking for something to drink at 3:30am. Thank god too, because I didn't see any sodium lights and I couldn't figure out how we were going to push pots off the side of the boat and not get caught in the line.

Strange huh? This happens to me often. If you ever have a Deadliest Catch dream, please share it with us!
 
Happy Friday everyone, its finally here! I don't know about the rest of you, but it felt like this one week was 2 weeks.
 
*Shannon*

Back Up, It's Always a Good Idea

I was rewatching Season 5 of Deadliest Catch last night, and the episode where Lenny comes back to The Wizard to help Captian Keith after "The Wave" came on. This is one of the best episode's in my opinion, because, including Lenny, you really get to see how the captains depend on the senior deckhands.

My point is this: There is always at least one guy on every single boat that the captain never has to yell at, can always depend on, and is usually the first one on deck, and the last one to leave.

Behold....The Unsung Heros....

So let's start with The Wizard and Mr. Lenny Lekanoff. This guy is amazing. I know he retired from fishing, crabbing, etc, but when his captain needed him, he didn't ask questions, didn't complain that his retirement was cut short, and even laughed when a wave knocked him off his feet during the first trip. He's quiet and steady, always honest, and really throws himself into his job.

Now the Time Bandit. This one is a little harder because the Time Bandit has always been the "Party Boat" and in the last season, they lost Russell Newberry. He was usually the one that Captains Andy and Johnathan would rely on, talk to, and allow to run a little wild. Then when he left, under strained circumstances, Mike Fourtner stepped up and became that guy. Now he is on the outs with the captains after being bumped back down the the deck when his"Captain in Training" rights got taken away. They would be the obvious choices. But this brings me to Eddie Uwekoolani. He's funny, but dedicated. He's a hard worker, he never complains, and he does a great job ragging on the greenhorns.

On the Northwestern, there are two such men: Nick Mavar and Norm Hansen. For Norm, there is one shining moment that shows exactly how calm, cool, and collected he is in the face of chaos: Matt and Jake's fist fight on deck. This video cracks me up, because Norm is silently watching the fight, completely uninterested in the drama, calmly closing the coiler, and keeping the two brawlers out of the bite of the line, never once shouting at them to stop or inserting himself into the fray. While Nick on the other hand is standing between the two men trying to get them to calm down. Without Nick and Norm, this fight could have gotten ugly really fast.

And last but certainly not least is the Cornelia Marie. When I think of great men on the Cornelia, I immeidately think of Freddie Maughtai and Steve Ward. Freddie is the rock of that crew, always ready with a smile and a positive attitude. And Steve, well Steve is just a plain old hard worker. I always admired how Steve would go down to the engine room, and look and look and look to make sure everything was working properly, and if he found something that he didn't like, he fixed it, without needing to be told by Phil or before a crisis came up.

The fact is, without these deckhands, who work for hours upon hours without rest, who watch the backs of their brothers at sea, the fishing industry would be a chaotic mess. The captains need someone they trust and can rely on, on deck to guide the younger deckhands and greenhorns, to provide morale. Someone who will be honest with them, not bullshit them to cover mistakes, and who will accept responsibility. These senior deckhands might not get a lot of TV time, but as a fan, I appreciate their hard work and their dedication to their work.

*Shannon*