[female announcer on pa] now boarding flight 7121 to seattle at gate c5.
[bill] king crab was good,
but now we got the winter fishery.
[announcement on pa continues]
and a lot of guys start gnarling.
And they're getting to jump on it
because the quota's up 30%
which is a big deal.
And for us, we got a derby cod season coming up,
which is huge.
We're gonna get an extra financial bump
before we even start on opis.
So we're gonna hit the ground running.
[cell phone ringing]
[bill sighs]
-hello? -[landon] hey, bill.
I've got some really bad news.
[bill] are you serious?
I just found out that...
Oh, my god.
[announcer on pa] now boarding the reagan alaska charter...
[stammering] oh...
We're boarding.
I'm getting on a plane here, so I gotta go.
All right, man, I love you. I'll talk to you later.
Talk to you soon.
[phone clicks]
[exhaling]
unbelievable oh...
We lost nick. Nick's dead.
[narrator] dutch harbor, alaska.
[sig] king crab, you know, for one of the first times ever,
we actually had to work together.
And the guys did.
And it's the same for the opilio season.
[narrator] after staving off a shutdown of the fall fisheries...
[john] we got a lot of quota to catch.
It's up 30%.
We need to help each other.
[narrator] the $142 million opilio bounty
will test the crab fleet's autumn alliance.
Provide them some information quick.
Cover lot of ground.
[narrator] and send some captains in search of every advantage
including casting lines ten days in advance
of their standard start.
[casey] we're up here this early just so we can be the first pots in the water.
At the end of last year,
when I left the gear a little bit too close, to the ice
that gear was loaded.
So we're gonna go all the way up north
and see what happens.
[narrator] now as all signs of life point into the russian line...
[weatherman on radio] ...Forecasting a deep
and powerful low pressure system will likely have a pressure
of less than 930 millibars...
What?
...Extremely high speeds
will also accompany this storm.
[narrator] barreling south from the arctic...
[female reporter] a massive storm in the bering sea,
considered the strongest storm the turbulent region has ever seen...
Wave heights of 50 feet to 60 feet.
[narrator] a 125,000 square mile low pressure system.
Its vacuum forecast to suck air into its center
at a crushing 96 knots causing fetch and mountainous seas.
[man] let's get out of here before it hits, all right?
Grab the rudder!
[keith] you don't get a forecast for a 930 millibar low.
960 is a hurricane.
950 is like a category 3 hurricane.
930 is a holy [bleep], hang on to your [bleep] crap and pray.
[eagles calling]
[narrator] in dutch harbor...
[sig] this is the biggest opi quota
that we've seen in the last five years.
So that's why the earlier we are, the better.
[narrator] on the northwestern...
I have every intent to go north
to as far north as I can get.
I believe that the crab are gonna be higher up
because of water temperature.
But you want to try to beat that weather.
That's the goal.
Try to beat that weather and get these pots off the boat.
[narrator] on the hook for a mammoth 600,000 pounds of opilio crab.
-You guys ready? -Oh, yeah.
[narrator] captain sig hansen readies to push off the dock
and race the incoming storm to the russian line.
Winter time, you got mad weather,
supposed to be a lot of crab,
let's get it.
[cell phone ringing]
[sig] now what?
Go ahead.
Okay.
All right, thank you.
Oh, boy. I'm shaking.
[mandy] what's wrong, dad?
Mandy, you tested positive for covid.
What?
Are you serious right now?
That's what they're telling me.
That's literally impossible for me to have it.
Well, regardless, they're suggesting everybody stay...
Like, you need to be separated somehow.
Now I'm worried because it's been me and you in this wheelhouse
without masks on the whole time too.
I got to let the guys know.
[coughs] oh, god.
Hey, so...
We got a positive test on mandy.
I'm shaking.
I'm [bleep] shaking right now.
The last boat that got her here
had 49 out of 50 people.
I just don't want to have it and get sick.
[narrator] until relief skipper mandy hansen
is negative for covid,
state regulations mandate that she be kept in isolation
from her vessel.
Okay, we got her bag.
All right...
[mandy] oh...
Got the positive, you got to take it as it is.
If you need something, you can call us, right?
[clark] yep.
[mandy speaking]
-bye, mandy. -Bye.
God.
[sig] my own kid is locked up in a quarantine spot.
Hopefully, when she gets the next test, we'll get mandy back.
It's just the way it is right now.
[gulls cawing]
[eagle calling]
[man] okay, coming up.
-[ship horn blowing] -let's wind up.
[narrator] on the time bandit...
[man] go! Now!
[john] we've got one of the biggest opi seasons
we've had in the last four years.
So I had to come out of retirement
to come back and fish so they succeed.
I'm kinda excited like a little kid to come out here again.
We all got to work together as a fleet.
[narrator] determined to play his role in the fight for survival,
captain johnathan hillstrand returns to the winter fishery
for the first time in nearly half a decade.
Pull that around, now swing around the corner,
right there.
I've got a guy that I've known for years named "blind dog."
[chuckles] he's a hell of a hand dude, and he's funny [bleep].
[narrator] to up his odds of success
john brings in a secret weapon.
[john] get out of the way, pal.
Okay, I'm out of the way.
[narrator] old-school veteran fisherman and longtime friend
carl "blind dog" gorsenger.
[bleep]
pull that around.
I don't know the controls very well.
-So watch your ass. -Okay.
Aye, yi, yi.
-Overhead! -Yeah.
[clattering]
[john] oh...
All right, stop, stop, stop right there.
Stop. Get your [bleep] ass off the controls right now.
-You hear me? -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[bleep]
right now I'm gonna go get him.
Huh?
Hey, you hit the damn pickup boom with the crane.
We gonna measure your intelligence.
Hold that on your head.
Okay, you got about... You're about that smart.
-[tape thudding] -[crew laughing]
-you know that trick? -Yeah.
[john laughing]
supposed to swing that and hit him in the nuts.
[laughing]
okay. Just testing you for your intelligence.
[laughter]
I think you should still let me get you.
Best blind dog ever.
[bleep] blind dog.
Every boat needs a blind dog.
[narrator] a day outside dutch harbor.
On the cornelia marie...
What a hell of a day to start.
No [bleep].
I mean, there's some stuff that's coming through here that's
got to be at least 25 feet right now
and it's supposed to build for the next several hours.
[josh] going all the way to russia.
Damn near.
But we'll be the first to the crab too.
Yeah.
[casey] just going for it.
-We got to... -The boat will do it.
The boat can do it. The crew, we'll see.
[josh] storm is just gonna start.
I'm gonna go hide in my room.
[narrator] now pointed for the russian line
350 miles away,
captains josh harris and casey mcmanus
run head long towards the leading edge of the storm.
-[crew shouting] -oh!
Phew! Boy, some of these are really deep.
Yeah.
It's absolutely nuts.
We're only 8 miles from the russian border, I hear.
Look out!
[narrator] as the cornelia sets the first pots of the 2021 opilio season...
[josh] sea sick, that's a good start.
Whenever I get really sea sick,
that's usually a good start to the season.
But this is really depressing...
[laughing]
...For me.
[narrator] the tempest starts to exact its toll.
You ever get that feeling of watery mouth?
-Yeah. -And then that... [mimics retching]
[bleep] that. Where it
makes you just hurl a little and your stomach tightens up.
Back of your eyeballs starts watering and... [imitates retching]
[vomits]
we got a puker.
[josh] we got kawai puking over there.
You gonna survive, kawai?
[laughs] you need to get some...
Oh, buddy.
[laughs]
holy [bleep]. There is a raker coming in.
Watch your starboard rail, guys.
Better get the [bleep] off deck.
[over speaker] I'm serious, get the [bleep] off deck right now.
Oh, [bleep] hang on. Watch out.
[man] watch out. Whoa!
[man yells]
-[casey] holy [bleep]. -[josh] wow.
Wow.
-[man] whoa. [laughs] -that was a good one.
[laughs] dude.
That was, like... [sighs] that was big.
That was really big.
When the waves are taller that the house,
you know that you're in some [bleep].
[casey speaking]
[josh] go deep now. Let's test out how deep we need to go.
It's a really deep commitment to come this far out to the north-west
and make this kind of gamble.
[man] pot going over!
[casey] hopefully we get some kind of payoff out of it.
[narrator] 564 miles southeast...
[josh over radio] dude, I just got the weirdest text.
Nick mcglashan just passed away.
[john] did nick pass? Is that true?
That's a huge loss for wild bill.
[john] so sad.
Wow.
Wow. Just like that, nick's gone.
[narrator] thirty six hours before the winter season,
33-year-old summer bay deck boss, bruce nicholas mcglashan
died from an apparent drug overdose in tennessee.
[sig] I've had text messages and words going around that,
uh, nick mcglashan passed away.
Uh, nick was a part of, uh, summer bay and...
And pretty much every boat bill's been running lately.
Bill, um, you know, treated him as family.
Um, I couldn't imagine what he's going through right now,
but hopefully bill will make this season happen.
Assuming he even comes up at all.
I don't know that status and where bill's head is at.
[speaking]
-[erik speaking] -[landon] mmm-hmm.
"I came naked from my mother's womb,
and I will be naked when I leave.
The lord gave me what I have.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes,
and death shall be no more."
[matt sniffles]
[bill speaking]
[matt speaking]
[bill] I got a phone call from landon. I looked at... Like [bleep].
I knew what it was.
'cause I haven't been able to get ahold of him for a couple days.
[bleep] my brother. [laughs] you know?
[bill] we got young guys.
I know. Thirty, 35 years old is too young go, man.
You got a whole life ahead of you. You know?
[bill] crushing.
I went from couldn't speak to...
I did the anger thing for a while today,
and then just seeing everybody and getting into town it's...
It's unbelievable, man.
[david] it's really unsettling not seeing my deck boss.
But when you get on land... [sighs]
...Things happen.
We all battle our demons on land.
[landon sighs]
I'm gonna pack all of nick's stuff up.
[sighs]
[matt] I'm coming back to, like, a ghost ship, you know.
It's heartbreaking.
[sobs] [bleep]
[voice shaking] I don't know, man. [bleep] rattles me to my core.
[landon] he was just the best guy.
My best friend.
How you holding up?
I don't know. I never thought we'd be here, but...
We're virtually ready to go. We gotta find somebody that's in town that can go.
I think I might have somebody in mind, so I'll give him a call.
[narrator] assuming the responsibilities of deck boss...
See what you can do.
[narrator] ...32-year-old landon cheney...
[bill] I'm sure landon's feeling the stress and pressure.
He's got a lot more he's gonna have to deal with.
[landon] I think we're all still in disbelief that nick is gone.
You know?
Gonna be some big shoes to fill.
[narrator] 357 miles northwest,
on the wizard.
[man on radio] extremely high seas will also accompany this storm.
40 to 50-feet seas are forecast throughout the area,
which could be as high as 55 feet.
Again, forecast confidence is very good for this potentially dangerous
and impactful storm to the waters of the bering sea and aleutian islands.
[keith] last year we caught a lot of crab way up north,
but, uh, the weather has spun around.
The barometer has gone up dramatically,
and now we're getting our northeasterlies.
[sighs wearily]
we've got 204 pots on this boat.
We gotta get them in the water before it gets too bad to even set anything.
We just need to do an emergency dump.
[narrator] the southbound storm blocks captain keith colburn's
path to the russian border...
All right. Let's go talk to the boys.
[narrator] ...Forcing an emergency set,
170 miles short of his chosen grounds.
[keith] all right, guys. Storm's coming on a little quicker than I anticipated.
We're going with all hands on deck for this, all right?
There's gonna be no breaks. Zero.
So I hope you guys ate some food.
Let's get most of this gear in the water before all hell breaks loose.
Keep safe.
-One, two, three. -[all] safe!
[keith] all right, guys, let's go do it.
-Head on out. -[all] yeah!
[keith] we have to hit 250,000 pounds.
That is our dutch harbor delivery.
I gotta get them off.
And just hoping to see some numbers to get us started.
-[alarm beeps] -[keith] going over!
[man whoops]
[narrator] 60 miles southeast
on the time bandit...
[john] I'm just checking in on you guys.
Around noon, it's gonna be blowing southeast, 50 here.
[josh over radio] we got the brunt of it, but we're doing okay.
I was like, what would john do? W-w-j-d. [chuckles]
[john] I got this old koala bear that somebody left on the boat.
And I've been saying that's you.
[laughs]
-oh, my god. That's... That's good stuff. -I miss you, buddy.
I miss you, too, brother.
Careful. We'll see you in town.
All right. Later, brother.
That's casey and josh on the cornelia marie. They're way up there.
I mean, those guys are way up there.
[narrator] while josh and casey brave the storm by the russian line...
I'm not gonna run a way up there to get 4 or 500s
if I'm hauling 3, 400s here.
I'm gonna check down below the island by mcgoo.
We'll be under the 58 line here.
[narrator] captain johnathan hunts the southern waters,
closer to st. Paul.
[men whooping]
these are old stomping grounds.
This is where our legacy began. We found the mother lode.
And we did four trips right here without moving a pot.
Maybe the crab are still there. Maybe the crab, 30 years later
maybe they're talking about, "remember that, we almost got caught by the time bandit?"
[laughs] today we're back to get you, you little sons of beep, beep, beep.
[men] heads up! Heads up!
-Stop, stop, stop, stop! -Whoa, stop!
-Oh, [bleep]. Oh, [bleep]. -[men shouting indistinctly]
[john speaking]
that was a good... That was a good hit.
[carl speaking]
they don't know how to run it, man.
They don't know how to run the crane in weather like this.
I think carl got upset.
He does not like greenhorns.
Horn, hang your baits. Come here.
Go, horn, go!
I don't have to be out here.
I can fish other places, but I like it out here.
Thirty five years and I'm still out here.
How many 52-year-olds are shoving pots?
[john] I've known blind dog for years but I've never worked with him.
See, I got it.
[john] good guy at heart, he is just a little rough on the edges.
I found our he's legally... Three times legally blind in this right eye.
[sniffles]
he can't hear either so, I don't know what you do to dogs that can't see or hear.
The story about old yeller.
You might be going home, if you don't get along well with everybody else.
[narrator] on the summer bay.
It's gonna be weird not having nick around here, you know, he's always been... The rock.
[narrator] while the fleet sets their first pots of the opilio season,
captain wild bill readies for the cod fishery.
-[bill on radio] how we looking guys? -Looking good.
[narrator] without nick for the first time in over a decade.
But we got this cod season coming up, it's an open access more you catch, more you make,
and it's a derby.
You get to a certain quota they pull the plug just like the old days.
So, I'm hoping we get a boat load in before most of these guys get off the dock.
-Ray? -Yeah, right.
That's dj, supposedly gonna be our new guy.
-How you doing? -Hey man. How are you?
Good, yeah.
Thanks for coming down, I know you know the story and
it's pretty much we're ready to go.
Yeah, I'm excited to be here. I wish it was under better circumstances.
Sorry to hear about nick and about your loss.
Yeah, so... [chuckles] I don't know.
It don't even seem real, it's tough to put into words.
Been a fixer with me for a long time, you know.
We got a dozen 13 years into this game together.
You know, I don't expect anybody to step in and fill that gap but
plan is gonna make to swing and
I'll need a... I'll need a guy like a backup guy for landing and with your experience,
I hope you take the spot and fill it.
Hopefully, live up to what you need.
-That's a big one man. -Absolutely. Excited to work with you, bill.
All right.
All right, you guys, let's get outta here.
-Stern clear! -Stern's clear!
[bill] you know, we're still trying to figure out the nick thing you know, it's...
Just think he's just gonna step in and everything is gonna be the same is a farce.
It's not gonna happen but we still got to do this,
and we got to do it hard and do it well.
[sig] I feel like we put all this effort into the start of our season,
we came up early and we did everything we could to try to get an advantage.
And then mandy ended up testing positive.
Now, that's my daughter, number one and I'm real fearful,
and everyone's kind of... On pins and needles, you know.
You know, did we contract covid?
Every day that we sit and wait the clock's ticking here.
We're praying everyday that if she gets one more negative test that she'll be released.
We're locked and loaded.
So, it's just a matter of waiting.
[sig laughing]
-hey, she's here. -[mandy] I'm back!
-Made it out of jail, covid jail. -[all laughing]
[narrator] two negative covid tests return relief skipper mandy to the northwestern.
Oh, yeah. That took long enough.
[narrator] and the northwestern to her winter season.
-[sig] there she is. -[mandy] hey!
-Ready to get out. -[mandy speaking]
I can't believe it, man, I never sweat so much in my life.
-Yeah, he was worried. -I'm sorry for holding you guys up.
-It's like a jail sentence. -Yeah, they let her out on good behavior.
[all laughing]
-are we all ready to go? -Yes we are!
We're waiting on you, sweet heart. Love it.
[man] opis, 2021!
The engine's plenty warm, you know we've been just idling and waiting and waiting
and waiting, so to get up north, that's the game plan for me.
-You guys ready? Awesome. -Roger.
[sig] 2021.
[narrator] 579 miles northwest.
Outside radar range of the nearest vessel.
In the heart of the storm.
[bleep]
[man speaking]
all right. This is start of the day, the only boat out here.
There isn't a soul within 60 miles of us.
This is part of the sphere where anybody is a complete ass.
We're hoping to strike it big.
But I'll tell you what. We really need this right now.
I mean it's a lot of money, getting up here. Kicked at us for a couple days.
See what we got in here now.
Hopefully it pays off.
It pays off in dollar signs.
Hey bring up!
Oh, my god.
Pray to the crab gods.
[josh] we're the only boat out here.
I'll tell you what, we really need this right now.
Hey, bring up!
Oh, my god.
Pray to the crab gods.
[man] whoa! Yeah!
Holy [bleep]!
Look at that. Look at that.
You gotta be... You gotta be [bleep] kidding me.
[men cheering]
holy... Whoa!
-Yeah! [cheering] -table's overflowing!
Yeah baby.
-Oh, wow. -Morning.
[josh] full [bleep] pot.
-Well, that looks good. -They already dumped one third in.
That's the first pot.
[all cheering]
yeah! Yeah baby!
Whoa [bleep] all right.
That's a good way to wake up right there.
All right.
Wow.
Look at these numbers. This is what we need!
-Six. One. Five. High five. -Hell, yeah! Six. One. Five.
-Look at this one, case. -Holy [bleep]!
[all exclaiming]
[bleep]
[josh] that's us down to the double numbers.
I love it!
-Yeah! Wowie! -Woo-hoo! [laughing]
wow. Seven. One. Five. A lot of [bleep] crab.
[narrator] 715 opilio and an average of 1.5 pounds a piece
makes that a $3,600 haul.
To come up to north west here, you make a massive investment on fuel, travel time,
the risk of icing up real bad.
When you find pots of gold like that it's all worth it.
That's what you take the risk for.
[narrator] skirting the southern edge of the storm,
well below the cornelia marie...
[indistinct shouting]
pulled the first pot down in our nostalgic area. See what we got this year.
Thirty years ago it was pretty nice fishing here.
[narrator] captain johnathan avoids the risk and $3,000 in fuel cost, of a trek north,
betting instead on an old haunt 55 miles from st. Paul island.
See what we got.
Pot number one.
[bleep]
ouch.
We'll see what we get.
Great.
[john] looks like there are sand fleas down here.
That's not good.
Oh, god, it's just shredded.
[narrator] swarming the sea floor below,
quarter inch parasitic crustaceans called sand fleas
strip john's bait clean before attracting their larger opilio cousins.
Well, the sand fleas will eat the bait. They get inside the bait jars, and the pots,
and then there's no bait in the pot, and the crab won't wanna hang out anymore.
Twenty. Twenty.
We're got enough to make a living.
Old school spot is not working out.
Thirty years ago these are potfulls of nice big crab.
Today, sand fleas, hardly any crab.
The flea needs to really work together on this.
Let me see.
So that's keith. He is 200 miles from us.
I'll call keith real quick.
Keith's my guy.
What's up, road runner. Road runner.
Coyote!
[keith] how's it going, road runner?
[john] I'm not off to a good start.
Um, I wanna talk to you about these sand fleas.
[keith] yeah. The fleas will usually bloom
for three to four days, and then they'll be gone.
So, hopefully that'll be what you see.
But the bait was gone. In 12 hours, it was just gone.
The fleas should disappear here within a day or two.
And hopefully you'll start seeing some crab.
-Okay, man. -All right.
-Stay safe. -You, too.
-Beep-beep. -Beep-beep.
-[chuckles] -okay.
Beep-beep, beep-beep. [beep] I like that guy.
[narrator] captain keith's advice,
dump pots back into the den of the flea,
timing his next set between their life-cycles
to harvest the opilio biomass.
[john] so, it might be fine down here.
Still a little bit of hope these old grounds can produce,
and I can end up getting a good trip out of this.
[john speaking]
cross our fingers.
We've put over a 180 pots
in the water in about six hours.
It's the fastest I've ever gotten the gear off,
and for good reason, because now we've got this.
[narrator] after a 50-hour soak,
captain keith returns to his emergency set
just in time to feel the storm's southern tendrils.
Woo!
First couple of pots of the season here.
Let's see what we've got in them.
Yeah!
All right. Come on, let's see some crab in this pot.
Hydros. [bleep]
[men screaming] hydros!
[keith] get out of there. And stay back.
Get it off, get it off.
Get rid of it. Just get rid of the [bleep] pot.
[men shouting]
hydros. [bleep]
[men shouting] hydros!
[keith] get out of there, and stay back.
Get it off. Get it off.
Get rid of it. Just get rid of the [bleep] pot.
Watch the crane line.
[man] it's not a good start.
There's no way we're sitting
in these kind of seas right now
with a pot dangling in that block.
Certainly not in these conditions.
Woo! [chuckles]
it's bad enough we're trying to fish in this weather,
trying to do an emergency repair
right there, at the rail,
the guys are really exposed trying to get this fixed.
[thudding]
-anything, anybody? -Nothing, nothing!
I think I just gotta keep my eyes on the ocean, man.
-Right here. -[indistinct shouting]
[man speaking]
from the splitter to the coiler.
[keith] roger that. Okay.
Now we're just surfing these things right now.
-Okay! -You like that?
-I love it! -Okay.
Good job, guys.
See if we can get back to work.
[man] yeah, right.
Come on, baby.
[keith] ouch.
A pot of bairdi.
-[keith] all bairdi? -Roger.
[bleep] that is not what we're [bleep] after.
[bleep] me, man. I can't believe this [bleep].
[narrator] permitted to catch opilio only,
keith has no choice but to return
the larger bairdi crab to the sea.
If we just scramble and stack them all on,
and head up north where we had our best fishing last year,
that's about a three-day commitment
to make the big move.
If we're gonna fish north we need to do it now.
It's time to go.
[narrator] 429 miles southeast,
on the cod grounds.
[david] god, we gather here before you tonight,
as men, as brothers,
missing a key member of our crew,
nick mcglashan,
I ask you that, during this time, god,
you soothe the hearts that are grieving.
Yeah, that long ride out wasn't what I needed
for this... Emotional thing.
I had... Way too much time to think.
Keep our captains healthy.
[bill] trying to put it out of my mind.
Please lead us through this season.
I really need this cod season to work.
-In your name we pray. Amen. -[men] amen.
Okay, you guys. We're getting closer.
Let's... Let's get ready to set.
It is a derby. There's only so much quota on the table.
This is like, "set, ready, go. Catch as much as you can."
and when they project, we're gonna be
at their number. And they shut it off.
[sighs] man, this is really weird.
I worked with nick for five years.
Learned a lot from him.
This is tough.
You gotta let me know when we're ready to go.
We'll start setting.
-Ready? -Hold on.
You gotta go through.
Yeah. As soon as that one's ready, let her go.
[man] roger.
You untangled there?
[bill] yeah, soon as it's ready.
-If you want, I can throw the diver. -All right.
We all good on that boom?
[man] yeah.
[bill] landon's great. And without nick,
I don't have that hardcore leader out there
directing everybody, that everybody looks to
for the answers.
-[landon] yeah. -Yeah.
Oh, man. This isn't that hard. It really isn't that hard.
Just when bill thought that it couldn't go any slower.
-[buzzer sounds] -bill! Are you ready?
Come on. Steve, what the [bleep]?
-Good? -[buzzer sounds continue]
[landon speaking]
well, let's get rid of the [bleep]! Come on, man.
[sighs] [bleep]
[bill] and it's not like I'm not emotional. It's...
I just think that if we get moving and get rolling,
it'll be easier to work through this.
We got a lot at stake here.
We just gotta start from square one.
[narrator] 349 miles northwest...
[john] we're at the old grounds here.
If professor colburn's right,
and the fleas are gone, we're gonna have
some nice crab fishing.
So, there we go.
[narrator] captain johnathan hauls his second pick
in sand flea country...
[john] go ahead, throw them.
Woo-hoo!
[narrator] ...Trusting amateur marine biologist keith colburn
that the varmints have stopped chomping.
[john] he said two-three days is
the life-cycle. They bloom and then they're gone.
Nothing's ever been easy.
I gotta catch these crab. It's all I know.
[crew member] heads up!
Wow!
Yeah, baby!
That makes me feel like a kid again.
That's the old days right there.
That's old school.
-Yeah! -Yeah! Look at them all go!
[chuckling] oh, god.
Yeah, baby!
Four-two-zero.
[john] yeah, baby! [dialing phone]
[phone ringing]
hello?
[john speaking]
hello! [chuckling] johnathan.
[john] so, I listened to your sand flea advice and...
-[men] yeah! -[laughing triumphantly]
...We set back, and the sand fleas were gone.
-They're gone. -Oh, right on.
Yeah, so, I'm gonna survive here.
Oh, good.
Thank you for the advice.
-Woo! -All right. Okay, john, take care.
Okay. I'll see you, buddy.
These are some pretty good pots.
God willing, we're gonna rock and roll.
Woo!
[carl speaking]
my guys are pretty good down there.
It's all coming together.
Everyone except old yeller.
Blind dog.
[chuckles]
look at him. Just going through the crab so fast,
but they're not going in the tote. They're going on the deck.
Oh, god.
In the old days, we didn't have totes.
We had to go throw them right over the rail.
But now you can just put them in a tote.
They're getting crab everywhere.
Carl, blind dog.
Slow down, put them in a tote.
[john] that's a green-horned move, dude.
[carl] this is how I [bleep] work!
Don't [bleep] with me when I'm working.
Is he mad now?
I'm get on another [bleep] boat, dude!
I can get a job anywhere!
Uh-oh. Is that blind dog?
Johnny, you think I'm some [bleep] greenhorn, dog?
That's what it was. You think I don't know what I'm doing?
-Come here. -Huh?
-Yeah, I do! -Well, then...
-I was giving you [bleep]! -Son of a bitch. [bleep]
[narrator] on the time bandit...
You think I'm some [bleep] greenhorn, dude.
That's what it was. You think I don't know what I'm doing?
-Come here. -Huh?
-Yeah, I do! -Well, then...
-I was giving you [bleep]! -Son of a bitch.
I was giving you a [bleep] bad time.
Get 'em... Hey!
-You think I can't work? I know what I'm doing. -I don't... No!
I know you are! Don't [bleep] with me, ever.
[grunts]
[bleep] disrespect, johnny!
All I do is respect you.
[crashes]
[john] wow. Throwing crab all over the deck.
I was just giving [bleep]. And I, then I said, "okay, I got it."
right?
Just giving a hard [bleep].
I wasn't disrespecting him. It's a communication problem.
But you don't come up the wheel, captain's wheelhouse and
[bleep] threaten me.
[carl] but I'm right though, ain't I?
Well, he's got a good point about it. There's crabs right there.
-[man] why not? -What? I don't wanna [bleep] talk.
[john] this could slow us down.
But, this boat is not gonna stop.
We're gonna get this job done.
I need to just have a talk with him.
God willing, me and blind dog will get over this. We'll see what happens.
[narrator] 244 miles southeast...
Oh, it feels great to finally be back on the boat.
On our way out to the grounds.
[narrator] ...On the northwestern...
[mandy] so even though I was released from isolation after I tested positive,
I could have potentially infected the other guys
and we do have to monitor ourselves for at least ten days.
[narrator] relief skipper mandy is first on wheel watch,
as sig and the rest of the crew catch a little shut-eye.
And this year, we had plans on heading north, um...
Gonna see exactly where my dad put us here.
Um, from the looks of it here,
my dad has us marked to go 200 miles off the island,
which... Is not a good idea because we really aren't out of the woods.
[narrator] sig's destination puts the boat 20 hours away from shore,
and medical help, should anyone show symptoms of covid-19.
I'd rather go fishing
sixty, 70 miles off the island, rather than 200.
I know my dad's not gonna like it,
but, right now, I wanna do what's safest for the boat and for our guys.
My watch is actually over, so I'm gonna get nick.
It's mavar's watch.
[narrator] the boat's course now resets to 80 miles south
of sig's original grounds.
Mandy turns over the helm to the crew...
Knowing the last one on watch
gives the captain the bad news.
Hey, sig.
Get up.
Why did you get me up so early?
Uh, we're just, we're pretty close to the marker there.
That's not where I said to go.
I said to go here.
Who moved my marker here?
-Clark? Who moved it? -Mandy moved it.
-Why? -I'm not sure.
I'm just the messenger.
-Can you get her please? -Yeah.
What do you suppose... We should have around 70-80 miles.
[clark] roger.
That's not where I wanna set.
I'm not good with that.
[sighs in exasperation]
we almost there.
-Almost there? -Yeah!
We're supposed to have another 70-80 miles to run.
-Did you move this cursor? -I did.
Why?
Well, you know, the doctor told us we're not out of the woods yet.
We need to be able to have a quick turn-around,
get back to the island if you get symptoms,
or if mavar gets symptoms.
Well, no one's planning on getting symptoms, number one.
The odds are, the crab are up higher.
I don't wanna start down below, west of the islands.
You've been pestering me about covid for a whole entire year, every single day.
Make sure you do this, make sure you do that.
And now it just happened, okay?
We're following protocol.
We got ten days of quarantine on the vessel at least.
They let us leave the dock.
We need to stay closer to the island.
I get what you're trying to do. I... I understand it.
I'm glad that you really care. That's really nice.
But, our priority is try to find the crab.
The safety of the crew, that comes first.
-Now, are they ready? -Yep.
No, that's fine, mandy. As far as I'm concerned, you know, this is on you.
I don't like change, but,
I want to just get the pots in the water.
This is not my call.
-You ready? -[man] yeah.
[sig] okay, set them when you're ready.
Two, one, one!
Here we go.
[narrator] 398 miles southeast, on the cod grounds...
[bill] the big question is,
did we put the gear in the right place?
You know, it'd be nice to see big fish in the 40s.
That'd be ideal.
It's what we need right now for a lot of reasons.
[narrator] captain wild bill wichrowski rallies his crew
to begin the fast paced derby.
[bill] well, there's a pretty major difference between fishing cod and fishing crab.
When the first fish goes in,
they want you to have the fish to the tender or the processor
in like 72 hours.
You gotta haul as much gear as you can,
you get as much fish as you can
within that allotted amount of time.
So it's a... It's a lot of pressure.
[bill] first pot coming up.
What the [bleep]?
Miss!
You gotta hit with the hooks. I can keep the boat going towards the next [bleep] pot.
Hey!
-[grunts] -[man] oh, man.
[bill] these guys are having a little trouble.
It's stressing me out.
I just can't do circles all night. We gotta get through this gear,
and we gotta get through a lot of gear in the next three days.
Well, nick was a given on the railing. I could...
I never even watched nick at the rail.
I just drove.
And, somehow the buoys made it through the block.
Come on!
Come on, baby! Come to papa!
First pod's not looking so good.
-To the dogs. To the dogs! -Dogs!
-No, I [bleep]. -[indistinct shouting]
[landon speaking]
good?
[man 2] good!
[bill] kenny was gonna climb on the table
and he didn't have his door tie undone.
And that's why it wouldn't open. He didn't untie his door.
-How many? -Kenny, number!
How many cod?
[bleep]
nowhere near what I had hoped for.
Son of a bitch.
[man] watch out!
[bleep]
[bill] I think landon had a little
fall last night
mentally about nick. Maybe it's just
'cause he's gotta try to organize these guys.
Hook me up, please!
[bill] I mean everybody's bummed out.
At this point, I don't care. I'm tired of kissing people's ass to [bleep] job.
Oh! Hey, pull up.
What's going on?
-Which way? -The right way.
[man] pop it low. What are you doing?
[indistinct conversation]
-[bleep] -[man] we wanna pull the line down!
All right, coming down.
Coming down, down, down, down, down, down, down!
[man yelling]
-say again? -[man yelling]
I'm dragging it?
[man] the buoys are right off the stern.
Right off the stern.
[alarm beeping]
uh, I got a... Got one in the wheel.
[man speaking]
[bill speaking]
-wrapped up? -Yeah!
All right, hey! No!
Take this back the launcher!
-[narrator] on the summer bay... -[man shouting]
I'm dragging it?
[alarm beeping]
uh, I got a... Got one in the wheel.
Coming down, down, down, down, down, down!
[narrator] the crew takes too long to set back the cod pot,
tangling its line with the new one in the block...
So it looks like we got line in the port wheel now.
[narrator] ...Dragging the first pot behind the boat,
and snarling its line in the propeller.
-Wrapped up? -Yeah!
All right, hey! No!
It's like the worst [bleep] scenario.
I mean, we lose power, we lose steering, we're at the mercy of that ocean.
[narrator] if they can't free the coil,
bill risks not only losing the pot,
but freezing his prop, leaving him
dead in the water,
amid a violent and building sea.
So, we, got to undo all the slack
and tie a shuttle line to it and drag it to the block.
-Sure. -Yeah.
Give me a shot of nylon downstairs.
So we're gonna take the line from the block.
All around the boat,
under the boat with a heavy shaft.
We'll come around, we're gonna wrap around this line.
And then we're gonna pull on it and the block.
What it's gonna do is,
it's tied up here in the other end on the block,
so we pull the line up.
And then drag the pot up.
Watch out.
Little time-consuming...
[smacks lips] ...But save a pot.
All right, hey, somebody coil this, right here.
Landon's running the show and he's done this before.
Come down on the block!
Nick showed him that one.
Okay, so, hey, this is what we gotta do. Now, hold it.
[yelling] oh [bleep]!
Yeah, nice and easy.
It's in tight.
How's it coming?
So this is the pot right here, okay?
-Yeah. -We got it!
Where are you gonna cut, landon?
Well, hold on, landon, you'll lose it.
Okay.
Damn it!
I know, I... I did not understand
until we got to the line why you would cut it.
[grunts in despair]
you know, it's, uh...
Couldn't get the line up high enough on the block
and so I thought if I cut it, move forward the chain
it would still bite it and then it slipped right through the chain.
I didn't get... What the [bleep]?
You don't cut anything till you have the [bleep] thing in the block.
Oh well. I'll ride over it.
I'm just glad we got the...
-[alarm beeps] -they...
They come up at the same speed so there's no resistance.
[water splashing]
I was gonna push the [bleep] out of these guys
and go around the clock.
These guys, they're down emotionally.
It's hard.
I'm having a hard time hauling this gear.
Really wish nick was here.
Nick could haul [bleep] no matter what.
Oh, yeah. [continues indistinctly]
"[bleep] yeah!" that's all you hear.
[machine whirring]
let's put this on board. We're gonna take a break.
This isn't working out too well.
[bleep] nick. [scoffs]
[seagulls squawking]
[narrator] 343 miles northwest...
[whooping]
[john] two more pots and you get a ten-minute union break.
Roger that.
[narrator] on the time bandit...
That's like 300. Nice, clean 300.
Gettin' 'em done.
But blind dog's turned into a mad dog.
I hear him screaming out there.
[bleep] job.
Guess what, people? Another pot is what.
[bleep] don't wanna work.
I don't care who you are.
[narrator] captain john's fishing is good.
But his blind dog has gone bad.
I need to just have a talk with him.
I'll go make blind dog a cup of coffee.
Chill him out.
That was just crazy [bleep] there.
I mean, it's not crazy.
We... We were pretty rough dudes back in the day.
Always fighting.
Never a dull moment around that guy.
Blind dog.
Go talk to johnny, brother.
Got nothing but [bleep] respect.
Blind dog!
Where you at? Hey, come here, come here!
[engine whirring]
there you go. Some black coffee.
Just like you like it.
I don't disrespect you. I was not disrespecting you.
I don't disrespect you and we could throw down,
but that would be dumb.
Let's just drink coffee instead. [chuckles]
and I didn't... I was having fun with you.
And I'm gonna have some boundary with you
once in a while.
You don't have to throw down.
You could do it right back at me.
And say, "what kind of skipper is this?"
-whatever, say whatever you want. -Yeah.
-Okay, you know that? -Roger, roger.
Okay, okay, there we go.
Right. Get back to work. [bleep]
that's my boat.
I'm different than every other boat.
Time to go to work now.
Work all night.
It's all good.
It's the boo-boo.
Carl "blind dog" gorsenger.
I'm still happy I hired him.
I love the guy dearly.
I'd fight to death for blind dog.
I would fight blind dog if he wanted.
If he really needed me to fight him,
I'd just figure, "why don't we just skip that
and just have some coffee?"
[waves splashing]
[laughs]
so we'll get through this.
Gotta catch these crab. That's all I know.
[narrator] 50 miles northwest,
on the northwestern..
[waves crashing]
I can't see. [bleep]
-[sig] you see nothing? -No.
Oh, way to port.
Across from me.
-Where is it? -Port.
Oh!
-Port, port, port. -Okay.
[seagulls squawking]
there we go. [grunts]
okay, first pot.
Come on now.
[engine whirring]
if I'd have gone where I was gonna go,
I'll be another 130 miles north.
Yeah.
But let's just move forward.
We're mainly just down here just to stay safe for...
Health reasons.
[narrator] after mandy stole the reins,
sig hopes to steal a generous pick
from her southern set.
[sig] we got a little over 600,000 pounds to produce.
But we just don't know what these water temperatures.
We don't know if the crab are hitting right now,
but sometimes you just got to make your bed.
[engine whirring]
come on, baby.
[engine whirring]
here she comes.
[engine whirring]
[sig] come on, baby.
Come on, baby.
[engine whirring]
here she comes.
[engine whirring]
[sighs] ah!
[mandy] oh, no.
-Nothing? -Nothing.
Ugh!
Definitely not good.
Ugh!
Thirty!
[bleep]
well, this is the shallowest stuff we have.
-This is 61 fathoms, so... -[beeping]
everything goes deeper from here.
[engine whirring]
please, please, please.
[sig] come on, this one.
It's gonna be crab.
Oh, no.
Not very good.
Completely blank.
Zero.
I mean, we're gonna need more than this for sure.
Why do we buy such big pots if there's no crab in them?
[mandy] there's no crab here. You know, that's on me.
Stack it.
Let's get out of here.
Grab these and then, just keep looking.
[narrator] on the summer bay...
Throw the [bleep] hooks, you meathead.
Damn it.
Come on!
[seagulls squawking]
[bill] not getting around that one with the bags.
No, I got to [bleep] turn around.
They're tired, I'm tired.
[seagulls squawking]
and this extra turning around.
I don't have the time to do this right now.
It's... It's not in the game. It's not in the picture.
[indistinct conversation]
[machine whirring]
these guys gotta rally.
It's like any sports team, if the major player gets hurt,
does that team quit? [bleep] no.
They move the roster around,
they put guys in different places,
and they strive to become a better team.
I spent ten years of my life keeping that [bleep] alive.
I put him in front of my own...
My own children to try to keep that [bleep] going.
[alarm sounds]
this is [bleep] hard.
[bleep]
[nick] I got a message from mailin's wife yesterday.
She said that she had a dream of mailin
and that...
Uh, he said, "I'm home now,"
and then disappeared
right after we spread his ashes.
I would like to think that if I pass and go,
the people that love me would do something special.
Son of a bitch.
I got something I gotta do.
[waves crashing]
[telephone ringing]
[waves crashing]
[sig] is that you, bill?
[bill over phone] hey.
Everything okay with you? How goes it?
As you can imagine it's been a tough...
It's been tough getting started, getting motivated.
One minute I'm all angry,
the next minute I'm crying like a kid.
But, uh, heading in.
We're thinking of doing a memorial service
for nick at priest rock
in two days.
And just try to get some closure for these guys
and move on, and myself included,
but if you talk to anybody and they're gonna be around,
it'd be great if somebody came out and joined in.
If we can make it, you know, we'll certainly try.
I can certainly spread the word, if that helps.
Appreciate your help, man. Have a good day. Good fishing.
-Good fishing to you, bill. I'm out. -Later.
[seagull squawks]
[telephone ringing]
[john] time bandit. Hello?
[sig] hey, uh, I just got off the line with bill.
And spreading the word around, he wants to do a memorial
for nick mcglashan in town.
[waves crashing]
I was hoping we can make it in there
if we got to cut our trip short, if possible.
Nick was a hell of a guy.
What a huge loss for wild bill, that is.
I got the same feeling, so...
All right, buddy. Hopefully, we'll see you in town,
and we can make this work.
[john] hey, uh, I heard they're doing a memorial for nick.
[keith] nick mcglashan was a good kid,
and we'll support bill and obviously nick's memory.
Yeah!
[casey] well, I'll try to make it.
I really wanna be there for nick and for bill.
They've got a big impact on a lot of people.
He was a great guy, lot of smiles, money.
Way before his time.
[harley] just getting started,
let me chew on it a little bit.
Thanks for letting me know and I'll, uh...
And I'll keep you posted.
[waves crashing]
that's all you can do.
Just do our best to get down there,
weather permitting, right?
[waves crashing]
that's not an easy aspect.
[narrator] on the wizard...
[waves crashing]
and the weather sucks.
We're definitely right in the eye of the storm here.
[waves crashing]
trying to play catch-up.
Let's hope they're here.
All right, there it comes.
Whoo!
[narrator] after days of travel,
and positioning here in the north,
captain keith battles the storm's titan forces
for the bering sea's opilio bounty.
[waves crashing]
ah!
If I can dig a 300 average out of this gear,
I'll be happy.
Anything above that's a bonus.
Hope it's loaded.
If it is, try not to set it off.
And put them right back in the water.
Whoa! Looks pretty [bleep] good.
All right. Looks like there's something in it.
Come on, crab.
That's right. This is what we're looking for.
There's life on the bottom.
[cheering]
three-one-zero.
Three-one-zero. Right on.
Cuck this pot back.
[keith] and hopefully we're off to the races.
Keep it coming.
They're back.
[bleep]
loaded.
[keith] get them on.
Exactly what we're looking for.
Yeah!
It's pretty good. They're big. Big clean guys.
[oj] four-seven-five.
Four hundred and seventy-five. Right on!
[grunting]
[keith speaking]
whoa! There's a big one. Heads up! Heads up!
[narrator] this week on salty takes...
[john] god help us to fear no man or thing.
Give us the strength and courage to wish no ill towards others.
[narrator] how does the skipper show blind dog
who the top dog is?
Lord, thank you for this food,
and blessings and this pie
and carl not knowing this is gonna happen to him.
[laughing]
[john] all right, baby.
Take a shower.
-Now clean up that mess you made! -[laughing]
look at the mess you made there, god, blind dog.
[narrator] the cornelia marie
seizes their piece of the pie up north,
while johnathan triumphs over sand fleas
for his own slice down south.
[narrator] on the wizard...
Whoa! There's a big one. Heads up! Heads up!
Good job, tyler, way to get out of there.
That [bleep] has some serious teeth on it.
We gotta run fast. Keep coming.
Had my head down but all of a sudden
just saw, in the corner of my eye, just saw a big white wall.
Big.
Here you go.
Back in business.
[yelling indistinctly]
[all cheering]
bang.
Right back on. Good.
Nice and clean this far north.
Couldn't ask for much more.
Other than maybe a little sunshine.
[oj] five-two-five.
[grunting]
five twenty-five, right on.
Holy...
Clean, big, beautiful crab.
That is some awesome crab right there.
Five hundred and fifty.
[keith] did you say five-six-zero?
Five-five-o.
If I can get through 500 pots on these numbers,
we'll definitely hit the 300,000 pounds we need.
Keep this train rolling, man. Keep the train rolling.
Long overdue.
[bill] a couple of days ago, I gave sig a call,
and I said, "hey, when are you coming?"
you know, we don't have any ashes yet.
But we wanted to kind of give the guys a little bit of...
I don't know if that's closure or it's just peace.
At least something to recognize nick.
If anybody shows it's great.
If not a soul shows, I'll completely understand.
Oh, no way. [soft chuckle]
oh, my god.
[ship horn blows]
[sig] loud and proud. We're here.
-We're here for you, bud! -[all cheering]
wouldn't wanna be anywhere else, bill.
Yes! [screams]
[indistinct shouting]
[chuckles softly] it's all of them.
[man] yeah! [cheering]
[sig] not everybody wants to leave the grounds or what they're doing.
You know, once you start going,
you just wanna keep going till you're done but...
You know, it's the right thing to do. We cut our trip early.
[sig] because we just don't know when and where
they're gonna lay nick to rest.
It's just something that we can do now.
[radio static]
sig hansen, a couple of days ago,
I said that on our way back in we were gonna give tribute to one of the best
damn deckhands in the bering sea.
And I asked you if there was any other guys available,
would you let him know that we're gonna do this.
And I'll tell you buddy, you went above and beyond.
I cannot believe that everybody has assembled for this.
A lot of respect. We miss that guy, you know.
There's nobody that did more for nick than you, man.
And everybody in this group noticed it.
You never gave up.
Tight bunch of guys.
Hey everybody, I got nick's family out here,
nick's mom, June, here, we've got nick's daughter,
[voice shaking] you're gonna make me cry.
[chuckles softly] I'm pretty emotional.
I lost a trusted friend,
and an outstanding employee,
and a brother in life.
[bleep] man!
We're gonna say goodbye to him, nick mcglashan,
but he'll always be with us.
Love you, nick.
Love everything about you.
I love you guys for coming in for this.
I'm really blown away.
[sobs] thank you.
[crying] yeah, man.
Yeah, we love you, buddy.
Yeah, we love you, bill.
[bill] if you guys got any expired flares or anything,
let's light one off so nick can see us.
That's [bleep] perfect.
We're gonna toss nick's hook one last time.
It was definitely his forte. [laughs]
any weather, any seas.
Five, four, three, two, one,
let 'er fly for nick.
For nick.
[all cheering]
[man] yeah, brother!
♪ on this day I will live ♪
♪ it's time that I insist... ♪
[exhales]
all right.
[crying]
[laughing]
♪ I'll soar like a bird ♪
♪ I'm not coming back to you ♪
♪ I'll just be a story that you've heard ♪
just stay strong for your guys, bill.
We need you now more than ever.
The gap that he left, the pair of shoes...
I don't know if they'll ever be filled.
[bill] it's a crazy day, nick.
Yeah.
[bill] I guess, thankful for what we got.
To good family,
and some pretty good friends.
You're one of them, nick.
Thanks for keeping us safe.
I love you, man.
♪ hey, hey, goodbye ♪
♪ hey, hey, goodbye... ♪
[bill] these guys gotta rally.
I gotta rally.
We're gonna continue on, you know.
We still got seven, eight families we have to support
from this boat.
It doesn't stop. I mean, obviously,
he's gonna be greatly missed.
Love you, nick!
Rest in peace, my brother!
[bill] but he's always gonna be in my heart.
It's for you, nick.