[josh] yo, look at this, dude.
"polar vortex is splitting in two
which may lead to weeks of wild winter."
[reporter] let's talk about the polar vortex.
The polar vortex is a cold dome
of low pressure sitting atop the north pole.
Sometimes, very well above average temperatures
in the stratosphere can displace
that polar vortex further south.
So the next time the polar vortex comes your way,
get ready for very cold air coming from the arctic circle.
[josh] that ain't gonna be good.
So we gotta watch our asses,
'cause there's not gonna be any warning apparently.
[deckhand 1] watch out.
[casey] holy [bleep]!
You just took a crowbar to the head.
Weather's picked up. So when you get a team like this,
we're gonna find out what they're really made of.
[deckhand 2] go, go, go.
-[steven] whoa! -[davidson speaking]
[sig] we're so far north...
The ice comes down and hits you,
you know, you're out.
Watch the rails.
-Whoa! -[mandy] whoa!
[yells and grunts]
[sig] it's winter in alaska, in the bering sea.
And, uh, that's nothing to play games with.
I don't care who you are.
[narrator] three hundred thirty four miles northwest of dutch harbor...
[sig] first box comin' up.
You guys ready?
-[deckhand 1] yup! -[deckhand 2] all good!
[narrator] on the northwestern...
Yo, all right.
-Whoo-hoo! -So long, crabs!
[sig] this gear's been in the water a long time,
so hopefully, we'll get a good pick out of it.
Feels good to be out fishing again, that's for sure.
We've been behind the eight-ball since we started.
[narrator] after setbacks at dock,
and deckhand nick mavar's emergency appendectomy,
captain sig hansen and relief skipper mandy
return to their town soak on the southern grounds
six days later than planned.
You know, all that stuff adds up.
Just delay after delay.
[sig] delay after delay.
-[deckhand 1] whoo, come on! -[deckhand 2] here we go.
Come on, crabs!
Okay, mandy, first one.
What does it look like?
[sighs]
[sig] I was expecting more, to be honest.
[mandy sighs] oh, man!
Clever.
It's about half of what we want.
That's probably a buck-and-a-half, two bucks.
This is small pile.
This is probably 220.
[sighs] I was looking for more than that.
[groans]
with the amount of soak that we've had,
-it should be much better. -Should be more.
[sig] what do you think?
I think we need to stack them on and just head north.
Yeah, the problem is the start of that polar vortex,
it's gonna get real cold, real fast.
-We got these winds from the east to the west. -Mm-hmm.
So, it's these cold winds all the time.
So, you've got one low pressure storm
coming through and it stops, then another one's
right behind it, stops, then another one.
It just gonna keep coming.
[narrator] fueled by a rotating cold air mass
known as the polar vortex,
super chilled tendrils of air sweep into lower latitudes,
bringing low pressure systems
and the feared arctic ice flow south,
creating a train of super chilled storms
and towering seas.
Just gonna keep coming and going,
we don't really know how long it's gonna last.
[cell phone ringing]
[sig] well...
[sig speaking]
so what happened?
[nick speaking]
[sig sighs]
[narrator] checking in from the hospital,
nick mavar.
Oh, no.
[nick speaking]
oh, man, we're back out on the gear here.
But the numbers are just not doing it.
[nick] well, do you see people around, or where's everybody?
Everybody headed up the hill, man.
All right.
[sig] it sounds like there's life...
But I don't know, I mean, it's...
The ice is back behind there.
The problem is that polar vortex.
[nick] yep, I see that on the news.
[mandy speaking]
-[nick speaking] -bye.
[sig] I don't like going up there,
with the ice and all that.
But, you know, we gotta try.
[sig speaking]
[deckhand 1] roger.
[sig] we just got to pack them on and
head up the hill.
Reboot and move forward.
[narrator] three hundred thirty four miles southeast...
[keith] that first trip, I am proud of myself.
[narrator] in dutch harbor...
[keith] we battled one of the worst storms ever.
And we filled the boat,
and we got home safe.
[shouts]
and, we are locked and loaded and ready to roll.
Can't wait. Getting back out there and fill the boat up again.
[narrator] with 340,000 pounds of opilio crab in their tanks...
Monte is coming back to town.
[narrator] captain keith colburn has more than 1.3 million pounds
of quota left to catch.
And, with the polar vortex dropping further south,
he's going to need all the colburn muscle he can muster.
[keith] speaking of which,
the arrival of the rodent.
And sometimes muscle comes in the form of a mouse.
Oh, busy bees, that's what I like to see!
[all cheering]
[deckhand 1] hey, it's monte!
Welcome back.
Hey, you missed a good trip.
[monte] so I heard.
It's always nice to have an extra skipper out there
in the wheelhouse.
Make these days longer for us out here, absolutely.
[monte] nice trip, huh?
[keith] you know what, we battled.
Big storms and ice and everything else but...
Hey, we knocked one out.
Right on, way to chew on that big number.
We're looking good.
Okay, well, I'm gonna go unpack my stuff.
We got so much to do.
Okay.
[monte] well, welcome back.
[sighs]
[phone ringing]
hello, hello, wizard.
Hey, what's up?
So are you in the hospital?
How bad is it?
Okay, um...
Let me call you right back, all right?
[sighs]
ah, home sweet home.
[keith] my brother is in the hospital.
[narrator] only minutes after monte's return,
keith now grapples with a family emergency.
Older brother greg colburn was admitted
to a san francisco area hospital
with severe chest pains.
[keith] monte knows as well as I do,
if you're getting into that vortex,
if you're gonna go play with the ice,
two of us need each other.
We got to keep the boat fishing, and at the same time,
you know, we got a family crisis we got to deal with.
[monte] it's good to be back.
Let's go see what the guys got going.
I don't know what to do. I'm at a loss.
[narrator] near the russian line...
These are some very, very, very, very big waves.
[narrator] captains casey mcmanus and josh harris
battle through 25-foot seas
driven by south-bound arctic winds.
The weather, it's supposed to get worse,
and then, it'll get even worse than that.
Polar vortex, it's very unpredictable.
There are some monsters out here.
Watch your back!
This is not normal.
[narrator] working in the far north, josh and casey bet
that one last run through the gear
will top off their tanks
before polar vortex-driven low-pressure system
reaches their chosen grounds,
rendering them unfishable.
[casey] we found a nice little patch of crab.
So, we're gonna go back and where that stream, around east and west,
we're gonna lay some north-southers on most fathom lines
and see if we can't dig some crab out of that.
Watch out, watch out, watch out.
Everybody hang on, here we go.
[man cheers]
all right, guys, we're gonna be sent to the ditch here a little bit.
Watch out!
So just be careful. Keep your head on a swivel, okay?
Coming over.
Now, we gotta lace this area out, man.
Put everything real close together.
We're gonna sit here and farm it, man.
[narrator] by clustering their pots in a tight area,
the skippers create a bay cloud to draw the crab
out of hiding.
We're gonna throw a buffet in front of them
of codfish and ground up herring.
And, you know, even if it's blowing 100
and the hurricanes are coming,
you might want
your fat ass over there for a burger, right?
[josh] whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Watch out!
Whoo!
[josh] bring me some luck, baby.
Go get them crabbies.
Holy [bleep]!
It hit you?
[narrator] on the cornelia marie...
Holy [bleep]
it hit you?
Oh, you just took a crowbar to the head.
I think it bopped him a little bit.
[narrator] a pot smashes into the sorting table
turning a ten-pound crowbar used to break ice
into a deadly projectile.
Grazing new deckhand jeremy camas's head
as it flies past.
[deckhand 1] you all right?
Are you okay?
That's crazy.
Jeremy, I think, you gonna have number one
closest moment to death.
Holy moly, I didn't believe that was gonna happen.
Crazy-crazy right there.
That was a... Yeah. That could have been near death, right there.
[deckhand 1] watch out!
[josh] thank god, that's the last pot.
We're roughed out, but we've got a job to do
and we're gonna go out and do it.
All right, guys, I'm gonna turn around here,
put the... In chill...
Yep.
So, get a little rest. Thank you.
Hopefully, the [bleep] will turn up in the [bleep] pot.
I hit my damn head, there better be some [bleep] crab.
[narrator] ninety miles southeast...
[harley] we gotta get something going on.
[narrator] ...On the southern wind.
We need to head to town, just a matter of a few days.
I got to get a boatload outta here before that ice gets here, is what I gotta do.
Before that vortex starts whooping cold air here.
[narrator] captain steve "harley" davidson
hauls his northernmost strings for an offload in 48 hours,
if the polar vortex storm doesn't shut him down first.
We got weather that's just blasting us.
And, then, we got a new guy that doesn't have any experience.
I mean, he's... He's doing it. He's trying.
[michael speaking]
and, uh, my family owns two funeral homes.
[harley] mike's a mortician by trade. That's what he did. And he went to college.
[laughs]
comparing the funeral industry to crabbing industry,
both are very difficult jobs.
[crewmates laugh]
[indistinct chatter]
[harley] and this trip here, steven's my deck boss.
I think this is maybe one of his first times in that type of position.
[narrator] operating without veteran munsey cannon
for the first time in over a decade,
harley turns to steven lucchino to step up and lead the fledgling crew.
[harley] they got to just get their unity together.
[steven] ready?
[deckhand 1] yeah, boy!
[steven] let's do it.
[harley] here we are.
[harley on pa] get ready for the first fight.
[steven] let's do it.
[harley speaking]
I have no idea.
[deckhand shouting]
[crew laughing]
[all cheering & whooping]
[laughs] bam, I like it.
[steven speaking]
this is good fishing.
We're accumulating crab right here.
[crew cheering]
[harley speaking]
[narrator] harley's plan,
track the biomass he thinks is headed into upper latitudes,
that is, if he and his green crew can keep up with the opilio herd.
[steven speaking]
can I go down on this please?
Dealing with a new freaking team is holy smackers.
Come on, get out of my way.
Go, move!
Get the [bleep]. Grab this [bleep]. Oh my god, dude.
[steven] yo, chop, chop!
[deckhand 1] it's actually super now.
So, michael gets all these [bleep] cod out here.
[harley speaking]
hey! Get your [bleep] ass over here and [bleep] help!
This is a race, we are in a race right now.
It's not easy.
But if we all work together at it, we can do it, I know that.
[narrator] sixty-three miles northeast,
and ten miles from the arctic ice pack on the northwestern...
We want to get these in the water,
dial them back in, get them soaked in.
We're hoping just to put something together.
See if we can't make this pay off.
[narrator] unwilling to scratch on low numbers...
It's a lot of risk with playing too close to the ice.
[narrator] captain sig and relief skipper, mandy,
plunge into the heart of the polar vortex
on a collision course with southbound arctic ice floes.
The ice comes down and hits you, you know, you're out.
They might wipe out 100 pots right there.
And at 1,500 bucks a pop, it adds up.
[crew whooping]
hang on!
[sig] all right, man, we're gonna set this one up here.
Well, shall we make it a nick string?
[sig] you want to dedicate this to nikolai?
-[mandy] yeah. -[sig] all right.
[beeps]
all right, so I'm gonna call this the nick string. Over.
[all cheering]
it's a nicky string.
[narrator] while veteran deckhand, nick mavar,
recovers from an emergency appendectomy 800 miles away,
captain sig still finds a use for him...
As a battle cry.
-[deckhand 1] here we go! -[deckhand 2 speaking]
we're so far north, it's a little different strategy for us,
because of the ice edge,
and that's only a few miles away from this area.
We're fishing 120 crab pots, that's nothing.
But we want to be mobile.
The weather is the boss out here.
Yeah, we're well on the...
Whoa!
[deckhand 2] be careful.
So far, so good, mandy. We're sitting with it.
Come on, people, let's go, let's go!
[deckhand 2] ready!
[deckhand 3 speaking]
[all laughing]
watch the rail. Watch the rail.
-[exclaiming] -[mandy] whoa!
[narrator] on the northwestern...
[deckhand 3 speaking]
[all laugh]
watch the rail. Watch the rail.
[deckhand 1] whoa!
Whoa!
Oh, [bleep]!
[sig] you guys okay?
Yeah, we're good.
Didn't even look that big till it was already there.
I didn't see it till it hit me.
-Whoa! -[groans]
[sig] the guys gotta pay attention.
[deckhand cheers]
this is that weather they're talking about.
There's that polar vortex. It is right now.
[deckhand 3] going over!
Because of the ice conditions, we've restricted ourselves.
So, we're fishing with less gear.
Hopefully, they all hit.
You never know. I don't expect them all to, but that would be the hope.
[crew cheers]
[narrator] fifty-six miles southwest...
...On the southern wind.
I think that weather vortex is finally starting to hit us here.
Oh, yeah. Look at that velometer.
It's been crashing down the last six hours.
[steven] we're getting nautical, boys.
Lord, I'm expecting some good numbers.
We gotta... I gotta fill this boat up.
[narrator] facing an offload in just 36 hours,
captain harley fights through the polar vortex's plummeting low pressure system,
eager to see if his northern gamble pays off.
I don't know, we'll see how this goes.
[steven] oh, yeah! Look at that, mike.
[whoops]
five thousand more pounds. Let's do this. Come on.
[steven speaking]
watch the hook. The hook.
[harley] steven's my one seasoned guy,
I'm gonna just have to rely on him.
[narrator] on the crab, it's up to new deck boss, steven,
to manage the green crew.
[michael gagging]
[crew cheering]
[deckhand 1] we got a puker. Congratulations.
[narrator] and no one is greener than new deckhand, michael rc.
[steven] yeah, pukey did puke this day.
[deckhand 2] looking good, mike. Looking good, baby.
Clean yourself up.
Waiting for you.
Hurry up!
[harley] hey, steven, can you come up here for a minute?
Roger.
[grunts]
[harvey] just try to boost michael up. Make sure he feels good about himself.
He can do this. This is his learning time.
Just show him, you know, don't make him feel bad about it.
Thank you. Yeah.
God, munsey, why can't you be here, huh?
[steven] michael.
Shut that door. Nobody. Ain't nobody there.
You don't need him to shut it.
Hustle, michael.
Hurry up. Get out of the [bleep] damn way.
Hey!
Uh-oh! Watch out.
[shouting]
hey, come on. Hey, watch out, steven. You gonna hurt him.
That's not right.
You all right, michael?
Steven goes and grabs the control, pulls the pod,
it was gonna just about whopped him.
[shouting]
almost whacked out michael. He went pulled that pod out and then...
If michael's been right there, just about took the freaking head off him.
Ha, this is the best time in my run.
[bleeping]
-how many, michael? -How many did you put in here?
How many do you have, michael?
I have 15.
[deckhand 1] why you asking his number?
He was putting some in the tow too.
It doesn't matter. You're not [bleep] counting mine.
You're just counting your [bleep] number.
[michael] I know.
[harley] okay, you know what?
This isn't working for me.
We're gonna do a different plan here.
[phone ringing]
[munsey speaking]
heyo, yo. The whole world's gone to [bleep].
[munsey laughing]
[munsey speaking]
[narrator] ninety miles northwest...
[josh] some of the worst weather I've had the whole year.
Birds can't even fly today. It's so bad.
You know that's bad.
Got enough control over the boat.
The string is on the verge of just shutting it down.
[narrator] to entice the crab out of hiding...
[josh] they're hunkering down, then they're hunkering down.
Maybe they'll be hungry and start eating again.
[narrator] josh and casey set their pots in tight rows,
creating a veritable buffet
of over 6,000 pounds of bait
to lure their prey.
Polar vortex caused
lot of lows, lot of highs.
Very unpredictable.
[casey] your finger looks a little fat.
[jeremy] yeah, it's definitely fat.
It's not so much this one, it's this one on this side.
Exactly. I know.
[narrator] using his finger to shield his skull from a ten-pound crowbar...
Is it still throbby?
Oh, yeah, it's definitely throbby.
Even worse.
I think we need to let the... Let the pressure go.
[narrator] new deckhand jeremy readies for some bering sea surgery.
The goal, relieve the pressure by any means necessary.
[deckhand 1] whoo!
Let's go!
[casey] we're gonna need some of these.
You just take a paper clip, straighten that out.
All righty.
[josh speaking]
hello. Whoo-hoo!
[casey] okay, look away.
No. Hang on.
[josh] it's raising my blood pressure.
[casey speaking]
watch your asses.
[casey speaking]
[siren blaring]
whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
[casey speaking]
-[josh shouts] -whoo!
[narrator] on the cornelia marie...
[casey speaking]
[josh] watch your asses.
[casey speaking]
[siren blaring]
whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
[casey speaking]
[squishing]
[groans]
-[josh shouts] -whoo!
-Oh, you smell that? -Yeah, I do.
Okay, squish that out of there.
[jeremy] all right. Oh. Feels better already.
-Does it? -Yeah.
[jeremy] definitely feels softening up.
Yeah, that thing came shooting out of there.
-Cool? -Yeah. Thank you, boss.
-No problem. -Appreciate it.
[narrator] with dr. Mcmanus's operation complete...
-Morning, case. -Morning.
Captain josh harris turns to his first string of the day in the far north...
If he can find it.
[josh] do you see anything out your window?
[casey] I don't see it on this side.
On your left, ten o'clock, 140 yards.
Oh, ten o'clock. Roger.
Keep comin'.
-Right in front of you. -I got her now.
-Got her? -[josh] yeah. Thank you.
[casey] okay.
[josh on pa] first pot's coming up.
Yeah, right!
Let's go!
[josh] we have got to stop this boat.
It's one of the largest quotas we've had in a decade.
Oh, baby.
Whoa!
[deckhand 1] ready to go, baby!
Yeah!
[josh] damn.
Yeah!
[crew cheers]
ooh. We needed this.
[deckhand 2] watch it!
-[deckhand 1 laughing] -[deckhand 2] yeah!
[josh] what'd you get on that one?
[on pa] four, three, zero. Thank you.
-Four thirty? -[josh] yeah.
-Hell yeah! -Oh! Oh! Oh!
[casey] making as many pounds on the boat as we can.
We're not gonna stop.
[narrator] five hundred eight-four miles southeast...
In dutch harbor.
[keith speaking]
hey, could you get out the wheelhouse?
[monte] what's going on? What's up?
Frankie, you know what? Here, talk to monte real quick, all right?
Tell him how bad it is, would you?
-What? -He has to go.
Just talk to him.
Hello?
How's it goin'?
[narrator] with over 200 pots soaking near the russian line,
wizard captains keith and monte colburn
balance the needs of the boat with the responsibilities of family.
We'll figure something, all right? I promise.
I mean, this is important.
Okay, I love you, too.
I love you, bro. I love you.
What are we doing about that? I mean...
[sighs]
[monte] worried about that white stuff up above us.
Everybody is.
All right.
But we won't be coming back to dutch for quite some time.
I don't know how bad it's gonna be with greg.
Now's the time to make a decision.
[sighs]
I'm going home.
Go take a trip and I'll go home and take care of family.
[monte] I ain't gonna see my brother.
[narrator] across the harbor...
[harley] the crab are getting off the boat.
[narrator] on the southern wind...
[harley] be happy to be over with.
[narrator] captain harley prepares to off-load 150,000 pounds of opilio.
[harley] I have a serious problem.
I'm used to having friends and people getting along.
We have little spats here and there,
but we get along, we work well together.
I'm not used to this.
[narrator] but with his crew splintering apart,
the skipper must also decide
whether to off-load his deck boss, steven laginio.
[harley on pa] tell him to come here. I want to talk to him.
[deckhand 1] yeah. Roger.
What's up, harley?
You know, I don't know, dude. I'm just [bleep] not sure
how you and I are gonna make it.
You know you're creating problems on my deck.
-I'm sorry. I... -No, no, no! [bleep]
we're done with sorry. I'm tired of this [bleep].
You can go get yourself another [bleep] job.
Get the [bleep] out of here.
'cause I'm definitely not going out sailing with this [bleep].
Mm-mm.
Mm-mm. We're cleaning this up right now.
What did I do wrong?
Everything I've done, harley, is so I can please you.
If I'm yelling at somebody out there,
it's because I've asked them four or five times in a calm voice,
"hey, this is how we do it."
I'm not getting their response but if I yell, man, they get it.
Okay, I'm not an [bleep]. I'm easy to work with.
-And I do my job. -No, you're not easy.
You [bleep] cause problems.
Problems on my deck.
I've never had problems on my deck before.
Every single one of the guys down there don't have a problem with me
except for michael.
All I'm asking is to give me another shot.
[narrator] this week, on salty takes...
[sig] uh, bryce. Yeah, the new kid is...
I give him positive scores for effort.
Now, as far as elegance and style,
he's down on the list.
They want me to go faster. I'm trying.
[sig] he doesn't have that elegant movement yet.
It's all robotic.
[mimics robotic droning]
"uh, I'm the new guy, ah, let me try."
looks like chris farley or something.
-Come on, tommy boy. [mimics robotic droning] -[laughs]
[sig] he just needs time to get a rhythm.
He'll get there, I think.
[growls]
[narrator] keith leaves the wizard, and the pole position
in the hands of brother, monte.
While sig bets on the north to turn the tide.
[harley] I've never had problems on my deck before.
[steven] all I'm asking is to give me another shot.
I wanna be on this boat. I want a home.
-I'm worth it, harley. -I want the best for you, steven,
but I can't go [bleep] sacrificing the rest of my crew
and their [bleep] sanity.
All right, I'll try you one more time, man.
Thank you, harley, I appreciate that.
-And I won't let you down. -Don't let me down.
-[deckhand shouts] -I told you, I wanna be here, you know.
I wanna be a long-term guy on this boat.
[harley] I want the best for you steven, but
munsey will take his title back.
About time. Where've you been, you lazy bastard?
Whoa, uh, wheelhouse. Boarding.
I am not gonna deal with one more [bleep] flare up bull [bleep].
All you weak-ass [bleep] can't handle [bleep] without me.
I don't know what your [bleep] problem is.
Now, look at you, man.
All right, we'll slice some lines or some [bleep]
[narrator] the captain's call? Lure back a sorely missed vet, munsey kennon,
and relegate steven from deck boss to deckhand.
[harley] personality conflicts are gonna happen.
But I'm not gonna deal with [bleep] bull [bleep] you know?
I've never been pushed this [bleep] hard.
[indistinct chatter]
[steven speaking]
[harley] he's back. [laughs]
[laughs] I've never seen you smile this much.
-I missed you, dude. -Did you miss me?
[harley] yeah, I'm afraid so.
[keith speaking]
[soper speaks]
-they've tricked up. -Safe travels!
[keith] my brother is in the hospital.
[sighs] we make our living fishing.
But the only reason we fish is for family.
I'm gonna go see my family.
[crew shouting]
thank god, that's the last pot.
[casey] started off in true opilio fashion.
Nasty-ass weather and snowflakes flying through the air, but...
Such is life, this is the job, this is what we do.
[josh] we're headed back to offload our crabs,
and live to fight another day.
Somehow, we keep convincing ourselves to come back.
We're on our farthest northern string.
[deckhand 1] whoo! Let's go!
First pot!
Whoo!
Let's hope he brings us some good luck.
[deckhand 2] here we go.
Come on...
Yes?
-[deckhand 1] yeah! -[deckhand 2] yeah, baby!
Oh, yeah!
Whoo!
I see guys pumping their fists.
It looks really clean. That's really encouraging to see that.
This is huge.
Amazing.
That's our first pot.
Whoo!
[sig] we're gonna fish up until we can't fish anymore.
[deckhand 1] oh, yeah! Whoo!
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. There's a good 500 plus in there.
We made the right move for sure.
Let's see if we can't make this pay off.
-[deckhand 1] heads up! -[indistinct shouting]
[crane motor straining]
[deckhand 2] put it off! Put it off! Put it off! Put it off!
What is it?
[over pa] what is it?
[deckhand 1 speaking]
[sig speaking]
[deckhand 1 speaking]
[sig] no!
Are you serious?
[over pa] are you [bleep] serious?
Crane broke right at the [bleep] pivot point right there.
Just snapped off.
[bleep] rolling around! Damn it!
[over pa] crane is absolutely destroyed!
Well, we're out of business.
Finally got going. Bam! Right in your face.
What do we do now?