Season 4
| Series # | Season # | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 1 | "Get 'Em Back Safe!" | April 15, 2008 (2008-04-15) |
| On the way to Dutch Harbor from Seattle, Washington, the Wizard had a 6-inch (15 cm) hole torn into the hull after being hit by a 40-foot (12 m) rogue wave. Relief Captain Monte Colburn had a temporary patch put in place until the Wizard could be returned to a shipyard for permanent repairs. Captain Johnathan Hillstrand's son Scott joined the crew of the Time Bandit. In addition to their usual load of supplies and fishing pots, the crew of the Time Bandit loaded a rusted old truck as a practical joke for Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie. Before the vessels departed for the start of the season, the captains met at the local watering hole to discuss the upcoming season and the Wizard's close call on the trip to Dutch Harbor. For this season's bet between the captains, whomever hauls in the highest average on a designated 25 pot string will win that week's wager of $100 per captain. On the Wizard, Captain Keith Colburn decided to take on two greenhorns, Jason Moilanen and Lynn Guitard, instead of the usual one, as well as re-hiring last season's resilient greenhorn Crosby LeVeen, who is quick to express appreciation for no longer being the greenest hand on deck. On board the Northwestern, Edgar Hansen oversaw repairs on a bent propeller shaft and bad bearings while the remaining crew members—Norman Hansen, Nick Mavar, Matt Bradley, and returning greenhorn Jake Anderson—stack pots and load gear, but the tension about losing precious fishing time to needed repairs causes the normally friendly group to snap at each other. In a repeat from his antics from the 2006 King crab season, Captain Phil's son Jake went on an unauthorized spending spree with Captain Phil's credit card and buys a flat screen TV, which does not go over well with Captain Phil. With five hours to go before the start of the season, the Hillstrands made the traditional call to their mother, but she tells them that she had a premonition that tragedy would strike the Time Bandit this season. The truck aboard the Time Bandit caused delays in setting their first pots of the seasons. Captain Keith Colburn being unable to follow his superstition about not having an empty Cup Noodles container to use as a spittoon delayed their start of the season. The repairs to the Northwestern prompted Captain Sig Hansen to dig into his archives and try a different strategy and fish further south than the rest of the fleet, but just as the boat is ready to push off from the dock and head out to sea, Captain Sig realizes Jake Anderson is missing. Sig decides to give the young deckhand "two more minutes" to return before heading out without him. Jake, whose goal this season is to become a full-share deckhand, races to the docks only to find the Northwestern has already started to pull away; however, Captain Sig spots him on the docks and maneuvers back to pick up his wayward deckhand (Captain Sig: "You're lucky I can still back up to get you—where were you?" Jake: "Making a phone call...to a girl." Captain Sig: "That was almost a real expensive piece of {expletive}!"). The Cornelia Marie's prospect strings come up nearly empty even though they were placed in normally reliable fishing grounds, leaving an already nervous and overstressed Captain Phil now reeling from the loss of his "honey hole". | |||
| 38 | 2 | "Striking Out" | April 15, 2008 (2008-04-15) |
| A storm front forced the Northwestern to drop their pots 50 nautical miles (93 km) short from their planned target in rough seas. The Time Bandit set their prank on Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie by replacing one of the Cornelia Marie's pots with the junk truck. When the crew of the Cornelia Marie pulled up the truck, they get a good laugh and then dump the truck overboard. Captain Phil called Captain Johnathan Hillstrand over the radio and gave him an "A+" for the prank. Captain Rick Fehst of the Early Dawn hurried to finish fishing for brown king crab so that he could switch to red king crab. The vessel ended the season catching 784,000 pounds (356,000 kg) of brown crab worth $1.9 million. The Wizard picked up another 150 pots from storage, which caused more work for the greenhorns and pushed Jason Moilanen to his breaking point. The Northwestern's gamble to fish further south did not work out and the crew pulled up nearly empty pots. After pulling up all of this pots, Captain Sig moved north to a different old family fishing grounds. He reminded Edgar Hansen of his ritual of biting the head off a herring for good luck and hoped following the ritual would bring better luck. The Time Bandit also had poor luck with their pots, pulling up few crabs per pot. The Wizard's plan to fish at the northern tip of the fishing grounds paid off with good prospect pots and they dropped their entire 150 pots. | |||
| 39 | 3 | "A Numbers Game" | April 22, 2008 (2008-04-22) |
| The family fishing grounds produced results for the Time Bandit as they pulled an average of 60 keepers per pot for 12 hours. After 19 days of fishing, the Time Bandit was the first vessel to head to Dutch Harbor to offload. On the way back, greenhorn Scott Hillstrand contemplated his future as a fisherman. The Northwestern's traditional family ground also produced good results, but greenhorn Jake Anderson's sloppy crab counting angered Captain Sig Hansen. Deck Boss Edgar Hansen scolded the deck crew over not carrying an emergency knife should anybody get caught in a line. As punishment, he makes Jake wear a dead cod on his back. The Wizard was also on the crab with a string of 300 pots in a 1 square mile (2.6 km2) area. However, Captain Keith Colburn noticed that another fishing vessel had navigated a loop around one of his pots and pulled it up to sneak a look at his catch. Captain Keith's call to the suspect vessel went unanswered and he threatened the other captain to not mess with his equipment. Two weeks behind the rest of the fleet because of fishing for brown king crab, the Early Dawn tried to catch up by dropping 100 pots along a 50 nautical miles (93 km) string, but this prospect line only pulled up a few cod per pot, causing a drop in morale on deck. After two weeks of poor fishing, staying awake for three straight days, and a 19 hour shift at the wheel, fatigue caught up with Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie and he fell asleep, causing the boat to miss two pots. After the crew wondered about two consecutive missed pots, they call up the wheelhouse and wake up Captain Phil. The picking hook's pulley breaks on the Northwestern, which required Edgar to ride the crane up to replace the broken block. Mechanical problems also plagued the Wizard when a hydraulic line sprung a leak, but a patch was quickly installed by Engineer Lenny Lekonoff. | |||
| 40 | 4 | "Unsafe and Unsound" | April 29, 2008 (2008-04-29) |
| The crew of the Wizard worked a 9-nautical-mile (17 km), 55 pot string that Captain Keith Colburn called a "man killer". When greenhorn Jason Moilanen was not on deck for the start of the string, Captain Keith gave him some advice on how to cope with the long shifts. After three weeks of bad fishing and with 3 days to catch 88,000 pounds (40,000 kg) of crab for a scheduled delivery, Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie made radio calls to other captains to get some help on where to drop his pots, but received no answer. With no advice available, Captain Phil gambled on dropping a full load of pots in untested waters. Greenhorn Josh Harris and Deckhand Freddy Maugatai tried to change the boat's luck by shaving their heads into a mohawk, but the sacrifice proved ineffective and the Cornelia Marie continued to pull pots with low counts, and the stress of a bad season began to noticeably affect Phil's demeanor and already high stress levels. On board the Northwestern, Captain Sig Hansen and Deck Boss Edgar Hansen challenged each other over who could stay awake the longest without breaking. Captain Sig finally offered a truce after he nodded off at the wheel after staying awake for over 47 hours; in response, Edgar led a celebration on deck: "We broke the skipper!". At Dutch Harbor for their first offload of the season, the Time Bandit lost a crew member when Captain Johnathan Hillstrand's son, Scott, decided that family was more important to him than fishing and he left to fly home; Scott made the distinct point that Johnathan had been gone for almost all of Scott's childhood, and Scott wanted better for his own children, which wounded Johnathan's pride greatly. A flashback to three weeks earlier detailed a freak accident where Johnathan Hillstrand fell overboard while the Time Bandit was docked at Dutch Harbor. Time Bandit Deckhand Eddie Uwekoolani was taken to the emergency clinic where he was diagnosed with a chipped bone in his ankle that required a cast, requiring Johnathan to have to rotate Eddie to a position requiring less mobility while his boat was already a crewman down. | |||
| 41 | 5 | "No Mercy" | May 6, 2008 (2008-05-06) |
| On board the Wizard, the "man killer" strings continued to produce good numbers with an average of 90 crabs per pot. Captain Keith Colburn decided to push ahead and told his brother, Monte Colburn, to skip his turn at the wheel and go on the deck as soon as he woke up. This caused tension between the brothers and resulted in an argument over Monte's attitude bringing the morale of the deck crew down. In the end, the string filled the Wizard's hold with 183,000 pounds (83,000 kg) of crab and the boat headed back for their first offload of the season. The Time Bandit finished her first offload of the season and headed on a 28 hour run to a string they left out while they offloaded. A quarter mile from the first pot, the ballast panel on their sodium lights was ripped from the wall and caused a ship-wide power outage. The crew was able to repair the ballast and pick up their string, which had good numbers of crab. Also at Dutch Harbor, Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie decided to delay the start of his second run due to his superstition about not leaving on Friday. The first string of the second run proved more productive that any string on the first run when the boat pulled in 34,000 pounds (15,000 kg) of crab on this single string. Tensions on board the Northwestern came to a boil when greenhorn Jake Anderson and Deckhand Matt Bradley came to blows after Matt felt threatened by Jake's eagerness to learn new jobs on deck. On the Early Dawn, Captain Rick Fehst instituted a 20 hour on/4 hour off work schedule after having several days of poor numbers. This took a toll on the deck crew, especially greenhorn Bryan Mezich, son of the boat's owner. After pulling up a string, Bryan took a turn at wheel watch in 25-foot (7.6 m), 60-knot (111 km/h; 69 mph) seas while the rest of the crew went to sleep. Bryan dozed off after 10 minutes and the boat was jolted by a wave while he was asleep, waking the crew. An upset Captain Rick wanted to terminate Bryan for this infraction, but was overruled by Bryan's father and he was only given a $500 fine. | |||
| 42 | 6 | "Racing The Clock" | May 13, 2008 (2008-05-13) |
| After offloading 180,000 pounds (82,000 kg) of crab worth $756,000, the Northwestern raced back to the fishing grounds in order to catch the remaining 19,000 pounds (8,600 kg) of their quota in the nine days before their quoted price drops. Although they averaged 60 crab per pot, Captain Sig Hansen, concerned about the volume of crab, decided to follow his hunch and moved to different fishing grounds. The move turned out to be a poor one when the pots in the new territory produced low numbers of crab, causing the deck crew to grumble that they should not have moved. A pin broke in the picking hook pulley aboard the Time Bandit. The broken pulley dropped a steel cable on deck, nearly hitting greenhorn Shea Long. After replacing the pulley, Deckhand Neal Hillstrand had to climb the mast to secure the safety chain to the boom; a task all the more difficult since the Time Bandit was in 25-foot (7.6 m) seas. After low numbers caused low morale on the deck of the Early Dawn, Engineer Mike Fish decided to give greenhorn Bryan Mezich a lesson in humility by letting Bryan tend the rail for the first 20 pots of a 300 pot string that had been soaking for 18 hours. Bryan's first attempts at throwing the hook were off the mark and Captain Rick Fehst put the boat into reverse, an insult to the hook thrower, after three failed attempts. Only after the sixth throw was Bryan able to hook the line. Despite the troubles picking up the first pot, the string proved to be a good one when the pots produced good numbers and the deck crew's morale rose as more crab were brought on board. Six weeks into the season and after convincing his father to allow him to fish for king crab, Captain Sten Skaar and the North American returned to Alaska after a three year hiatus. Captain Sten hired aboard Captain Erik Nyhammer of the Rollo (last seen in Season 2) as a deckhand and his crab fishing pots to make this return to king crab fishing. By using borrowed crab pots, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game only allowed Captain Sten two weeks to fish. At Dutch Harbor, the Wizard offloaded 183,000 pounds (83,000 kg) of crab worth nearly $800,000. Before the crew headed back out, Captain Keith Colburn took the crew out for a drink and to pick up a porta-potty in order to play a prank upon the North American. In previous fishing seasons, the Wizard leased the North American's fishing quota and Captain Keith felt it necessary to play a prank upon Captain Sten when he took back his quota. Captain Keith hauled up one of the North American's pots and attached the porta-potty to it before dropping it back overboard. The North American pulled low numbers on their test pots and strings, but thought that their luck had changed after picking up the porta-potty prank. The full pots turned out to be full of female and juvenile crab, which must be returned to the sea, and only a few keepers were in each pot. | |||
| 43 | 7 | "Seeking the Catch" | May 20, 2008 (2008-05-20) |
| Heavy seas, lack of proper equipment (no forward-facing sodium lights or crab sorting table), and the crew's inexperience from being away from king crab fishing for three years, made for difficult fishing on board the North American while it tried to catch 22,000 pounds (10,000 kg) of crab to fill their tanks. Under pressure to catch their quota in a limited time, Deck Boss John Skaar's orders to launch pots faster caused conflict on deck when the rest of the crew became concerned that cutting corners was compromising crew safety. Captain Keith Colburn of the Wizard decided to try his luck in an area, called the "Slime Bank" for the multitude of jellyfish, that he had not fished in over 30 years, but the 60 pot string produced no crab and Captain Keith returned to more conventional fishing grounds. A repaired coiler broke again, forcing the crew to hand coil the lines, but they continued to pull up good numbers in the new fishing grounds. The Time Bandit's' luck at fishing remote, seldom fished grounds was better when the boat brought up 35,000 pounds (16,000 kg) of crab in 12 hours, led by perfect hook throwing by veteran deckhand Russell Newberry. When an injured cormorant landed on deck, Captain Johnathan Hillstrand took him in until the boat returned to Dutch Harbor where wildlife rescuers could tend to him, but the bird disappeared after the crew finished pulling the string. On board the Cornelia Marie, the crew pulled up full pots, but the stress of fishing and a tight deadline for a changed offload date took its toll on Captain Phil Harris and he became ill, much to the concern of his oldest son, Josh. The Northwestern continued to grind through their pots in heavy seas. When greenhorn Jake Anderson hooked another boat's buoy, Deckhand Matt Bradley saved the day by making a Hail Mary toss of the hook from the stern of the boat. | |||
| 44 | 8 | "No Season for Old Men" | May 27, 2008 (2008-05-27) |
| After a quick offload, the Time Bandit headed back out to sea with Captain Johnathan Hillstrand's son, Scott, back on board after Andy Hillstrand had to return home to attend to personal business. Poor numbers narrowed the contenders for the final week of the Captain's wager made at the beginning of the season to just the Time Bandit and the Wizard. Battling head-to-head up to the final pot, Captain Johnathan Hillstrand of the Time Bandit triumphed over Captain Keith Colburn of the Wizard with a 75 crab per pot average versus a 65 crab per pot average, respectively. The crew of the Northwestern kept up their grinding schedule of 20 hour days for the past four weeks up until the very last pot. Deck Boss Edgar Hansen was hit in the head by the picking hook when the boat rolled in the waves and Greenhorn Jake Anderson was unable to grab the hook in time. However, Edgar shrugged off the injury and completed the traditional flaming hook toss to end the season. With 24 hours left in the season and 11,000 pounds (5,000 kg) of their quota left to catch, the North American made a Hail Mary play by dropping their entire 100 pots into a small area after a test pot produced good results. The play worked out and the North American was able to catch their 83,000 pounds (38,000 kg) quota in two weeks. On board the Early Dawn, low numbers caused the crew to call the boat's owner to complain about the poor fishing with greenhorn and owner's son, Bryan Mezich, stating "the crew prefers if you leased out quota". The crew got their wish when the boat's owner called Captain Rick Fehst to tell him that the boat's final 75,000 pounds (34,000 kg) of the season's quota had been leased out. The last string of the season for the Cornelia Marie was interrupted by a broken fitting on a hydraulic line on the crane. To repair the crane, Engineer Murray Gamrath had to climb the oil-slicked crane in a snow squall. With the King crab season over, the Hillstrand brothers gathered in their home port of Homer, Alaska to celebrate and to honor their deceased father, who is buried on a mountain slope overlooking the sea. | |||
| 45 | 9 | "Storm Season" | June 3, 2008 (2008-06-03) |
| The 2008 opilio crab season started with the Cornelia Marie returning after a main engine overhaul during the off season, the entire crew of the Northwestern suffering from the flu except for greenhorn Jake Anderson, and the usual change of captains on the Time Bandit from Johnathan Hillstrand to younger brother Andy Hillstrand. Johnathan's son Scott returned for the opilio season. The fleet left Dutch Harbor ahead of a storm, but the Wizard trailed behind because it had to refuel before heading out. The traditional biting off of the head of a herring on the Northwestern was done by deckhand Matt Bradley before Captain Sig Hansen dropped their crab pots on family fishing grounds. After an 8 hour soak and with Captain Andy contemplating a move after the first two strings of a test string produced poor results, the Time Bandit's third string produced good numbers. With the Wizard's late start to the season, the boat was forced to ride out 40-foot (12 m) seas with a full stack of pots on deck until Captain Keith Colburn to drop 100 pots as soon as the boat reached the continental shelf. After the Wizard reached the normal opilio fishing grounds, a broken hydraulic system prevented the boat from dropping their remaining 150 pots. The North American broke in new greenhorn Darrell Labay to the ways of opilio crab fishing. On board the Cornelia Marie, an 8 hour soak on their 180 pots produced great numbers, but two engine warning lights on their newly overhauled engine forced the boat to return to Dutch Harbor. A United States Coast Guard HH-60J Jayhawk was dispatched from Air Station Kodiak to medevac a crewmember from the fish processing vessel Island Enterprise. The helicopter was instructed to fly to Cold Bay, Alaska where a waiting plane was to take the patient to Anchorage, Alaska, but poor weather conditions made the crew request an alternative flight plan. | |||
| 46 | 10 | "Blow Up" | June 10, 2008 (2008-06-10) |
| The crew of the Coast Guard helicopter, en route to Cold Bay with a patient rescued from the fish processing vessel Island Enterprise, were unable to contact their command center. With the threat of ice and a quickly diminishing fuel supply, the pilots decided to change course and return to St. Paul. After a two hour wait, a private cargo plane, took the patient to Anchorage, Alaska. The Cornelia Marie limped to the safety of Zolotoi Bay at St. Paul Island on her one good engine to ride out an approaching storm front. During the night, the strain on the ship caused a dangerous fray in the anchor line. Captain Phil Harris was forced to use his bad engine to help relieve the tension on the cable so that the crew can assess the damage. After a 36 hour run, the Cornelia Marie pulled in to Dutch Harbor, where the crew quickly replaced the frayed anchor cable. The local engine mechanic was unable to determine the engine's problem. The Northwestern's first pots of the season were a blind drop due to approaching weather, but the boat got lucky and pulled up good numbers. After just 24 hours of working the area, the Northwestern filled its entire forward holding tank with 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg) of crab. The Time Bandit worked a string of pots placed at the suggestion of Captain Johnathan Hillstrand. When the pots produced poor numbers, Captain Andy Hillstrand moved the Time Bandit to an old family fishing ground nicknamed "Mr. Magoo". After a long soak time for the pots, the crew hauled in massive numbers to the delight of Captain Andy. On board the Wizard, the crew pulled pots containing large amounts of "dirty" crab (crab covered in barnacles), forcing the crew to throw away most of the catch. The low numbers and seeming lack of enthusiasm from the deck crew caused Captain Keith Colburn to lose his cool. Calling in the crew, he lectured them on how hard he has worked to make the ship successful and reprimanded each member for not giving enough effort. Later, after calming down, Captain Keith called in Lenny to apologize for his blow up. However, greenhorn Jason Moilanen, still fuming from the captain's criticism, confronts Captain Keith about how he was being treated, breaking the golden rule of crab fishing to never question the captain. Annoyed, Captain Keith orders him out. | |||
| 47 | 11 | "Big Weather, Big Trouble" | June 17, 2008 (2008-06-17) |
| An emergency weather warning about an approaching hurricane was broadcast to the fleet. At Dutch Harbor, Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie opted for the cheaper and easier band-aid repair to one of his engines in order to make it through the rest of the season and then headed back out to the fishing grounds. Heavy seas battered the crew of the Wizard. On board the Northwestern, the boat's crab processor called Captain Sig Hansen to tell him that they bumped the boat's delivery date up two days and wanted a larger delivery. Even though Captain Sig told the crew he would not have them pull two all nighters in a row, Captain Sig agreed to the new delivery date, forcing the crew to work through a second night. The tired crew made a near deadly mistake when they did not dog down a pot on the launcher and it slid off, pinning greenhorn Jake Anderson against the sorting table. Quick work by the crew freed Jake before he was crushed by the 1,000 pounds (450 kg) pot. On the Time Bandit, Johnathan Hillstrand decided to go out on the deck to work a string before the hurricane hit. While throwing an underhanded toss of the hook, Johnathan missed and the hook hit him in the face, opening a small cut above his nose. In between a run to test pots, Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie confronted his son Jake over Jake's work ethic. Just on the edge of the hurricane, the boat fished in 40-foot (12 m), 100-knot (185 km/h; 115 mph) seas, pulling up an average of 800 keepers per pot. But worsening weather forced Captain Phil to quickly dump the rest of his pots and run for cover. After 35 straight hours of fishing, the Northwestern succeeded in filling all of the boat's tanks in time to make their new delivery deadline. | |||
| 48 | 12 | "Mortal Men" | June 24, 2008 (2008-06-24) |
| Three arctic storms converged on the fishing grounds, causing severe damage to many of the boats. The crews raced to repair their boats as another severe storm approached. On the Cornelia Marie, Captain Phil Harris injured his ribs after being thrown from his bunk during the storm. After bandaging his ribs, Captain Phil went to the wheelhouse to continue fishing for the remaining 34,000 pounds (15,000 kg) for the scheduled delivery. The crew hauled in good numbers, but Captain Phil's condition began to worsen as he started to cough up blood. Captain Phil decided to keep this a secret from the crew. On the Wizard, the crew pulled in big numbers and Captain Keith Colburn decided to set back the gear in the same spot. This required the crew to step up the pace of work, but greenhorn Jason Moilanen continued to underperform. Deciding that they have had enough of Jason Moilanen, Captain Keith called his brother, Monte, to the wheelhouse to conduct interviews for a new greenhorn and decided to hire Cooper Weatherby. As the Time Bandit offloaded 135,000 pounds (61,000 kg) of crab worth $220,000 at St. Paul Island, Co-Captains Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand decided to reward younger brother Neal for his many years of service by telling him he was no longer required to work on the deck. On the Cornelia Marie, Captain Phil called Engineer Murray Gamrath and confided in him about his condition, worried that he may have an internal injury. Despite some medical attention by Murray, Phil's condition did not improve and Captain Phil called an Anchorage hospital, which recommended that he seek immediate medical attention. Captain Phil decided to ignore the recommendation and continue fishing. Unable to keep Captain Phil's condition a secret any longer, Murray disobeyed orders and told Captain Phil's sons about their dad's condition. Captain Phil's son, Josh, attempted to convince him to head in to port and get medical help. Captain Keith of the Wizard called Captain Phil seeking advice on fishing, but instead talked about Captain Phil's condition and Captain Keith repeated the recommendation to seek medical attention. Murray's concern led him to tell series producer Todd Stanley to watch over Captain Phil in the wheelhouse and to call him if Captain Phil's condition worsened. Two days after his injury, Captain Phil conceded that his condition was not getting any better and agreed with the crew to head to St. Paul after the gear was set. When the Cornelia Marie arrived at St. Paul, a storm surge prevented the boat from entering port and they were forced to circle the island. News of Captain Phil's condition spread throughout the fleet. Other captains attempted to call Captain Phil, but he chose to ignore the calls. Sixty hours after his injury, the storm broke and the Cornelia Marie was able to enter the harbor at St. Paul. A series of X-rays suggested that Captain Phil's condition was more severe than broken ribs and a possible puncture lung and that he required examination by a specialist. | |||
| 49 | 13 | "Fresh Blood" | July 1, 2008 (2008-07-01) |
| After one last cigarette, Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie checked himself into the emergency room at Providence Alaska Medical Center at 3:00 am. The Northwestern's crew attempted to retrieve the ship's anchor after it snapped off in a storm the night before. Using a jury rigged drag hook, the crew attempted to secure the heavy anchor chain, but the ship began to drift in the strong current, which caused the Northwestern to list dangerously to the side. After four tense hours, the crew finally recovered the anchor. The Time Bandit pulled in to St. Paul Island to pick up new greenhorn Earon Overson. Later as the crew began pulling in their next string of pots, senior Deckhand Russell Newberry taught the new greenhorn how to work on deck and sort crab. With offloading complete, the Cornelia Marie set off with Engineer Murray Gamrath as relief captain and a new greenhorn, Dan Decker. On their way to Dutch Harbor to offload, a pipe that feeds the after crab tank with fresh water burst on the Wizard. The crew worked together to patch the pipe before it could flood the engine room. After working their first string without Captain Phil Harris aboard and with the crew asleep, Relief Captain Murray called Captain Phil to check on his status. Captain Phil told Murry that he was diagnosed with a blood clot that came loose in his leg and traveled up through his heart into his lung, a condition the doctors say could have killed him. At Dutch Harbor, after a slow offload, the crew of the North American spent a day repairing the extensive damage to the aft deck caused by a rough wave three days earlier. Back at sea, Captain Sten Skaar let greenhorn Darrell Labay work the rail, but the rest of the crew questioned the captains decision on letting an inexperienced crew member work the rail. When Darrell could not keep up, the crew continued to lose respect for him. On board the Time Bandit, their greenhorn Earon's work improved, though he battled sea sickness. After reaching Dutch Harbor, Captain Keith Colburn fired greenhorn Jason Moilanen for breaking the cardinal rule aboard ship of never questioning the captain of the boat. The Colburn brothers welcomed Jason's replacement, Cooper Weatherby aboard, who brought along a gift of two Cup Noodles for Captain Keith. | |||
| 50 | 14 | "Changing Tides" | July 8, 2008 (2008-07-08) |
| The Northwestern offloaded 184,000 pounds (83,000 kg) of crab at St. Paul Island, but the growing ice in the harbor made leaving the dock difficult. Captain Sig Hansen wanted to reach his northern-most pots before the rapidly approaching ice pack covered them up. At Dutch Harbor, the Wizard completed their offload of 407,000 pounds (185,000 kg) of crab and headed back to sea. But the trip started on a sour note when Captain Keith Colburn's brother Monte argued with him over relief duties at the wheelhouse. The Time Bandit worked their fishing ground nicknamed "Mr. Magoo" for three straight days, pulling up nearly 270,000 pounds (120,000 kg) of crab. With Engineer Neal Hillstrand retired from working the deck, Scott Hillstrand took over operating the hydraulics. Scott's inexperience at the controls made for slower work and he made a rookie mistake when he did not properly dog down a crab pot to the launcher, causing the pot to tip over on deck, nearly hitting a crew member. During one of his morning check-ins with his father, Josh Harris heard Captain Phil question his future as a fishing boat captain. The news lowered morale aboard the boat, but the crew pulled together for a 36 hour shift to pull up 200 crab pots. The Northwestern reached their pots ahead of the ice pack and after eight hours of pulling pots and breaking ice, the crew managed to retrieve 65 of their 130 pots and pulled in 45,000 pounds (20,000 kg) of crab. With an average of 750 keepers per pot, Captain Sig Hansen regretted having to leave the spot after getting everything dialed in, but the danger of losing pots to the ice pack was too great. After the Colburn brothers patched things up between them and the new greenhorn oriented to the ways of the deck, the crew of the Wizard resumed fishing, but pulled up blanks. On board the Time Bandit, the crew finished up a 72 hour grind, though several pots had to be rail dumped because they contained only female and juvenile crab, which can not be legally fished. With larger swells rolling in, Co-captains Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand went on deck to observe Scott Hillstrand work the hydraulics. When the boat took a roll, Scott lost control of a crab pot and it nearly crushed greenhorn Earon Overson's skull. The Cornelia Marie pulled in 120,000 pounds (54,000 kg) of crab after 72 hours of steady fishing. As a reward for making it through his second 36 hour shift, Deckhand Freddie Maughtai let greenhorn Dan Decker throw the crab hook for the first time. | |||
| 51 | 15 | "Catch as Catch Can" | July 15, 2008 (2008-07-15) |
| On board the Wizard, the crew pulled up full pots after letting them soak at new fishing grounds for 27 hours. After 36 hours of work, the crew of the Northwestern finished rescuing their pots ahead of the approaching ice pack. After relocating the pots to safer grounds, Captain Sig Hansen was again on the crab and the boat pulled in good numbers. When a pot was being hauled on deck, a broken bridle on the pot nearly caused Deckhand Nick Mavar Jr. to have his foot caught in the line as the pot descended back to the ocean floor. Quick work by Deck Boss Edgar Hansen saved the pot when he tossed the slack line overboard and put the tail of the line back into the block. Relief Captain Murray Gamrath decided to strengthen the deck crew by hiring aboard Mark Anderson, who had been away from the fleet for over a year after an off season fall. Mark was put to work at the controls of the hydraulics, but the hiatus made him a little rusty at the controls and he caused a pot to swing out of control as it was being pulled on deck. Fishing on untested grounds and with 36 hours to catch 190,000 pounds (86,000 kg) of crab, Captain Andy Hillstrand of the Time Bandit planned to push his crew through a four day grind until the boat was full. An unexpected wave while pulling a pot caused the line to jump free of the block and to go up over Deckhand Shea Long's head and behind his back, but a quick reaction from him prevented him from being injured by the line. After a 30 hour steam, the North American arrived at Dutch Harbor for their final offload of 150,000 pounds (68,000 kg) of crab. After consulting with the crew, Captain Sten Skaar decided to let go of greenhorn Darrell Labay before the start of the new crab season. Mediocre fishing caused the Wizard to struggle to fill their last crab tank, which caused the deck crew's morale to drop and tension between greenhorns Lynn Guitard and Cooper Weatherby. | |||
| 52 | 16 | "The Final Hour" | July 22, 2008 (2008-07-22) |
| With 145,000 pounds (66,000 kg) crab left to catch, Relief Captain Murray Gamrath of the Cornelia Marie received a call about the boat's offload date. With an earlier than expected offload date and cold weather nearly shutting down fishing, the crew hurries to pick up their last pots of the season. In between a 4 hour run to the Northwestern's last string of the season, Deck Boss Edgar Hansen decided to make a "deck dummy" dressed as a crew member to throw off the top of the wheelhouse as a prank against Captain Sig Hansen, but his plan was interrupted when the boat arrived at the string. On the Wizard, the crew spent the last 36 hours, 135 pots, and 70,000 keepers trying to fill the port aft tank, but it continued to take in more crab until the very last pot of the season when it finally appeared to top off. The crew celebrated the end of their season, but unknown to them, the tank once again appeared to settle and was no longer full. On board the Northwestern, the crew did the traditional flaming hook for the last toss of the season. With the last pot pulled in, Deck Boss Edgar Hansen put his prank plan into action, but was foiled when Captain Sig noticed that the deck dummy's legs were crooked and it could not have been a real crew member. The crew of the Cornelia Marie worked through various injuries to pick up their last 180 pots for 95,000 pounds (43,000 kg) of crab and headed to Dutch Harbor to offload. Back home outside of Seattle, Captain Phil Harris continued his recovery from the blood clot and contemplated his future as a fishing boat captain. The Time Bandit finished up a 42 hour grind to finish the season and headed to Dutch Harbor to offload. Captain Andy Hillstrand let greenhorn Earon Overson toss the last hook of the season as his hard work gained the respect of the crew. At St. Paul Island, the Wizard offloaded 425,000 pounds (193,000 kg) of crab. After the port aft tank was emptied, Deck Boss Gary Soper discovered the reason for the apparently bottomless tank; a hole opened up towards the top of the tank, letting crab escape back into the sea. Back at Dutch Harbor, Deckhand Shea Long of the Time Bandit was unhappy with the prospect of Scott Hillstrand taking over the boat. Jake and Josh Harris reunited with their father in Seattle and Captain Phil discussed the seriousness of his illness and his future as captain. As an epilogue to the season, it was noted that on March 23, 2008, two weeks after the crab season ended, the fish processing vessel Alaska Ranger took on water and sank, forcing the 47 crew members to enter the water. 42 crew members were rescued by the United States Coast Guard and the sister ship Alaska Warrior. Four crew members perished and their bodies recovered, but one crew member was lost at sea. | |||
| 53 | "Deadliest Catch: Behind The Scenes" | July 22, 2008 (2008-07-22) | |
| Behind the scenes on the making of season 4. | |||
| 54 | "Deadliest Catch: Best of Season Four" | April 7, 2009 (2009-04-07) | |
| Recap of the fourth season |
Read more about this topic: List Of Deadliest Catch Episodes
Famous quotes containing the word season:
“Compare ... the cinema with theatre. Both are dramatic arts. Theatre brings actors before a public and every night during the season they re-enact the same drama. Deep in the nature of theatre is a sense of ritual. The cinema, by contrast, transports its audience individually, singly, out of the theatre towards the unknown.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)