Heads up on Discovery Channel show tonite

[MotoXcowboy]

I enjoyed the show. Reminded me of my lobstering days out at the canyons. Anyone on here know Norbert Stamps? I fished on his boats out of Snug Harbour on the "Edge Runner", and "The Brendan & Kevin". Hard work but it was quite the adventure. After a week at sea, as soon as I got in my truck, and hit the beach traffic, I would get so aggrivated I'd wish I was back on the boat again. Some trips I wouldnt even go home. Just sleep on the boat for a few days till the next trip.

Only thing I hated about lobstering was being 100's of miles offshore in the middle of the night, on a choppy sea, standing on the stern with my heels almost hanging off, holding on to the stack of 4 or 5 high of pots for balance, all while and having to help the same stack of pots go off the back. If I fell in most likely no one would've even known about it because the pots were stacked over my head! very scary...very scary indeed....

Hey S-Journey, how hard is it to land work out there? If I were in shape, (recently shattered my heel) I'd give it a shot. I was in the Marines so sleep deprivation is not a big deal for me. Maybe next year. More medical bills than you could imagine....I need money like a fat kid needs cake!

[ThrowingTimber]

s Journey fire up the picx brudda!

[bart]

S-Journey-- you got some brass ones

[S-Journey]

I will scan some pics when I get home tonight.

There are a few pics in this thread from a few months back:

http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripert...ghlight=alaska

[S-Journey]

Originally Posted by MotoXcowboy

Hey S-Journey, how hard is it to land work out there? If I were in shape, (recently shattered my heel) I'd give it a shot. I was in the Marines so sleep deprivation is not a big deal for me. Maybe next year. More medical bills than you could imagine....I need money like a fat kid needs cake!

How hard is it to work out there - hmmm - let me put it this way. If there is hell on earth, I've been there - and it's a lot harder than the shows make it out to be. I really loved it but when you get into a situation you always say "what the hell am i doing here, what was I thinking, is this it, am I ever going to make it home?". Then things pass and you get home and can't wait to get back out there.

I sent you a PM, I might be able to help you with a job out there....

[S-Journey]

Did anyone see the show last night?

If so do you remember the captain and crew of the boat the "Big Valley" that showed a demonstration of how to put on a survival suit on the new show that aired at 9:00? I would assume that the show was filmed during the 2004 red king crab season in October. I just thought it was ironic about the Big Valley being on the show talking about the survival suits and all because that boat sunk during the opening week of Opillo crab season this Jan and all souls onboard were lost (Edit - I thought they were all lost, looks like one of them was spared)

That’s a great show - really shows the feast or famine conditions we are go through as fisherman. One false move and or a few lost hours can make or break a season.

I have my money on the "Sea Star". The geriatric crew is going to take it home

It really gets my blood moving wathing these shows. I'm going to talk to my boss today about taking some time in October. I think I'm going back out for one more round!!!

[S-Journey]

No sign of crabbers missing at sea

The U.S. Coast Guard searched the Bering Sea on Sunday for three missing crew members from the crab fishing vessel Big Valley. No sign of the crew members were found, but the search will resume today.

The weather was stormy but not unusual for the Bering Sea on Saturday, with winds of 35 knots, or 40 miles per hour, and seas of 15 feet or higher.

The Big Valley, a 92-foot boat based in Kodiak, is believed to have sunk about 70 miles west of St. Paul in the Pribilof Islands. So far, three crew members have been recovered, but only one survived. All three were wearing survival suits. Three more from the Big Valley remain missing.

The survivor, Cache Seel of Kodiak, was found floating alone in a life raft. Troopers flew him Sunday from a clinic on St. Paul back to Kodiak.

Efforts by a reporter to speak with Seel were not successful. But a glimpse into what happened on the Big Valley comes from one of Seel's friends, Travis Stark. He spoke with Seel's wife after she had talked to her husband.

It was early Saturday morning and most of the crew was resting up for the snow crab opener. Seel's bunk ran side to side, along the width of the ship rather than the length of it. He woke to find himself standing up because the ship had rolled onto its side, Stark said.

"All I know is that it happened really fast," said Stark, who also is a fisherman and who has known Seel about 10 years.

Seel told his wife he helped a crew member who was trapped in a stateroom to get out, and crew members started putting on survival suits, Stark said.

The boat captain, Gary Edwards, had survival suits for everyone. There were also individual emergency locator beacons as well as a beacon for the boat, to aid rescuers. The boat's beacon is what alerted the Coast Guard of trouble just after 7 a.m. Saturday.

A couple of crew members worried the boat would go down with them inside, so they went on deck to put on their suits. But they couldn't hang on and fell into the churning sea.

"They fell in with their survival suits in their hands," Stark said. It's very difficult to put on a survival suit while in the water.

Seel clung to the ship, wearing his survival suit. He spotted a life raft. It had been tangled in the boat rigging but now was floating free. He swam to it, Stark said.

Authorities were having difficulty identifying all the crew members and notifying relatives, DeSpain said. One crew member's family was in Belgium. A Louisville, Ky., television station reported that one missing crew member was named Aaron Marrs, a Louisville native.

Edwards, 46, is believed to have been on the boat. He has a reputation as a safety-conscious skipper. Government researchers chartered his boat.

He also has been a big personality in Kodiak. His home on Father Herman Street includes what appears to be a pilothouse from an old wooden boat turned into a banya, or steam bath, said Marty Owen, Kodiak harbor master.

This summer, a group helped him built a rock wall at his home and it turned into a big party, with singing, dancing and rock hauling.

"A lot of people in town are sad," Owen said. "He was a well-known character here in Kodiak. He touched a lot of people in interesting ways."

The Coast Guard is investigating what happened on the Big Valley. Bering Sea crabbing is one of the country's most dangerous occupations but authorities have been trying to make it safer.

Decks of boats are piled with steel traps, called pots, which are dropped to the sea floor to capture the crabs. They affect vessel stability.

The Big Valley appears to have recently undergone a naval architect's review of its stability, which is required after a significant structural change, said Lt. Comdr. Chris Woodley, chief of port operations for the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in Anchorage.

The architect report will be considered in the investigation, Woodley said, speaking from Dutch Harbor.

Coast Guard officials now do onboard inspections in Alaska to make sure recommendations in stability reports are being followed. The Big Valley wasn't in port in Dutch Harbor when the most recent inspections were done, so it didn't get one before heading out for the snow crab fishery, Woodley said.

The Coast Guard is searching with a helicopter, a C-130 airplane and the cutter Sherman in an area of 1,300 square miles. The trooper vessel Stimson and many private boats have helped search as well.

[tynan19]

Wow! sad story. I don't know if it is the money or just the allure of the sea. They highleted the kid who whent overboard last year and was plucked out of the water. Any normal person would have hung it up but this kid was back again this year.
I think the geriatrics will take it if their bodies will last.

[UserRemoved1]

I enjoyed that episode last night. Interesting to see how fast they can make it or break it and it's all on a guess. Like gambling in Vegas.....