Original subtitles

♪

being completely alone can get scary up here.

This is opilio.

It's a long journey, and a big risk.

Jake: The weather is only gonna get worse,

and it doesn't take a big wave to kill somebody.

Sig: You get out to crab, and it's just pain and suffering.

Every day lost and lost.

You're forced to do things different.

You suck it up.

Alright. Old-school these pots.

Man: Old-school!

Sig: Do what you got to do to get them on.

It's just the way it is.

[bleep]

♪

I don't care who you are, just look forward, keep going.

Man #2: Son of a bitch!

Whatever it takes.

-- Captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by discovery communications

♪

narrator: 534 miles northwest of dutch harbor...

Man: No. Damn it.

...On the northwestern.

Oh.

I think our greed got the best of us...

For sure.

Narrator: After two successful setbacks on the same grounds,

captain sig hansen reaches into the cookie jar

one too many times.

♪

sig: So, what was a tremendous start for us

is now a horrible reality.

♪

we need to get better numbers than that.

♪

-oh, my. -Oh, my god.

He sent these back.

They got [bleep] in them.

We've got to find a spot.

We had a good pick, but we need some help right now.

♪

the string is not so sexy.

Sig: I think it's time to go find a new home.

You're always better off if you can be alone,

but I'm gonna need help.

Narrator: Still 70,000 pounds short of filling his tanks,

the veteran skipper needs to reacquaint himself

with fertile grounds.

We don't have any partners out here to talk to.

Narrator: And fishing for inside information

is the quickest way to find it --

if you can get a bite.

Okay.

Harley, he's kind of up here.

He's not afraid to pull back.

That's happened in the past.

That being said...

Maybe we might pick up the radio,

and compare notes with the guy.

-Oh, [bleep]. -About the same.

[bleep]

okay.

Narrator: 42 miles north...

♪

man: Damn it.

Man #2: Oh, god.

Narrator:...Sig isn't the only one yarding up blank pots.

♪

looking around the ice way up in the north, we lost time.

We lost money.

We're getting our ass handed it to us, to tell you the truth.

Man #3: Bad mistake.

We're gonna need crab that we can keep.

♪

narrator: Southern wind captain steve "harley" davidson

gambled on the polar ice pack.

This is exactly what we left.

Narrator: And empty pots continue to plague the veteran skipper.

More smalls.

Harley: This is a freaking desert.

This is terrible.

So, now, I'm in trouble, you know?

We're getting hammered, here.

Sig: You on there, harley? Pick me up.

Southern wind, pick me up.

Harley: Let's see what he says.

Hey, sig, how are you doing, buddy?

I'm doing all right. I mean, it's a slow go.

I'm covering a lot of ground.

I'm trying to get more north and south,

so what I ended up doing on the edge was staying deep,

and so, we've only got from, like,

the latter 80s up into, like, the deeper 70s.

What about you?

Trying, but haven't found anything.

It's a freaking lot of area to cover, man.

Why don't we do this?

Why don't I just -- I'll get up over the bank.

I'll go 70 into 60, or whatever.

You're already 40, 50.

Just keep covering some ground.

Maybe we can do something like that.

Man: Another small.

Narrator: Stuck on bad fishing for 3 days...

You know, I've partnered up with keith

in the past, and jake anderson.

I mean, you know, we've shared information.

...Even a hard-ass like harley needs a little help.

Harley: I'm typically kind of a lone wolf.

I'm just out by myself.

But if you're above me, and I come in,

then, we've got lat and long.

You know, we've got the up and down, as well.

Let's do that.

♪

this obviously isn't working, here, so...

What's the plan?

I'll get you maybe tomorrow, and compare some notes, okay?

That sounds great. Alright. Good luck.

Sig: So, hopefully, with what harley is doing,

and with what we're doing, heading up the other way,

we might be able to make something out of this deal.

Narrator: The two veteran captains will share their information

as they work their way toward each other.

Sig will prospect in the deep.

Harley will search the shallows.

I don't like it, but that's how it is.

The bottom line is, you've got to be able to trust the guy.

Narrator: At least, that's the plan.

I don't think he's gonna tell me the truth.

He's not gonna tell me. I don't think so.

He's kind of shifty, that way.

"yeah, yeah, no, no, it's not so good, here, no."

[ laughs ]

I'll always tell the truth.

[ laughs ] of course.

Narrator: 172 miles to the northeast...

♪

well, still hitting 50 on that [indistinct].

It's nasty out there.

Narrator:...The 155-foot wizard is caught in the vice

of a bering sea low-pressure system.

There's a big wave. There's another one right behind it.

They're all big.

Narrator: Moist, southern winds colliding with arctic northerlies

fuel the massive 250-square-mile storm

that now covers 70% of the eastern opilio grounds.

Basically, you start getting compound seas,

and they start crashing, and piling up,

and you start getting erratic,

really big waves jump out of nowhere.

Gary: We're taking some big waves,

and we're just trying to go slow, and be careful right now.

Keith: This one, here, is a little bit dicey,

because I've got the weather just on the starboard side,

here, a little bit, which I do not like.

Gary: We're in survival mode, man.

Narrator: Despite unrelenting weather...

Keith: If I can find a way to get through 225 pots

in 36 to 38 hours, in this storm,

we'll be rock stars.

Narrator: Keith will need to haul and reset a pot

every 10 minutes to make his offload

in just 48 hours, or head to town light.

Man: Roger that, boss.

♪

come on, crab.

Alright. Moving slow.

Good sign, good sign, good sign.

Man: Oh, yeah!

Whoo!

Whoa!

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[ cheering ]

that's a hell of a lot of crab.

♪

415. Okay.

♪

man #2: Going over empty. Coming back loaded.

♪

heads up, guys.

Narrator: Hauling amid a towering and confused sea...

Whoa. Heads up, guys.

♪

oh, man.

That's not good.

Real sneaky one just came up, took a shot, there.

[bleep]

♪

man: What did you do? Did you get your knee?

Is somebody hurt?

How you doing, freddy?

Freddy doesn't look like he's doing real good, right now.

Any time he leans over, and doesn't move for about

30 seconds, I know he's in pain.

Gary, I need some information.

It look like freddy was injured, or something.

The hopper slammed his knee?

Narrator: The 33-foot curler deals the deck a crushing blow,

slamming crewman freddy maugatai's thigh

into the corner of the metal hopper.

Keith: Yeah, there he goes.

He's definitely got a little gimpy limp in his walk.

♪

man: How's your leg?

Okay?

Narrator: Shaking off the punch...

When he comes in, I'll do an assessment on his knee.

He's not coming off deck, I'll tell you that right now.

Freddy: Yeah, baby.

Narrator: ...The 18-year veteran deckhand resumes the fight,

pain be damned.

♪

keith: Well, that's the danger of trying to work in this weather.

You run the risk of getting somebody banged up.

Wow. There comes another one.

There's times when you don't get out of this chair,

sometimes, for 6, 7 hours straight.

If you have somebody on deck, you're not going anywhere.

You're just staying right here on the watch.

♪

narrator: 280 miles below the wizard...

It's been pretty foul this year.

Narrator: ...The 107-foot saga battles through the massive storm,

raising havoc on the eastern grounds.

60, 70-knot winds, 25-foot seas.

They're starting to get bigger and bigger.

♪

narrator: After a white-knuckle run into st. Paul harbor

to deliver his last 100,000-pound load,

captain jack anderson is back, looking to fill his tanks again.

Jake: Right now, this has been fishing on the bering sea for us.

I need to bring in at least two tanks, or 80,000 pounds,

or I'm gonna come up short on the buy-in.

Narrator: His bid to buy a 25% stake in the saga

still on the line,

the young skippers needs to maximize profits

by catching his crab quickly.

It would be nice to own a business.

Man: It's supposed to pick up.

We take it string by string, here.

-Here comes the first pot. -Yeah, roger.

Jake: Fingers crossed.

♪

♪

come on, god.

Give me [bleep] something, please.

Ah, [bleep]

wha wha wha.

[bleep] damn it.

Whoa.

♪

-come on. -Damn it.

Not great at all.

This is not what I need right now.

The weather is only gonna get worse...

...And it doesn't take a big wave to kill somebody.

♪

man: Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.

Whoa, watch out!

Jake: Got to be careful.

We've got to stack it,

and you guys just got to get through 18 pots.

Narrator: A 14 average is not gonna fill jake's tanks,

or get him much closer to that ownership stake.

He'll need new grounds to make that happen.

I just want to get at least these 18 pots

picked up and moved.

We're stacking and getting out of dodge.

One pot down, 17 more to go.

♪

see, they're starting to curl.

Just about every four or five waves, they're curling.

Whoa.

So, at night, I can only see about 600 feet in front of me,

because that's as far as about my lights go.

So, you've got plenty of --

oh, [bleep].

Get down.

Narrator: On the saga...

Jake: So, at night, I can only see about 600 feet in front of me,

because that's as far as about my lights go.

So, you've got plenty of --

oh, [bleep].

[bleep]

[bleep]

that was a big one.

Everybody okay? -Yeah!

That's what you call a "rogue wave," right there.

It's just like looking out these windows, and you don't see it.

You just see black.

And then, out of nowhere, from the ground up, just white.

That's how it happens.

Narrator: A rogue wave is twice the size,

and often moves counter to the seas around it --

an element of surprise that can prove deadly.

There's no rhyme or reason.

There's no control over it.

♪

but the weather is not even stopping me right now.

♪

I'm not quitting, by no means.

I'm gonna go east.

Narrator: Despite building 25-foot seas

and the occasional rogue wave...

James: We deal with weather like this all the time, it seems like.

We've got to do what we've got to do.

Finish it up.

Narrator:...Captain and crew forge ahead undaunted.

We're gonna push through this together.

Just keep going.

♪

narrator: 220 miles north...

Man: Going over.

Narrator: ...On the northwestern.

Sig: Having two boats working together,

you've got twice the boat, twice the gear,

you cover twice the real estate twice as fast.

So, I'm gonna set from the deeper 70s up into the 60s.

Harley is up above us, coming this way, from shallow to deep.

So, you're covering depths,

but you're also covering, you know, from north to south.

Narrator: To speed up prospecting, and locate a productive biomass,

sig has partnered with harley.

You know, so, hopefully, there's crab between here and there.

But I really don't know if it's the right move,

because harley has always been a little rough around the edges.

The only problem with the buddy system...

Man: Going over.

Narrator:...You have to trust your buddy.

Sig: It's a two-way street with information.

So, we'll see.

♪

narrator: 35 miles north, and working in the shallows...

Harley: The only time I hear from these chumps

is if they're not catching something.

I never hear boo from them when they're on them.

They don't want to share their...

It's a cutthroat business.

Narrator: Captain steve "harley" davidson is abiding by the agreement...

I'm gonna go right here, in the mid 60s.

Narrator: ...For now.

We never work together.

I tend to work by myself.

They've got to give me some valuable information, here.

Okay, guys. Let's get rid of these.

Start setting these pots up.

Steve: Get these pots back in the water.

Hopefully, we can get back on bigger crab.

♪

harley: Cover some ground,

and hopefully, one of us stumble across it.

I'll do a pass-through, here,

and then, see I can figure out what he's got going on.

I am a little bit apprehensive,

because normally I don't do that.

Man: Going over.

Sig: Hopefully, we can find something in there,

and then get going, because, you know, all this small crab

that we've found down below is just not cutting it, right now.

You know, there's got to be some better fishing around here.

Harley: I'm not quite sure what to think of this yet.

I'm still sizing it up.

You want to play. We play.

But I know I wouldn't if it was keith, though.

[ laughs ]

narrator: 162 miles northeast, on the wizard...

Keith: 35, gusting up to 45, 50 every now and then.

Narrator: ...Harley's biggest fan, keith colburn,

continues his battle with the ever-expanding storm

on the eastern opilio grounds.

Keith: This weather is relentless.

This is a nice day.

It seems like we're in this perpetual storm

that just will not give up.

It's slowing us down.

I mean, we don't want to slow down.

Narrator: The building 25-foot swells and shredding 40-knot winds

threaten keith's goal of hauling one pot

every 10 minutes in just 36 hours.

♪

keith: I only got 65 pots hauled today.

It's nasty out there.

Just kind of taking it at one pot at a time.

As long as you're set to the weather, you're good to go.

[ distant cheering ]

♪

♪

three-three-zero. Thank you.

♪

three-ten. Right on.

♪

man: Hold on. Hold on.

Oh, [bleep].

Heads up.

[ indistinct talking ]

narrator: On the wizard...

Man: Hold on. Hold on.

Oh, [bleep]

heads up!

[ indistinct talking ]

[bleep]

oh, man.

Is there something wrong with the dogs?

Narrator: While pushing through cresting whitecaps,

the dogs, or clamps, which keep the crab pots

connected to the launcher, shook loose,

allowing the 1,400 pounds of pot and crab

to tumble onto the sorting table.

I kind of seen it pop out of the dog before it fell over.

I didn't know it was gonna fall,

but I had time to back up a little bit.

You know what I mean?

Alright. Let's get that thing up and out of there.

That door might be a little tweaked.

♪

okay. It looks like we got it fixed, and we got it clean,

and we're getting the pots stacked. Cool.

Alright. The event looks like it's over.

We're back on track, working again.

Didn't last long.

Man #2: Yeah! Big boys, big boys!

♪

-one more time. -Time-out.

Narrator: Just as the crew regains its rhythm...

-Dump it. -Okay. Dump it.

...The wizard suffers another breakdown.

Keith: Give me a good count guys. Good count, good count.

[bleep]

narrator: The 1,500-pound sorting table

uses hydraulics to move in all directions --

a crucial element to the deck's operation.

The storm is beating up the boat.

It's beating up the gear.

It's beating up the crew.

Narrator: Without hydraulics, the table is locked in one position.

Keith: Mouse, just get away from the crab,

and help me fix this hose, okay?

Mouse: Okay.

It's this one, right here.

Narrator: The culprit -- a faulty 2-foot hydraulic hose.

We've got to stay on this.

If we've got to haul these pots old-school,

using the crane basket to suck them up, fine.

You know, whatever we've got to do to keep gear

coming onboard this boat, and crab going in those tanks,

that's what we're gonna do, right now.

Narrator: To keep production moving...

Alright. Old-school these pots there, sea dogs.

"[bleep] yeah!"

...The veteran calls an audible.

Instead of bringing the table to the crab,

we're just gonna take the crab to the table.

Narrator: Rather than wait on the hydraulics,

the crew will use the main crane to hoist 1,500-pound pots

across the deck to the sorting table.

We're gonna just keep hauling.

Shake that booty!

If we do it this way, we won't lose any fishing time.

Keith: Sit around and have five guys stare at somebody put a hose on

when I can do this...

...Hell, I'll haul the whole string like this, if I have to.

I don't care.

♪

man: Keep them coming, baby!

♪

we're getting through this gear just as fast as we were

when we had a sorting table that moved.

[ cheering ]

well, that's got to have 400 in it.

Let's see what's in these last two pots.

Come on. We need some crab. Need some crab.

♪

[bleep].

The boys are happy.

[ indistinct talking ]

go ahead and count that one for me, guys.

Give me a count. Give me a count.

Three-eight-five. Right on.

I tell you what, nothing can stop the wizard, baby.

With the hydraulic broke down,

we still keep on hauling.

Talk about badasses.

Narrator: 160 miles southwest, and clear of the storm,

on the southern wind...

There's a lot of ground, here, in this depth.

I keep question marking on myself.

Narrator: ...Late in the season and short on crab,

harley and sig are to share intel,

hoping to cover twice the ground twice as fast.

Well, that's the agreement, anyway.

Harley: I don't know.

We'll have to see how it goes.

Narrator: The veteran captains are prospecting

an 800-square mile swath of ocean,

working towards each other at different depths

to maximize their efforts.

Alright, guys, here comes the first one.

Let's see what we get.

And harley is about to find out

if his pots hold information worth sharing or hoarding.

This needs to work out for me.

♪

♪

man: Holy [bleep]! Yeah.

Harley: Nice. Okay.

That's what we need.

-Whoo! -Whoo!

Yeah, looks about, like, 300 or so.

Not bad.

It's nice-looking crab -- nice and clean, big stuff.

♪

nice.

Alright.

♪

four twenty. Okay.

Man: Oh, yeah.

If we keep that 400 average up,

we'll be knocking this thing out before we know it.

-Yeah, baby. -Whoo!

Narrator: After 4 days of ice and bad fishing...

Four-eighty. Sweet.

...The veteran skipper finally hits it big.

This string is going really well,

but I still need some more.

Narrator: But just 28 miles south,

harley's partner in crab...

Man: Oh, no.

Narrator: ...Still flounders in the deep.

Sig: Damn.

We were hoping for bigger numbers.

Can I get a number?

I don't even know.

I'm losing faith, again, today.

Narrator: Striking out in the south...

You on there, harley? Pick me up.

...Time to check with his buddy working the shallows.

Harley: Hey, there you are. Yeah, I got you, buddy.

I thought we were gonna kill it,

but honestly, some of this stuff I've been seeing, it's...

I mean, the numbers aren't there.

And I know we've seen the sign,

but I haven't seen the mother lode yet.

Put it that way.

Oh, yeah?

What about you?

[ cheering ]

♪

it's a tough one. You've got more pots, and more people.

You know, if you tell one,

that probably means three to five, you know?

Narrator: This week on "salty takes,"

off-season plans with keith colburn.

Well, I'm gonna spend some time at home.

I'm gonna spend some time dealing with my life.

And I'm going to ride my bike.

And I'm gonna try and get myself healthy.

I'm probably just gonna find a palm tree,

and I'm gonna sit on the beach,

and I'm gonna relax in the sun,

and sin.

[ laughs ]

narrator: Wishing you a well-deserved vacation, keith.

I can picture you now -- a skin-tight cyclist outfit,

a palm tree, and I don't know what else.

Narrator: 506 miles northwest of dutch harbor...

Sig: The numbers aren't there. And I know we've seen the sign,

but I haven't see the mother lode yet.

Put it that way.

Harley: Oh, yeah?

What about you?

Narrator: Captain sig and captain harley

teamed up to find the crab and fill their tanks.

[ cheering ]

but receiving good intel is a lot easier than giving it.

Man: Yeah!

Harley: It's a tough one.

You've got more pots, and more people.

You know, if you tell one,

that probably means three to five, you know?

♪

it's starting to liven up for me,

the more I come into the 69 --

that little groove, there, up and down that whole bank.

But, yeah, right about 67, 69, you know, right in there,

it started getting nice, clean stuff.

I think this might be the spot for us.

That's awesome, harley.

That's awesome.

Well, thank you so much.

Narrator: After a tense start, instead of clashing,

the two titans make good.

Who knew?

It sounds like there's a lot of crab from me to you,

so I want to get the rest of these pots out here,

and I'll probably just get them in the 67, 68, or something,

and work my way up, if that's cool.

Harley: Okay.

And yeah, same thing, I'll work my way down.

And even if we've got crab between us, dude,

this could work out really well.

Right. That's a big area, so, awesome.

Maybe we will see you around the bend,

but, yeah, I'm gonna get the gear in the water,

and get to fishing. So, good luck, man.

Same thing. See you down the road.

Roger. Good business.

You know what, if I'm gonna go

and search an area, and find something,

I'm gonna tell him what I find,

and I expect him to do the same to me.

You, know you don't want to hold off, and hold back on it.

That wouldn't be right.

We told the truth to each other, and it worked out well.

♪

keith: We lost a little bit of time -- not a lot.

We'll continued to haul gear,

and use the crane the old wizard way.

♪

nothing stopping the wizard, baby.

♪ gonna push it harder ♪

♪ gonna climb up higher ♪

♪ it's like I just can't miss ♪

♪ I was made for this ♪

♪ I was made for this ♪

jake: Crew did fantastic tonight,

even though they are just sore and dog-tired.

They really pulled through when I needed them most.

♪ I was made for this ♪

we're willing to do whatever it takes

to get the job done, and make the most money.

♪ show the world I'm stronger ♪

♪ prove it to them I'm a fighter ♪

♪ I can't help but win ♪

♪ I was made for this ♪

♪

harley: Alright, guys, we have company out here.

[ foghorn blares ]

you got company.

♪ I was made for this ♪

[ foghorn blares ]

harley: Yeah.

That worked out just fine.

Yeah, you bet, buddy.

A little trust goes a long way, I think.

We told the truth to each other, and it worked out well.

♪ just try and stop me ♪

♪ I was made for this ♪

harley: Sig's a feisty norwegian, you know.

He's a fighter, man.

True viking, that guy.

He hauls gear, and he don't stop.

He'll give you good information, so, perfect.

He's a great partner for me.

♪ gonna push it harder ♪

♪ gonna climb up higher ♪

sig: You're a band of brothers at sea,

and, you know, you're gonna help each other out.

Harley is an old-school guy,

and for that, you get respect, period.

Alright. Have a good one. I'm out.