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A few years ago our son got my wife and I to watch a show with him on the Discovery Channel called the Deadliest Catch.  To say the least we were not too impressed to see that a word in every other sentence had to be bleeped out.  After watching that show we fully understood what it meant when someone said, “Cussed like a sailor”.

As unimpressed as we were to the language we were equally impressed by watching those fishermen work in the hardest working conditions known to man.  Fighting the cold Alaskan winter in the Bering Sea to catch their haul of Alaskan King Crab and Ophelia Crab.  To see Greenhorns, those that work on the fishing vessels for the first time, earn their rightful place on a boat.  Some would work out and be great workers while others would make the Skipper bleep out more bleeps than one would care to hear bleeped. Not to mention the few that dared to go to the wheelhouse to complain to the captain about one thing or another. 

Over the last few years we began to get to know the ones that were veterans on the boat that have been working hard for several years.  Same goes for the captains.  We even got to know a little about their families.  Those family members that worked together on the boats as a family business.  Eventually from season to season after seeing the same ones year after year we seemed to make a connection to those on the boats as though we were watching our own family members on a reality television show.

As with everything else on reality television shows each one of us did have our favorites. From our favorite captain to our favorite deckhand. Even though their biggest faults were still the language I could only imagine what those wheelhouse’s smelt like with those that were chain smokers.  But I’m sure they are under alot of stress while keeping a constant vigil on the unpredictable Bering Sea, the weather, the workers on deck and all the monitors right in front of them, all while piloting those massive boats.

One captain that we really liked was Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Maria.  He had two sons that worked as deckhands on the boat.  The younger son started out on the boat on the captain’s bad side by using dear old dad’s credit card to get himself a nice flat screen TV for his bunk while out to sea.  This past season he admitted to his dad he was addicted to drugs when his father caught him in his quarters taking his prescription medicine.  It was a really sad moment between father and son even while the camera kept rolling that he told him that when they got back to land he didn’t want to ever see him again. But just like any other loving father he thought about what he said and told his son  that he wanted him to go and get treatment and that he would go with him.  Captain Phil admitted that he had been there one time too and knew how it felt.

By the time the Cornelia Maria did make it back to dock there was a sudden, major turn of events.  Captain Phil was found by a deckhand in his room on the floor, apparently from a stroke.  To watch his two sons struggle with their own emotions, while people were praying, other skippers and captains all worried, Phil struggled to make a good recovery.  And that’s the way it seemed. He was doing better than expected. So much better he was sitting up in his bed and asking his youngest son for just one cigarette to which his son would not give him.

Then as the show ended word came that Phil had a sudden turn for the worst.  The last thing said was the oldest son saying, “We lost dad.” People we have never met or actually do not know we can’t help but feel for the family and friends. We watched them season after season.  They have become family to us.  This Tuesday night, July 20th, 2010 at 8pm CST on the Discovery Channel we will watch the final episode for Captain Phil Harris.  He really did love his kids and his kids loved him.  If you get a chance set your timer or tune in Tuesday night and watch this emotionally charged episode of The Deadliest Catch.