Original subtitles

[ electricity buzzing ]

keith: This has not been an easy year.

My brother needs a break from that deck.

I mean, everybody's a little bit beat up and worn down now.

[ buzzing continues ]

hell, why do we do this?

Why do we fish?

We do it for our families.

Hey, be careful up there.

Here comes one.

Man: Whoa!

Sig: This is one of those "make it or break it" moments.

I need you down there.

Keith: We work until our knuckles are bare

and our nails are ripped and torn,

our backs are aching,

and we can't hardly do anything anymore.

Uh-oh. Oh, no. [ alarm ringing ]

monte: You, in the engine room now! Tyler, go, go!

Keith: I'm providing for eight families out there.

It's what we do.

But it still ain't over.

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

captions paid for by discovery communications

[ seagulls crying ]

narrator: 507 miles from dutch harbor...

Mandy: Just another day in paradise up here on the bering sea.

Narrator: ...On the northwestern...

[ crew shouting ]

[ sighs ] you freeze your face off,

you get slammed around in the boat.

It's lovely every day.

...On course for the day's first 15-pot string.

Sig: [ groaning ] oh, god.

Slow down a little bit. [ laughs ]

relief skipper mandy hansen closes out her six-hour watch...

Uh, watch out.

...Handing over the helm to the captain, and her father, sig.

Good job, mandy. Thank you.

Feel pretty good this morning.

The weather's got me a little nervous,

but a very good pick yesterday.

You know, through the year, we have closer to 70,000 pounds.

Yeah, that was nice to see.

Narrator: Two days ago, a strategic and successful partnership

with steve "harley" davidson

landed both captains on the biomass.

And sig -- he doubled down.

We've got 207,000 pounds left on our quota.

The boat typically packs 205, 6, to 208, so we got to pack her.

We got to jam it, and that's fine.

A full trip ought to cover us.

Narrator: Now the veteran duo's 69-fathom hot spot will

either sustain the northwestern for a second pick...

Or not.

There's crab in there they'll be able to spot.

[ sighs ]

if we did our job right, there should be 400 or 500 here.

♪

♪

-dead crab. -No!

[ exhales sharply ]

♪

♪

how do we look?

Okay.

Let's see if it gets better as we go up here.

♪

[ groaning ]

♪

I don't even know. I'm losing faith again today.

Man: Oh, man.

Narrator: While sig's pots were filled to the brim...

...This bering sea party is over.

This area's cooked. We got to move pots.

It's the way it is.

Hopefully there's still some crab around

and we make the right moves.

Narrator: Now the veteran skipper is back on the hunt.

Man: Whoa!

Sig: Some of these seas are 18-foot-plus,

so this is really not helping our cause.

It's important to try to stay ahead of it.

We want to beat this storm before it's too late.

We got to find a little postage stamp somewhere.

Narrator: 276 miles away,

in the throes of a building southern storm,

is the saga.

This sounds cliché, but we're racing the storm.

Narrator: After battling brutal weather

and barren grounds in the southeast...

So I found a sniff of crab here.

I don't know exactly where they are,

so I did a mix of one, two, three, four different depths.

Narrator: Captain jake anderson prospects even further east

from deep to shallow to find the elusive biomass.

♪

man: Whoo!

Sean: It's supposed to pick up.

The sea's supposed to get a little bit bigger.

The winds are, I don't know, 50, 60 -- somewhere in there.

Seas are building.

Whoa!

I'm just gonna try to do what I can do

until I can't do what I want to do.

Narrator: Now, with a 250-mile-wide low-pressure system

careening north...

The longer I push it, the longer it's gonna take me to get in,

and I'm getting really impatient because I have to produce.

Narrator: ...The young skipper looks to get back on the crab

before mother nature sends him packing.

Alright, let's see what we got.

Pot's got 34 hours on it. [ sighs heavily ]

please be something in it.

Man: What the [bleep]?

♪

damn it.

I'm hoping to find at least 200, 300.

That's maybe 100.

Bummer.

♪

80. Damn it!

Come on. Please be a good pot.

It's the same [bleep].

♪

not looking good. Lots of females, smalls.

[ groans ]

jake: Looking at the weather, it's just gonna get bad...

Aww!

...To worse...

...To hell.

-Whoo! -Whoo!

[ groaning ] god!

Ugh, I want to scream.

No good!

I got to go in.

Alright, fellas. Clean up the deck.

We're going into st. Paul.

I'm just a little discouraged.

Narrator: Rather than risk his boat and crew for a whisper of crab,

amid bellowing seas,

jake will make the 42-mile steam to find shelter.

Jake: I'm running to st. Paul.

Sit on anchor, wait for the morning,

see if the weather comes down.

I'm not gonna be another statistic for the coast guard

to write in their paper.

♪

narrator: 252 miles north...

-Hey, guys, hang on. -Here we go!

Narrator: ...On the wizard...

Keith: Whoa!

Narrator: ...The 920-millibar low-pressure system

continues its March to higher latitudes.

Holy smokes. Wow.

Man, that's a nice-looking pot of crab right there.

-Whoo! -Yeah!

♪

narrator: After shooting the dice in the far reaches of the north...

[ crew shouting ]

...150 miles outside the range of rescue helicopters...

They're nice, bright crab from here, so...

-...Alright. -Come on, baby!

Narrator: ...Wizard captain keith colburn

is still sizzling.

Keith: We're on a solid 500 average through here,

and I just hope we can fill this boat, man.

We've worked way too hard to come up a little bit short.

You know, coming up short at this point right now

is not an option.

Monte: Ohhh!

Narrator: But outside...

Being outside's not really my favorite.

I don't spend a lot of time out here anymore,

which is kind of the way I would rather it be.

Narrator: For brother and co-captain monte colburn,

working on the deck of a bering sea crab boat

is taking its toll.

Monte: Might be hard to haul through the night.

Let's see how [bleep] it gets.

Keith: Monte's not in the best of spirits, you know?

My brother needs a break from that deck.

Narrator: At the start of the season...

Bottom line is, I need more time at the wheel.

...Monte threw down an ultimatum...

...I'm not trying to chase you off your own boat.

I'm trying to give you time.

We haven't had any crab to catch.

Now we've got some crab to catch.

...Demanding more time at the helm,

or leave his brother shorthanded.

Let's go! Come on.

Let's deal with that later.

Right now, everything's copacetic.

Now it's time for captain keith to make good on his promise.

He hasn't asked if he's gonna get the last trip.

I think his expectations are that he's going to get it.

I can guarantee you, if I didn't give it to him,

it would absolutely destroy him.

But we have to fill the boat.

Well, we'll see.

Hey, mouse. Can you come up here?

Narrator: With 80,000 pounds to catch

before keith's final trip is brought to a close...

How's it going?

...The elder colburn tags in his little bro

to keep the wizard operating 24/7.

We've got two strings on -- one, two, right?

These are the last two down here, one and two.

And then we're just moving up the hill.

Their plan -- shuffle pots to shallower waters

ahead of the moving school.

Right in the middle there?

Get them both on here and then head up the hill.

Alright. It's all yours.

Alright. I am going.

I'm going to my rack.

I'm getting some snooze time. -Attaboy.

You know, I think everyone's feeling kind of tired here.

I don't know why, but I know I'm [bleep] beat.

♪

we're pushing 500 miles from dutch harbor,

250 miles from st. Paul.

You know, this is the middle of nowhere.

But it's kind of nice to be alone, at least to some degree.

♪

[ electricity buzzing ]

oh, no. We're going black.

What the hell? The engine just quit!

Man: Got a flashlight? Flashlight.

-Okay, here. -Let's get off deck!

Todd, all you guys, come on!

[ beeping ]

you, in the engine room now! Tyler, go, go!

Narrator: 350 miles from the nearest landmass,

steaming through a ferocious northern sea...

[ crew shouting ]

[ electricity buzzing ]

uh-oh. Oh, no. We're going black.

What the hell? The engine just quit!

Narrator: ...The wizard goes dark ship.

Man: Got a flashlight? Flashlight.

-Okay, here. -Let's get off deck!

Todd, all you guys, come on!

[ beeping ]

you, get in the engine room now! Tyler, go, go!

Make sure we got everything else on the deck taken care of.

Alright?

-Copy. -Roger that.

♪

[bleep]

keith: I understand we lost power.

We've got hydraulic oil all over the deere.

Yes. We've switched over.

We're on the [bleep] caterpillar auxiliary now.

We have no idea the extent of the damage to the deere.

No.

Narrator: The culprit --

a seal in the vessel's hydraulic system failed,

dousing the wizard's generator in oil,

causing a short circuit and ultimately a loss of power.

Now, roger, now get down there

and start going through it. Alright?

Roger. Clean everything up.

Put a new filter on, and start just deducing,

sleuthing out anything you can, okay?

♪

we've got backup power and backup electricity.

What we don't have is a manner in which to run the hydraulics.

No hydraulics, no crab block, no cranes,

no launchers, no tables, no nothing.

Narrator: Running on backup power,

the crew scrambles to repair their generator

and get the wizard back in action.

The last thing we need is a seven-day trip to town

for a repair with a half load of crab on here.

♪

narrator: 130 miles west...

...Skirting the edge of the northbound storm...

You're going right here?

We're moving west over after the crab was so junky,

hopefully getting a cleaner school.

...After striking out

on what the veteran thought would be a grand slam...

So, this is one of those "make it or break it" moments.

...The northwestern's skipper hands over the reins

to his most trusted disciple, daughter mandy.

Thought I missed one. No, that's 19.

Oh, thank goodness. Look at that.

We are just spot-on. No problem.

[ chuckles ] [ radio beeps ]

going over.

I've been working a lot up here in the wheelhouse with my dad.

He's been teaching me how to track the crab,

how to pinpoint their movement.

Yeah!

We are setting this string more to the west.

We are setting it at 73 fathoms.

Over!

We're gonna try a little bit deeper.

Crab have a tendency to be cleaner there,

is what we've been seeing.

Narrator: The relief skipper's strategy is simple --

use depth and empirical data from this season

to track the elusive opilio horde.

At least, that's the plan.

Mandy: Still just doing everything

exactly the way my dad showed me, the way he's taught me.

Really want to set my gear the new way

and use the program that we have on here.

Nobody's using this old dinosaur plotter.

My dad loves his plotter.

It's older than me.

You know, it's better to just do it his way.

So, running west, hopefully that's gonna work,

clean it up a little bit.

Narrator: 290 miles southeast,

still in the low-pressure system's grasp

on the leeward side of st. Paul island.

[ seagulls crying ]

it's probably gusting up to 80

out on the fishing grounds right now.

Who knows how big the seas are? I imagine 30, pushing 40.

Narrator: Deck boss sean dunlop mans the helm

as the 107-foot saga waits out a relentless storm

plaguing the opilio grounds.

Sean: It's definitely got me on my toes,

these big waves coming at us on the side there.

That's all we need, is a big one to take the windows out,

and all our electronics.

Then we're in some trouble.

Jake: How the hell are we still holding onto this anchor?

Narrator: Saving $1,500 an hour on fuel while moored in the shallows...

Jake: What I'm worried about now is we take a big wave...

...It pushes us over, cocks back,

and snaps the anchor cable.

Narrator: ...In a 30-foot ground swell,

every penny saved could prove to be pound foolish.

Yeah, let's pick it up, sean.

Narrator: Jake's nightmare scenario --

the cresting breakers overpower his anchor,

sending the 198-ton vessel

headlong toward the jagged shoreline.

Jake: The last five minutes,

it went from about 6-foot swell

to about 10- to 15-foot swell breaking,

so I had to start yarding the anchor before I break it.

I got three people up on the bow right now

hauling the anchor in 15-foot swell.

That's the most dangerous place to be right now.

Stay safe, okay?

♪

man: Whew!

[ banging, rattling ]

one of these waves hits me,

it'll wash everybody off the bow.

[ crew shouting ]

[ winch clicking ]

♪

jake: Look at that wave right there.

Hey, be careful up there, james, okay?

♪

holy [bleep].

Here comes one.

-Aaah! -Oh, my god.

[ chain clicks, bangs ]

♪

narrator: On the leeward side of st. Paul island...

Jake: Look at that wave right there.

Hey, be careful up there, james, okay?

Narrator: ...Captain jake anderson races to pull anchor

and take control of the saga

in the face of a punishing groundswell.

Holy [bleep].

Here comes one.

-Aaaah! -Oh, my god.

Whoa, whoa! [ chain bangs ]

[ crew shouting ]

[ wind rushing ]

what the hell?

Is it broke 100%?

Yeah.

The anchor's gone completely?

It's gone.

Wow.

Alright, fellas.

Come down from there.

Roger!

[ sighs ] a couple thousand dollars for that anchor,

the second anchor I've lost in four years.

Narrator: Without an anchor, and with st. Paul harbor

too dangerous to enter in the building storm...

Jake: This weather ripped my anchor in pieces.

A 1,500-pound, basically, ball of steel,

broke in about three different pieces.

Narrator: ...Jake has no choice but to jog into the weather,

burning fuel and money until the storm blows itself out.

It's safer for us to be on anchor

than to jog around in these shallows.

Alls it's gonna take is one person to fall asleep

for five minutes, and we hit the beach.

That's all it would take.

♪

narrator: 250 miles from st. Paul harbor,

in the now storm-swept northern grounds...

...Is the wizard.

I was thinking we got past our gremlins on the boat,

but we still have gremlins on this boat somewhere.

Narrator: Three hours after a faulty seal in the hydraulic system failed,

shorting out the ship's generator...

...Engineer roger schlosstein races to complete the repair.

Keith: We need to get this crab on, get this boat stuffed,

get that fixed, get that starboard auxiliary back online

so that we can run that.

And I need to get my brother off deck.

He needs to run this boat for the next trip.

Narrator: But with 75,000 pounds still to catch

and his pledge to hand over the helm to brother monte

hanging in the balance... -Alright.

Narrator: ...The veteran skipper could use some good news.

Roger: We got it plugged back in, all cleaned up.

Time to fire it up and see what happens.

Fingers crossed.

♪

[ engine starting ]

[ electricity buzzing ]

[ beep ] keith: Alright!

It's on! It's on!

-On? -It's back on, yeah.

So far, so good!

Narrator: The generator operational

and the new hydraulic seal holding,

captain and crew bank on a 99-cent part

to keep their multimillion- dollar operation running.

Well, good job down there.

Thank you.

I'd give you a smiley face,

but that's not gonna happen for a while yet.

[ laughs ]

we're back in action, baby!

Keith: Let's get this boat back to work.

-Whoo! -Yeah, baby!

Keith: Now we just need to fill this boat.

If I put another 50,000 or 60,000 pounds of crab on here,

at that point, I think we're gonna see those tanks

just starting to show signs of giving it up.

-Whoo! -Yeah!

Man: Yeah, baby!

[ device hisses ] that's what we need.

-Whoo! -Oh, yeah!

[ indistinct shouting ]

[ laughs ] [ device hisses ]

oh, looking really good, man. These things are loaded.

We're gonna be heading home soon.

We're heading into town.

♪

[ metal grinding ]

monte, listen to this.

[ grinding continues ]

when I'm moving the crane,

you can hear something grinding there.

Listen to this.

[ grinding continues ]

you hear that?

Monte: Okay, let me go downstairs.

Hey, I need some information. Am I still hauling gear or not?

[ door creaks ]

got [bleep] smoke down here!

[ alarm ringing ] smoke, smoke! Okay. Alright.

Hey, soper, engine room. Freddy, engine room.

[ coughs ]

monte says we've got some kind of smoke

going on down there in the engine room.

Let's find out what it is.

Holy [bleep]!

[ ringing continues ]

narrator: 480 miles north of dutch harbor...

Got [bleep] smoke down here!

Keith: Smoke, smoke! Okay. Alright.

Hey, soper, engine room. Freddy, engine room.

Monte says we've got some kind of smoke

going on down there in the engine room.

Let's find out what it is.

Narrator: ...Another mechanical breakdown leaves the wizard paralyzed

in hull-battering 30-foot seas.

[ alarm ringing ] [ coughs ]

[ ringing stops ]

♪

[ machinery whirring ]

keith: Okay, freddy, get the chief up right away.

Tell him to get up immediately, okay?

Okay, okay! Peace out!

Narrator: The air clutch used to connect the generator

to the hydraulic system overheats.

[ coughing ]

no clutch means no hydraulics.

[ keith screams ]

no hydraulics means heading to town short.

What the [bleep] is going on here?

[ groans ]

[ exhales sharply ]

we've obviously got some sort of catastrophic [bleep]

air [bleep] going on with that control system down there.

Because you tear that thing apart and put another clutch

in there, it might last two years,

it might last 10 [bleep] pots.

Narrator: The clutch is powered by a web of air lines.

When pressure is maintained, the clutch bladder inflates,

creating a bond between the generator

and the hydraulics system.

If an air leak causes a drop in pressure,

the clutch slips, creating friction,

burning the pads,

bringing their operation to a halt.

Hey, gary. I'll meet you in the gear room real quick.

I'll be right there.

-Okay, roger. -Yes.

Keith: We need to start at the beginning

and go all the way through it,

figure out what the hell is going on.

I mean, we obviously got to find

some sort of problem in the air system.

Get all hands in, however many guys you've got,

and we're gonna start tearing everything apart down there.

Narrator: The skipper's plan --

inspect the lines between the wizard air reserve

and the air clutch in search of a breach.

Keith: Try and get this thing fixed,

try and get this last 70,000 or 80,000 pounds on here.

You know, this has not been an easy year

emotionally, physically.

It just that it never ends out here.

It's one thing or another.

Right now, we are 480 miles from dutch harbor.

We've got to find a way to get this boat working here.

♪

narrator: After scouring the air pressure system

for a leak...

...Roger and monte locate a pea-sized gash in an air line.

[ air hissing ]

now, with the hose replaced, the question is --

will their system hold air or blow wind?

[ machinery whirs ]

♪

well, we fired up our main auxiliary, auxiliary number one,

kicked those hydros back on with full air pressure.

So far, it's holding. [ knocks on wood ]

keith: I'll tell you one thing we're going to do, though,

because this has gotten to the point where I'm [bleep].

It has to end.

We need a symbolic gesture to rid this boat

of the [bleep] gremlins on the smoked clutches.

We're gonna get that [bleep] t-shirt off.

What t-shirt? Your t-shirt!

Okay, well... We don't need

a "get smoked" shirt on this boat right now, okay?

It's a t-shirt!

Get the "get smoked" shirt off.

That is gone, roger!

It has nothing to do with our problem, but we'll --

I don't care if it has anything to do with the problem or not!

Get the "get smoked" off the damn boat!

"get smoked." what, do you got

any "I like breakdowns" shirts or anything?

Oh, [bleep].

You guys burn this in the middle of the deck.

Man: It's going up. It's going up in flames.

-[ laughs ] -yeah, right?

-Oh, man. -Whoo!

Anybody got any marshmallows?

-Whoo! -Whoa. [ laughs ]

[ indistinct shouting ]

alright, let's go, mouse. Let's get the hydros going.

Here, I'll give you this.

Man: Here we go!

Narrator: His sacrifice to the crab gods made good...

Well, actually, his brother's sacrifice...

Keith: Okay, let's get moving. Let's get moving fast.

Let's get this going. Alright, guys?

Narrator: ...Keith takes aim at what could be

his final pots of opilio 2019.

Keith: With any luck, we can be full in 24 hours and head into town.

I need to get my brother off deck.

He needs to run this boat for the next trip.

[ man shouts ]

he's gonna get more opies to catch in this trip

than we had for an entire season last year.

You know, now we just need to finish the deal.

-Whoo! -Yeah!

[ waves crashing ]

narrator: 136 miles to the west...

-Oh, no! -Aah!

Narrator: ...On the leading edge of the growing storm...

We just got updated on the weather forecast.

That's not looking too hot.

It's gonna blow pretty bad -- 60, 65.

They're seeing 35-foot seas, so it's kind of scary.

Narrator: ...After striking out in the eastern shallows...

Sig: This is your deck load?

Yeah.

I'm looking forward to seeing what's in these pots.

Hopefully, it's gonna pay off.

...Northwestern skipper sig hansen

bet big on his daughter mandy

and her deepwater western set.

Okay, mandy, first pot's coming up!

Let's see what you did, kid.

I'm just hoping that the crab are still snapping

and they're hungry.

And that we're in the right spot, so...

Well, we got to hope we run across some schools, some piles.

Hopefully, this one's got a few.

♪

♪

[ sighing ] oh, come on.

-Ah, come on! -Give me some love!

Hey, dad.

-Come on, something! -Come on!

Narrator: This week on "salty takes"...

Whoa, killer whales -- a pod of them!

-What? Where? -Right over there.

-Right there. See them? -Ah!

Killer whales on the port side. Big pod of them.

Man: Right there, port side!

Right there -- dead ahead, dead ahead!

Holy [bleep]! Yeah!

Look at that!

That's another one!

Is it?! That's...Yeah.

There's two of them, two pods of them!

-Oh! -Look at the baby orcas!

Dude, do you see? They hustle, dude.

-Oh! -There's a baby! Yeah!

Man: Man, that's cool.

I think that's the most I've seen at one time.

Hey, that might be good luck for us, boys.

Narrator: The wizard might be leading,

but the saga saw some killer...Whales.

See what I did there?

Narrator: On the northwestern...

Hopefully, this one's got a few.

[ sighing ] oh, come on!

Let's see what you did, kid.

...Mandy hansen's deepwater gamble...

Hey, dad.

♪

-yeah! -Whoo!

Narrator: ...Comes up aces.

Damn! Daaamn!

-Whoo! -[ laughs ]

-yeah, buddy! -Whoo!

Narrator: And captain sig hansen...

Wow!

...Cashes in.

You have good, clean crab here.

It's nice to put clean crabs in the tanks.

Whoo!

Whoo!

[ beep ] hey, clark.

Whoo-whoo!

[ cheering ]

whoo!

[ coughing ]

I can't whoo.

We're sorting our hands off. We got five guys on the table.

We're doing everything we can to be as fast as possible.

There's so much crab now, if you don't mind,

I'd like to -- I need you down there.

Narrator: Mandy's reward for putting the northwestern back on the crab?

Is that alright? Yeah.

Alright.

...An attagirl and a trip back to the deck.

♪ my dear mother, I believe ♪

wow!

♪ that change is gonna come for me ♪

♪ I believe ♪

man: It's getting better!

♪ all my life been in a summer dream ♪

we're getting a good number. Easy to sort.

♪ but this has been a cold and stark awakening ♪

well, that was one of our better strings of the season.

♪ are we gonna have to learn to let it go? ♪

this is the kind of fishing that can fill boats.

♪ are we gonna have to learn to let it go? ♪

thank you, mandy, for being out there.

She found crab. She followed crab.

You know, I think that she learned

to get in touch with that sixth sense,

and, you know, you follow your gut.

♪ my dear brothers, will you carry me? ♪

keith: Come on, crab.

Gimme some crab. Gimme some crab.

♪ I know I spend a lot of time looking for your sympathy ♪

oh, yeah. Oh, yeah!

Looking really good, man. These things are loaded.

The sooner we get out of here, the better.

Now we just need to finish the deal.

It's so close right now, it's...

God, I just taste it.

♪ are we gonna have to learn to let it go? ♪

[ grunting ]

jackpot, baby! Jackpot!

♪

alright. What do we got, soper?

What, six?

Seven!

Seven-five.

Seven-five-zero. Wow! Whoa-ho-ho!

[ crew cheering ]

that's gonna do it. Alright, man.

Let's put the boots to those tanks, guys.

♪

narrator: The wizard stuffed with crab...

Keith: Hey, mouse. Can you come up here?

Narrator: ....Captain keith makes good on a pledge made months ago.

[ coughing ] well, how are we doing?

The fact that we're finishing this thing up

is a major miracle, and I'll take that.

Yeah.

There's been a couple of different times where it was

like, "there's no way we're filling the boat this trip."

you've got the next trip.

You're finishing it. You're finishing the season.

You got 400,000 pounds to go catch.

Go catch them. Right on.

That's the last one, soper. Last one here.

[ crew cheering ]

alright, mouse. Good job, man. You too, buddy.

It's not been an easy season. It's good to be back, man.

I love you!

Fill that tank. Let's go to town.

♪

wow. [ sniffs ] hell of a trip.

There's no question that my father passing away

has definitely brought me and monte closer together.

He needs more time up here,

and this year he's gonna get what he asked for.

I've got the best captain in the fleet on this boat,

and he's my brother.

♪