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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Smooth Sailing...



If you've ever watched The World's Deadliest Catch", you probably are as in awe of these fishing men as we are.

And now our nephew is out there, with them.

eeeek.

These are the guys who spend months off the Aleutian islands in Alaska, bringing in fish and crabs for a living.

This is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. And our nephew is... eeeek.

Well, ok, he is actually not going out on a crab boat, he's on a long-line trawler, which is a bigger boat, and he is not crew, he works for the US Department of Fisheries, as a scientific observer. But still... his training included donning a survival suit within 60 seconds, and being able to turn over the survival raft.

Eeek.

And here's an inside tip- the crab boats you see on the cable show also have government observers, but they cannot be shown on camera, because anyone being shown on camera must sign a release that anything they say can be broadcast, and as government employees, the observers must sign a statement that they are working confidentially. So, when you watch that show, there is one other crewman out there on the deck checking the catch over who you will never see.

Here is hoping that Ed's trip is smooth sailing!

5 comments:

Mrs. Chili said...

Eeeek, indeed.

I made the mistake of reading The Perfect Storm (haven't seen the film, though - can't bring myself to do that). I'm currently reading Greenlaw's The Lobster Chronicles - it's a bit like Bill Bryson in tone, but there are some allusions to the dangers of the sea (as Greenlaw was on the boat trying to reach the Andrea Gale that night...).

For being a native New Englander, I have an odd love of the sea. I need to be NEAR it, but I don't need to be ON or IN it. I'm a land-based Yankee, for sure.

Moooooog35 said...

I like the new one that they started filming here in New England about the lobster fishermen.

Where their most dangerous job is trying to avoid the crazy big-hair chicks from Revere and avoid getting mono.

Kerstin said...

Wow! Smooth sailing to your nephew!

I love Deadliest Catch. Those guys are tough.

Commander Zaius said...

Rock on Ed! Hope he is safe and keeping those guys straight. While I won't take anything from those crab boat guys in courage I wouldn't trust them to stay within the legal limits of what they can catch.

here today, gone tomorrow said...

Hope he stays safe. Keep up posted.

What is he there to do, and what do the gummint observers do?