Best Wishes

Capt. Phil recovering from surgery

Last night Capt. Phil underwent surgery. Both of his sons, Josh and Jake were at his side. Josh flew in from St. Paul to join his brother. It may be some time before we know anything substantial about Phil’s condition.

Thank you to everyone who has sent good wishes and prayers for Phil, his family and the Cornelia Marie crew.

An old family friend of the F/V Cornelia Marie, Derek Ray flew to St. Paul to take on the role of relief skipper for the rest of the Opilio season.

Ever watched that show? I have. And I recognize this guy from the show.

Those dudes have some balls. I wouldn't want their job. Nor could I do their job. I would be doing nothing but hanging over the rail puking my guts out for the entire season. I know this because the one time I went fishing in the ocean I did exactly that.

The ocean was somewhat rough for the size of boat we were in, which itself was no 12 foot bass boat. It was more like 35 feet in length, with a nice cabin and several benches big enough to shuttle a dozen or so people.
The waves were cresting 10 to 15 feet when we reached our fishing spot, and they were splashing over the bow and soaking us on the aft deck where we were doing our fishing for the halibut.
The boat was pitching, rolling and yawing as if it was stuck in a top-loading washing machine during the agitate cycle. I was sicker than hell, but we had paid a goodly sum for the charter and I was damned if I was going to miss out on the fishing.

So it was all about dropping the line over the side, hang over the rail and puke until time to bring the line back up with a fish on the hook. Puke while the deckhand reloaded the bait on the hook, drop it over the side again, and puke while it went down.

Yes, I chummed the waters for a goo couple hours. And yes, I damned near kissed the dock when we got back to it. The captain said we maybe should have gone to a different area as those waves were a little more than what he was really comfortable navigating in.
Gee. Ya' think?

The biggest lesson I learned from my experience and from watching these crabbers, is this: Damn! That seafood is good shit, but someone has to work their ass off for it.


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