Some Serious 'Deadliest' Moments

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer

OK, so we're a little late on our Deadliest Catch round-up this week, but you know what they say: better late than never.

And really, this week came down to two things. Firstly, the fleet was tossed around like beach balls thanks to yet another Arctic hurricane / squall / freakin' set of huge storms that ripped out bolts, broke steel and basically tore up the decks and equipment of nearly every ship save for the Time Bandit, who just so happened to have been off-loading their first 35,000 lbs. load of the season at St. Paul (also known as a place where hell froze over).

We know winter in the Bering Sea is not light reading, but nearly every ship was crushed. The Northwestern took some sort of 90 degree roll, and in the aftermath, looked as though an earthquake had hit the boat. The North American skipper called it D-Day as he surveyed his trashed deck boards. But it was the Early Dawn's captain who said it best:

"The Bering Sea likes to smash boats, eat crew members. It has no qualms about knocking the living hell out of us."

The weather complicated the second notable development this week: Captain Phil's punctured lung drama-rama.

As a result of said Arctic hurricane, the Cornelia Marie took one of those 90 degree rolls, which threw Phil out of bed, across his room and smack dab into the sharp corner of his dresser. Being the tough guy that he is, he thought he could just Ace bandage himself back together and keep on fishin'.

Not so much.

Slowly but surely, it gets worse. Way worse - to the point where Phil's coughing up blood, the crew is freaked, and he's thinking the haunting dream he's always had of dying on the Bering Sea is actually going to come true.

Now, I love Captain Phil, and the Cornelia Marie is my favorite ship (though the Hillstrand brothers on the Time Bandit run a very close second). But I just wanted to throw Phil overboard given he just would not call it a day and get himself to a freakin' hospital - even when everyone was telling him to do so, including his crew and the other captains.

Thankfully, Phil does come to his senses. But interestingly, what he thought was the cause of the problem (cracked rib, punctured lung from being thrown out of bed) may in fact not be ... hmmm ... stay tuned for next week.

New episodes of Deadliest Catch air Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on Discovery Channel (with multiple replays throughout the week). You can also tune into all new episodes of After the Catch at 10 p.m. to hear the captains' insights on the season's highs and lows. Visit the official Deadliest Catch Web site for the latest on the captains and crews of the Northwestern, Cornelia Marie, Time Bandit, Wizard, Early Dawn and North American.