I'm at the end of my 2 week road trip to Northwest Florida & South Alabama. I'm catching up on the thread. We didn't miss any DC episodes, tho.
It was really sad when Edgar & the guy whose name is escaping me for some reason were saying nearly EVERY fisherman they have known has issues with addiction.
That Chinese lantern prank on Sig was brilliant.
Oh heck yeah. That was great. Loved it!
Is everybody who watches the show also a lover of crab on the dinner table? Could that be it? I wasn't kidding about getting hungry every time I watch. I can't go a whole lot of episodes before I'm dragging the family out for some all you eat crab legs. I'm in Maryland so I can do a couple of dozen steamed blue crabs too, but yeah I'm hungry right now thinking about it!
Actually, I'm not a seafood fan at all. I enjoy the sport of watching the guys fish. My hubby & sons all eat crab. The 15 year old is insane over the stuff. He schmoozed me into buying him $20 worth last week then schmoozed my brother into buying him another $20 worth 2 nights later. I told him if he asked for crab again before I forget about this round I'll smack him senseless.
It is sad but not all that surprising. With all of the damage that those deck hands do to themselves I am surprised that all of them don't have Vicodin addictions.
Or worse. If they're like me and Vicodin does absolutely ~nothing~ for them. When I had my last surgery in late August 2008 I got 'that look' from the doctor when I told him the only pain medication I know of that is effective for me is Percocet. :lookaroun Then he prescribed something else. Luckily, combining whatever he gave me with the industrial prescription muscle relaxers kept that elephant-trampling-my-chest feeling at bay.
Edgar said something about the addictions starting because of the pain - but continuing due to using pain as an excuse. Not an easy lifestyle.
My husband is a recreational fisherman and LOVES the show as well - he is always intrigued by how they can make $50K for a month or so of work. I asked him once if he thought he could handle "the grind" and he said absolutely positively NO. No way.
Oh yeah. My old man is Mr. Fisherman. Loves it with a passion. I don't think I could even complete that sentence without him laughing at me. My older brother, however, is super-duper into salt water fishing. Cold doesn't bother him. He has never, ever required much sleep and has this crazy energy that goes on forever. He works like a mule and enjoys it. I think of anyone I know or have ever known, I think my brother could totally do that job. His only problem would be when they go to rib the greenhorn...yeah...that wouldn't go so well. Growing up he was littler than all the other kids. As long as I can remember if anyone, no matter their size, tried to give him a hard time they had absolute h-e-double-hockey-sticks to deal with. That's where his problem would lie.
Oh my goodness - I don't know if anyone is watching After the Catch but Derrick is showing his true colors. Any doubts I had about what actually happened are gone. The guy is a jerk. Wow.
I think a lot was thrown out there on there table. It was quite a
moment. The problem is my hubby called right when everything had built to the crescendo and was yammering on about something being wrong with his boat trailer, etc. so I only ended half-listening to him and the show. I missed half of what was going on! Ack!
I had read elsewhere (discovery channel forums mostly) that some people weren't sure what actually happened or how editing played into it and maybe Derrick wasnt as bad as he seemed but after tonight what we saw was accurate. When Keith gets up to get in the middle of two guys about to fight - wow. Just wow. I knew it when Derrick picked a fight with the former engineer that I can't remember his name.
Wasn't the guy who stepped in a producer for Discovery that works on the boats or something? I didn't see Keith step in.
Then again, I was kinda impressed to see Keith and Jonathan sitting next to each other. I'd have thought that wouldn't have been the best seating arrangement.
Did anyone pay attention to the other captains at the table...I am pretty sure that they agree with Derrick. The problem is the Harris boys just do not want to listen...they suffer from the good ole "young kid who knows everything" syndrome. In my opinion Derrick was trying to teach these boys what their father didn't...the business side of the operation, but the boys just do not want to listen. I have lost all respect for the Harris boys.
While there's no doubt that the Harris boys are young and lack the wisdom and temper control that comes with age, I can understand why they (Josh) went to yelling. I would, too, if that was my dad. Heck, my dad is mentally disabled and literally 3/4 of the way out of his mind from PTSD and a serious panic disorder. I get so mad at him for some of the mindless trash that comes out of his mouth. Some days I get frustrated enough to scold him like a child. But let someone else say a cross word about my old man and I'll be on 'em like white-on-rice. I feel where Josh was coming from. Here's a man who's supposed to have had this long, deep history of fishing with his not even a year ago deceased father. He even claimed to be Phil's friend. That's some friend who talks down about you after you're dead to your children....while sitting in your chair at the helm of your boat. Doesn't get much lower, honestly. Josh & Jake
know they don't know everything they need to to run a boat. They said they hired Derrick to teach them these things as they worked. They relied on Derrick's word and his reputation...neither of which he produced on. Josh said he asked some questions and got met with insults after being told there's no such thing as a stupid question. Doesn't sound like a learning environment to me. Derrick also said himself that he fished with partner boats for all those years with success. Heck, it could've been his ability to read what his partner boats & captains were doing that produced his ability to catch. That could've been where his reputation came from. We'll never know. I certainly didn't see any proof that he was a good captain or fisherman. He failed to manage his crew in a productive manner, he failed to budget for the fishing correctly (I mean, even the inexperienced Harris boys picked up rather quickly that his calculations were all off), and he failed to catch what he needed to. He claims had he been able to keep fishing he'd have found them. How does he know that? He could've fished for weeks longer and spent way more money in fuel and never caught a thing.
The other captains vouched for Derrick's reputation in the past. What I also got was that they didn't think he managed the crew effectively. The captains gave a little questioning and advice to the Harris boys which I felt like they received okay. They sat there and said themselves they didn't know how to do that job but that they wanted to learn. Their lack of knowledge scares them. Heck, it'd scare me, too.
From what I saw Josh started with the yelling when Derrick was just trying to talk and make his point. The problem was the guys on the CM got away with a lot of crap when Phil was captain...now I'm not saying he wasn't a good captain, but he just wasn't one for coming down hard on his crew. That being said when Derrick steps on the boat and tries to run it the way it should be run like any other crab boat the crew just cant handle it.
Actually, I saw Derrick interupt Josh without letting him finish what he had to say. I think where Josh messed up was when he raised his voice. If he'd kept his cool and laid it all out there plain as day I don't think there would've been much arguement to make. The feelings are still raw, he was upset, his anger got the best of him. Once yelling begins, listening stops.
I think Phil had a very laid-back way of running his boat. Like my mother-in-law and how she ran her household when my hubby was growing up. Chores had to be done. She didn't care if it was done before or after the kids' favorite tv show as long as it got done. She didn't watch over their shoulders. She didn't really care how the tasks were accomplished as long as they were done right in the end. In contrast, the way I grew up was extremely regimented with everything extremely scrutinized. If things weren't done promplty the way we were instructed to do them step-by-step we had to start again from the beginning then lose priviledges. I think the contrast in the way Phil ran a boat and the way Derrick runs a boat are that different. The only thing that puzzled me was how did Opies last season go just ducky and everyone meshing to the insanity we saw for Kings this season? I don't get that.
I enjoyed both episodes last night. Evidently it seems the CM couldn't go out without these contracts for blue crab. Now I understand why they never switched when they couldn't find the blue crab. From what I saw I don't think either of Phil's sons are ready to handle or run a boat. They have a lot to learn.
From what I read in an interview with Josh which meshed with what they were saying last night is that they had leased out the CM's entire quota on the red crab because they weren't sure they'd be able to go out. Then Derrick offered to bring his quota along with leasing some blue quotas from other boats because he could make the boat a pile of money, he wanted to fish the season, and the Harris boys wanted to go out for the learning experience (you know, when Derrick was supposed to start guiding them in the ways of running a boat). Yeah, when the Harris boys saw that Derrick's calculations were all off, they weren't catching, and they were losing a lot of money they decided to scrap the season altogether. No, Phil's sons aren't ready to run a boat. They said that themselves. What they were seeking was an opportunity to learn from someone they thought they could count on. Didn't work out too good. They do have a lot to learn which they know. They're both supposed to be going to captain's school. I'm hoping Captain Tony with this Opie season really turns things around for them. They need some positive reinforcement and encouragement.
No question that there were problems on both sides but I think the blame needle is pointing a little more to Derrick. I have always been of the opinion that a captain/managers true worth is not how he is when everything is going right but how they perform when it all goes to crap. When Derrick was running the boat during opie season they were catching crab like crazy and everything was just fine. Blue crab was a different story. I think Derrick wrote a check that he could not cash when he went to fish blue crab. There is a reason that so many were willing to lease their blue crab quota, they are darn hard to catch. I have the feeling that the Harris boys came to him with the choice of stay home of fish blue crab, something that they have never done. My guess is Derrick said something along the lines of "No problem. I'll find the crab and we will make a ton of money." When that did not happen the crew turned on him, like every crew seems to do, but Derrick just returned the favor vs being a leader. Once that happened it was over.
Made for some great TV though.
Bingo. I think you totally nailed it in every way. :wave:
So was anyone else geeking out at the thought of Sig running King while Edgar worked the deck then Edgar running Opies???? From the time Edgar started talking about walking away a couple years ago the hubby & I thought they should give the Hillstrand's arrangement a try. We never once thought he'd actually walk away from crabbing and never return. We always said he'll sit it out for one of the 2 seasons and return with different arrangements. When he suggested that my oldest & I both jumped up and started the high-fives, "Yes!!! Yes!!!!!!!! We knew it!!!!!!!!!!" :lol: Very interesting to see how this all plays out. I'm so excited. I'm such a dork. :hammer:
