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Battlers all at sea

NADIA ARSALANEThe West Australian
Camera IconBattlers all at seaPicture: The West Australian

Next time work gets you down or a colleague's behaviour tips you over the edge, spare a thought for the crab fishermen on the Deadliest Catch.

While most of us can escape the pressures of work at the end of the day, these men spend nearly three months at a time on a boat with their fellow crewmen, just off the coast of Alaska.

The show follows five Alaskan king crabbing boats as they battle against the elements to catch enough crabs so they can take home a bumper pay packet.

Treacherous conditions and the gruelling hours that come with the job don't make it a very appealing employment prospect for the average Joe but that hasn't stopped viewers from more than 150 countries turning on in their droves to watch them at work

The sixth season of the program has seen several crewmen injured during the crab season, including a concussion from an iceblock falling 12m on to a deckhand's head, a heart attack and a suspected injured tendon.

However, things take a shocking turn when a beloved member of the show loses his life.

Cornelia Marie captain Phil Harris had a stroke at the start of the year while harboured in St Paul Island, Alaska. The unlikely reality star, who worked on the boat with his sons Josh and Jake, was taken to hospital but died a few weeks later from an intracranial haemorrhage.

The show captures every moment of Harris' illness from his collapse and treatment in hospital to the reactions of his sons after his death.

To make matters worse, before Harris fell ill he discovered Jake had a drug problem, after he caught him stealing medication. A heated exchange took place and Harris told Jake that they "were done" and he never wanted to see him again.

Despite the heated conversation, the pair reconciled before he died and Jake claims he is now clean after having had a stint in rehab. "Actually, right after that, I got help and started going to AA, meetings of that sort," Jake says over the phone in Seattle.

"It was actually one of the best things that ever happened to me. Now that I've got my head back on my shoulders and stuff, I'm thinking about going to captain's school here after I go fishing. Everything is going a lot better than it was."

Jake and Josh admit they have found it hard to watch the show this season and have still not seen the episodes where their father is ill.

"I watched it all the way to the point where I had my last conversation with my father, and that's when I didn't watch it after that," Josh says.

"I mean, it wasn't easy to sit there and watch ... The whole thing was hard but I got to see what I said to him for the last conversation and all that stuff, so it worked out in some aspects but it's really hard in others."

Determined to carry on their father's legacy, the siblings have headed back out to sea to film the seventh season of the show but both admit it will be hard to fill their dad's shoes.

"That's what the old man wanted, so I'm adhering to it," Josh says.

"I'm doing what I can to live on the tradition. So is Jake. I mean, we're trying our hardest here, and that's all we can do. We're going to succeed. We don't understand how to fail."

The men have received a lot of support from fans after the death of their father and still can't believe how he has touched the lives of so many people.

"The people are great," says Jake.

"They're complete strangers and they come over and they give you a hug and send their condolences. He was loved by a lot of people, so it's pretty crazy how sympathetic everybody is."

Deadliest Catch airs Wednesdays at 5.30pm on Discovery

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