Opie Season Starts this week on D.C.!

[2535Miles]

Someone I highly respect claimed he "pegged" me as a watcher of such shows. Never pigeon hole Tilly, you'll (almost) always be wrong.

Ugh. One of the guys from office used to always invite me over to "Survivor Night" at his house. He'd be all excited: "It's on HD" and I just didn't have to heart to tell him that I thought it was extremely lame. Nevermind that it was a bunch of vegans, and this has never ever, ever touched a drug in his life except, in his own words: "Caffeine. Because it's in chocolate and I gotta have my chocolate." Anywho.

Back to the topic at hand. I'm with you 2535 miles, I felt like a wuss too. I love sleeping in my bed for 7-8 hours, taking a shower daily, walking on land, and sitting at my desk in my 8-5 (+) job. Nope, don't want to learn how to balance myself on a boat that is always swaying. Don't want to be interrupted during my sleep time to unload crabs for 24 hours. Compared to these guys, I am a wuss, and I am okay with that.

Just watching that greenhorn trying to learn to walk on the deck was enough to make me queazy. And I don't think I could take Captain Keith screaming at me all the time. No way. Uh uh.

[Mal]

Edgar is clearly the coolest guy in the fleet.

I'm sort of partial to The Wizard, myself (which I'm guessing makes me an outlier). The Coburns seem like relatively normal guys, more thoughtful than the rest. Phil and the Hilstrands can't stop bragging on their own toughness and aren't inspiring to me, and Sig is pretty much insane. I respect Keith for not flying off the handle and acting out of petulance as much as the other captains.

The show makes a huge deal out of the lot of money to be earned in Alaskan crab fishing, but I'd like to see somewhere a balance sheet breakdown for one of these boats. Has anyone seen that? What does it cost to purchase/finance a boat? What percentage of the revenue goes straight to the boat's owner, if it's not the captain? What does it cost to fuel and equip a boat for a season? Etc., etc. The gross revenue they pull in over a season (I'm a little fuzzy on how long the season is and how long they have to prep to get ready for it) certainly appears large for a 6-8 person team, but what's the real net profitability here? Obviously, for the deckhands, it's clear from their excitement every time a full pot comes on board, that they're making a better living doing this than they would in other blue collar jobs. But how much better? And are the captains and boat owners making so much that I should wonder why the industry hasn't attracted big outside money, buying up a large portion of the fleet and cashing people out? Maybe that's happened already?

[Windsor]

Edgar is clearly the coolest guy in the fleet.

Obviously, for the deckhands, it's clear from their excitement every time a full pot comes on board, that they're making a better living doing this than they would in other blue collar jobs. But how much better? And are the captains and boat owners making so much that I should wonder why the industry hasn't attracted big outside money, buying up a large portion of the fleet and cashing people out? Maybe that's happened already?

At the end of king crab season they said how much each full share deck hand got...it isn't on my Tivo anymore or I'd check...The Wizard was fueling up before heading out if I remember right 46k gallons of marine dielsel...that must cost a few dollars (according to their website the Northwestern hold 60k gallons of fuel). You have to catch some serious crab to just pay for the fuel!

There are mutliple crab seasons, according to the Northwesterns website
She fishes for King Crab, Opilio Crab, Pot Cod and provides tendering during the Salmon and Herring Seasons. I would guess that to stay profitable the boat has to busy almost year round.

I don't care how much the deck hands make...it is at least one decimal place shy of what it would take to get me out there!

[2535Miles]

Obviously, for the deckhands, it's clear from their excitement every time a full pot comes on board, that they're making a better living doing this than they would in other blue collar jobs. But how much better?

I've heard numbers between 30-60K for a season. That's not too bad for a few weeks of work.

[OldPhiKap]

I've heard numbers between 30-60K for a season. That's not too bad for a few weeks of work.

Not much in the way of health benefits, though. A guy last year had to poke a hot wire through his fingernail to relieve swelling -- and the guy recommending that did not appear to have gone to medical school.

I knew some guys in college who worked on a salmon boat in Alaska one summer, thinking it would be a fun way to see Alaska. They were wrong.

[Windsor]

Not much in the way of health benefits, though. A guy last year had to poke a hot wire through his fingernail to relieve swelling -- and the guy recommending that did not appear to have gone to medical school.

I think it was Phil of the Cornelia Marie that said a few seasons ago "You aren't a crab fisherman until you've had one of your teeth pulled out with pliers"...and proceed to do just that. don't think Phil went to dental school

[DevilAlumna]

Not much in the way of health benefits, though. A guy last year had to poke a hot wire through his fingernail to relieve swelling -- and the guy recommending that did not appear to have gone to medical school.

I've done that to myself -- it was an incredibly good feeling to have the pressure relieved. Thumb had gotten slammed in a doorjam.

I had seen my Dr. dad do it to my brother once, so I was pretty confident I could do it. I don't recommend trying it for fun, but if you need to do it, it's nothing terribly hard or painful to do. Takes hella long time for the nail to fall off and grow back, tho.

[dukemomLA]

Since I was the poster who mentioned "Reality TV," I applaud your response that this is REAL TV! Great distinction.

And...if anyone wants to start a 'fantasy league' or a poll, I'm there like white on rice. If the DBR website adds viewers, I'm excited. (And thrilled that this is already the highest rated show on cable).