Wednesday, April 22, 2009

KATMAI FISHING BOAT

Katmai survivors: Harrowing hours after fishing vessel rolled
A couple of years ago, a jobless Bobby Harrison contemplated a dramatic shift in lifestyle, leaving the urban comforts of Portland to join his cousin aboard the Katmai, a fishing vessel that tapped into the harvests off Alaska.

But Harrison couldn't swim, and had heard a few too many tales about the dangers of fishing the North Pacific.

He opted to stay put.

"I heard stories about guys who had lost limbs and arms, and was just too scared to go," he said.

Thursday, Harrison's cousin, Cedric Smith, and a longtime friend, Glenn Harper, were identified as two of the men who died when the Katmai sank early Wednesday morning off the Aleutian Islands. Their bodies, along with three others, were recovered from the Bering Sea on Wednesday.

Two men — Carlos Zabala of Helena, Mont., and Robert Davis of Deming, Whatcom County — remained missing and the focus of a major search after four were rescued from a life raft Wednesday evening.

The Katmai was part of the head-and-gut fleet — vessels that catch, clean and freeze fish in labor-intensive operations that require more crew than traditional fishing boats.

This is the third time in eight years that a head-and-gut vessel has sank off Alaska. The trio of sinkings have claimed at least 25 lives, and the fleet has been under a Coast Guard safety spotlight, which will ramp up again next week as a Marine Board of Investigation convenes in Anchorage to delve into the latest sinking and how to prevent future casualties.


more at: seattletimes.nwsource.com

Katmai Sinking - Katmai Fishing Boat News
These are today's news for katmai sinking boat. Fans of Discovery's popular Deadliest Catch have grown accustomed to the habits of the ornery skippers. Their collective demeanor can be as tough to navigate as the perilous Arctic waves that smash into their weathered crafts. Katmai Sinking.

Deadliest Catch has personified the hardscrabble work ethic of blue-collar professions that has been popularized by reality TV, but tonight's fifth-season opener (9 ET/PT) takes on a softer, soap-operatic tone. It examines the personal side of the boat captains and the fallout the dangerous King and Opilio crab harvests exact on fishing crews. Katmai Sinking.

"This life is taking a toll on the skippers," says Thom Beers, the reality TV kingpin behind Catchand such shows as History Channel's Ax Men and Ice Road Truckers. "They're all getting older and dealing with years of stress." Katmai Sinking - Katmai Fishing Boat.


more at: breaking-news-time.blogspot.com

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