RIP Captain Phil - The Deadliest Catch

Discussion in 'New Roundtable' started by Kurtis Bleaux, Feb 11, 2010.

  1. Kurtis Bleaux

    Kurtis Bleaux Founding Member

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    Sad especially cause I can't wait for the next season to start...

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    Discovery Channel: 'Deadliest Catch' captain dies
    (AP) – 1 day ago
    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Phil Harris, the fishing boat captain whose adventures off the Alaska coast were captured on the television show "Deadliest Catch", has died, the Discovery Channel said Tuesday night. He was 53.
    Harris suffered what his family described as a massive stroke on Jan. 29 while the fishing vessel he captained, Cornelia Marie, was in port at St. Paul Island, Alaska. The fisherman was flown to Anchorage for surgery.
    The reality show, which has filmed five seasons, has been one of the Discovery Channel's most popular and depicts the crab fishing industry in the dangerous waters off Alaska.
    "It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our dad - Captain Phil Harris. Dad has always been a fighter and continued to be until the end," sons Josh and Jake Harris said in a statement released by the network. "For us and the crew, he was someone who never backed down."
    In a statement, Discovery Channel senior vice president Elizabeth Hillman says, "Phil was a devoted father and loyal friend to all who knew him."
    "We will miss his straightforward honesty, wicked sense of humor and enormous heart," she said.
    In an e-mail to The Associated Press, she said no additional information was immediately available Tuesday night.
    Harris had seemed to be improving, and in a posting last Saturday on the ship's Web site, he was described as "talking to friends and family today; showing his greatest progress" since the stroke.
    His sons wrote in a Feb. 3 posting that "No one ever said Captain Phil Harris wasn't tough. Today, dad showed some good signs of improvement, squeezing our hands and even summoning his trademark Captain's bluntness ... We are encouraged but still very cautious."
    According to the ship's Web site, Harris started working on fishing boats at age 7 and started work 10 years later on a crab boat. When Harris turned 21, he ran a fishing vessel out of Seattle, making him one of the youngest to captain a vessel in the Bering Sea.
    When Harris suffered the stroke, the family said a friend, Derek Ray, had flown to St. Paul to take over the role of relief skipper for the rest of the opilio crab season.
    Harris' fishing vessel was based in Seattle.
     
  2. Krypto

    Krypto Huh?

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    agreed. I always liked to watch him
     
  3. CajunlostinCali

    CajunlostinCali Booger Eatin Moron

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    Dude was a hellofa salty dog. Best to his family and crew.
     
  4. mobius481

    mobius481 Registered Member

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    I've been bummin hard over this. He was an interesting part of the show. He and Sig are my favorites. Keith kinda sucks and Jonathan and his brother (can't remember his name), are kinda goofy but they're not bad.
     
  5. DRC

    DRC TigerNator

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    It will be interesting to see how Discovery handles this. Apparently camera's were rolling when he had his stroke. I cant imagine them airing something so tragic but its TV so who knows. Im sure Phil will be a big part of the new season because they are almost finished filming this years episodes. He was on the boat full time for king crab and the snow crab season ends in a couple weeks.

    There was a blog on discovery's website last year from a young cameraman who was on the Cornelia Marie. It was pretty interesting. If you poke around the site you can probably find it. The kid talked about how much Phil smoked and it was like 4 or 5 packs a day and he was drinking a case of red bull a day too. He said the wheel house was a constant haze. That many smokes and red bull has to put you in serious caffeine and nicotine overload.

    I've always liked the show but there are only so many ways you can watch them catch crab before its repetitive. I still watch but it isn't quite as interesting as it was a couple years ago. Still, Phil was my favorite captain along with Sig. The Hilstrands are just ok and that guy on the Wizard I dont like. I dont know if they have any new boats this year but fresh personalities would help keep the show interesting.

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  6. Krypto

    Krypto Huh?

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    any one else notice that everyone's 2 favorite captains/boat are the same. Sig and the Northwestern and Phil and the Cornelia Marie. The rest of the boats are just filler. The Time bandit guys can be funny for a bit.
     
  7. mobius481

    mobius481 Registered Member

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    That will be interesting. I would imagine they will show the moments before and the moments after but not his actual collapse. Although he didn't actually die at that point. He had surgery and lived another two weeks.
     
  8. red55

    red55 curmudgeon Staff Member

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    Smokes and Red Bull and Stress. A high-stress job like that takes years off your life, especially if you are a type-A personality like Phil.

    It's why I like the Hillstands best. Those guys are as laid back as you can get on the Bering Sea.
     
  9. mobius481

    mobius481 Registered Member

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    They can get riled up every once in a while too but are definitely the most chill. I really just watch for the rescues and stories of rescues at this point. As someone said above, it can get a bit repetitive.
     
  10. Krypto

    Krypto Huh?

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    oh my. Red just had to be different. ;)
     

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