A large steel hulled ship somewhat resembling that of a Coast Guard buoy tender sits in the dry dock of the Pacific Fishermen Shipyard in Ballard, Wash. As I approach the boat, Bon Jovi's song "Dead or Alive" begins to play in the back of my head. The fishing vessel Wizard, one of the stars on the Discovery's Channel, The Deadliest Catch, is quite impressive to see in person. My chief, fellow public affairs specialist, David Marin and boating safety specialist Dan Shipman are here to film safety PSA's with Captain Keith Colburn on the importance of wearing a life jacket.
Already being starstruck by seeing the ship, the realization that in a matter of seconds we will be hanging with the captain and some of his crew gives me a permagrin in the corner of my mouth. I can hear my chief giggling behind me because he knows that I am getting giddy like a little schoolgirl.
Rugged looking men are scattered throughout the shipyard wearing Carhartt stained coveralls and worn helmets. They scurry about with purpose knowing full and well these vessels need to be fixed up and ready to go for the long haul up to Dutch Harbor, Alaska in less than a month.
A set of rickety scaffolding sits against the hull of the ship leading up to the deck. My chief, David, Dan I begin lugging all of our equipment carefully up the stairs. The deck looks like a crab pot graveyard. One can definitely tell there is much work to be done before go time. Still, amidst all the chaos I stood looking around with my jaw dropped picturing the boat being thrown around like a rag doll in the dangerous Alaskan seas.
We all stood around letting our eyes wander while reminiscing to each other about 'when I lived in Alaska...' Just as we all start to get lost in our daze and conversation, a staunch man with a no-attitude mustache, cargo shorts, Caterpillar polo and hat that reads 'The Wizard' appears out of the pilot house and greet us to his ship....errr...I mean, home.
Don't let Keith's appearance fool you. Behind his rugged exterier and steel blue eyes lies a real genuine and jovial man. Granted, I am sure the crew don't find him jovial ALL the time while underway. All the same, Monte, Keith's brother and Travis, one of the deckhands all had nothing but good things to say about the ship and the job itself.
We all ended up getting more than we bargained for while filming the PSA. It felt like we were in a constant 'blooper reel' than actual filming. Keith was a trooper though and was great to work with. He felt strongly about pushing the importance of life jacket safety to the rest of the boating and fishing world. We were even able to have his son, Caelan join in on the action and help out on set as well as partake in the PSA itself! Caelan was a natural on camera. It was like he had been doing it all along and we all joked he looked better on screen than his dad. (Keith agreed with this as well)
The day was fantastic. We were able to get all of the footage we needed and make some great friends along the way. After a long day of filming and a hot one at that, we all packed and loaded our gear and headed to a local restaurant for some good eats. Once again the stories of 'when I lived in Alaska' began to pour out over hot sandwiches and french fries. I knew it was going to be a good day but I had no idea that I would have had the opportunity to actually hang with the Captain and his crew. To top off the day, Keith gave us all some Wizard swag to remember our time with them. I was on Cloud 9.
I asked Keith to explain their job in a nutshell and his reply came with his signature smile saying, "It's not magic, just hard work."
Good luck on your next fishing voyage boys and thanks for the memories!
-Petty Officer Third Class Tara Molle
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