Bridging A Gap

[Deep C]

By now most of you have heard that Phil from Cornelia Marie didn't make it. The gruff coarse skipperfor many had become for many of us like a member of our own families. He was one we could identify with surely we will miss him.
Phil and the whole series though has done something more for us than provide entertainment. Yeah we sit there week after week watching in amazement the brutal enviroment lashing out at the crews that work those waters. Yeah our eyes are glued when giant seas swallow their boats. We see the banging and beating and relenetless mother nature. But, we also see something many of us hadn't seen before. The human side of hard core commercial fishing.
Without the series many of us had been stuck in a comm vs rec stalemate. "Oh those guys..." However, today we can look at them as distinct personalities, people. Ones with incredible perseverence. Guys that bring whole new meanings to tough. Ones with families and issues ups and downs like all of us. I know I was guilty of having a prejudice... comms. The show though softened that view for me considerably.
Phil with his two boys really brought that human angle front and center. Oh such a unforgiving and demanding enviroment to be in, but his love as a father showed clear as a bell. Yeah he'd yell and scream but you could see him brimming with pride every time he watched those kids take another stride toward one day filling his shoes. Unmistakable human attributes as opposed to the cold calloused machines we might have used to have thought they were.
Thank you Deadliest Catch, Phil, Sig, all the boys for helping bridge that gap. Thanks for being part of our lives. Phil we'll miss ya you big lug...

[clt_capt]

Well said.

[Captain Michael Buffington]

but that sword thing had the opposite effect.

Mike

[Big Fish Billy]

Being from the Gloucester area, every aspect is all to familiar...Dead Men Tapping, Perfect Storm, The Hungry Ocean, The Lobster Chronicals, Fatal Forecast, books written locally by and about all close friends, lost at sea. A couple years back I met Phil, Sig, and the boys up at Pratty's in Gloucester, and he had them out on the boat for some tuna fishing, and beers...regular guys, rugged life...gives you some appreciation when you sit down for a crab or sword dinner...men putting their lives on the line to provide...another guy pulling up a stool at Davey Jones Locker Bar and Grill....They're having a great time down there, waiting for me...prayers to all those that go down to the sea in ships......