Capt. Phil in Ketchikan, Alaska
Pub crawl attracts fans of Alaska-based TV show
By LEILA KHEIRY
Daily News Staff Writer
A few of Alaska’s most famous crab fishermen caroused with Ketchikan residents Saturday night when three boat captains featured on the Discovery Channel show “The Deadliest Catch” participated in a promotional pub crawl.
Sea Star captain Larry Hendricks gets his shirt autographed by Cornelia Marie skipper Phil Harris during a promotional pub crawl featuring crab fishermen from the Discovery Channel show “The Deadliest Catch.” Kenny Hendricks, red vest, a Sea Star crew member for 35 years, looks at 7-year-old Bradley Walker, who waits for his shirt to get autographed. On the far right, Jerry Tilley, Aleutian Ballad skipper, signs a hat outside Fat Stan’s Saturday night. Staff photo by Hall Anderson
Captains Phil Harris, Larry Hendricks and Jerry “Corky” Tilley visited three bars Saturday night: Fat Stan’s, the Arctic Bar and First City Saloon, where they shook hands, answered fans’ questions and signed autographs on everything from T-shirts and hats to beer glasses.
Hendricks and Harris are co-owners of the Sea Star, a Bering Sea crabbing boat featured on the show in a previous season. That boat now is based in Ketchikan as a tourist attraction. Tilley runs The Aleutian Ballad, another crabbing boat from the show that recently started tours in Ketchikan.
The captains arrived at their first stop — Fat Stan’s — a little late, but the crowd didn’t seem to mind, as people immediately mobbed the three celebrities, taking photos and recording the event on video.
Some residents even brought their children to the smoke-free pub. Among the younger fans was 7-year-old Bradley Walker, who looked star-struck as Harris signed his T-shirt and posed for a photo with the boy.
When asked whether he liked the show, Bradley’s eyes widened as he answered, “Oh, yeah!”
Bradley said he particularly likes the name of the show, and said his favorite captains are Hendricks, Harris and Sig Hansen, who was not in town Saturday.
Bradley added that he would like to try crab fishing when he gets older.
In between autographs, Tilley said that, when it all started, he didn’t imagine the show would become as popular as it has.
Tilley said it was a little strange at first having a camera crew on board while trying to fish.
“It was really awkward,” he said, and the fishermen tended to freeze up in front of the cameras.
After a while, though, Tilley said they all basically ignored the film crews.
“They were just there, like wallpaper,” he said.
Harris, known from the show in part for his heated curse-filled tirades, was gracious with the fans on Saturday, signing all sorts of objects while chain-smoking outside of Fat Stan’s. He said the response to the show has been huge from the beginning.
Harris said he’s been a regular visitor to Ketchikan for a long time, bringing his fishing boat, the Cornelia Marie, here every couple of years for maintenance work at the shipyard.
“I love Ketchikan,” Harris said. “Alaska Ship and Drydock is the best shipyard in the world.”
The pub crawl was sponsored by Alaskan Brewing Company, which handed out free T-shirts and hats.
Merchandise Manager Nancy Woizeschke of Alaskan Brewing Company said the company hoped to promote the idea that nothing goes better with Alaska crab than Alaska beer.
She said she knew Harris was coming to Ketchikan anyway, which prompted her to organize a pint night at First City Saloon. The idea grew to a pub crawl, she said, because other bars wanted to participate.
The Discovery Channel show, which premiered in 2005 and finished up its third season on June 19, is a reality show that follows several Bering Sea crab fishermen. It highlights the danger of fishing in the open sea in bad weather and freezing temperatures.
Local crab fisherman Larry Jackson was at Fat Stan’s on Saturday, and said the show is pretty accurate, albeit slightly sensationalized.
The crew dynamics shown are correct, he said, such as the blame everyone places on the captain when fishing is poor. However, he said, while he’s only seen one or two episodes, he thought the show doesn’t really indicate how “mind-numbing” crab fishing can be.
“The work is miserable,” he said.
Jackson has not fished in the Bering Sea, he said. His grounds are the calmer water of Southeast, where he has hunted for Dungeness crab for about 20 years. He also leads charter fishing expeditions in the summer months.
Jackson said the interest in the show is huge. Summer customers often ask what he does in the winter, he said, and when he tells them he fishes for crab, they always ask about the show.
Jackson said he gets a little tired of answering those kinds of questions, so “now I say I watch soap operas and eat bonbons.
January 8th, 2008 at 4:25 am
hmm remember Ronda its no so much that females dunt belong on fishing boats i think ull find it has more superstision or how ever you spell it people who goto sea can like this even ur sister linda held her fair share! as whats been written in her book!
October 31st, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Amazing message.
I think you’ll read my page..
Thank you again
September 3rd, 2007 at 3:36 am
Responding to Niccii Spanos comment that said “too bad women don’t belong on fishing boats”. Are you kidding me right now? Obviously you never saw the movie “The Perfect Storm”. My sister was the female swordboat captain of the f/v Hanna Bowden. She outfished any male captain out there. I’m not saying it’s for any woman, but please… you may not belong out there, doesn’t mean that there aren’t women out there that aren’t capable.
August 29th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Pub Crawl ? I used to bartend on an Island , that cars are not allowed . Needless to say , we did Pub Crawls on a daily basis .
Customers even had Pub Crawl t-shirts , that each bartender signed , before they left for the next bar . And because there are no cars on this Island , the key word in Pub Crawl is: “CRAWL” wish I was a Bartender for a day on “That” Pub Crawl !
August 27th, 2007 at 11:25 am
I really love the show. I wish Capt. Phil and his crew would come to Ohio. I guess there not much chance in that, we are not a state known for fishing. I have to agree with some of the other posting, Capt. Phil is something.
Diana
August 21st, 2007 at 8:06 am
I think jake is an okay kind of cute. I mean, I have meet cuter.
August 20th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Jake is sooooooooo cute, i guess Josh is, Capt. Phil also reminds me of my dad, but i dont work for my dad.lol, i wish i could work on the CM if i was old enough and strong.lol, But i LOVE The CM.
August 20th, 2007 at 9:49 am
yea I guess. but he is a wad of history!
So is jake.
Phil is I guess. Phil is pretty cool. My dad and I like him. You know phil reminds me of my dad. he has kids, but only one wife which is my mom. He has a girlfriend.
Love Always,
DCF
August 19th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Josh is cute too!!!!
August 18th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Hey Dudes,
Why don’t people think Josh is cute I mean really is all you about is Jake and Phil. I mean i don’t have a crush on him I have a crush on someone else.
Love Always,
DCF
August 17th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Am so hooked on the show and am crazy about Phil…….love the passion he has for his work and sons.
Too bad women don’t really belong on the fishing vessels, I could sit and look at him forever !! I guess I
will have to settle on rushing home from work so that I don’t miss a minute. When does the new season begin airing ??
August 17th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
You ever going to put it the right way again?
What i mean it ant 9:00pm no more it’s 10:00am
and that suck’s more then anything in the world
soo tell me plz are you ever going to make it 9:00pm again?
plz tell me?
August 17th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
I love this show and all you guys are wonderfull and I think Phil is Hot, I can not wait till the next show
August 16th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
I live in a little UK coastal town where the crab fishing industry was the foundation of the town - although this is very different to the alaskan crab fishery - our guys don’t generally go more than a mile or so offshore and the crab is totally different (much smaller). I’m on the RNLI Lifeboat Crew in the town - we are part of a nationwide voluntary institution responsible for saving lives at sea. I am also totally hooked on ‘Deadliest Catch’, can’t quite put my finger on it but it’s a great show, utterly addictive.
Keep up the good work, don’t let the media coverage tarnish your lifestyle, you are all legends.
(If you ever need a good pro photographer just drop me an email would love to photograph what you do).
August 16th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
yep deadliest catch is the hit of the year for sure (at least for me!lol) I love the show and Phil and Jake and Josh Stay safe!
Love
DCF
August 14th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Hey DeadliestCatchFanatic,
It’s Hannah, AGAIN, I was just wondering y u love the CM so much, I love the CM so much cause most of the crew is family and they make the show sooooooooo funny,cause there family they have really funny stories about eachother. I also like the Northwestern but not as much as The CM. I would sooooooooo love to meat the crew of the CM. That would be the BEST thing in the world. My B-day is coming up and my mom and dad r going to buy me the sweatshirt and the white tee-shirt, do u have any of the clothes? But if could meat the CM crew, I would way rather meat them instead of the clothes. It really sucks that school is starting again cause now i wont be able to watch the show, but today is only the 14th and my first day of school is the 23rd. So i have alittle bit of shows to watch but every day that im sick or theres no school in tottaly watching Deadliest Catch. Well im going to go, ttyl
August 14th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Hey DeadliestCatchFanatic,
U sound like a really good cook. I can cook some stuff but it doesn’t always turn out good,LOL, I missed the show today cause i was at my bff’s house, but im sure i will see it some time. Well keep up ur good cooking skill.
August 13th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Cool!
Hey Hannah Emery,
You sound pretty awesome! I love to cook. My fastest Meal is Mac & Cheese and my longest meal is Meatloaf, SMASHED taters,and an oh so gooey dessert! mmmm…. Well any way, guys I wish you luck next King Crab season. Stay safe and have fun!!
August 12th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Hey DeadliestCatchFanatic,
It’s really kool that someone else almost my age ( 12 almost 13) loves the Cornelia Marie as much as i do. and its awsome that u can cook, i can cook but not very well.
August 11th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Hello
It’s me, again, sadly enough. I think I’d be cool to just observe you guys on a crab boat or cook. I love to cook but I’m only 11 turn 12 on christmas eve but I’d have something else in mind for crabs.
None of my stuff makes sense so don’t try to understand it. It even hurts for me to understand it sometimes. So don’t try.
Love
DeadliestCatchFanatic
August 11th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Hey guys,
It’s me, again, sadly enough. I think I’d be cool to just observe you guys on a crab boat or cook. I love to cook but I’m only 11 turn 12 on christmas eve but I’d have something else in mind for crabs.
None of my stuff makes sense so don’t try to understand it. It even hurts for me to understand it sometimes. So don’t try.
Love
DeadliestCatchFanatic
August 7th, 2007 at 10:31 am
Oh, to hang out with you guys in pub. I bet that was a blast.
August 6th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
On behalf of Alaskan Brewing, we’d like to thank everyone that came to this event and made it such a huge success!! The Bad Boys of the Bering Sea and the Best Beer from the Last Frontier are a natural combination. Thanks Larry, Phil and Corky - you guys are the best!!!!
Nancy Woizeschke
Merchandise Manager
Alaskan Brewing Co
Juneau, AK
August 2nd, 2007 at 4:15 pm
IM FROM THE UK AND LOVE THE SHOW AND AM AMAZED AT WHAT THE CREWS GO THROUGH ON THEIR TRIPS. KEEP UP TRHE GOOD WORK
August 1st, 2007 at 11:10 am
I would love to work on the cornelia marie ( as a cook ) but im only 12 turning 13 in Oct.
July 29th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
I had just fell upon the show on a Saturday and watched the entire series that day. I live in Kansas and, of course have had no exposure to the Ocean other than business trips. This was an amazing show. I sorry as it sounds, I had no idea of what these men go through and face during this time frame. This was a wonderful show and I will certainly continue to watch. I travel alot with my job but of course it is in and out and back home. I was truly amazed at the stamina and danger and comitment that everyone had. I also was so amazed and delighted at the closenees and respect that these men provied to one and other. Those are traights that I feel are fading in our sociaty but I aunderstand that in that line of work it is a must. Most cooperations would beem a great benefit to have that kind of common trust. I just wanted to tell you how much I truly enjoyed this show.
Thank you,
Melody
July 28th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
I would like a shot on working on the cornelia marie
July 27th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Capt. Harris,
I really enjoy the show and am glad that it is well received. The world needs to know what you and your crew indure and the politics behind the commercial industry of fishing. I hope to see in town in Lk S, WA to have you sign me. Happy fishing!
July 26th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
You look like it went well! I wish I was up your way to enjoy the good times. Capt. Phil can sign a shirt any time for me (M).