‘Deadliest Catch’: 3 Dangerous Moments When Crewmembers Were Thrown Overboard
Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch Season 19 proves crab fishing in the Bering Sea is as dangerous as ever. Fans continue to see the captains and their crews face medical disasters and rough seas as they head out to catch crab. And fans who’ve kept up with the series likely remember these dangerous moments when crew members were thrown overboard.
‘Deadliest Catch’ deckhand Spencer Moore was thrown over the F/V Summer Bay
Deadliest Catch deckhand Spencer Moore nearly met his end after a dangerous situation in 2017. Moore, who worked aboard the F/V Summer Bay under Captain “Wild” Bill Wichrowski, struggled on the vessel as he attempted to attach a crab pot to the block. Moore was then swept over the boat’s railing by a rushing current.
Spencer grabbed a buoy on his way overboard, and this helped keep him afloat in the 34-degree water. Thankfully, Wichrowski and the rest of the crew could pull Spencer back on the boat with a life ring.
“Everybody talks about the weather — there’s gonna be weather every year, but we had the one storm last year that … I hadn’t been afraid, probably, in 25 years, and I was afraid, and that takes a lot,” Wichrowksi shared with Pop Culture regarding the incident. “I hate even talking about that; I get choked up talking about that. I’ve done this for 40-something years and never had a man in the water. So, that was pretty hairy.”
“We’ve fished in way worse — 10 times that that season, but it was just the wrong thing at the wrong time,” he continued. “I can still see him going over the side. It’s pretty amazing. I lost it.”
Captain Johnathan Hillstrand of the F/V Time Bandit saved a man overboard
A Deadliest Catch Season 3 crew member went overboard — though this time, he was from the F/V Time Bandit. Captain Johnathan Hillstrand watched a crew member get swept overboard while securing crab pots. The deckhand straddled a rail while chaining the crab pots when a giant wave took him completely off the boat. After a wave swept the entire deck, Hillstrand noticed his deckhand had disappeared.
Hillstrand immediately notified the rest of his crew that they had a man overboard, and they got to work on the rescue. By the time the crew rescued the deckhand, he was already in the early stages of shock. The crew stripped the wet, near-hypothermic deckhand and quickly worked to warm him.
Thankfully, the deckhand survived. In the same episode, Hillstrand noted that the last time he found himself in that situation, he “pulled a dead guy out of the water.”
The F/V Saga hit 40-foot waves that nearly threw the entire crew overboard
Almost an entire crew featured on Deadliest Catch went overboard when the F/V Saga hit a gnarly storm. Captain Jake Anderson took over the F/V Saga in season 11, and he hit a remarkable storm during his first voyage. The Saga moved through 40-foot waves that nearly wiped out the entire crew. One particularly tense moment, as seen in the series, shows two giant waves crashing over the deck, putting the deck — and everyone working on the deck — underwater. The deckhands are seen swimming on the deck, hoping to resurface safely once the waves pass.
Several deckhands expressed their fear of working on the boat during the storm. Deckhand Nick “Sunshine” Tokman slammed relief captain Ray Flerchinger for continuing operations with the waves. But Flerchinger maintained that he didn’t know the waves would become some fierce.
Thankfully, none of the deckhands were thrown over the boat’s rails, but the F/V Saga nearly lost all of its on-deck crew members that day.
Deadliest Catch Season 19 airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Discovery Channel.
For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel.
