One of my favorite t.v. shows (for reasons unknown to me and that mystify my husband) is Deadliest Catch. For those of you unfamiliar, HOW DARE YOU! Bust seriously, if you are not familiar with the show it is a reality series on Discovery that follows crab fishermen in the Bering Sea. I know all of the boats, I can name all of the gear and I can certainly name all of the captains and crew members. So when we went to Border’s for their closing sale and I saw “Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World’s Deadliest Jobs” by Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand I HAD to pick it up.
In 2006, the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics ranked commercial fishing (in general, not just crab fishing) to be the work with the highest fatality rate in America. They state that there were 141,7 fatalities per 1000,000 people which is nearly THIRTY TIMES that of an average industrial worker. Bering Sea crab fishing is a field deeply rooted in tradition that is passed down from generation to generation, and the Hillstrands are most certainly part of that tradition. Andy and Johnathan were ‘given’ their fishing vessel Time Bandit by their father. They had not money to purchase it so they worked a deal (which took them several years to fulfill) with their father to make payments for the boats haul.
Between the gear, food and supplies, fixing up the boat, bait, safety gear, government fees and regulations, etc etc the Time Bandit needs to gross a mere $1 million for the brothers to start making money themselves!
The crews on these crab fishing boats, 9 times out of 10, come from unsavory backgrounds which tends to cause not only a high turn over rate but also a high rate of incidents and accidents on the boats…at sea and sometimes when they are in the docks. Lifestyles of drugs, crime, high debt, violence, etc are not at all uncommon. That being said, as you will see in the book, the Hillstrand boys themselves are not innocent of these same types of behaviors. Growing up in Homer, Alaska seemed to afford Andy and Johnathan (as well as their brother Neal who runs the hydraulics on the boat and also acts as their chef and engineer) many opportunities to cause trouble. They had their share of drinking, drugs, various broken bones, you name it. In an industry where large amounts of cash are being passed around it’s also not surprising that there are IRS run-ins in their past as well.
One such story of the boys growing up that cracked me up was when their mother discovered Andy “…going around and around in the dryer trying to break the family record of fifty-two spins without throwing up when he came out.”.
This book is made up mostly of narratives, experiences of the brothers over their lives of fishing. They also discuss the history of crab fishing, the grounds, the new and old regulations, the day to day activity of fishing and basically give you a good background so that you could understand what is going on even if you area not familiar with either the show or crab fishing itself. All of this is woven throughout with a continuing story of an experience Johnathan had in the off season of crabbing while he was salmon fishing on the Fishing Fever.
This was a very entertaining read that I personally finished very quickly. I think it is a must for those that are fans of the show that would like to get to know a little more about the rowdy boys aboard the Time Bandit and their life that brought them to where they are today.
Melodiesintune 