Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category

Posted on April 14, 2011 - by Morgan Howard

A Poem in Honor of Capt. Phil

On Tuesday, the crew of the FV Cornelia Marie and the rest of the Deadliest Catch fleet gave our skipper a final farewell.  I thought it would be appropriate for me to honor him  as well.

For the past year, I have received a lot of emails and comments from folks expressing their sadness about Capt. Phil’s passing.  Often, they talk about how surprised they are to miss him when they didn’t even know him. 

Recently, I received an email and a poem that addressed this so well – I had to share it.

I am a 43 year old woman who doesn’t get star struck and hardly watches t.v., with a young son who keeps me busy.
But I was flipping channels one night and stumbled on the show (its premiere season) and became hooked from that point on.
I never liked fishing, but fell in love with the show- mainly due to Captain Phil.
It became the only night I watched t.v. and my family was hooked as well. That when he died I wept for days as if I knew him well.
He was a real person not trying to act or impress, and I think thats why so many people adored him- for his honesty and hard work.
So I wrote this poem to honor his memory, and just thought I would share it with you.
I loved him as if I knew him, and miss him and think of him often.

Sincerely,

Stacey

California

Did you ever think

That a man could be so loved

By a public who never met him?

With grace and courage

And a big loving heart

We fell in love with him

From the very start

He was humble and kind

And respected by many

He never changed his demeanor

Or his lifestyle for any

Phil Harris was his name

And fishing was his passion

In his captains chair, he did not care

That his hairstyle wasn’t in fashion

He loved to fish on the Bering Sea

with his beloved sons

and those fortunate enough to know him

know theyr’e the lucky ones

he never tried to be

something he was not

he worked very hard and taught us all

work hard for what you want

He left this earth several months ago

But his impact still remains

Although I still will watch the show

It will never be the same

I hope from Heaven he can see

The many lives he touched

The impact he left

We wont forget

Captain Phil we love you so much!

I can only speak for myself when I say

He touched my life in so many ways

everyone has their favorites

on the show “The Deadliest Catch”

but Phil was mine – the entire time

his character was unmatched.

-stacey b.

Posted on April 12, 2011 - by Morgan Howard

Deadliest Catch Season 7 Premiere Tonight

Tonight, April 12th is the season premiere of the 7th season of Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch. This will be the 6th season in a row that our fishing boat has been featured on the show. (We played a very small part in season one). Tonight’s premiere episode is two hours long starting at 9 pm. We know it features a final farewell to our skipper, Capt. Phil Harris. I wrote about this in earlier blog and was able to see a sneak preview at CatchCon on Saturday. It looked like the stars aligned for Capt. Phil to have a ceremony like he probably would have wanted. His Dad and two boys were there, surrounded by all his fishing buddies.

According to Discovery, “Two new boats join the fleet this season. Dubbed “the floating frat house,” the Ramblin’ Rose introduces a young, rowdy crew skippered by Elliott Neese, all of 28 years old, and already boasting about his fishing prowess. Seabrooke Captain Scott Campbell Jr., 36, adds youth and cockiness as well but behind the steely confidence, Junior is still haunted by the loss of a deckhand at sea. Can he battle back and conquer his demons?”

If you can’t wait for the show to begin and want to learn a little more about what to expect, then go to the DeadliestCatchFan.com site. The folks there learn things fast and always surprise me with new information.

Posted on April 7, 2011 - by Morgan Howard

Watch live webcast of CatchCon 2011

For those of you lucky enough to get tickets – CatchCon 2011 is this Saturday, April 9th.  If you want to meet other folks going, check out the Deadliest Catch Group – CatchCon 2011.  However, if you can’t make it, you can still check it out!  The entire event will be webcast from 12:30 pm to 6 pm PDT.

The event takes place in Seattle at the Bell Harbor Conference Center, which is right on the water.  I expect all of the Captains and most of the crews to be there.  The only exception I can think of is actually our King Crab Captain, Derrick Ray. I ‘m sure  a couple of the boats will be tied up outside as well.  Last year, The FV Northwestern and the FV Wizard were there and available for tours.  There are fun and lively Q & A sessions, autograph sessions, games and a sneak peak video preview of the season.  I hope to meet a lot of our supporters there wearing CM gear.  Please say “Hi” if you see me and I’ll do the same.

Posted on March 25, 2011 - by Morgan Howard

Deadliest Catch Season 7 Preview

Thom Beers, creator of Deadliest Catch, has provided some interesting information about the upcoming season of Deadliest Catch Season 7, which starts April 12th.  According to an EW article by Mandi Bierly, the first episode of the season “begins with a moving tribute to the late Capt. Phil Harris, whose ashes are released into the Bering Sea.”  Thom Beers says, “If your eyes are still dry at the end of that first two minutes, you ain’t got a heart”.

I wrote about this in an earlier blog when we remembered Capt. Phil one year later.  Everyone I have spoken to says the scattering of Phil’s ashes couldn’t have worked out any better.  Nothing was really planned, but everything came together perfectly.  The rough, rolling seas of the Bering Sea flattened right out and the boats lined up in formation.

The article goes on: ‘All eyes will be on Phil’s sons, Josh and Jake Harris, who return to the Cornelia Marie. Before she even leaves Dutch Harbor, Jake gets into it with Capt. Derrick Ray. “Let’s just say that it doesn’t get much better for those boys. Not only is the fishing miserable, the relationships with Derrick are miserable. It’s really tough,” he says. “But the fun part about it is, there’s a really interesting twist about episode 8, at the end of the king crab season. And you’re like, WHAT? But then there’s redemption, and all sorts of stuff. There’s highs and lows, ups and downs. It’s quite something. It’s a really great season.”

Posted on March 3, 2011 - by Morgan Howard

CM IS HOME; DEADLIEST CATCH RETURNS

The F/V Cornelia Marie has returned home to its resting place in Kodiak, Alaska. The Captain and crew have all returned safely from a successful Opilio crab fishing season.

I will leave it up to the “Deadliest Catch” editors in regard to what you’ll see this year. But… it wasn’t a boring year. It was a year of change that tested men and machinery…full of excitement, bad weather and injuries. However, we never lose sight of what’s most important.. that everyone came home.

Yesterday, Discovery Channel issued a press release of the new season, Season 7. It’s hard to believe that our fishing boat is entering its sixth year of being on television. With the exception of one short scene, the FV Cornelia Marie was not featured in season one. Season seven may be our final one on “Deadliest Catch”, as the future of the Cornelia Marie, like the crab fishing business in general, is uncertain.

Here is what the Discovery Channel wrote about our boat and crew in its press release:
“The dark clouds and long shadow of their father’s death still hang heavy on sons Josh and Jake Harris but now they need to show the rest of the fleet that they can come back and step it up as co-owners of the Cornelia Marie.”

As part owners of the FV Cornelia Marie, Jake and josh have even more pressure on them as they follow in the father’s footsteps. The role of Bering Sea Crab boat owner is a heavy responsibility. The CM is a big boat that costs a lot of money to operate, even for a day. The family considered tieing the boat up this season because of this financial burden, but decided we had obligations to fulfill.

Even after a year, the loss of Captain Phil is still having a major impact on the Cornelia Marie family. When Phil was skipper, there was clarity to our family business. He loved to catch crab and was very good at it. The Cornelia Marie was built to fish and Phil was built to fish it. Fishing was his life.

When we lost Capt. Phil, I think we lost somebody you don’t see on television very often. Somebody that honest, hard working folks can identify with – someone like them. This is what I’ve heard from many people who have taken the time to write in.

Of course, we’re always grateful of the support we receive from fans of the show. I apologize If I didn’t thank you personally through email – I do read every one.

So, when is the first episode of the new season? The press release reads, “Tuesday, April 12 at 9 pm ET/PT”.

Posted on January 13, 2011 - by Morgan Howard

Keeping up with the Cornelia Marie

The FV Cornelia Marie will start its 2011 Opilio season in just a couple more days.  Here’s a picture of the gang from yesterday getting together before they all head out into the Bering Sea.  You can see Jake and Josh in the yellow and orange rain gear having a laugh.  Thanks to Cindy Harmer for finding this pic and to Keith Colburn for letting use this image from his facebook page.

If you are interested in keeping up with what’s going on with the Cornelia Marie – there are a few places you can go. First, you can visit the Marine Traffic website. This site will show you the real time location of vessels in the port of Dutch Harbor. The site can be a bit frustrating and not quite accurate all of the time. However, if you click on the “show ship names” tab, you’ll be able to find most (all?) of the Deadliest Catch vessels somewhere in the port of Dutch Harbor. See if you can find the FV Cornelia Marie – here’s a big hint – for whatever reason we show up with the boat name “00000000″.  For real time pics of Dutch, try the Dutch Harbor live webcams.

For official updates, this website is the best source. Sometimes, I see false reports on other sites about our boat and crew so check back here if you ever have questions. If you’re on Twitter, you can also receive tweets from the FV Cornelia Marie.  Lastly, some of the most informed fans can be found on the Deadliest Catch Fan (DCF) website.

Posted on January 5, 2011 - by Morgan Howard

Crew Changes on the Cornelia Marie

A new year brings new changes on the FV Cornelia Marie.  I wrote about our King Crab season here, where you can read about our past crew which included skipper Derrick Ray.  Now, the Cornelia Marie has a new captain – Tony Lara.  But, Tony is not new to the Cornelia Marie.  He fished on the CM from 1991 to 2000 as deckhand and engineer, mostly under Captain Phil.  He’s a good friend of the family and a respected crab fisherman.  Tony was a good friend to Phil, as they spent years fishing together.

We also have some new faces on the back deck.  Our engineer Steve Ward and deck boss Freddie will be going to other fishing vessels.  Steve will be working on the FV Fierce Allegiance, skippered by Tony LaRussa and Freddie will be joining the crew of the FV Wizard.  Remaining on board will be Jake, Josh and Ryan.  The two new crew members joining the CM family are Dale Pruitt and Troy Huls, who’s known as “Chief”.  I went to school with the Pruitt family, with his brother Chad being a classmate of mine.  These two guys have about 50 years of experience between them and we’re glad to have them on the Cornelia Marie.

I will post more info about these and other changes soon.

Posted on December 23, 2010 - by Morgan Howard

Merry Christmas from the FV Cornelia Marie

We want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas from the Cornelia Marie family. The FV Cornelia Marie is tied up in Dutch Harbor and the crew is home with their families. We are planning to fish Opilios in January. Our King Crab season was short, but we anticipate having a good Opilio season. Most likely we will have changes in our crew as we adjust to the activities which occurred during King Crab and prepare for the future.

As stated in an earlier email, the remaining Capt. Phil merchandise is being sold to pay the vendors. This will be completed by the end of the year and the link may be taken down as earlier as December 27th.

On Christmas Eve, Discovery Channel is presenting a “Best of Discovery” with a four hour block of “Deadliest Catch” episodes. I thought at first that these were compilation episodes but it’s hard to tell by reading the schedule below.

Posted on December 5, 2010 - by Morgan Howard

Hillstrands provide a preview to Season 7

The Discovery Channel promised a preview to Season 7 of “Deadliest Catch” Friday night.  The preview occurred during the premiere episode of “Gold Rush Alaska”, a new show they are promoting.  Well, the preview wasn’t very impressive… I was expecting more.  So, in lieu of that disappointing “sneak peak” on Friday, I provide below an interview with Capt. Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand.  The brothers talk about what to expect from season 7 and the passing of our skipper, Capt. Phil.  The Hillstrand brothers spent the weekend touring with Sig Hansen doing their live talks.  Sometimes this video below plays great, other times not so well.  Definitely give it a chance to load and play – it might take longer than normal.

Posted on November 25, 2010 - by Morgan Howard

Cornelia Marie Gear for Christmas

The Cornelia Marie crew is home with their families this Thanksgiving and Christmas.  This is reason enough to be thankful.  Since its the beginning of the holiday season, I am going to pitch you on our gear as great Christmas presents for those die hard Deadliest Catch fans.  Of course, nothing against the rest of the boats, but we hope the people you are shopping for are more “Cornelia Marie” fans.

Our family has been selling Cornelia Marie gear from our website for almost four years now.  We started slow by only selling one black t-shirt but have grown to offer t-shirts, hats, sweat pants, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and tumblers.  I have been personally wearing the gear and I am proud to say its held up very well throughout the years.

Unfortunately, there are people out there who copy our name and logo and illegally sell Cornelia Marie t-shirts.  Ebay.com has been very bad at not removing the imitation items even after I request for them to do so.  The CorneliaMarie.com online store is the ONLY place to buy official Cornelia Marie gear.  The only other exception is this site, where you can purchase the remaining Capt. Phil stock.  These items here are being sold at a close-out price by the estate of our late skipper Capt. Phil.  There’s a good chance that there probably won’t be anymore like it – so buy them now before they’re gone for good.

Lastly, the store has been updated with many new pictures from this year’s “Commercial Fishermen’s Festival” which took place in Astoria, Oregon.  Some of you may recognize yourself in some of the pictures.  There are no professional models in our online store – only our crew members and the good folks who support them.  Many images have been sent in by our dedicated fans – thanks for sending them and please send more!  If you have some good shots of yourself wearing our gear, send them to me at Morgan at this website address.  (I have to say my email address like this otherwise I’ll be bombarded with spam.)  Okay, so send them in!