Failing Generator Threatens To Derail Wild Bill’s Season! | Deadliest Catch

285 miles northwest on the 113-foot Summer Bay, it is an ugly day today in so many ways. “Oh yeah, that’s like my biggest fear out here, you know, right now the glamour of the fireworks and the fanfare, it’s gone,” says Captain Wild Bill Wichrowski, shaken by the sinking of the destination. “I’m looking to get my number and get the hell out of here.”

Captain Wild Bill battles 20-foot waves and 50-knot winds to finish his season. “What I hope is the last time we sit. If you look out the window, you can see that this is not an easy task. Ready when you are, B. Wait till this one goes by. Yeah, go ahead. Going over guys, be safe, be fast. I’m not letting my guard down because anything can happen.”

“What? Hey, we got a generator alarm on the star generator. Go, go, go.”

Some power issues emerge. “I don’t have enough power.” The sounding alarm indicates a failing generator. “I don’t know how much bigger this is supposed to get. It’s not a good day to not have power.” Without it, the captain will lose steering, leaving the boat and her crew at the mercy of 20-foot seas.

“I’m just trying to maintain the boat so we don’t get crashed. We got huge seas right now, so being without power can be a really big deal.”

“Oh, we’re getting sideways here.” Tossed by 20-foot seas, Captain Wild Bill is down a generator and losing control. “We’re under the gun. Emergency repairs and a gale with 20-plus-foot seas don’t have full power on it. The bow swings over 25-30 degrees with limited steering. Keeping the Summer Bay safe and out of the ditch is a challenge.”

“Yeah, I see some shiny metal there.” An aluminum coupling has come loose from the hydraulic drive unit, pressing against the engine and grinding the boat to a halt.

With his season on the line, the captain and former engineer rolls up his sleeves. “Get that other one back in. Tim went down, and he did the right thing, shut it down, and got everything up and running. We kind of lucked out on that one, especially with the weather we got. Guys did good on that one, they worked like a team. It was awesome.”

55 miles northwest, starting to get a little gnarly. “22-foot seas, gusting 30.” On the fishing vessel Northwestern, the hardest part about hauling gear in this kind of weather is keeping the waves off the starboard side.

Filling in for his brother Sig, Captain Edgar Hansen approaches his first haul in building seas. “It’s a little iffy, it’s nasty but it’s doable. Just about on our string, two and a half days soak, should be anything from 100, 150, couple hundred.”

Edgar counts on pots set by Brother Sig three days ago to put a dent in the 81,000 pounds needed to close out their season. “I want Sig to know that if the time comes, then he’s got somebody responsible enough to be able to take over. A little different running the boat, we get some rhythm going down here. Now we just got to get Edgar’s rhythm.”

“Okay, first pot ready, and there we go, show me the money. Oh no, oh boy, oh no. What are we looking at? 3? What nonsense is that? They’re hoping for getting 200 pounds a pot, but I guess not. 21. 21, it’s not looking real sexy. I’m nervous. Sig’s not here, hopefully you can find some numbers.”

“Have to find our own. Sig did his best to put us on crab, but we were left with not a whole lot to work with. Time to go here, so now it’s all up to me. I’m setting my own gear. We’ve been fishing mainly on kind of harder bottom, so just going to bump them up a little bit just to cover some depths. With Sig’s town soak above, Edgar will try his luck in shallower waters.”

“62 fathoms, you know usually there’s 65 and below, but you never know. Gotta spread your wings and find out. Do or die, high water, I’m putting 81,000 pounds of crab on this boat.”

115 miles southeast, seas are probably 15 to 20 feet. On the 107-foot Saga, “Not very conducive for a safe working environment, let me tell you.”