Lo and behold, pow.

46 miles below a southbound Arctic cyclone.

Boy, oh boy.
A lot of rolling around.

Let her go when you’re ready.

Way she goes.

There’s an arctic blast from the northeast.
We’re going to have to be on our toes.

We just got done with our bairdi season.
We are now on the Golden King crab grounds.

With forecasts predicting strong easterly winds,
Captain Sig Hansen sets 40 pots perpendicular to the approaching weather,
betting the risk is worth the reward.

These crab are three times the size of a bairdi,
with three times the price.

And it’s a turtie-style fishery.
Very steep edges.
Very deep.

That’s where these golden king crab like to hang out.

Basically, I want us to try to stay in this contour here.

So our job is to try to keep these pots on that edge.
The only way to do that is to go up against the weather,
you know, to protect the guys.

Doesn’t make sense.

Could it have come around that fast?

You’re not going to know how to do it.

Watch the rail.
We got to turn.
But we got to turn a little bit.

It’s not going to be where we want it.
That’s all there is to it.

[Music]

I wanted to set this way.
I had a dog leg.

I kind of doubt there’s any crab there.
It’s right on a plateau.

That’s typically not where we’re fishing for browns.

But the way this is going,
the storm leaves me no choice.

Mother Nature is in control right now.
No, I’m not.

Bottom line,
we just got to get them off the boat,
cross our fingers,
and hope for the best.

Weather just keeps coming up and up and up, man.

Yeah, it’s getting early.

El Niño.
It’s everything that they said is happening.

This one’s going through right now,
and then bang,
there’s the next one.

So I feel like we can’t wait.
We got to just do it.

Get this done,
get out of here,
and get home.

Right?
Be safe.

On the Northwestern.

Well, right now,
everybody’s a little skittish hauling in this stuff.

It’s not letting up.
But the reality is,
we got to haul pots to make money.

Set up against it along that edge.
That’s where we are now.

Where we had to turn,
make the bend.

We didn’t lay it out the way I wanted to.
So we’ll see how this does.

You ready?

These first couple are in the ditch.
Watch out the rail.

Yeah.
Roger.

Let’s get some berries.
Really got to pay attention here.

Let’s go.
First spot’s up.

No, I don’t see anything moving in there.

And when it’s rolling around like this,
nobody’s happy.

It wears you down.
It’s irritating, to say the least.

Now we’re on the pot where we had that dog leg.
I had to switch 30, 40 degrees on my string.

So the whole terrain just changed all of a sudden.

Probably going to come up empty,
I imagine.

There we go.

[Music]

Well, there’s some life in there.
We’re starting to see a few now.

Got some keepers in there.
That’s life.

How many you get out of there?
15.

All right.
Good.

[Music]

Yeah, baby.

That adds up fast.

Might be able to scratch on something around here.

Hang on.
We just got to fish through this weather.
That’s the problem.

Work.

There we go.
Got him.

Well, there’s something to this spot here, obviously.

[Music]

You okay?

Roger.

That was close.

That thing went sailing.
Glad nobody was in the way.

Our pots are seven by eight.
They’re eight feet tall.

It’ll cut you in two.

Just accidentally,
no dogs on,
go to empty the pot,
the dogs aren’t wrapped around it,
and it can fall right over.

That’s why it’s so dangerous around that table, man.

You guys know not to stand behind that sorting table.

The only good news about this
is that we landed on crab.

We can get more gear in here.

Get ready.
We’re going to turn around
and get them back in the water.

Yeah.
Roger.
Let’s go, baby.

I wouldn’t have bet on this spot,
but I’ll take it.

We need to be aggressive.

Set it right back on the same spot.
Is it a one-hit wonder,
or is there more volume down there?

[Music]

The weather’s kicking up here.
We’re about halfway up to St. Paul,
aboard the Wizard.

We talked about this kind of wavering,
and all of a sudden he says he wants to go to the line.

Well, I want to go up to St. Paul.

My brother doesn’t fish these things much,
and from somebody who’s done it
as much as anybody,

I just think we have a better chance
of finding what we need
in a timely manner going up here.

18 hours after losing a game of ro-sham-bo
that was supposed to have the brothers Coburn
heading just east of Dutch Harbor,

Monty instead bets $10,000 of fuel
on grounds west of the remote St. Paul Island,
directly in the path of the approaching Arctic storm.

He’s probably not going to be happy
that I basically steered the boat way out to the west
when he went to bed last night.

We left town.

Worry about that argument later, I guess.

This weather’s a little more wind
than they called for.

Thrashing around here.

The stack is not happy here all of a sudden.
I see that.
I see that.

Yeah, we need to get outside right away.
Going to need a bunch of chains.

Let’s get out there right away.

Roger.

So what’s up, Mouse?

All of a sudden the stack is just going nuts.
That one pot looks like it’s trying to fall off the boat.

Well, where the hell are we?

We’re going up to St. Paul.

You know what?
I’m not even gonna worry about that right now.

Whoa.
That one’s moving.

Let me hop in here.

Oh, watch out.
Watch out.

You guys, heads up on the starboard side.

I am in the ditch, okay?

So be careful with the rail.
Get her secured.

We need at least three chains.
The stack aft of the launcher
looks like it’s shifted about half a foot at least.

The stack is moving.
So we’re going to put a couple more chains on them.

This is ridiculous, man.

They only chained it for a 12-hour run,
not a 30-hour run.

We got five chains on a stack.
We normally have ten.

It’s going to be a long day.

Always my way around.
I got ashtrays, cigars, coconut water,
bottles of pink juice,
God knows what it is.

Everybody should have a little brother
just to torment you in life.

On the Wizard.

The weather’s so wicked.
Monty took us on a joy ride west of St. Paul.

Trying to keep my temper intact.

I don’t really like it when somebody goes against orders,
but you know,
that gets better than anybody.

I’m not going to worry about not being at the line
until we see what’s here.

All right.
They’re all geared up.
Ready to go.

They’re on.

All right, guys.
The weather sucks out there,
and there’s also a lot of ice on this gear.

Keep an eye on each other.

I’ll try to do my best to hold the boat
so that you’re not taking any weather.

But we’re up here
because my brother doesn’t seem to honor his bets.

He’s a squelter.

Yeah, we were wondering what’s going on.
Throwing extra chains on the stack.

All right.
Be careful.

Oh, this storm is nasty.

Still got the phone number.

Ouch.
That’s nasty there, man.

Did the ones on the front of the stack
look that bad too, Roger?

They were worse than that.

Holy crap, man.
They got to bang ice just to get to the door ties.

Whoa.
Whoa.
Whoa.

Be careful.
Watch your feet.

Watch your feet in the ice.

All right.
Okay.

Good job, guys.

Holy crap.
That was terrifying.

Just got wiped off the back by a wave.

Watch out.
We got one coming right now.
Starboard side.

Boom.

All right.
Let me get turned here, guys.

We’re pushing 45, 50 mile-an-hour winds,
and the tops of these waves
are starting to get blown off.

It almost looks like smoke on the water.

Monty can take his barometric guru
and shove it up—

Oh, whatever.

My brother and his harebrained scheme
to go west of St. Paul,
burn $30,000 worth of fuel in the process,
to go haul nothing.

Absolute nothing.

Just got to be positive.
It’s easy to look in the rearview mirror.

[Laughter]

Okay, you want to take over?

You sound pretty irritated.

I’m pissed.

I’m trying to figure out
what the hell we’re doing here still.

It’s not an easy task.

Stop using the word “we.”
This is not a plural situation.

Tired of your mouth.
Tired of your attitude.

Everybody go find some more blanks,
and when you’re done hauling goose eggs,
let me know,
and I’ll find some crab.

Okay.
Don’t brag on me.

You said on the west side.

Which is where you said we should go.

We’re going to start calling you Sahara Desert.

You said we were going Sahara Desert.
You said we were going.

You have no clue how to run a crew.

Okay.
Period.

Perfect.
You said we were going to St. Paul.

Who’s paying the fuel?
Who’s paying the bait?
Who’s paying everything?

You lost the ro-sham-bo.

That had nothing to do with you.

Then you went west.

I’m so tired of this.
I’m not arguing with you right now.

Go usual.

And guess what?
You know what?
I’m not talking to you right now.

You mouse.

[Music]

Are you all right, bro?

[Music]

Are you all right?
Hey, bro.

Are you okay?
Talk to me, bro.

Are you okay?

Come on.
I need a hand up here.

Pick me up.

Come on in.

Take off real quick.
I get up by myself.
I’ll be fine.

Okay.
Just stand by.
Cody’s coming up.

We’re going to help you get down there
so you don’t get hurt.

All right?

You sure?

It’s a baby right now.
Pull that left side, not good.

Yes.

Give me those.

And then you want to go ahead
and get chest
and see if you got the nitro in there.

Would you take them home?

[Applause]

How we doing?

Mitch, talk to you off camera, please.

Okay.

Six.

I’m looking for the pills here.

Can you write that down for me?

Yeah.
I think it’s kind of important.

Be right there.

What’s up?

Left side.

No.

You what?

You’re kidding.

You want one of these?

Come on, man.

Okay.

Cute or small.

I think you put it under your tongue.

Okay.

How was that?

Kind of helps a little bit.

Do something over there with Keith.

Oh.

All right.
Let me in there.

Not sure what we’re doing.

We got some sort of medical thing going right now.

Okay.

So the brother had some sort of episode up here.
We’re not sure why.

The left side of his arm went numb on him.

Not sure why.

[Music]

Come on in, guys.

His arm was going numb,
so he took some aspirin.

He actually took a nitroglycerin tablet
out of the med kit.

If you look in that med kit, the book,
if you look under heart attack,
that’s what it tells you to use.

Pretty scary.

We’re in the middle of the ocean.

Keith had some sort of episode,
which is pretty concerning.

Basically sick.

I’ve known Keith my whole life.
He was actually supposed to be my godfather,
but my mom didn’t really allow that.

My dad and him first came to Alaska together.
They started working on the Wizard together.

Woo-hoo.

[Applause]

Wow, Keith.
Come on.

He’s a really close family friend.
He’s done a lot for my family.

Pretty hard seeing him in this state.

It’s even more scary
that he won’t accept it.

The fact that he’s not healthy
and he’s in critical condition right now.

I’m a crabber and I’m a thrasher.
You got to always have that attitude, Kelly.
Always.

So it’s pretty scary.
And nobody wants to see him hurt.

We’re going to get him to the dock,
hopefully in time,
and he’ll be all right.

How you doing over there?

I’m going to bed.

Okay.
Be good for a while.
20 minutes.

Call me as much as you want.

All right.

[Music]

Calling the vessel manager from Seattle.

Hello.
Hello.
You got a minute?

Yeah.

Okay.

So my brother just—
he was sitting at the table
in the port side of the wheelhouse,
yelling and screaming,
and he got up,
and all of a sudden he just went down.

We’re not sure why.

He said he was having problems.
Left side of his body was tingling.

We gave him some aspirin
and a nitroglycerin tablet.

He says he’s fine,
but he’s not.

Mark, just keep an eye on him.

All right.
Just bear with me.

I’m really having a hard time
making this decision.

So it’s 65 miles to St. Paul.

Okay.

I think the prudent thing to do
is to head to the island.

Can you get ahold of the clinic?

Yes, I can.

I’m going to call St. Paul.
You head that way.

How long will that take?

I’m about 60 miles right now.
Seven or eight hours at the very most.

Okay.

I’ll call them
and make sure someone is at the clinic.

Okay.

I’ll call you back
in a couple minutes.

Okay.
Sounds great.
Bye.

Guaranteed going to the island
is a no-brainer.

You have to go to St. Paul.

That’s classic heart attack symptoms.

Left side numbness.

Heart attack.
Stroke.

Anybody with even a little knowledge
would have to make that assessment.

US Coast Guard, fishing vessel Wizard.

Just wanted to keep you abreast of things.

I’ve talked at length with a doctor,
and he seems to think
he’s had some sort of mini stroke.

Oh my God.

Do you have anyone on board
with medical experience?

Nothing more than basic first aid.

Okay.

They need to get him off that damn boat.

Phil, same thing.

The old man might have just had a stroke.

Can you feel this still?

That’s all they can do right now.

There’s nothing they can do at sea.

You’re in the middle of nowhere.

What’s your ETA to St. Paul?

About 2200 hours.

But this weather direction
is not good for getting into that harbor.

I understand.

Sounds like they’re heading to St. Paul,
the closest airstrip.

But that’s not a guarantee either.

Snow flurries.
Planes need to land.

He’s not out of the woods yet.

A southwest or westerly wind
is never safe into St. Paul.

All right.

We’re going to call Sig.

He’s got firsthand knowledge
of really spooky medical things
out here with his heart.

So what’s going on with him?

Working on a plane
to come out and pick him up at St. Paul.

All indicators are that he had
some sort of mild stroke.

Pretty well confirmed.

Even my own brother
had a mild heart attack
and didn’t even know it.

He needs to get off that boat.

But getting in there right now
is dicey.

Yeah, I’m just coming around Reef Point.

Sea Lion Rock at the entrance.

We got to be careful.

Yeah, Roger.

You can see the island here.

This is us.
This is the approach.

The problem with the harbor
is the swell direction.

It’s narrow.
Extremely difficult to steer.

I’ve been in and out of this harbor
a couple hundred times.

They need to see him right away.
I get it.

But timing this wrong
puts you on the beach.

I need to be careful with my vessel.

Sitting here is maddening.

We don’t know what’s happening,
but it’s not good.

Got to get him off as soon as we can.

Okay.
Here comes Wayne.

Watch out.
That’s a big wave.

Everything good down there?

Okay.

Good job getting in.

Oh, man.
Thank you.

How scary.

We’re going to the dock in the corner.

Hey, bro.

Okay.

I love you, man.
You’re going to be all right.

[Music]

Harbor Master for Wizard,
you’re clear to leave St. Paul Harbor.

Roger.
Clear.

Yeah.
Let him go.

[Music]

That’s scary.
Really scary.

Stand on the rock.

I don’t see anything curling yet.

Raise your fist to the sky.

Clear the brake.

Looks good so far.

Memories of stillness gone by.

This is just the beginning.

They’ve got to get Keith to Anchorage,
then Anchorage to Seattle,
before they even know what’s going on.

Keith’s not invincible.

I know he thinks he is.

This is going to be a sobering reality.

Bonnie’s going to have to finish the trip.

That’s just the way it is right now.

He was stressed,
yelling, screaming, mad.

He was rotten to me.

But we’ll get past that.

Just an older brother.

You buckle down.

You pour your gear.

And you grind it out.