Once we finally get the rings pursed up the actions not over. In fact, nothing is ever over here until all the fish are on the Tender and the paycheck is in our hands. Little boats or “corkers” as they call them, circle our net placing buoys all around to keep the tons of Herring from pouring out. Our tender pulls up along side us to start pumping the fish out of the net.

With a lot of profit swimming in the seine, everyone’s nervous something more might go wrong. The jarring of the boat from the collision was risky enough.

Here is a short video I made after our hit, capturing the set and aftermath of the collision.

Once our tender, the “Sea Warrior” fills his tanks full, they stop pumping. The other tender doesn’t have his pump ready.

The fish start getting heavier. It was literally a “Finding Nemo” moment when the fish pushed the net down further and further as if to break free.  In this instance we had dead weight sinking us…and fast.

A pin on the boom snapped and swung over left, increasing the weight on the port side.

That was it. We were goners.

Within seconds my feet are slipping out from under me.  I yell out, “DAD!!! WE’RE GOING DOWNNN!!” Everyone’s frantically trying to climb to the top.

It felt like Titanic

The boats at an almost 80 degree angle and I’m sliding down towards the water. Moms hanging on by the rail. My dad grabs my sister from behind and pulls her up over the top.  Clinging to the ladder, I am in shock and can’t move. Dad reaches over and grabs my arms. Rick struggles to swing his body over the rail.

Joe and my dad bracing themselves. Photo credit: Patrick Venner

Captain Gary of the F/V “Jill Anne I” see the action and race over to rescue us. Dad stays aboard with Joe to try and save the boat. When I got on the other boat I ran to the bow where Rick was already sitting, huffing and puffing from being so out of breath.

Wet, cold, and very shookin up myself, I couldn’t bear to watch it anymore.

All I could do was pray, and pray some more.

Captain Gary ties up his stern with the Shady Lady’s starboard side and tows hard. An hour of this rolls by and the boat should have sunk by now. But it hasn’t. Eventually the guys devise a plan that worked, broke the block, a few lines and *whoosh*the boom fly’s back and the boat crashes down to center.  The boat is saved. 5am rolls by. I am in a hotel room trying to close my eyes.

Here is a video someone else shot of the rollover and my dad and Joe trying to save the boat

The Aftermath

As the shock of everything starts to subside, I am emotionally drained. It’s hard to keep these catastrophic chain of events straight. While we were pumping fish, I walked into the cabin to assess the damage after the collision. Cracked walls, glass all over, the refrigerator out of place, stove tipped over, food everywhere.

I walk further back to my bunk. There was no bunk. Had anyone been in there, it could have been fatal. Fiberglass everywhere.

I came out, looked at Rick with a very nervous and shocked expression, he looked back at me with his hands motioning down as if to say “don’t bring attention to it Sierra, we can’t fix it now. Focus, just focus on the set.” I put my head down trying not to make eye contact with mom or anyone for fear she would go look at the mess and be heavily emotionally sidetracked.

This was my parents prized possession, the boat my mom just purchased for my dad two months ago. Now its a wreck.

Scary Business

Shot of me at the stern and the F/V Confidence in the background. Taken post collision

These are fifty of the best fishermen in the world. They can ride this rodeo blindfolded if they wanted. How could this be an “accident” I ask myself.

Why didn’t he slow down or turn? Why didn’t they seem as shocked as we were? That’s the strange part. After I scrambled to my feet I remember looking back at their faces on the F/V “Confidence” to see their reaction. No reaction. No emotion. Stone cold faces as if they were out to get us. For that, I don’t have an answer.

My brother flew in to visit us for a few days before his next tour to Afghanistan. Little did he know he would be coming to another combat zone.  I have learned since my last interview, there is nothing ‘gentleman’ about this fishery. If you think the Deadliest Catch is risky business, wait till you see this.

We salvaged 150 tons of Herring, our boat and of course our lives.

I am very thankful for the crew of the “Jill Anne I” for taking such quick action to rescue us and for the F/V “Voyager” for saving our Seine. Boats tip, that’s the nature of the beast. But boats ramming boats? If this is how Herring fishing operates, then shoot! Give me a bigger boat, a dozen more buoys,  a steel bow, and maybe a good long pre-season pep talk.

Pushing Forward

Earlier today my job was to run around to all the docks and talk to as many fishermen as I could, gathering all the evidence from eye witnesses. I get back to the boat and am about to emotionally pop. Right now I am trying to put it behind me and work up enough courage to step on the boat again. Unless my dad leases another boat, we have at the most 2 more days to fix as much as we can before the next opener.

Deep down I am terrified.

I look at mom, her eyes bloodshot red from the lack of sleep, the tears, and stress of everything. I feel myself struggling to keep my own tears from overcoming me. I am in the Wheel house being consoled by our engineer, Joe. I tell him I don’t think I can take any more of this. “If this is what its like I am scared to go back out there…especially on this boat.” Joe looks me in the eye, trying to keep my cool, “Sierra, if you’re scared then you need to leave. You can’t do the job in that state of mind. Otherwise commit to the work at hand and help us finish out this season strong.” He is absolutely right. I am going to finish out the season with my dad strong. All of us are. I have to trust he knows what he’s doing and move forward. Either way, the season isn’t over and we have lots more fish to catch! All I have to say is this fishery makes salmon seining look like a piece of cake.

Thanks to those of you who were praying for us! Many of you I sent a text to during this crazy time. Hope I didn’t scare you too much. Lets hope for a positive ending to this wild rodeo ride.