215 miles north of Dutch Harbor, the Wizard is bucking through punishing seas as Captain Keith Colburn struggles to salvage what’s shaping up to be one of his toughest seasons yet. Heavy weather, poor numbers, and crew injuries have dogged the veteran skipper from the first pot drop — and the latest string haul has done little to lift spirits.
With waves pounding the bow and pots hauling in meager twenties and thirties, Colburn’s trademark patience is wearing thin. “This sucks,” Keith was heard venting on deck as his crew wrestled gear through icy spray. “We need to get on something. We need to get on it fast.”
A Risky Move: Stack and Run
Determined to change his luck, Keith made the bold call to stack every one of his 200 pots and haul them to new grounds — a decision that exposes the Wizard’s deckhands to punishing seas but offers a slim hope of redemption.
“Mother Nature’s not cutting us any slack here,” Keith muttered as icy winds battered the crew. “I just need to do my job and find some crab for these guys to put in the tanks.”
A Lifeline from an Old Friend
Running out of options, Keith reached for the radio — and phoned a lifeline: veteran crabber Jonathan Hillstrand aboard the Time Bandit. Hillstrand, working his own patch of icy ocean, didn’t hesitate to return the favor.
“I’m totally bombing out here, my friend,” Keith admitted. Hillstrand didn’t miss a beat: “Get your [butt] over here. I’m on top of the Batwing — we’re pulling 100 to 250 plus.”
It’s a classic move known to crabbers as radio crab — betting precious time and fuel on a colleague’s tip. It’s burned skippers before, but Keith has faith in the Time Bandit’s word.
“Up until about five minutes ago I was freaked out,” Keith confessed. “Now all of a sudden, an angel from the sky — John Hillstrand says, ‘You gotta get over here.’ So, we’re getting over there.”
All In: The Big Dump
Hours later, 190 miles northwest of Dutch Harbor, Keith lines up the Wizard to drop his entire load onto the Batwing — a patch of seafloor that could either be the season’s salvation or its final nail.
“We’ve been burnt before doing radio crab,” Keith told his crew. “But Jonathan’s a reliable source. So… dump it.”
Pots splash over the side in rhythm with the roaring Bering Sea. Nearby, the Time Bandit gambles the same bet — Jonathan counting on Keith’s earlier sighting to pay off as both crews lay steel side by side on the ocean floor.
High Stakes and Thin Hopes
For both captains, the stakes couldn’t be higher. If the crab are there, it’s payday. If not, they burn fuel and daylight chasing ghosts through some of the harshest fishing grounds on earth.
“Crab fishing is a crazy sport, man,” Keith sighed into the wheelhouse radio as his exhausted crew lashed down the last pot.
With no guarantees but grit and a friend’s word to go on, the Wizard and Time Bandit steam through the storm — proving once again that out here, there are no easy days in paradise.
Stay with the Bering Sea Bulletin for the next haul count.
