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‘Deadliest Catch’ Season 13: Tragedy, Drama, And Is It End For Two Captains?

By Georgia Makitalo
Published on: 17:14 PST, Mar 13, 2017

Discovery has announced that the Deadliest Catch Season 13 will be returning on April 11. This is the final season for at least one captain, possibly two. Compound it with the emotional tragedy of the Destination and temperatures that are four degrees warmer than last year, means that keeping focused and finding the crab is tougher than before.

Captain Sig Hansen appears to be back, but for how long? Last season, he suffered a serious heart attack and went face-to-face with his own mortality. People wondered if he would return. The captain of the Northwestern appears to be back, but there is no indication as to whether this is going to be on a full time basis, or if brother, Edgar, or daughter, Mandy, or any other Hansen with captaining skills will take over at the helm of the ship and family fishing business. Yahoo! reported that he will soon become a grandfather. Could that change Sig’s mind about retiring?

Captain Keith Colburn is determined to be back at the top of his game after last season’s emotional struggles. This was a drastic departure from his usual greenhorn issues. The captain of the Wizard showed a lot of vulnerability when he spoke of his divorce, as he uncharacteristically showed his sensitive side on the Deadliest Catch.

But, it does not sound like his sensitive side is going away anytime soon. The tragedy of the Destination could provide a great deal of drama and emotions on the 13th season of the Deadliest Catch.

Now that the crab season is over, Captain Keith recently spoke to KIRO7 with Ron and Dan about the tragedy of the Destination. There are still many questions as to why occurred to the Destination. Captain Keith explained that it “literally vanished” on February 11. Something very sudden and very fast occurred and now the fishing boat with six crew members is gone.

Although it has been a month since the unimaginable tragedy, Captain Keith admits that he is still coming to grips with what happened. He was not only friends with the captain of the Destination, but he knew that the boat was well maintained and that the captain had a stellar reputation. The captains are a tight-knit group of people, and the emotions surrounding the tragedy are still felt.

“I just had a lengthy conversation yesterday, and then the day before, with two separate captains that were really also extremely good friends with (Captain Jeff Hathaway) that were still trying to figure it out… I still haven’t really figured it out or come to grips with it. He wasn’t a family member, but at the end of the day, there’s a group of 30 or 40 of us captains that truly are pretty much like family. And just like family, sometimes we bicker and fight, and other times we give each other big hugs.”

Does the tragedy of the Destination mean that Captain Keith will be quitting soon? It sounds like this actually has the exact opposite effect on Keith. Fishing is in his blood and he loves what he does.

“I’m at this point right now, it’s pretty much engrained in who I am and I struggle with the thought of not being able to do it. It’s something that I truly love — as miserable and hard and as dangerous as it is. It’s something that I’ve just kind of adapted to that’s, I think, part of who I am down to my core. And so the thought of hanging up my cleats is — I just don’t see it anytime in the near future.”

Even before the tragedy of the Destination, Captain Johnathan Hillstrand had already decided that this is his final season of crab fishing. But first, the captain of the Time Bandit has to deal with some repairs and maintenance before he can venture out into his favorite fishing spots, adding frustration and additional stress to his timeline. This is going to be a bittersweet season as the shenanigans of the Time Bandit have provided some of the best humor on the Deadliest Catch.

Where is Captain Josh Harris, son of legendary Captain Phil Harris? Before the season commenced, the Cornelia Marie captain announced on Facebook that he will not be back on the Deadliest Catch. He did not offer any reason as to why Discovery chose not to feature the young captain on the show, although, as the Inquistr reported, it could be because his segments in the past were not filled with the sort of drama that other ships on the show have.

Meanwhile, Captain Jake Anderson of the Saga has some of the same crew woes that he had last year. This drama promises to drive the young captain into having one of his famous meltdowns. Captain Jake is ready to take off, but where is his motley crew? They are unprepared to go, starting out the voyage on a negative note. Add the stress of having the biggest crab quotas on the fleet, with his job on the line if he doesn’t meet this goal, the highly emotional Jake could be in for biggest challenge as a leader and as a captain.

Speaking of not caring, is this the year that Zach will make his dad, Captain “Wild” Bill Wichrowski, proud? Let’s hope so. It looks like after their conversation last season about Zach learning how to be a captain inspired Wild Bill to get his own boat, the breezy named Summer Bay.

Like Captain Jonathan, Captain Bill is experiencing some mechanical problems on his new boat. Sounds like he inherited some unexpected problems with his new purchase. And it looks like they will be on a non-stop grinder, as this season, the crab is difficult to find.

It appears that the weather has become dramatically warmer, four degrees warmer than last season. It matters a great deal as any of the previous crab hotspots are now gone. The crab have moved to new, more comfortable locations, and the captains, who are under pressure to achieve quotas, need to use all of their skills and instincts to figure out where the crab are located.

This news cannot be great for young Captain Sean Dwyer. The family business and the responsibilities of the Brenna A rest on his shoulders. Can he once again achieve success, get the crab and again, make his family proud? We will know starting on April 11 on Discovery.

Do you think Captain Sig will retire? Who do you think will bite off the head of a herring this season? Will Captain Jake Anderson meet his quota?

[Featured Image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]

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