Sig Hansen and Pacific Fishermen Shipyard

normal programming will not be seen at this time so we can bring you the following special this is Pacific fisherman shipyard and Ballard hold forth to many of the boats in the Bering Sea crab fishing fleet hello everyone I'm como fours Mike Ferrari the Hansen family of Seattle has been fishing for crab when the deadly Bering Sea for decades under both the northwestern the Hansen brothers are the stars of the TV show Deadliest Catch but that hasn't changed them one bit sig Edgar and Norman are still fishermen at heart and they've taken their newfound popularity combine it with the deadly job and turned it enter their luckiest catch sig Hansen was born in Seattle in April of 1966 along with younger brothers Norman and Edgar he learned to fish under the watchful eye of their father norwegian-born Sperry Hansen he taught his boys how to survive out on the Bering Sea pushing them to their physical and mental limits while fishing for crab and salmon were fourth-generation fisherman as that's all the conversations were about and like at the Ballard community here you know it's all it was it's Norwegian that it was fisherman's in 1977 Sperrys boat the foremost sank in that same year the northwestern was built there was a proud day for the Hansen's when the family boat was christened and Ballard for 31 years the northwestern is fish for crab on the frigid Bering Sea payoff is catching crab I mean that's what right there for you know it's why we sacrificed die sacrifice lives families children women you name it places to live just to grow up there and fish you know for the love of it despite severe ease death in 2001 the family fishing business kept thriving year after year sig and his brothers fish for king crab and the desolate cold of the North Pacific and nobody noticed in the fall of 2004 the Hansen brothers agreed to allow cameras from a show Discovery Channel was producing onto their boat for crab seasons the show would be called Deadliest Catch fishing has taken sig Hansen all over the world from these docks to the Aleutian Islands to Norway but Ballard is always home port for the Hansen's and while this community continues to constantly change sake Hansen points out that some things remain the same well sig Ballard certainly has changed over the years since you grew up this is not the same place you remember growing up oh it's absolutely it's not it's I mean years ago was more of an industrial center you know you had all the shipyards and Metalworks and all kinds of more industrial facilities around here now it's all gone to condos and I mean heck you can't even find parking anymore I got to admit it's if there's a lot of life on the weekends a lot of people walking around so that's kind of neat but it's a whole different generation you don't see the crusty old fisherman as much as you used to and that that bothers me a little a lot of these places for me it's it's not just memories for me but for generation before me and and what they represented and it's a place that everybody congregated you know let's go check out some of these spots that are still here the history I'll say you say this place here Ballard smoke shop spinner for it oh yeah as long as I can remember all right let's figure out let's see this is a place that guys would come look for work well back in the day this was the hub of Ballard so you know my old man a lot of the owners of these crab boats would hang out and if you wanted a job this was a place to be it's also a place to come socialize and you guys go out and work all day come here and talk about fishing right talk about fishing and other things and this is a place that many people don't know about right that's one of those things that's been a nice little secret for a while and a lot of good times do you remember this guy when he was a kid now many of us that big that big and now he's a TV star trapping back here now yeah what'd you think of the Hollywood deal now I don't know I don't keep track of that stuff you don't want the show I should have watched a show but I've been hooked up for 46 years so there's growing up around this stuff around boats and docks it that you get kind of an edge that makes it easier to go be a Bering Sea crab fisherman I think you do especially as a kid cuz yeah you're not so refined and you know when we were kids we didn't care about nothing I mean you just did it what you just did it right yeah nobody said no and if they did we didn't care anyway this is Ballard oil so this is where the boss would take their fuel before we head back up north what the hell do you want hey si good idea they let you out huh he's been coming ever since his daddy brought him down in diapers you know all right yeah what's it like to see a guy like this now growing up running the business and doing what he does got a weird no different than it's been pretty what 30 I 170 years you know what everybody oh you really are forever in the day this is take her ground man there's more fish caught in this room than there ever was in the ocean okay when you took over for dad and he was still alive and you're talking to him we're sending them back what you were doing and where you were catching stuff did you have to start lying to him because is this where he came and started telling everybody what you were doing and given information away we all the owners would hang out here so he would tell his buddies and then they would tell their captains they would come out and chase for your vice versa right so yeah this was information central well sake fisherman's terminal this is kind of a sentimental spot for you because the memorials here and your dad's names on a lot of guys have come and gone and they've been able to remember them through the memorial there's a lot of history here and there's a lot of people that lost their loved ones it's got great sentimental value for a lot of families in Seattle and there are a lot of guys that that friends that I've known that are gone makes you think about how good you have it and fortunate and lucky are to still be around they've got a plaque for my old man he's right here memory of captain's very handsome and a lot of these you know a lot of these guys weren't lost at sea but their tributes for them being a part of the commercial fishing industries for so long and and that's nice to see as well here I see legacies you know when I look at the names I just see a lot of legacies left behind there are things you and things you don't there are things that happen end things alone give that good healthy crab and good friend fisherman's superstitions well as far as biting head off a herring before crab season it's good luck it comes from a few different fisheries mostly the herring fishery but we've kind of adopted it here and you know it's always been done it's one of those things where it's great if you remember to do it just don't forget to bite the head off of a herring because we've proven that that can be fatal to your season as well a lot of times we'll set the hook on fire for our last pot of the season and that just kind of kind of came over the years I think the guys knew that it was a superstitious deal to catch that last hook and I think Hager started just turn the thing on spire and we just went with it it's the every boats different but it's unique tars fishin is superstitions you're looking at the brand-new deck of the northwestern and the guys when working on the boat all summer long Edgar Hansen put a lot of work into this point that she want to work a lot of time a lot of sweat a lot of blood out of shakes and bends did you have done we went into drydock when we first came down found some shafting issues so we had her whole shaft replaced we had all new bearings put in and the deck was 31 years old so we had it completely restored ripped up and all it's all brand new paintjob you name it little odds and ends had the engines fixed as usual so it's all about maintaining making sure we don't break down while we're up there Norman Hansen worked all summer in the northwestern - despite being on a reality TV show he doesn't like TV cameras much he had nothing to say this was the first time this much work has been done in like 30 years this was pretty major yeah when we spend well over three-quarters of a million dollars I think bananas are a superstition on just about every boat in the fleet there's just one of those things where it's been passed down generation to generation you know I'm not too concerned about about the banana deal but we don't like to see them on here I think I've seen them once and we tossed them so you don't take any chances when it comes to bananas and superstitions another superstition is if you open up you know canna strawberries or any kind of food item upside down and if that's sitting on that galley table upside down definite no-no on the northwestern you just don't do it why would you have a horse you want a boat I mean basically it's cowboy paraphernalia it's something that over the years it's it's not accepted as a good luck charm on a crab boat so that's one thing where you try to shy away from you don't want to see horseshoes hanging in a in a boat suitcases on this boat is a definite no-no that is like voodoo number one for me always has been I think that just came because as a kid you know my grandfather kind of embedded that into my head and you know you're a sailor you have a sea bag you don't bring a suitcase on a boat save it for an airplane Bishamon superstitions the make-a-wish Foundation contacted us and Gary had a wish to go to Alaska fish on the northwestern we had to do the next best thing and that was to get him out with us for Seafarer and it was quite a day there it was pretty cool hey dude okay bring it up yeah Gary Yost loves the TV show Deadliest Catch busiest catch pose okay his make-a-wish dream came true when he was an honorary captain of the northwestern today oh man oh my gosh oh my gosh but not before some pirates tried to take over command of the boat come on now with the Seafair pirates aboard along with friends and family was time for Gary to get to work under the watchful eye of captain sig Hansen sure lots of room on that side Todd they're the best heads up my wish was to come here on the boat so I get to come on the boat today drop a few pots and then go pick them up my wish is to get off this thing I don't see who would wish to be a hunter sometimes at I it'll push you or the wind will push you first lesson getting through the Ballard Locks where Gary was given quite the send up I'm the captain today once on the sound and didn't take long for Gary to take over six seat wake me up in about an hour I'll do my best before you could even drop a crab pot Gary had to deal with the authorities uh-oh what there oh I don't know what you did man you are the guy I am NOT the captain today it's all oh man this is not good well I hear you're crapping out here you don't got a license he did then it was time to go fishing watching my son's face light up when he got to see the crew member and be out on the boat and do the things when you know knowing about not knowing that the Fish and Wildlife people are gonna show up and bust him it was just great it just feels good to have him be himself look like himself act like himself and you do get to do the things he loves to do after a short cruise through Elliot Bay and a flyby from the Blue Angels it was time to pull two pots after a few pots were pulled up empty Gary's scored in the last pot of the day cuz these are always higher the better half of has I got beginning to end you can say this was a successful trip this is the best day of my life because one I get to spend the entire day with the Northwestern's crew too I got to set and drop pot three I got to drive the boat and four I had entirely too much fun northwestern yeah yeah well I mean that's the feeling like no other right there so no we had a great day for a kid to say that that's the best thing he's ever done is quite a feeling and I'm proud of it how was your day with us buddy awesome well say I remember we're down in Portland and some advertising executives ask you what's the coolest thing that has happened to you since you've been involved with the Deadliest Catch and all the popularity that comes with it and you said making Gary's wish come true was it well yeah and I think that that still stands because if not only did we give him what he wanted and we got the reward back as far as you know just to seeing it and it just felt so good to not just myself but my crew and everybody that helped out and that's something that we'll never forget

Channel: PacificFishermen Shipyard

Views: 673,240

Rating: 4.7588296 out of 5

Keywords: Sig Hansen, Shipyard, Ballard

Id: Ytgbu03OhIg

Length: 14min 1sec (841 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 16 2013