Reno Paul said:
According to the final show for last season, the pay ranged from about $10,000 per deckhand on The Billikan to about $27,000 per deckhand on the Northwestern for 5 days work out at sea. $20,000 seemed to be what most of the deckhands on the other boats were approximately making. That kind of money isn't worth risking my life over. Takes a certain breed to be one of those deckhands.
Last year was a record year, good weather, lots of crab, and a longer season than normal and even then I wouldn't believe those numbers. Just because a "reality" TV show says something doesn't make ity so. I suppose if Discovery Channel did a show on Stu feiner and they said he hit 70% of his plays and made 50K in a a couple days you would all believe that too?
People believe anything others tell them. I see it all the time on these forums. You tell enough lies or sugarcoat the bullshit long enough everything becomes believeable I guess.
I was IN Dutch Harbor for two seasons, I SAW with MY OWN eyes, and heard with MY OWN ears what these guys dio and make. Just because some TV show comes inand dramatizes it and glorifies it doesn't make it so. Just like with Poker. These clowns they show on TV are the biggest bunch of degenerate drug addicted alcoholic losers to walk the earth, but ESPN, The Travel Channel, or whomever is carrying a poker show make them out to be heroes. And people eat it up. If they knew them a few years ago, or even saw them around town today that opinion might not be as generous.
I don't know verything, but I knw what I see. Like I said, I am not the type to believe everything people tell me, and really only half of what I DO see.
For all you math wizes out here run these numbers when you want to figure out what the deck hands make. Deck hands will make .5-1% depending on experience. If they are related or can cook or have some other secondary skill (mechanic,elctrician, refrigeration etc) they might get another .5-1% tacked onto to that. So at best a deck hand is looking at 2% AFTER the boat take. out 60-65% AND the expenses are taken out. So say a boat gets 100K lbs of crabs @ roughly $8-$9 a lb. That is $800-$900K. Take out 60% (we'll lowball it) That leaves 320-360. Expense we will round off to an even 50K (that is lowball too)So that leaves 270-310 to get their % out of. That is between 1350 and 6200 depending on percentage and other factors.
I am sure you will all be glued to the TV tonight so watch the numbers, it doesn't take a lot of math skill to figure it out. What people foregt is just how big a cut the boats take out BEFORE ANYONE gets paid.
I should throw an edit in here. The price of crabs varies also. Not sure which season they are showing. But Opilios are generally only 5-6(maybe 6-7 a lb) while the Kings are the ones that are 8-9 a lb. So plug in those prices for whatever season they are in.
Also I wouldn't think that if you couldn't bet on which boat has the biggest catch most people on this forum would even watch it.
