Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Deadliest Quotes

No fun quotes today.

Last night's episode focused on the search and rescue of survivors from the 93 foot cod processor and fishing vessel Katmai. The Katmai sank between the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean, about 100 miles west of Adak in the Aleutians on October 22, 2008. There were 11 precious souls on board. After abandoning their sinking vessel, Only 4 amazing souls survived after braving 15 grueling hours of clinging near death to a small, battered life raft in the middle of the frozen Bering Sea.

Fighting hypothermia and despair the survivors were lifted from the sea at about 4:30 p.m by the United States Coast Guard. Weather conditions were reported during the search of 50-knot winds from the north (1 knot = 1.15 Mph) waves of17 feet and visibility of merely 3 miles. Two life rafts were deployed from the sinking ship, however only 1 was ever recovered. All of the bodies of the 7 men who perished in the disaster were recovered, except for 2. The Bering Sea will forever remain their final resting place.

I admire the strength and courage of the surviving men who graciously allowed themselves to be interviewed by The Discovery Channel. Thank you for speaking to us. I thank them for reminding me of how precious life is and how quickly it can be stripped away. I admire their tears, pain, anger and love for their friends and family members who were lost that day. I send nothing but love to the families of those left behind. Please keep all of the crewmembers of the F/V Katmai in your prayers, for even those who survived have a long and painful journey ahead.



In loving memory:


Carlos Martin Zabala
30 Years Old, From Helena Washington (possibly
Helena Montana)

Robert Davis
49Years Old, From Deming Washington


Cedric Smith
38 Years Old, From Portland Oregon


Glenn "Scooter" Harper
35 Years Old, From Portland Oregon


Jake Gilman
22 Years Old, From Camas Washington


Joshua Leonguerrero
19 Years Old, From Spanaway Washington


Fuli Lemusu
44 Years Old, From Salem Oregon


6 comments:

pat said...

That's a great post Lothian! Those guys sure are changed forever when their boats go down. My heart goes out to them and their families as well. One of the reasons I love 'Deadliest Catch' is that it shows the rest of the world what has been happening up there for generations and until the last few years, was pretty much undocumented, unregulated...

Lothian said...

Thank you. I really didn't have the words to express how I felt. I just hope that all who read the post know that I don't watch Deadliest Catch for the drama ... I watch it for the history, and the inspiration I get from it. I am constantly inspired by these men to work harder, live my life to the fullest, respect family and life. I was amazed the survivors spoke on the show and I was proud Discovery handled it with grace and dignity. They did not show this kind of respect for the loss of the FV Big Valley and few years back and I was concerned about their coverage of the Katmai.

Jennifer McKenzie said...

You did a much better job than I did. What an awesome tribute.

Lothian said...

Thank you Jen, that means the world to me.

Anonymous said...

Nice post.
The video at the end of this episode made me bawl. OMG.

~Tracy~

Lothian said...

Thank you Tracy. Yes, I was in tears the entire episode.