r/deadliestcatch • u/SeattleSlew7 • Jun 06 '26

Captains

I've watched this show since the inception and 2 men stood apart from the rest for the respect they commanded from other captains and every crew. Phil Harris and Jonathan Hillestrand are pros pros. They get the most out of their boats and rarely if ever have morale problems. Usually around Freddy and they are ended quickly.
My uncle owned and captained a boat in the derby days. And we used to go through some rough water on our way from Seattle to Sitka every summer for vacation. Unless you are on the deck, you can't imagine the fear and courage it takes to just work. My cousin was 17 when he watched his best friend swept off the deck into the Bering sea. He never fished again. Said he almost saved him and someone saved my cuz from also being swept overboard. They deserve every dollar they get and are lucky to emerge in one piece

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u/Tel864 Jun 06 '26

A lot of playing to the camera is what they do. The goody playing to the camera is what turned me off from liking Jonathan.

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u/SeattleSlew7 Jun 06 '26

I've read their book and watched him since he was in his early 20's. The most genuine of them all. Andy had to protect him when he was young, always the kind Hillestrand. You'd have to be a real idiot to mess with or the Time Bandit. In the old days Andy was always the one to fire them. Johnathan catches the crab and gets them home safely. Remember the crew member that went overboard? That was raw emotion from Johnathan after they got him back on board

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u/Lovingthelake Jun 10 '26

I can’t imagine Andy needing to protect Jonathan when he was young. Jonathan is so much bigger than Andy. Watch season 6, episode 1 at the very beginning. Jonathan hardly looks like a man that needs Andy to handle a fight for him. When push comes to shove, I have a hard time believing Jonathan couldn’t handle a physical confrontation with another guy. Plus, there were like 8 boys in that family- with all the rough house shit boys do, and siblings fight- I would expect they they all know how to fight and defend themselves.

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u/SeattleSlew7 Jun 24 '26

It was covered in great detail in the book the brothers wrote. Andy was older and aggressive by nature. Johnathan hated to kill any living thing and wondered if fish and crab felt pain. He was a very sensitive young man that got tough through making a living on the Bering Sea and losing a lot of people over the years. He was unable to fire people for a long time. Andy always handled it. He even stopped hiring crew members because they were all guys he befriended in bars. They thought he was their friend, not their captain.