Deadliest catch???
I got my inspiration from the TV series on discovery channel, Deadliest Catch. I dont own anything.
it is my first try on fanfiction and when I wrote this I wasnt to familiar with the rules so I changed the names and everything. but I think it is easy to figure out what boat I mean.
Scene 1:
Eva Maat sits in a crowded bar near the crab cannery factory. She is about the only woman in the place. And she is sticking acupuncture needles in a very big and muscular shirtless guy with lots of tattoos. He slightly cringes with every needle. The big baby.
Mister Jones is sitting at a table somewhere at the back of the bar in discussion with the financial backers of Deadliest Catch. The want to pull the plug because there are no really interesting storylines left.
While watching the needles going in mister Jones has a brain flash (he has them rarely so he always notices it). " Why not put a female on one of the boats. That Ragnild woman was a success."
The backers like the idea, but whose boat and what female. A wife or fiancé would again be a matter of been there seen that.
"Well why not that one over there. The one with the needles. She can clearly handle a bunch of guy's and she has a weird accent. But her English is good enough to be understood."
The backers really like that idea. Also because the chick with the needles is a hottie and would look good on camera.
Or so they think. Nobody looks good in four layers of clothes and yellow raingear. Let alone after 48 hours without sleep in the drenching rain and subzero temperatures.
Mister Jones walks across the bar to Eva. And tries to stay away from the human pincushions sitting everywhere.
"Hello, I have a business proposal for you. How would you like to make over 20.000 dollar in two months?"
Well that always is a good way to get a conversation going, right?
"I am listening. What would I have to do?"
"Have you ever heard of a show called, the Deadliest Catch? I am the director and I am looking for a woman crab fisher for on one of the boats. Would you be interested?"
That is a hard question, I would like the money, but on a boat with a bunch of chain-smoking guy's for two months? In the freezing cold and wet? Getting yelled and cursed at?
"I will have to think about that. Witch boat anyway, and with what cover? Because a single woman on a boat with five to eleven men? Might not be totally save, and I seriously doubt if there is a separate shower and stuff?"
"Let me handle that. And the boat you will hear in a day or two.
By the way, where are you staying so I can find you if I need to?"
"Here upstairs in one of the rooms."
After that Eva went on with her work of turning of turning big butch men into pincushions.
Mister Jones went back to his table and confirmed to his backers that he had the girl and that he would go and negotiate with the captains about who would take her on board. One of the backers said he would like to see her on the Southeastern. The Sigmundsun brothers had a way to efficient operation, and it would be nice to see them go crazy.
2)
After the meeting with the backers mister Jones went to the fishermen's bar on the docks. There the captains of the boats that where hoping to get camera crew on board where waiting.
It was something of an honour the get a camera crew two years running. Let alone four years. And the money wasn't too bad either.
So the captains where all hoping to get a deal. The Southeastern and the Anne Marie where certain of a crew because they where very popular with the viewers. But to get a woman on board mister Jones would have to pull some strings and maybe even tell a little lie.
Not that he would mind or sleep any less about such a thing.
Within three hours and six's or seven round's mister Jones had a deal with all the captains. And an appointment to introduce the Dutch girl in the morning to Sip Sigmundsun. There the three of them would stick their heads together and come up with a believable cover story to get her on board without ruffling any feathers with the rest of the crew. Something mister Jones thought was an absolute waist of time. But Sip insisted. He knew it would be hard on Jack the greenhorn to have an other even more inexperienced person on board who he could not commandeer. The others had Jack to order around and yell at.
Early next morning a far from cheerful Sip Sigmundsun found himself confronted with a possibly even farther from cheerful Eva. The only one who didn't seem the early hour was the very absent mister Jones. The coward never showed up.
The captain's excuse for his foul mood was a severe hangover. Eva's was a dislike to early waking and the remnants of the jetlag from hell.
It took about four cups of coffee or tea, four sandwiches each and 45 minutes before they came to business.
Eva looked at the captain from over the rim of her fifth cup of tea and opened the negotiations.
"So you are willing to have me on board. What would be my job? And do I get my own room?"
Sip nearly choked in his coffee. "Well you don't get a room but a bunk. And your job is doing what ever my brother, Eric, or I will tell you to do. Don't speak back, don't have any opinions, and don't even think. We will do that for you.
It is your first time on a crab boat, so do as you are told and you might survive."
Promising start, don't you think? Time for some shock therapy.
"I think I should warn you that I sleep naked? That isn't going to be a problem with me sharing a room, or whatever those things are called on a boat."
And that with the sweetest smile you ever saw.
The effect was instantaneously, and as expected. Sip went red and clearly didn't know where to look for a few seconds.
"Okay you will get your own cabin."
Don't you just love it when a plan comes together. Now for the rest.
"I have been thinking about a way I can be onboard without the crew getting the wrong idea. Couldn't we pretend that I am a cousin or some such thing? From Norway, or maybe even Dutch? People travel and Holland is closer the Norway then America."
"Okay, family is a plan. Cousins we are. Only don't expect any special favours because of it. My brother is the deck boss and he does as I tell him too."
They shook hands on a deal made. Sip went to pay for breakfast and directed Eva to the store where she could get her gear for onboard.
And who would have guessed, shopping was one of her favourite pastimes. It took her about two hours to get everything she needed and wanted. With some help from the shopkeeper. And around one in the afternoon she reported at the Southeastern for duty. Weight down with the stuff she took from her room.
The shopkeeper had already been so nice as to carry most of the gear she got to the boat before she got there. And Jack had put it in her cabin. Travelling light never was one of her strong points.
3)
Eva had always read a lot of books about sailing and stuff, so she knew you don't just get on board of a boat you wait till you have permission.
Sip saw her standing and came down to help her with her bags. He would never have done so for a guy, but being a girl (woman) has its perks. And you would be crazy not to use them.
The introductions where short and simple.
" This is Eric, he is the deck boss, if the tells you to jump you ask how high."
Not one to keep her big mouth shut Eva just had to ask. " So I don't just jump as high as I can?"
This got a grin from Sip and an angry look from Eric. It would be fun playing his cousin.
But Sip went on with the introductions.
"The dark haired one over there at the crane is Hugh. He has been on board longest after Eric and me. So you listen to him too.
The blond helping him is Charlie, he won't bother you as long as you don't bother him.
And the youngster standing right behind you is Jack, he is the greenhorn. Or he was last trip round, now you are. So you even listen to him when it comes to bait.
And the other two are Mike and Daryl, the are the crew of deadliest catch. And their job is to stay out of the way. But if they ask a question, answer them."
During this little talk Sip and Eva had gotten the bags on board and Jack was bringing them to the cabin.
Eva tried followed her bags. But once she got below deck she recoiled from the stink. Imagine a closed space where six's men are spending their time smoking drinking coffee and eating brown beans and onions, garlic, enormous amounts of red meat and god knows what else. And personal hygiene doesn't come to high on the list because they are working 24 to 48 hour days. Ad to that the smell of a diesel engine, dead fish and dried up salt water and you get the picture.
It is that giving up is something she hated doing, but at that moment Eva was close to going back to the inn. Only giving up wasn't something she did often, and this was something like a bet with herself. So she took a deep breath and went in.
The human body is a wonderful thing anyway, and after a while she didn't even smell it any more.
Once in her cabin she managed to get everything stored in some semblance of order with Jacks help.
Choosing the bottom bunk for sleeping. The top bunk would stay empty. Jack made it clear that things you leave on a bunk don't stay there for very long on the Bering Sea.
Eva had a brain flash of herself falling out of the bunk because of a rough sea and decided that the lower to the floor she slept the less painful that would be.
Strapping herself down in bed was also an option, good thing she had brought along those long silk scarfs.
After Jack left Eva changed into the new gear, or as much of it as she had seen the others wearing. So no raingear yet. And she went back on deck looking for Eric.
" Hi there cousin Eric. What do you want me to do?"
'Cousin' Eric took one long hard look and seemed to think this question over.
"How is your cooking?"
" Not to great but not bad either."
"Fine. Make some coffee. We will be setting out in 45 minutes. Then we deckhands have a break. When we get to the fishing grounds I will have Jack show you how to do bait and that will be your job.
Until than just make sure there is coffee."
Eva went back below deck and tried to figure out how the coffee machine worked. As a tea drinker she didn't even own a coffeemaker at home. To her coffee came in little bags with a how to use instruction on the back.
After some puzzling she did get something that looked like coffee out of the machine.
Going up to the wheelhouse she asked Sip. " Hi there cousin Sip, want some coffee?"
The cousin remark got her a big grin again.
"Sure cousin Eva. With milk and lots of sugar."
Back down in the galley Eva checked out the frig and found a bottle of concentrated milk. And in a cupboard sugar cubs. But again what is lots of sugar? Considering that one sugar cub should be the normal amount, lots of sugar would be three cubs. But she decided that three cubs would not be enough. So she went for five. And then the amount of milk. Just a drop. Or should coffee with milk be about the same colour as tea with milk? Or more like dark chocolate? Or milk chocolate?
She decided on milk chocolate. And after looking and finding some cookies to go with the coffee she went back up to Sip.
" Here you go captain. One coffee."
Pretending to look outside at the hustle and bustle on the dock, she waited to see how the coffee would be judged, but Sip never said anything about the coffee, instead he just drank it all down and asked for a refill. So apparently five sugar, half coffee and half milk was the way to go.
Making some tea for herself and rummaging around the galley to familiarise herself with it, she waited for the rest of the crew to get below deck.
Once they did they all went for the coffee. And the unanimous outcome was that it was a strong but drinkable brew. And that for a first time.
While the captain was steering the boat out of the harbour. The guys where drinking coffee, smoking and talking about what they had been doing during the off-season.
Hugh was bragging about his adventures and fights. Charlie said nothing just nodded his head and kind of growled. Jack went slightly purple telling about the women on his webpage, and what these ladies ( in the broadest meaning of the word) where offering to him.
Mike and Daryl where filming and telling about there families, they had been home for Christmas and Mike was a brand new uncle. Daryl had been back to Scotland and went hunting with his dad.
Eva just sat in a corner listening and tried not to choke on the smoke.
4)
During the talking about family and future plans the boat made its way out of port. And the sea started rolling.
Slowly Jack went slightly green and had to rush to get to the door. The others just grinned. Until Mike went after Jack.
Eva was feeling a bit queasy but managed to stay in her seat. As long as she could just stay still she would manage. Never was one for motion sickness.
Mike was followed by Daryl. Eric went slightly green as well only he didn't go outside but to his cabin. The last to take a run outside was Hugh.
The only two people aboard who where totally unaffected where Sipke up in the wheelhouse and Charlie. Who just kept drinking his coffee.
Sitting at a table with Charlie wasn't exactly exciting or keeping her mind off the fact that she was slightly queasy so Eva went to her cabin too and decided to go for some selftreatment. Normally she would be unable to stick needles into her own skin, but this was an emergency if ever there was one.
And it took only three small needles in each ear and one in the wrists. After that she laid down on her bunk for a bit with the pillow under her shoulders and head down. The best way to beat seasickness. And it worked like a charm.
After about 30 minutes she got up feeling much better. No more queasiness, but walking in a straight line was impossible. On the upside, walking was possible and that was a big improvement.
In the galley Charlie had also went away. To have something to do Eva went up to the wheelhouse to talk to Sipke.
"Hi there cousin Sip, want some more coffee?
" Yeah why not. More sugar this time."
The coffee was made and with sixs sugar this time. And some tea and also something to eat. Eva was surprised that she was hungry so shortly after being seasick but she was. So food was in order. And if she was hungry than everybody should be hungry, so she also made some sandwiches for Sipke.
" Here you go. Coffee with more sugar and a cheese sandwich."
Sipke took the food and coffee and started eating.
" So cousin Eva, you feeling okay, no seasickness? When you disappeared to your cabin I was sure you had it too?"
"Well I am kind of cheating, was feeling a bit sick but that is where being a doctor comes in handy. Look at my ears."
" You have little pieces of bandaid on your ears. What is that for?"
"Acupuncture treatment for seasickness, or actually dissines but seasickness works too.
And how are the others doing?
"Just look outside the window and down a bit"
And there the five where hanging face first over the railing. Even the very experienced Hugh. The poor things.
"Now I am going to get them wet."
Sipke isn't the nicest boss you will ever work with. But he does have a sense of humour that Eva could appreciate. As long as it was directed at somebody else of course.
The guys at the railing saw the wave coming and jumped back. Jack stumbled, went down and got soaked.