Grim reminders

ABOARD THE F/V EXITO, BRISTOL BAY, BERING SEA -- Mostly it's been a day of bad news and grim reminders.

We're moving into the teeth of a 35-knot wind, considered a gale. The weather, which finally began to look a bit promising yesterday, has turned sour. The boat grunts up the swells, ranging from 10- to 15-feet, pauses at the crest and plunges down the backside. While it does this, it pitches side to side, occasionally as much as 10 degrees.

Think of the most stomach-churning roller coaster you've ridden. Now ride it for four days straight. It's a little like that.

Once more, the catch has been lousy. We are a little below average compared with the rest of the fleet, but no one seems to be doing particularly well. Total estimated catch so far is 2.2 million pounds of crab for the entire fleet. With an overall quota of 14.5 million pounds, this could extend the season until the middle of next week. We'll know more tomorrow.

Erik Snyder, the only greenhorn deckhand, already looks dead on his feet. The deckhands worked all night retrieving pots, sorting crab and then dropping the pots in new places. Right now they are going to get about three hours of sleep while the Exito motors north through the storm to retrieve pots they set 36 hours ago.

No one has mentioned it, but today is the two-year anniversary of Scotty Powell's death on this boat. Powell, a veteran deckhand and friend of both of the captains and two crew members currently on the Exito, was swept overboard by a 40-foot rogue wave -- a swell much more massive than the ones before or after it.

A small picture of him smiling and holding a salmon hangs in the galley.

One small positive note: Magone Marine out of Dutch Harbor, a company known for difficult salvage work, has towed the F/V Raven to the protected side of Amak Island. The Raven capsized two hours before the season began on Oct. 15.

If the Raven is being towed, then likely it has been righted and can be saved.