The state’s most famous fishing boat will be brought to life in a future season of the popular television series “Death’s Head.”
Linda Greenlaw, a Surry resident and author with decades of commercial fishing experience, will appear as the captain of the Summer Bay boat, one of about 10 Alaskan crab boats cast in the show, according to Entertainment Weekly. The show’s 19th season is scheduled to begin on Discovery next month.
Greenlawe’s appearance is expected to increase her profile as one of the most well-known fishing boat captains in the country, and will make her only the second woman to captain a crab boat on the long-running show, which began airing in 2005. Mandy Hansen, who is co-captain of the Northwestern team with her father, Sig Hansen, has appeared on the show several times in the past.
“The Biggest Head,” which documents the working and personal lives of the men and women who fish for crabs in the rough waters of the Bering Sea, is one of Discovery’s most popular programs. The show has a loyal following in Maine, because of the state’s robust lobster fishing industry, and leaders from the Maine show sometimes come to discuss the engagements.
Greenlaw said Friday that he came to Alaska last fall with “a positive attitude, a strong work ethic and a good sense of knowing what I didn’t know” about the unique challenges of fishing for Bering Sea crayfish.
He said he learned a lot from Bill Wichrowski, the notoriously strict teacher and owner of Summer Bay, who appeared on the show for 13 seasons.
“I wanted to learn from the best and I did,” he said. “The wild dog is not the most patient teacher, but his safety and ability to fish are second to none. We are like the odd couple. Everything is gruff and negative in my hope.
Greenlaw didn’t go into detail about what will happen in the 19th season, but added that he is “honored and excited” to be on the show.
Greenlaw is known 30 years after he wrote in “The Perfect Storm,” a non-fiction book by Sebastian Junger about the powerful nor’easter storm that sank the cruiser Andrew Gail in 1991. The film adaptation of the book led another helop ship and will be the last person to interact with the crew of Andrew Gail.
Since then, Greenlawa has written 11 books — cookbooks, mysteries, and non-fiction books about her fishing experiences — and in three seasons of Discovery helops shows “Swords: Life on the Line.” She also fishes lobsters, grows oysters, and has a charter boat business.
It is Greenlaw not the first Mainer to come “The Greatest Capture.” Jon McDaniel of Gorham worked as a deckhand on the Time Bandit ship during Season 11, while Manchester native Crosby Leveen appeared for several seasons as a deckhand on the Wizard.
Details have not been released on how Greenlaw will be brought on the show. In what he says exclusive party About the upcoming season, Entertainment Weekly mentions the Surry resident in one only sentence.
“East Coast legend Linda Greenlaw, the only female swordfisherman and survivor of the Perfect Storm, looks at America’s last frontier and brings more than 40 years of experience to Captain ‘Beast’ Bill Wichrowski’s F/V Summer Bay,” EW reported .
Wichrowski tweeted briefly on Facebook about the news that Greenlaw will be on the pilot boat show.
“Don’t be a stupid amount anymore,” he wrote below seriously common photo of him and Greenlawe standing in his ship. Greenlaw’s eyes match Wichrowski’s armpit in the photograph.
More chapters from BDN
