Phil Harris, Captain of the Cornelia Marie, has died

Wed, 02/10/2010 - 8:18pm by CasualTim

It was announced this morning that Phil Harris, captain of the Cornelia Marie, died yesterday. The Cornelia Marie is one of the founding ships on the Discovery reality series Deadliest Catch. The show documents what is generally regarded to be the deadliest job in the world: crab fishing in the Bering Sea.

In the few episodes of the show that I have seen, Captain Harris stood out as a family man. Not only did he treat his two sons - who sailed with him - with the kind of kid gloves a brown bear might use on its cubs, he also showed genuine and constant concern for the fleet as a whole. He was committed to the life at sea perhaps to a fault, being known for consuming mainly Red Bull and tobacco products, and measuring his sleep in minutes rather than hours or nights, all so that he could maintain a vigilant watch over the dangerous work of his crew.

Harris suffered a stroke in late January. He briefly recovered enough to speak with friends and family. He was 53 years old.