Forward thinking: A send-off fit for a Captain

Captain Phil Harris was a top bloke. He was one of those loveable, gruff old buggers.

Like many of his fans, I had never met him in person but also, like his loyal followers, I felt like I knew him quite well after seeing him in action on the Discovery Channel show The Deadliest Catch, which follows a bunch of crazy fishermen around the treacherous Bering Sea between Alaska and Russia as they hunt for Alaskan King Crab.

From the wheelhouse of his boat, the Cornelia Marie, Captain Phil would harangue his crew, play practical jokes and come up with endless Phil-isms like: "I feel like a one-legged man in an arse-kicking contest."

He died in February following an illness brought on by a stroke - and the fishing community and fans of the show went into mourning. (But not too much, because Phil wouldn't want you blubbering over him.)

I was in his hometown of Seattle last week, interviewing some of the other Deadliest Catch captains for the upcoming series which screens here later this year.

Like Phil, these guys are salt of the earth types - and as you'd expect of any fishermen worth their weight in tall tales, they spin a good yarn.

But also, rather bizarrely - because these guys do one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, with an average of 11 fishermen a year dying at sea between 2003 and 2008 - they have taken on rockstar-like status thanks to the show's popularity.

They are followed by gaggles of autograph hunters who whoop and yell out their names.

"We love you Andy," screams one female fan breathlessly to Andy Hillstrand, who co-captains the Time Bandit with brother Jonathan.

Sig Hansen, the main pin-up boy for Deadliest Catch and one of the most successful captains on the job, puts it best when he says: "Who would have thought a bunch of crab fishermen would get all this attention?"

Not that he's complaining, because the blond, tough-looking Seattle native of Norwegian descent, who has skippered the Northwestern for more than 20 years, clearly loves the attention. He revels in it.

"I'm getting women flashing their boobies," he grins.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Hillstrand, a fella who is laid- and who admits to parting company with two wives because of his commitment (some might say addiction) to crab fishing, says he was invited to the Playboy Mansion recently.

"I was invited to the grotto, or whatever you call it. But I couldn't go because I had to go to a fishing contest," he smiles.

And if any proof of Captain Phil's popularity was needed, while I was in Seattle I attended his memorial service along with a thousand or so other fans, friends and family. Phil's neighbour, Hugh Gerrard, recounted how Phil once pulled a sawn-off shotgun on some hoons who kept ripping up and down their street. The cops came, Phil made friends with them, everything was good.

He may not have looked like a rock star - more like Jeff Bridges' down-and-out character Bad Blake in Crazy Heart actually - but Phil lived a rock 'n' roll lifestyle.

He was prepared to steer his boat into any weather, ride his Harley fast and drive his Corvette faster. I never knew the guy, but it's clear he was a legend - and a hoot.

In case you're wondering: Yes, these guys get paid very well. And yes, the king crabs are succulent, fleshy and delicious. They're also very expensive, which is why I had only one leg. But it was good.