July 25, 2012 — Captain Elliott finished up strong on the Ramblin' Rose, but, for his crew, it was "Too little, too late."
Things are not looking good for another season with Captain Elliott on the Ramblin’ Rose.
“Too little, too late,” one of Captain Elliiott’s crew members said when they pulled up a “crabalanche” of crab, said Elliott, trying to be friendly and jovial with his crew.
There was a lot of negativity going on in the boat as the season came to a close. Captain Elliott managed, with all the ups and downs, to put 628,000 pounds of crab on the boat, worth 1.5 million dollars, bringing each crew member $49,000 each. Not such a bad amount, although the lowest amount made in the Deadliest Catch fleet. Regardless, the crew simply seemed to have had enough of Captain Elliott.
“This is probably the happiest I’ve been since I’ve been on this boat,” engineer Aaron Steiner said, “and that’s because it is almost over.”
“We’re all happy to be done with this season and have it in the past,” deckhand Nick Dryden said. “Not a real enjoyable one, but we made it.”
Captain Elliott's Rose-Colored Glasses
Much as he has been oblivious to his ex-girlfriend’s wish to have him just go away and leave her alone, Captain Elliott also seemed completely unwilling to admit that his crew, well, wants to just get away from him.
“Pretty good season altogether. … It’s the best fishing we’ve seen all year. Biggest boatload of crab, with four of my good friends. Feels pretty good.”
Is that how his crew felt?
“I’m just glad that this is the last day,” one man said.
Steiner said, “It just blows me away, how much more efficient other people are at catching the crab. His personal relationship is affecting my life and our lives.”
Dryden said, “I’m sick of being part of his little soap opera," Dryden said. “It’s hard to work for a guy and be his friend sometimes. … He’s running out of friends.”
Even the skipper himself acknowledged his lack of efficiency on the whole, saying, “Amazing what you can do when you actually concentrate on fishing.”
His crew was not amused when he suggested, “Boy, aren’t we gonna make a bunch more money this trip!”
“Can’t really make up for the last six months on here,” Steiner said as he loaded up crab.
Tim “Cat” Lovins was plain with his assessment. “I’m definitely looking for a little more success than the Ramblin’ Rose.”
Whatever his crew was thinking, Captain Elliott seemed convinced he had done pretty good on the whole.
“Pretty good season altogether,” he said. “I think I’ve proved not just to myself but hopefully everybody else that I’m here to stay, I’m here to run a crab boat.”