I watch the Discovery program and have done so for all of the seasons. But, until, this morning when I read an online article containing Sig Hansen quotes, I never thought of smelling the program. It’s not the fish or the smell of clothes soaked in seawater that really eluded me. I knew they would be there, just as I knew the cold was there from seeing the ice frozen on the boat. I knew I was lucky to be watching and not really being there and smelling that stuff and shivering. I put all that out of my mind. One of the perks of being a viewer.

But then Sig makes the statement that there is no daily shower on the boat and that everyone pretty much wears the same underwear for the entire voyage – he says you quickly get used to the smell. Well, that’s not working for me and I’m only watching the show. Now, chanting in my mind is “the smell, the smell, the smell . . . ” as I watch the pots of crab come aboard. (And I almost typed “crap” – it is haunting me that much.) Gee, Sig, thanks.

Another thought comes to me . . . Those of you who know me, see me on the boat, or more accurately, see me tying myself to the dock so I don’t have to get on the boat – where I would be a quivering mass of fear, yelling “I’m going to have a heart attack and die . . .” This would be while the boat was still moored.

But let’s pretend I got past that obstacle. Consider this: My walking up to the deck boss and saying, “Umm, don’t you think it would work better if you did it this way . . . ?”