Commander Shawn Tripp

If you have watched the new episodes of Deadliest Catch, you've heard his name. He is the pilot of the rescue helicopter that performed a search and rescue for missing crew members of a crab boat that had sunk in the Bering Sea.

When I heard his name, while watching the show, memories of Shawn came flooding back.

We had often wondered if he was piloting any of the choppers in other episodes of Deadliest Catch.

I know Shawn very well. His dad and I were high school classmates and friends.

His dad, Spencer, also worked with me as a deckhand for 13 years.

During summer vacation and other time off from high school, Shawn went lobstering with us. He didn't get paid. He just enjoyed doing it, and being with his dad.

Shawn's ambition was to become a jet pilot in the military, but he was turned down for the Air Force Academy.

He was accepted into the Coast Guard Academy at New London, CT.

There were two things at which Shawn excelled, eating, and sleeping. Wiry and thin, but strong and powerful, Shawn had a bottomless pit of a stomach. He had, and probably still does have an incredible appetite.

Shawn didn't just sleep. He'd hibernate. Trying to rouse him when it was getting near time to haul the gear was a chore in itself. Calling his name, hollering into the foc'sle got no response. You had to go down to him, and literally shake him from his stupor.

Even then, his eyes remained stubbornly shut. His eyebrows would raise, but his lids remained closed.

After a few minutes of struggle, he'd manage to get them open.

I wondered if he'd make it in the Coast Guard, being that difficult to awaken. Apparently, they have their ways.

I attended Shawn's graduation from the CGA.

After graduation, he was stationed at Ketchikan, Alaska, and, then approved to attend flight training school. Shawn was on his way to realizing his dream. He made it through school and got his wings.

For a few years, he was stationed in Florida, doing drug interdiction work. While there, he was offered the opportunity to learn to fly Coast Guard helicopters, and successfully completed that training, getting his certification to fly the choppers.

He'd tell stories of how they tried to use the downdraft from the chopper to overturn the drug runner's boats, often taking gunfire in the process.

But, Shawn's first love was Alaska, and when offered the opportunity to return there, he jumped at it.

Shawn's favorite activities are hunting, salmon fishing, and halibut fishing.

It was aboard my lobsterboat that Shawn got his first up close and personal experience with search and rescue.

You can read about that here, reply number 5.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1240956780