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Andy Hillstrand, Page 1
◄ Go home: Deadliest Catch
 Jump to a Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Discovery: Welcome to our weekly Deadliest Catch chat series. Tonight's guest is Andy Hillstrand, captain of the Time Bandit. When he's not at sea, he's on his Indiana ranch practicing his horse whispering. Ask Andy about taking the wheel from his brother Johnathan this opilio season. Andy Hillstrand: Hey, this is Captain Andy of the Time Bandit. I'm glad to be here. Last year's chat was awesome, and I can't wait to hear the questions this year! Jenn: First, I want to say that I had the pleasure of meeting you at the Philly Deadliest Catch party and you were so great with the fans, thank you! My question is how did you become interested in training horses? Andy Hillstrand: My daughter got into horses around 7 years old, so I was sort of like the tack dad. I took her to events, and from there I just fell in love with horses: the way they move and look and act. Shake And Bake: Hey Captain Andy! I read somewhere that you practice Natural Horsemanship - any particular clinician? Andy Hillstrand: Probably a friend of mine named Barry Cox. Clinton Anderson's good, and so are Cleve Wells and Craig Cameron - all the guys nowadays are really good. The Galway Girl: Hi Andy! I have two questions really: I’m a Parelli student and was wondering what level are you on and how, if at all, you work the Parelli games and principles into your Quarter Horse training? Andy Hillstrand: I'm working on Level 3. I just work the program by being as natural as I can, using my body language, psychology, and having fun. I play with my horses, instead of making it a task. Mandy: Hi Captain Andy! Was your home in Indiana hit by the floods? Andy Hillstrand: No, 40 miles north got hit, but we didn't. Thank God. We've had enough rain lately! Sandi: Other than your wife and family, what do you miss the most while you are at sea? Andy Hillstrand: My horses :-) And my dogs. I can't forget my dogs. I have 2 miniature Australian Shepherds: Bait (because if he's not good, that's what he'll be!) and Callie. The Galway Girl: Which crab season is your favorite and why? Andy Hillstrand: King crab is my favorite season because they're just so big and beautiful and I don't have to worry about being the captain, I can just have fun on deck. Horsing around, no worries. Bwest: Captain Andy, thanks for chatting with us. Love your show. Could you tell me what caused the crab to die in the onboard tank? Thanks very much. Andy Hillstrand: They can crack a leg and die in there, or they might be dead when they go in the tank and someone didn't notice. When they're dead, they excrete a poison, and that starts killing all the other crabs. Llama: Hi Andy! I'd like to say thank you for signing the blue shoes my friends Freida brought to the Wiki party. How does living in Indiana compare to Alaska? Andy Hillstrand: There's no comparison really. Alaska is like a place out of a storybook. But Indiana has really nice people, and it's a lot less extreme than Alaska in the weather. It seems to be easier on my horses in the summertime. Capt Marlena: What's with John being in the wheel house? Though we love him, we like to have you to ourselves. By the way, my friend Joanie thinks John is hot. Come warm up in Naples, FL. Andy Hillstrand: (laughing) Well Johnathan will be going down on deck for guest appearances, so stay tuned! But since they downsized the whole fleet, there's no other boats for us to run. That's why I work on deck for king crab: he's just too old to work on deck for king crab! (He won't be back from Sweden for 10 days, so I'm OK saying that) Chip2004: What is your favorite place that you have gone on tour? Andy Hillstrand: I have to say New York City, because there are just so many different places you can go without ever seeing the same thing. Chip2004: What is your favorite TV show besides Deadliest Catch? Andy Hillstrand: There’s a horse channel on RFD, but I don't get it, because it's only available on satellite. I love Shark Week on Discovery. When we were in New York,I wanted a giant shark from the Discovery building, but they wouldn't give it to me. Aroostook: I read somewhere that Neal has 2 sons. Are they interested in fishing at all? Andy Hillstrand: Yes, Neal has two sons, and no, they're not. Lhiiiz: Hi Andy! Whose idea was it to put the new bulbous bow on the Time Bandit, and what purpose does it serve? Andy Hillstrand: I've wanted one ever since we built the boat, but my dad wasn't going to help us put it on. It adds flotation to the bow, about 20,000 pounds of lift. So when we have our pots on and all of our tanks down, there will be less chance of sinking. It's very good. We gain speed too, and save fuel. We're going green! Scfj654: While you are taking the helm, do you ever get tips from Johnathan on where to place pots? Andy Hillstrand: Yes, even when I didn't want 'em! On the first episode of opilio, we went to where he did good last year. And this year, we went to Magoo and landed on the mother lode. So in 12 hours we were pulling 700 crabs per pot. Rocket-6: Hey Andy! Will there be more dates added for your book tour? Andy Hillstrand: Yes, they're talking about it. If you go to www.timebandit.tv, you can keep informed on all our appearances. Eraywt: Thank you Captain Andy for spending time with us tonight. Please let us know your best crab season ever. What makes it the best - the most crab or the most $$? Andy Hillstrand: My best crab season ever was 1999; I caught 1.7 million pounds of opilio in two months and one week. The guys made $72,000. It was one of those years where you couldn't do anything wrong. I could drop a pot where I wouldn't normally drop one, and it would be full. I was thinking like a crab :-) That was in open access days, before quotas. LindaMae: Are you and your brother close the rest of the year too, or just on the boat? Andy Hillstrand: We're best friends as far as that goes, but we don't get to hang out too much in the summertime because I have the horse ranch. And he's the single ladies' man. :-) Munchkin: So if you had no choice and had to do something else, what would it be? Andy Hillstrand: I would work with horses. I love horses. Cinarte: If either of your daughters were interested in becoming part of your family crab business, would you let them? |
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