End of an Era: F/V Maverick and Other Vessels That Left Deadliest Catch Forever
The F/V Maverick and Other Boats That Are No Longer on ‘Deadliest Catch’
Boats often comes and go on Discovery Channel’s ‘Deadliest Catch.’
The sun is setting on another season of Deadliest Catch. The 20th season of the Discovery Channel reality series comes to an end on Oct. 22. As fans bid farewell (for now) to cast members like Captain Wild Bill Wichrowski and boats like the F/V Northwestern and the F/V Wizard, let’s take a look back a few of the boats that are no longer on the show.
F/V Maverick
Longtime Deadliest Catch fans will remember the F/V Maverick. This 82-foot fishing boat appeared on the first three seasons of the show. It was owned by Rick and Donna Quashnick; Rick also captained the vessel. Former Deadliest Catch cast member Black Painter served as captain in season 3. Painter died in 2018.
While the Maverick is no longer on Deadliest Catch, the boat is still around. Reports that it sank are false and seem to be the result of confusing it with another, smaller fishing boat of the same name that sank in 2014, according to a report from the Sequim Gazette.
F/V Saga
The F/V Saga was a fixture on Deadliest Catch, having appeared regularly on the show for nearly a decade. But the boat was conspicuously absent in season 20. The reason has to do with some behind-the-scenes drama involving captain and co-owner Jake Anderson and his former partner. In the season 20 premiere, Anderson learned that the Saga had been repossessed.
“Just before I was getting to go red crab fishing, I found out my partner, with all due respect with the legal things going on, we don’t know what he did. I lost my boat,” Anderson explained in an interview with TV Insider.
While Anderson was able to get back out on the water in a new boat, the F/V Titan Explorer, it seems like the Saga’s time on the show has come to an end.
F/V Cornelia Marie
The F/V Cornelia Marie had a long history on Deadliest Catch. When the show premiered, it was skippered by Captain Phil Harris. Harris died in 2010, and his son Josh Harris eventually took over the at the helm, along with co-captain Casey McManus. But the Cornelia Marie last appeared on the show in season 18, which aired in 2022, and Josh Harris and McManus are no longer part of the show’s cast.
Discovery cut ties with the younger Harris in September 2022 after reports surfaced that he had pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a child in his teens. McManus also parted ways with the show, sharing in a tweet that the network did not renew his contract, which he called a “bummer deal.”
Deadliest Catch is streaming on Max and discovery+.