KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
A new reality show based in Alaska will debut next month. Commanding Officer of Kodiak Air Station Captain Bill Deal said people from the Weather Channel called him earlier this year with the idea for the aptly titled "Coast Guard Alaska."
— (Coast Show 1 :12 sec "They wanted to… weather is challenging.")
The production crew has been in Kodiak since May. Producer J.P. Saladin says the show will be less about the interpersonal drama audiences have come to expect from so-called reality television and more about day-to-day operations of the Coast Guard in the last frontier.
— (Coast Show 2 :17 sec "I think it what… often very successful.")
Deal says that before the production crew was allowed to film they had to make sure their cameras wouldn’t interfere with the Coast Guard’s instrumentation. And then there was the possibility of something going wrong on a mission.
— (Coast Show 3 :17 sec "We have some pretty… not be a liability.")
Alaskans might even recognize footage in the show from recent events in the news. Just last week a boat was stranded- due to mechanical failures- ten miles north of Egegik. The boat’s owner tried to contact friends to tow him but the seas were too rough, so he called the King Salmon police who then contacted the Coast Guard. By the time the Coast Guard helicopter arrived the boat had made it to land but the passengers were nowhere to be found. Saladin and his crew weren’t allowed to go on the mission until later, but he recalls what he heard over the radio when the rescuers first found the boat.
— (Coast Show 4 :9 sec " It was just… no one was to be found.")
Eventually Saladin and his crew were allowed go to the scene on a C-130 that went to support the mission. After several hours the boat’s stranded passengers were found safe in a cabin. Saladin says the whole operation was fascinating to watch.
— (Coast Show 5 :14 sec "That was really… a lot of different moving parts.")
Deal says that the production crew has gone on just about every mission they’ve done in the last few months. He joked with the production crew that there is more fun to be had come February should they decide to extend the series.
— (Coast Show 6 :11 sec "Now you seen what… can’t film in the dark.")
The show- which will include footage from Kodiak. Sitka, Ketchikan, Cordova and the Bering Sea- is scheduled for six episodes with the first airing on November 9th.
