For Rick Crane, skipper of Crane’s Legacy out of Cox’s Cove, season four of Cold Water
Cowboys will serve as a bittersweet reminder of successes and unshakable loss

Emerging as one of the breakout stars of the thriving reality series, the passing of Crane’s grandfather, whom he affectionately refers to as his father and the most influential man in his life, overshadows the bulk of these past months.

The loss marked a turning point for Crane, who had always sought to carry on the legacy handed down to him through generations of seamen, and who now will look to spearhead the next generation of Crane fishermen, and do so to honour his lineage, as he has always endeavoured to do.

“Every job that you have you always have that thing that excites you about it. The thing that excited me about my job was trying to succeed and be successful, every day coming in and make a good catch and come in and tell Dad,” Crane shared. “He was my grandfather but I never knew my father and he was the only father I knew. I’d come in and tell him and see the excitement on his face. That was my holy grail, to show him the things that I could do and know that he was proud of me. It was the biggest blow. Every job has challenges, fishing sometimes more than others, but that was the biggest challenge I ever faced, losing my father, and right in the middle of fishing season.”

While the pain of the loss of his father lingers, Crane knows that carrying on that legacy is a way of honouring his family name. That he can help strengthen that legacy through this highly influential series is an added bonus.

“That was the biggest highlight of my career, this show and being able to bring my son, my family, my grandmother and grandfather that raised me to be a part of this,” Crane said. “There are times you wonder what you do it for, I just think about that and I know what I did it for. Not only the show but for the fishing, because I lived their dreams, I live the legacy and that’s the Crane’s legacy and that’s where the name of the boat came from. I done what my father done and he done what his father done. Hopefully my children will  carry that legacy forward. You can only be a piece of the puzzle and hopefully my piece plays well.”

Compounding the difficulties of this most recent season, outside of the emotional factor, Crane and the crew of the Crane’s Legacy incorporated two new fisheries into their repertoire, something he describes as ‘going in blind.’

“I tried a couple of new fisheries,” Crane shared. “Not only new to the show, but new to me. I actually had done them for the first time. It’s like going out blindfolded and in the dark, you don’t know what you’re doing. So that was a challenge. Anything new and adventurous you’re trying to make a living with is hard to do. That was a big challenge. It’s out of your comfort zone.”

In posing the question as to why Crane believes he and his fellow Cold Water Cowboys have become so beloved and respected on a global scale, Crane gives an honest and impactful answer.

“We’re real. This is every day stuff. This is not us being someone that we’re not,” he said. “We don’t go out and try to be this person or that person. We are who we are. We grew up being people that eat meat from the woods, fish from the sea, who get out and enjoy our life and our job and get out and compete with each other in a friendly competition for the fishing. Not only do you compete with each other but you compete with the elements, the market.”

“I think that the every day person that buys that lobster see that and now they get a chance to see where it comes from and what we have to go through to get it,” he adds.

“It’s not just getting it from the ocean and putting it on the plate. This is what we’re doing, this is what can go wrong and this is what we’re fighting for. You think you’re paying too much for sea food? Go get it yourself. People look at that and say wow, there’s more to the story than just this lobster or whatever fish it is, there’s more to it than just grab it and put it on the plate. It has its own story behind every serving … At the end of the day we’re just ordinary Newfoundland fisherman just doing our job and we’re lucky enough to be displayed on a national stage.”