KCAW reporter Ed Ronco reenacts a newscast for the producers of the Weather Channel’s Coast Guard Alaska. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)


The Weather Channel’s hit series Coast Guard Alaska was in Sitka again this week to film an episode on the dramatic rescue of the crew of the fishing vessel Kaitlin Rae, which sank off Cape Edgecumbe on September 7, 2012. The boat’s skipper, Stonie “Mac” Huffman, drifted ten miles in his survival suit before being picked up; 19-year-old crewman Ryan Harris drifted overnight in a fish tote. The show’s producers called the station and asked us to help re-create local media during the event. We did not have to twist Ed’s arm to put him in front of the camera. Before coming to Sitka, he hosted his newspaper’s webcast.