Name Wizard Operator Keith Colburn In service 1945 | Owner Keith Colburn Ordered US Navy Length 48 m | |
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Builder Ira Bushey & Sons, Brooklyn, N.Y. | ||
The F/V Wizard is a crab fishing boat that can be seen on Discovery Channel's TV show Deadliest Catch.
Wizard was built by the U.S. Navy in 1945 as a fuel oil barge designated YO-210 for service during World War II. After the war was over, the oiler boats were only used for practice targets and building Artificial reefs. The Navy sold YO-210 in March 1974.
In 1978, John Jorgensen bought the boat. He outfitted it to be used for crab fishing on the Bering Sea. Two of the eight tanks were removed for extra engine room during this conversion. Four of the original holding tanks are now used for storing crab, and the two forward tanks are used for dry storage and refrigerated seawater unit. They fished Bairdi crab and the small-population of Opilio crab from the time the boat started fishing to the late 1980s. In the late 1980s, the King crab population recovered, and the population of Opilio crab were booming. During this time, the Wizard was one of the top 10 crab producers. In 2005, the boat was sold to Keith Colburn. After Colburn bought the boat, he gave it a new paint job.
