Peter Joseph listened to a fisherman on the TV show "Deadliest Catch" describe how he was rescued from an overloaded, sinking crab boat years ago and thought his story sounded strikingly familiar.

A retired Coast Guard captain, Joseph jotted down Corey Eisenbarth's name during the end credits for the Discovery Channel show about the real-life adventures of crab-boat crews. He found Eisenbarth's home number in Astoria, Ore., and called.

It turned out that Joseph was the commanding officer of the Coast Guard cutter Boutwell, which rescued the crew from the sinking ship, the Seahawk, in the Bering Sea on March 12, 1983. The two men reunited in 2009.

On Monday, they visited the Coast Guard Academy in New London to share their story.

Back then, Eisenbarth said, it was common practice to take all the crab pots when you moved to a new location, sometimes "skirting the edge of stability."

The added weight, combined with the buildup of ice on the ship, caused the Seahawk to lean sideways. The waves pounded the hull until the ship rolled over. Thirty fishermen had died already that year in similar accidents, Joseph said.

Eisenbarth was first in the water, having tried unsuccessfully to detach the lifeboat from the side of the ship. He clung to debris until the Coast Guard arrived the next day.

The Boutwell crew saved five of the six people on the

Seahawk. One person did not get a survival suit on before going into the water, Joseph said.

Joseph and Eisenbarth did not meet then. Joseph never introduced himself to anyone he helped rescue.

"I never felt comfortable," Joseph said Tuesday before leaving town. "Because I was the captain, I didn't want to give the impression when they walked in there that I was something special. It was the crew."

"We owed him," Eisenbarth said. "We put ourselves in that position. We shouldn't really expect anyone to be bailing us out, but I'm glad they care enough to come and get us when we screw up."

Only 18 at the time, Eisenbarth said the traumatic experience changed his outlook on life.

"I wasn't a bad person, but I wasn't trying to help anyone but myself," he said. "After that, every day was an extra day for me to try to do something good, to justify getting an extra chance."

Eisenbarth delivered a simple message at the Coast Guard Academy - thank you. He called it an honor to address the cadet corps since many notable figures, including presidents, have spoken there.

"I'm invited to sit in the same office with the admiral, and all I did to deserve it was screw up and sink the boat," he said. "It's a great honor for me and a real good opportunity to say thank you, the thanks I've felt all these years."

Joseph said he wanted to tell the cadets, especially the seniors who will graduate in May, that "this is what we do."

"We do it extremely well, probably the best in the world, and this is what you have waiting for you when you graduate," he said. "Don't expect medals, just do it and do it well."

Joseph presented the class of 2011 with the Coast Guard flag that flew over the Boutwell on the day of the rescue. Eisenbarth has the U.S. flag that flew on the cutter.

Now 72, Joseph lives outside of Seattle and works for a company that trains counterassault teams for merchant ships and other vessels. He rarely talked about his feats in the Coast Guard.

"I used to take it for granted," he said. "I never thought about it much, and I've sort of seen it resurrected in my old age. Now I think, 'That was pretty spectacular.'"

Eisenbarth, 48, is still in Oregon. He fishes, but he calls it a "young man's game" and is getting into marine construction. He plans to keep in touch with Joseph.

"He dedicated his whole life to helping people," he said. "That's a good human being. That's the kind of person you want to share your time with."

j.mcdermott@theday.com