The team of Gloucester fishermen on the ABC reality show "Expedition Impossible" are still very much in the running, four weeks into the show.
In Thursday night's episode, filmed in the ancient kingdom of Morocco on the northern edge of the Saharan desert, the three local fishermen finished sixth out of 10 remaining teams.
But brothers Gus and Nino Sanfilippo and their cousin Joe Sanfilippo regularly work aboard the 72-foot dragger Captain Dominic, and their teamwork has kept them in the running. The show began with 13 three-member teams from across the country.
Local reality fans of Team Fishermen watched the show Thursday from 9 to 10 p.m. at the St. Peter's Club on Roger Street, but the three fishermen were not there to join them this week.
Susan Sanfilippo, Gus's wife, said the trip were on road trip to meet with another team of three, the New York City firefighters, at a benefit to raise money to fight cystic fibrosis.
So the Gloucester fishermen and the NYC firefighters — the team of Kevin Coursey, Mike Egan and Rob Keiley — watched the show at a viewing party at Epstein's Bar in Manhattan, where the benefit was held.
"They were invited to New York by the firemen for this fund-raiser," said Susan Sanfilippo. They will also likely meet up with the team of Waltham Police Department officers for another future viewing of the show.
On the show, the teams face specific tasks and challenges each week. While the fishermen's team has not received a lot of face time compared to the lead and last teams, they have maintained a respectable place in the competition — with one exception.
In last week's episode, the Sanfilippos found themselves in last place after the first day of a two-day challenge, confounded by a task that required them to decipher a code.
After facing a sand storm, carrying straw to feed ornery camels and traversing the desert terrain, they came upon an ancient timber. A banner was affixed to the top of the timber that when wrapped around the post and aligned properly would reveal a four-number code in which to unlock their next clue on the journey.
But while the banner could be wrapped around the timber in several ways, only one way would reveal the code to unlock the next step.
"We're not locksmiths, we're fishermen," they were heard saying in frustration.
On day two of that challenge, the fishermen were more in their element when they were required to install large blue olive barrels onto a metal frame, which would then become a raft that they had to paddle — twice — on a river with driving wind.
In their latest task this week, the Sanfilippos were in the snow-capped Atlas Mountains for another two-day challenge. They trekked miles in 18-degree temperatures, but that didn't seem to daunt fishermen who work yearround on the North Atlantic.
They rocked in a task that required a hook and a line — albeit a different kind than they're used to using. In the challenge, the participants had to throw a hook over a cliff wall and try to "catch" a small cage that contained a key, which would unlock the directions for the next task.
Team Fisherman arrived at that task, threw the hook, got the key — and one could hear an "arrivederci" as they plowed ahead.
Gail McCarthy can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3445, or at gmccarthy@gloucestertimes.com.
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