Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
"90-foot trawler is hauled; sisterships go to New Jersey," Ampro Shipyard, Weems, VA; Willard Norris, Deltaville, VA; Steiner Shipyard, Bayou La Batre, AL |
Collection |
National Fisherman Articles by Larry Chowning |
Catalog Number |
2020.9.2.297 |
Date |
APRIL, 2005 |
Scope & Content |
NATIONAL FISHERMAN, APRIL, 2005, Pg. 55 AROUND THE YARDS, SOUTH "90-foot trawler is hauled; sisterships go to New Jersey," By Larry Chowning The 90' x 24' x 11' trawler Frank & Maria was on the rails at Ampro Shipyard in Weems, Va., having some major mechanical work and routine main- tenance done. The Frank & Maria is owned by Wanchese Fish Co. of Wanchese, N.C., and fishes out of Hampton, Va. The boat scallops and trawls for winter sea bass and fluke. Lynn Haynie, general manager of Ampro, says the shaft was pulled and repaired and cutless bearings were installed on the Frank & Maria. The sea chest was replaced, and the rudder was dropped and a new bearing put in. There were welding repairs to the Kort nozzle, and the prop was removed and sent away for repairs. Ampro Shipyard did an ultra-sound test on the bottom and installed 58 zincs. The boatyard is also overhauling an early menhaden boat, the Absecon, which had been converted to a hard-shell clammer and trawler. Now the boat is being converted back to a menhaden snapper-rig for Ocean Bait Corp. of Weems, Va. The steel-hulled Absecon measures 135' x 22' and was built in 1950 at Cam- den, N.J. for a Reedville, Va., based men- haden company. Jimmy Kellam, owner of Ocean Bait Corp., says his company bought the boat in Pocomoke City, Md., where it had been laid up for five years. Ocean Bait had an ultra-sound test done on the boat’s sides and bottom, and the results showed the steel hull was made from 3/8-inch Cor-Ten steel. "It’s the type of steel that will rust one time but will never flake," Kellam says. "It was built from surplus materials from the United States government." The crew at Ampro Shipyard removed all the rigging for hard clamming and trawling, installed a new wheelhouse, new centerline bulkhead and built a ramp on the stern for a purse boat. A fish pump system to move fish from the purse net into the Absecon's hold was built. The boat will also be completely rewired. The work should be finished by the first of March, well in advance of May 2, the opening day of menhaden season. The Absecon will be renamed Carters Creek, after a creek on the Northern Neck of Virginia. The Taylor Creek, a menhaden snapper boat owned by David George of Lancaster County, Va., and the Captain Lucky, an ocean scalloper owned by Ike Martin of Poquoson, Va., are scheduled for routine maintenance in February. Ampro Shipyard also finished mainte- nance work on the Dandy, a 94' x 33' x 5' dinner cruise boat out of Alexandria, Va. On Lover’s Lane in Deltaville, Va.. Willard Norris is building a 22' x 7' x 2' wooden flat-bottom crabbing skiff. The sides on the skiff are made from 1 1/4-inch juniper and the bottom is made from 1 1 /4-inch spruce pine. The boat is being built on speculation, but Norris is building it heavy so it will be fit for a commercial fisherman. Norris uses stainless steel nails for fas- teners and will cover the decking with fiberglass and epoxy resin. A 60-hp out- board engine is the ideal power for this boat, he says. "My flat bottom and deadrise 22-footers are very popular with commercial fisher- men and I try to build one in the winter, when I’m not running fishing parties dur- ing warm weather," Norris says. Norris is one of the last active old-time wooden boatbuilders in Deltaville, a com- munity long noted for its boatbuilding heritage. Moving on down to the Gulf of Mexico, Steiner Shipyard in Bayou La Batre, Ala., just delivered two sister ships to Grand Larson Inc. and Capt. John Inc., both of Barnegat Light, N.J. The boats are 74' x 22' x 11' steel trawlers. One is named Grand Larson III and the other is Ms. Manya. A 740-hp Caterpillar 3412, rated at 1,800 rpm, pow- ers each of the boats. A stainless steel shaft works through Twin Disc MG-5222 marine gears, turning a Rice 67 1/4-inch, four-bladed Kaplan prop. There’s a Rice 88-inch nozzle covering the prop with a stainless steel inner band. The owners furnished 40-kW gensets, one for each boat. |
Source |
Chowning, Larry |
Imagefile |
009\202092297.JPG |