Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
"'Bama yard is back at work; 38-foot crabber set for NJ.," Jemison Marine, Bayou La Batre, LA; Evans Boats, Crisfield, MD |
Collection |
National Fisherman Articles by Larry Chowning |
Catalog Number |
2020.9.2.315 |
Date |
DECEMBER, 2005 |
Scope & Content |
NATIONAL FISHERMAN, DECEMBER, 2005, Pg. 55 AROUND THE YARDS, SOUTH "'Bama yard is back at work; 38-foot crabber set for NJ.," By Larry Chowning In Bayou La Batre, Al., Tim Jemison, owner of Jemison Marine, was worried about a number of boats in his yard when Hurricane Katrina slammed through. But except for some heavy-duty clean-up work, the boatyard escaped relatively unscathed. In fact, just after the hurricane, a new steel 60' x 20' x 6' scallop boat steamed out of the boatyard and headed to its new owner, T & T Fisheries of Cape May, N.J. The new scalloper is powered by a 450-hp Caterpillar diesel, which drives a 4 1/2-inch Aquamet stainless steel shaft and a four-bladed open wheel though a Twin Disc marine gear with a 5:1 reduction. Also in the engine room is a Northern Lights 20-kW genset for electricity and air conditioning. The boat has accommoda- tions for a five-man crew. T & T Fisheries’ new boat will work a single dredge from a stern ramp. When fishing, the dredge is pulled onto the ramp, where a boom picks it up and dumps the scallops on deck. The boom then lowers the dredge back down the ramp and into the water. The boat has 3/8-inch plating over the bottom and the stern bulwarks. There’s 5/16-inch plating in the rest of the hull and 1/4-inch plating in the forward bul- warks. Jemison is also building two 90' x 24' trawlers-that are nearly completed and will go to Nigeria. They have Caterpillar 3412 diesels rated at 650-hp for main power, coupled to Twin Disc marine gears with a 6:1 ratio to turn 5-inch Aquamet shafts and four-bladed props in a nozzle. In another part of the boatyard, three shrimp boat conversions are underway. One will be a longliner for an owner in Hawaii. A second longline conversion is going to Trinidad, and the third boat is going to Boston, where it will tow a pair of trawls. Up along the Mid-Atlantic coast, blue- crab fisherman Bill Muermann of Lanoka Harbor, N.J., got Eugene Evans of Evans Boats in Crisfield, Md., to build him a fiberglass 35' x 10' 5" crab boat 17 years ago. It proved to be such a good boat for Muermann that he is having Evans build him a new 38-footer. Muermann will use the boat for potting and dredging for blue crabs in New Jer- sey’s inshore blue-crab fishery. The 38- footer will be powered by a 580-hp Cummings Marine QM11 diesel. The boat is deep enough that the engine can be kept below the work deck, which elimi- nates an engine box in the middle of the deck. "He didn't want to have to work around an engine box," Evans says. Behind the engine will be a ZF marine gear turning a 2 1/4-inch Aquamet-19 stainless steel shaft with a 26" x 26", four-bladed prop. Muermann sometimes works his pots close to shore, so a tunnel is built into the hull to raise the prop and reduce the boat’s draft. The crab boat will have a Chesapeake Bay style house, but it will be 3 feet shorter than usual to give Muermann more working space. Besides Muermann's boat, Evans Boats just delivered the first of eight 43' x 14' 6" boats to the Homeland Security Administration and is working on the sec- ond one. Evans’ contract calls for deliver- ing two boats a year for four years. Twin 450-hp Cummings Marine QM11 engines will power the boats and give them a cruising speed of 28 mph. The 2 1/2-inch Aquamet 22 shafts are working through ZF marine gears with a 1:1 1/2 ratio, turning 26" x 28" three-blade props. Evans says his experience building commercial fishing boats helped him land the contract with the government. Former commercial fishermen will run these boats, and they urged the government to use a traditional Chesapeake Bay dead- rise-style boat. "Several of the captains had worked my boats as commercial fishermen and know what they will do on the bay," Evans says. "They are upgrading their fleet and the captains want boats that run smoother and handle better in bay waters." Chesapeake Bay waters often have short, choppy seas. The traditional design with a nearly flat-bottom and a sharp entrance cuts through the chop with relative ease and provides a stable platform. The boats will be used for a variety of things, including patrolling harbors and waters around Baltimore, Md. The first boat was delivered to officials at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds near Balti- more in August. |
Source |
Chowning, Larry |
Imagefile |
009\202092315.JPG |