Shrimpers abound in La. yard; Virginia Sue gets a makeover.(boat remodeling)(Brief Article)

Shrimp boats, shrimp boats and more shrimp boats; that's the message coming from Ocean Marine of Bayou La Batre, La. The yard has nine steel boats under way and three in the water for Gulf Coast shrimp fishermen, says Irvin Jemison, president of Ocean Marine.

Jemison says the yard delivered one in mid-May, one the week before and one the previous week. The 95' x 25' x 10' shrimper that left the yard in mid-May went to David Robicheaux of Seafood International of Bayou La Batre. "We have a lot of hometown boys getting our boats," Jemison notes.

Hometown boys aren't the only folks bringing Ocean Marine business. One of the shrimpers that was due to be delivered at the end of May was going to Peter Ken Tran of Port Arthur, Texas. That's the third boat that Ocean Marine has built for Tran -- who has another one order.

"Business is booming," says Jemison. "We are booked solid until the middle of next year." Most of the boats under way at Ocean Marine are 95-footers, but there are also two 86-footers under contract.

On Chesapeake Bay, Deagle's Marine Railway of Deltaville, Va., run by Janey and Russell Ruark, has been extremely busy with repair work this spring. The Ruarks have one of the largest railways on the Bay and business comes to the yard from up and down the East Coast.

Deagle's Marine Railway has just finished a rebuilding job on the Virginia Sue, a 65-foot Chesapeake Bay-built deck boat owned and operated by New Jersey fishermen Marvin "Glenn" Armstrong. He's using the Virginia Sue to fish in the Atlantic Ocean off the New Jersey coast.

Before she was put back in the water this past May, Deagle's Marine Railway gave the Virginia Sue new frames, sides, top timbers, deck and a new stem.