TWO RIVERS (NBC 26) — The owners of the iconic Susie Q fishing boat are hoping the vessel will be able to get a new lease on life, after serving the Lakeshore for more than six decades.
"My dad would probably be a little upset, because that was the main ship of the fleet - the Susie Q. That's where we got the name of the fish market and everything. He was very proud of it. It's a nice boat," said Susie Q Fish Company owner Paul LeClair.
LeClair says deciding to sell the Susie Q was a tough decision, because the fishing boat has been part of his family and the Two Rivers community since the 1950s - when his father bought it from someone around Lake Erie.
"Yeah, it's kind of sad. It's the first boat I remember from when I was in grade school and high school. I fished on it. So, there's a lot of history," LeClair said.
LeClair says he'll never forget the work he went through on the Susie Q to bring people fresh fish.
"Just catching 20,000 pounds in weight. That's a half a semi load on this little boat. It was just about almost sinking, but you could hold a lot of fish in that little boat. It was surprising," LeClair said.
However, after upgrading to a newer, bigger boat - named the Susie Q Two - LeClair says it's time to sell.
"Yeah, it would be nice to see it go. Sometimes if you can't sell it, we might end up cutting it up for scrap and parting it out. Hopefully that doesn't happen, but that happened to a lot of the other boats," LeClair said.
