Fish Tugs of the Greatest Lake

ELEANOR B.
(JEAN MAUR B., EWIG II, SEEKER)

Built as the EWIG II at Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay, Wis., in 1950, for Ewig Bros, Port Washington, Wis. The 50 ft. all-steel tug was equipped with a 75-90 hp. Kahlenberg oil engine. In 1966 the boat was sold to Morris Boutin, Bayfield, Wis., and renamed JEAN MAUR B. In 1985 Boutin sold her to Lawrence Schweig, Chicago, and this time renamed SEEKER. Schweig re-powered with a 250 hp. Cummins diesel.

In April, 2002, the boat returned to Bayfield, purchased by Morris Boutin's grandson, Craig Hoopman. Hoopman changed the boat's name to ELEANOR B. in honor of his grandmother, the late Mrs. Morris Boutin.

Photos: Top, JEAN MAUR B., date and location unknown. Below, top to bottom: at her christening, 1950; date and place unknown; at Bayfield dock, December 2002, carrying a new name with a lot of history behind it.