Former deckhand for Florida, Star Queen recalls history of totaled boats

PANAMA CITY - After he spent his childhood as a deckhand on his family's historic deep sea fishing boats Florida Queen and Star Queen, Grover Davis is heartbroken they won’t be running again.

Davis — now 77 and the president of local company Marine Transportation Services — is one of many people mourning the loss of the boats after Hurricane Michael. Hall Queen Fleet Deep Sea Fishing, the boat’s current owners, announced Wednesday they were totaled by the insurance company due to damage from the hurricane.

While Hall Queen owned the boats for the last year of their lives, the Davis family owned and operated the boats for decades. Davis worked on the Florida Queen and Star Queen, along with other boats, and fondly recalled time riding on the wooden vessels.

“The fishing was tremendous at that time. I was just a kid. It was probably the greatest experience I ever had as a deckhand,” said Davis. “You got people from all walks of life. You got some of the finest people in the world."

The Florida Queen was originally built in 1958, with a new version built in 1967 and the Star Queen built in 1965. The boats, Davis said, provided not only his family, but many others with a livelihood for many years, as many local young men also got their start working on the headboats. During their lifespan, the pair launched at times from the Tarpon Dock, Panama City Marina at the end of Harrison Avenue and St. Andrews before eventually settling in at Capt. Anderson's Marina.

“It was a big part of the economy in St. Andrews,” said Davis. “It kept St. Andrews going for a long time because it brought a lot of people into town.”

The Star Queen in particular, Davis said, represented a shift in charter fishing at the time, when boats became more and more geared toward speed so they could reach fishing grounds 70 and 80 miles out from shore and still give riders a decent day of fishing. The Star Queen, said Davis, was a "very fast vessel."

“We started the 2 o’clock in the morning trip, 15-hour trip way off shore," he said. "We built these bigger, faster boats to reach the fishing grounds way off shore in the deep water.”

While his family got out of the fishing industry in the 90's and let the boats go, Davis said he still has a personal connection with them.

“It’s a sad feeling,” said Davis. “It’s sort of an emotional thing. I’ve been through it all my life with them.”