Oliver Hazard Perry at Newport Shipyard
The 200-foot tall ship Oliver Hazard Perry was hauled at Newport Shipyard earlier this month and will spend the next few weeks receiving exterior work below her waterline. Yard workers will install thru-hull penetrations for seawater intakes, replace zinc anodes, paint the bottom and topsides, and inspect props and shafts.
The haul-out represents one of the only times that the public can see the full hull of the Oliver Hazard Perry, which is Rhode Island’s official education sailing vessel. If you head over to the shipyard, you can have breakfast or lunch at the on-site Belle’s Café while watching the work in progress.
During the past year, the ship has been at Senesco Marine in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, receiving extensive work on her interior and exterior. The spars for her rig were made at The Spar Shop at Grays Harbor Seaport in Washington state and were trucked across America to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where riggers are now working on them. In Middletown, Rhode Island, the experts at Hood Sailmakers are completing the ship’s sails.
Plans call for the Oliver Hazard Perry to be dockside at Newport Shipyard for its 2014 Summer Gala on July 5. Later, the ship will provide education-at-sea programs to children and adults of all ages out of Newport, Rhode Island. It is owned and operated by the nonprofit Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island.
To learn more or donate toward the cause, visit www.ohpri.org.
