Eastbayri.com

Rhode Island’s Tall Ship-to-be SSV Oliver Hazard Perry took a ride down the bay recently to begin the next phase of construction.

The 196-foot vessel (sparred length) was launched at Sims Metal Management (formerly Promet Marine) in Providence and towed to its next home at Senesco Marine in North Kingstown.

At Senesco, a shipyard that handles new construction and vessel repair, the nonprofit organization Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island will be transformed from steel hull to Tall Ship, complete with masts.

“Up until now we’ve been mostly laying groundwork,” said construction supervisor Rick Williams. “This whole year has been devoted to welding, repairs and inspections, but now we are entering the real building stage. Senesco is where all the major construction will be taking place.”

This work will include the fabrication of fuel and wing tanks, installation of the lower deck as well as machinery, engines and generators, construction of the new topsides, weather deck, bulwarks and transom, and the stepping of the ship’s three masts.

Project partners pitched in with the move: The bottom was painted with help from Interlux paints, and the hull was towed the 18 miles by Reagan Construction’s tugboat Hope.

A growing network of partner donor-suppliers have signed on, including Furuno USA, Hall Spars and Rigging, Harken, Hood Sailmakers, KVH Industries, Matthew Smith Naval Architect, Milton CAT, Newport Harbor Corporation, Ocean Navigator Publishing and Onne van der Wal Photography.

Once complete, the Perry will serve as a seagoing classroom for Tall Ship sail training, marine trade workforce development, as well as marine conservation and environmental stewardship.

The Rambler rescue

It was high drama off the Irish coast last August when the racing yacht Rambler capsized during the Fastnet Race.

Hear all about it from crew members who were there and from the Tiverton firm that trained them to survive such a mishap at the next Herreshoff Marine Museum Winter Lecture Series event on Thursday, Jan. 19.

Speakers will include Dan O’Connor of Life Raft and Survival Equipment, the company that provided life rafts and training for Rambler’s crew.

Doors open at 6 p.m., and the lecture is at 7 at the museum at 1 Burnside St. (corner of Hope Street) in Bristol.

Piloting and navigation

Starting Jan. 18, Herreshoff Museum educator Richard Feeny will teach piloting and navigation classes on Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 17 Burnside St., Bristol.

The five-day, 10-hour workshop will use Chapman Piloting and Seamanship as the primary textbook. Students will be taught the skills of plotting courses and bearings on provided charts with parallel rules and dividers and will learn navigational rules of the road.

Classes will run three times in January and February; check the museum website for times, costs and more.

Martel manages NC Charts

NV Charts, supplier of precision charting products for mariners and cruising sailors, has appointed Capt. Michael L. Martel of Bristol as manager of its U.S. office at 64 Thames St., Newport. He is a lifelong sailor and USCG licensed master.

Shellfish farming 101

Roger Williams University is enrolling students to its non-credit course in “Practical Shellfish Farming” for the winter 2012 semester.

The course will teach the technical information needed to confidently undertake a small shellfish farm in Southern New England. All aspects of shellfish farming, from broodstock to the market, will be covered over the 12-week course. Students will learn the basics of hatchery, nursery and grow-out operations, as well as risk management, siting and permitting, and business management.

Associate Professor Dale Leavitt, Ph.D., will teach the course on Wednesday evenings on the Bristol campus. The fee for the entire 12-week course, including all handouts, is $120 per student. For more, contact Cheryl Francis at 401/254-3110 or visit the RWU website.

Doubts about boats, ethanol

The U.S. Department of Energy has released the results of two studies on the effects of using fuel that is 15 percent ethanol in marine engines.

The studies show significant problems with outboard, sterndrive and inboard engines, the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) reports. This includes damage to engine components, an increase in exhaust emissions and increased fuel consumption, “reinforcing the recreational boating industry’s concern that E15 is not a suitable fuel for marine engines,” the NMMA stated.

In separate testing on engine durability, each tested engine showed deterioration; two of the three outboard engines sustained damage severe enough to prevent them from completing the test cycle.

Cod tales

Once upon a time off New England, cod were so plentiful that boats could scarcely avoid filling their holds every trip out. One captain filled his boat so full that he couldn’t hoist his last net-full aboard — so he towed it back to the fish pier behind him.

There were no limits back in the 1970s. Prices were low and anyone with a boat could catch pretty much all the cod he wished.

Today, it’s a far different story. Cod counts plummeted in the 1980s and licenses and catch limits have since been severely limited, although critics say cod are still over-fished.

For a look at how it all happened through the eyes of some old salts in Chatham and other fishing ports, check a couple of interesting productions by the Pew Environment Group including “Cod — The Fish that Made New England” (video and timeline) and “Remembering Cod” (a PDF file with stories from fishermen).

Shellfish closures

Last week, the R.I. Department of Environmental Management closed the Conimicut Triangle, Greenwich Bay, Kickemuit River and Mt. Hope Bay to shellfishing. The areas are due to reopen at sunrise Saturday, Dec. 31. Conditional Areas A and B remain open.

For updates on conditional areas, call the DEM hotline at 222-2900.