FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: LuAnne Pendergraft, 252/426-5123 Ann Jones, 252/426-7567,
nbwh@inteliport.com
Periauger Launches July 12 to Begin Sea
Trials
HERTFORD, NC—The Periauger, the
authentic replica of a long-lost colonial boat, will touch the water for the
first time on Monday, July 12 from the North Carolina
Maritime Museum’s
Waterside Boatshop in Beaufort, North Carolina. The launch is set for late morning and will
mark the beginning of sea trials for the unique boat.
The Periauger
was officially christened on Saturday, June 19 at the North Carolina Maritime
Museum where a crowd of
over 200 gathered for the historic event.
The Periauger was constructed at the North Carolina Maritime
Museum by The Periauger
Project, a unique partnership of the Perquimans County Restoration Association,
the parent organization of the historic 1730 Newbold-White
House; the North Carolina Maritime Museum;
Perquimans County;
and East Carolina University’s
Program in Maritime Studies. The
project was made possible by a successful private fundraising campaign and
through a grant from the NC Department of Transportation’s Enhancement
Program. The voyage will be under the
watchful eye of SeaTow.
The Periauger
will set sail on Sunday, August 15 from Beaufort to its homeport of
Hertford. The three-week voyage of this
unique and historical vessel will include stops at six historic port towns: Oriental, New Bern,
Washington, Bath,
Belhaven, New Bern
and Manteo. A volunteer crew of 30 will
sail and row the boat during the journey.
Joining the crew over the 21-day voyage will be 40 boats and more than
80 additional volunteers to assist with provisioning and transportation. The Town of Hertford will be the Periauger’s
interim homeport until it is relocated to the historic 1730 Newbold-White
House where it will be a key component to the site’s maritime heritage
program. It is anticipated that the Periauger will be
an important tool for regional tourism development, visiting port towns in the
region and providing a dynamic living maritime history experience.
In colonial America,
settlers traveled the waterways in common boats called periaugers—the
waterway pick-up trucks of those days.
Surprisingly, no physical evidence of these typical colonial vessels
exists today. Through this
history-making project, the Periauger is being and
reintroduced to the waterways.
The replica periauger will be the only boat of its kind in the
world. The Periauger
is approximately 30 feet long with two masts reaching the height of nearly 25
feet. It has rowing stations for at
least six oars
Periauger
is a generic term for a two-masted boat made of a
dugout and split cypress log and propelled by both oars and sails. Historical references indicate that for many
colonial settlers, the periauger was the vessel of
choice, especially on the sounds and rivers of North Carolina. After years of research and study,
documentary evidence has enabled plans to be drawn up for the unique 21st
century reconstruction of a “typical” periauger. Supervising the design was Michael Alford,
former curator of maritime research at the North Carolina Maritime
Museum and author of Traditional Workboats of North Carolina. Overseeing the construction was boat
builder Craig Wright who has operated Mountain Marine since 1994 and has been
responsible for building 23 wooden boats and canoes. Construction on the periauger began in November 2003 at the North Carolina Maritime
Museum in Beaufort as
part of its continuing educational and interpretive program.
The historic 1730 Newbold-White House in Hertford (North Carolina) will be the final home for
the periauger. Among the documentary evidence
discovered about the boat was a reference to a periauger
in the 1750 inventory of the Abraham Sanders, the builder of the 1730 Newbold-White House.
For more information about the Periauger
Project or to make a contribution, contact the Perquimans County Restoration Association
at (252)
426-7567 or nbwh@inteliport.com or www.newboldwhitehouse.com
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6/2004