Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island

Rhode Island’s Official Sailing Education Vessel

Dedication Evening

Fundraiser Honoring VADM Thomas R. Weschler, USN (Ret.)
Friday, July 5, 2013
Newport Shipyard
1800 hours (until midnight)

Cocktails, entertainment, a dinner/dance and a live auction will raise funds for the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, which will be dockside at Newport Shipyard. (Ticketed event.)

Dedication Ceremony and Tours
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Fort Adams State Park
1100 hours

The Dedication Ceremony for Rhode Island’s official Sailing Education Vessel and its Great Cabin can be observed from dockside at the Alofsin Pier/Ft. Adams, where the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry will make a weekend appearance before returning to Senesco Marine for completion.  Tours will be available following the ceremony. (Public welcome.)

Dedication Tours
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Fort Adams State Park
hours tbd

SSV Oliver Hazard Perry will be open for tours at Fort Adams. (Public welcome.)

Background:
The SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, Rhode Island’s Official Sailing Education Vessel currently under construction at Senesco Marine in North Kingstown, R.I., is a 196’ three-masted, square-rigged tall ship–the first oceangoing full-rigged ship to be built in the United States in over 100 years. She has been given a permanent home on the north side of a new 240-foot-long fixed pier that the state has designed and is building as part of scheduled improvements to Fort Adams State Park in Newport. The Perry will offer year-round educational programming under sail and at sea for a diverse group of students, including those with disabilities.  Ongoing public support and private donations will enable completion of the ship and advance new and existing partnerships with our state’s schools, colleges and universities to provide exciting educational opportunities for their students. For more information: www.ohpri.org / jess@OHPRI.org

BankNewport Executive Vice President, Commercial Lending, Leland R. (Lee) Merrill, Jr., recently presented a contribution in the amount of $1,200 to Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI) Board Chair Bartlett Dunbar on behalf of the Bank’s consumer boat loan program.

BankNewport Executive Vice President, Commercial Lending, Leland R. (Lee) Merrill, Jr., recently presented a contribution in the amount of $1,200 on behalf of the Bank's consumer boat loan program to Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island Board Chair Bartlett Dunbar (center) and Director of Operations Jessica Wurzbacher (left)

Announced back in March 2012, and continuing through December 31, 2012, BankNewport’s boat loan customers had the opportunity to help build Rhode Island’s Official Sailing Education Vessel, the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry.  The Bank’s donation was based on the total number of loans originated during the time period.

“BankNewport is proud of its long partnership with the Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island organization,” stated Lee Merrill in a previous statement.  “We commend their unwavering commitment to construct this sailing school vessel, a significant economic development, educational, and cultural benefit for Newport and the state.”

BankNewport extended past grants totaling $35,000 to OHPRI, including $25,000 in 2008 for the Phase One acquisition and shipbuilding plan for the vessel, and a second grant in the amount of $10,000 in 2010 in support of the OHPRI headquarters at the Buliod-Perry House on Washington Square.

In February 2013, OHPRI announced that the 196’ three-masted, square-rigged tall ship has been given a permanent home on the north side of a new 240-foot-long fixed pier that has been designated as part of the scheduled improvements to Fort Adams State Park in Newport.  The SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, which is currently under construction at Senesco Marine in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, will be the first oceangoing full-rigged ship to be built in the United States in over 100 years.  The ship’s mission is to be Rhode Island’s flagship non-profit maritime campus, offering experienced-based core learning opportunities to a diverse student population, including those with disabilities. 

OHPRI has raised $6.5 million in donations; however, more than $2.5 million in funds must still be raised in order to complete the ship and begin its first year of operations.

BankNewport, founded in 1819 and currently holding $1.1 billion in assets, is an FDIC-insured savings bank and is a subsidiary of the Mutual Holding Company, OceanPoint Financial Partners, MHC.  Along with its financial partner, OceanPoint Insurance Agency, Inc., BankNewport is proud to serve the financial needs of customers from banking and insurance offices located throughout Rhode Island.

For more information on the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, its Education-at-Sea programs or how to contribute to the project, go to www.OHPRI.org or contact Perry Lewis at 401.841.0080 orlewis@ohpri.org,  OHPRI, 29 Touro Street, Washington Square, Newport, R.I. 02840.  Follow OHPRI on Facebook. To view progress of construction of the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry at Senesco Marine, visit http://www.narragansettbayshipping.com/ohpri

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Permanent Berth Confirmed

The non-profit organization Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI), which is building Rhode Island’s Official Sailing Education Vessel SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, exceeded its 2012 year-end fund raising goals thanks to the generosity of individuals and corporate supporters who helped match two challenge grants issued last September by an anonymous benefactor.  In other good news from the state of Rhode Island, the 196’ three-masted, square-rigged tall ship has been given a permanent home on the north side of a new 240-foot-long fixed pier that has been designed as part of scheduled improvements to Fort Adams State Park in Newport.

“We are grateful for the overwhelming support we have had on the fund raising front, having raised a total of $ 6.5 million so far, with just over $1.1 million of that generated by the year-end matching grant challenge,” said OHPRI President Bart Dunbar, emphasizing that nevertheless there are additional fund raising goals to be met.  “We also are fortunate to have had the State helping us move this project forward since its inception.”  Dunbar mentioned, in particular, Governor Lincoln Chafee’s legislation in 2012 that gave the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry its official state status; the ship’s endorsement by Rhode Island’s Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, Deborah Gist; and now the action by the Department of Environmental Management, overseen by its Director Janet Coit, to integrate the ship’s berth into the plans at Fort Adams.

“Having the Perry at Fort Adams will enhance the educational mission of the ship, highlight its status as a symbol of the state, and provide better access for visitors to the ship,” said Dunbar.

The SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, which is currently under construction at Senesco Marine in North Kingstown, R.I., has a steel hull over which a 13-story rig will tower. The hull was purchased by OHPRI in 2008 from a group in Amherstburg, Ontario that had planned to build a dock-side attraction. The hull arrived in Newport, R.I. a few months later, after being towed 892 miles from its former home. Named after the Rhode Island native and American naval war hero who helped defeat the British in the Battle of Lake Erie, the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry will not sit idly at the dock; instead she will offer year-round experience based core-learning opportunities, sailing from New England to as far south as the Carolinas (or alternatively the Great Lakes and Canada) during the summer and from Florida to the Bahamas (or the Caribbean) in the winter.

The SSV Oliver Hazard Perry is the first oceangoing full-rigged ship to be built in the U.S. in over 100 years.  She will be a U.S. documented sailing school vessel, inspected and certified by the US Coast Guard and will have a capacity for up to 36 students on overnight trips and up to 85 for day trips, with 13 professional crew aboard and handicap-accessible berths available. The scheduling options range from day sails to overnight, week-long and three-week voyages to full semesters at sea.

For more information on the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, its Education-at-Sea programs or how to contribute to the project, go to www.OHPRI.org or contact Perry Lewis at 401.841.0080 or lewis@ohpri.org,  OHPRI, 29 Touro Street, Washington Square, Newport, R.I. 02840.  Follow OHPRI onFacebook. To view progress of construction of the SSV Oliver Hazard Perryat Senesco Marine, visit http://www.narragansettbayshipping.com/ohpri

(Photo Credit Matt Hodge)

As SSV Oliver Hazard Perry enters its final phases of construction, the non-profit organization Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI) has made its end-of-year priorities clear:  maximize two extraordinary fund raising opportunities and continue to develop and book the education programs that promise to set a sound course for the tall ship’s future once it is completed in 2013.

“No one can deny that this has been a banner year for the ship, but we have much more to accomplish before the close of 2012,” said OHPRI Chairman Bart Dunbar, explaining that SSV Oliver Hazard Perry was first endorsed by Rhode Island’s Education Commissioner Deborah Gist and then written into legislation by Governor Lincoln Chafee as Rhode Island’s Official Sailing Education Vessel.  Several generous grants and donations have helped keep the ship’s construction and outfitting on track at Senesco Marine in North Kingstown, R.I., and two highly experienced professionals—Captain Richard Bailey, as the ship’s master, and Jessica Wurzbacher, as the Education Director—have been added to the OHPRI staff.

“We are currently in negotiations with various Rhode Island schools to solidify their schedules for use of the ship,” said Dunbar. “Once those are in place, we can plan several weeks in the summer for our own open-enrollment programs that will be tailored for students from around the country and even abroad.”

(Photo Credit Rod Smith)

As that is happening, OHPRI’s fund raising efforts remain equally focused on the reality that SSV Oliver Hazard Perry is progressing rapidly from a ship under construction to a ship under sail. Most important is that an anonymous benefactor has come forward with two levels of challenge grants that either double or increase by 50% certain monetary amounts donated toward the OHPRI project, but in order to qualify for the match they must be donated by year’s end.

“It is a very exciting time for SSV Oliver Hazard Perry,” said Dunbar.  “We are using as many Rhode Island marine trades professionals as possible to build this ship, and at Senesco alone we have already funded 6,000 hours of skilled labor.  Our goal is to move the ship to Newport for a dedication on July 6, 2013 and continue working toward having her Coast Guard inspected, certified and operational for the bicentennial of the Battle of Lake Erie on Sept. 10, 2013.  SSV Oliver Hazard Perry will be based in Newport, but she will sail as a symbol for all of Rhode Island and as an ambassador for the state’s seafaring heritage and its innovations in education at sea.”

End-of-Year Donations Matched

OHPRI’s November/December annual appeal will be especially important to SSV Oliver Hazard Perry’s completion, since any individual or corporate contribution from $1,000 to $20,000 made before the end of this year will be doubled.   That is the Plank Owner Challenge put in place by an anonymous supporter of OHPRI.  A second challenge, called the Shipbuilding Syndicate Challenge, guarantees that larger donation amounts—two-year pledges between $25,000 and $500,000 that include naming opportunities onboard—will be matched at 50 percent (up to $250,000).

(Photo Credit Rod Smith)

Combined, the challenges have the potential to generate nearly $1.2 million.

Over $5 million—contributed by over 300 individual as well as corporate donors and combined with several boat donations and a construction loan—has been raised thus far for the construction of SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, which started out as an uncompleted steel hull purchased in Canada by OHPRI members and towed to Rhode Island in September of 2008.

Session Planning

With Education Director Jessica Wurzbacher onboard, SSV Oliver Hazard Perry’s Education-at-Sea Program has developed as a progressive collaboration with educational institutions to provide an ocean-oriented approach for supporting and enhancing academic achievement in STEAM courses (science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics); leadership development; and career pathway exploration.  Wurzbacher herself spent six years teaching marine biology and oceanography onboard an ocean-going sailing school vessel, so her first-hand experience bodes well in conveying the value and versatility of SSV Oliver Hazard Perry’s education-at-sea offerings.

(Photo Credit OHPRI/Barby MacGowan)

Salve Regina University is among the first of several interested Rhode Island educational institutions to reserve specific dates for an education-at-sea session (June 2014). Dr. Kathy Vespia (East Greenwich, R.I.), Assistant Professor and Chair of the University’s Education Program, joined a week-long OHPRI-sponsored trip aboard the tall ship Gazela in August, which inspired her vision for using similar shipboard experiences as a way to put Salve’s pre-teachers in difficult learning situations so they can better empathize with and help students confront their own fears and learning challenges in the traditional classroom.

“Faculty at Salve Regina recognize the tremendous value that SSV Oliver Hazard Perry has for enhancing existing courses and developing new courses at the University,” said Vespia.  “A multidisciplinary team is developing ideas for courses in the following areas:  Educational Leadership and Classroom Management, Naval War History, and Teaching Science (with a particular emphasis on teaching science in urban settings).  There is a strong commitment by the University to examine ways to develop a meaningful partnership with OHPRI’s education-at-sea program.”

Other educational institutions negotiating OHPRI partnerships include Roger Williams University, University of Rhode Island, NROTC, Rocky Hill School, Paul Cuffee School, Roger Williams Middle School, The Greene School and Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Kevin Hayden, Director of Study Abroad Programs at Roger Williams University, is developing an opportunity for his Intercultural Leadership Award (ILA) students.  “In 2014 they will sail aboard SSV Oliver Hazard Perry for one week during Spring Break as part of our scholarship program for students showing academic achievement as well as dedication to creating an inclusive community,” said Haden. “This meritorious award includes an enhancement program designed to further the holistic growth of the recipients, and sailing this ship will require strong teamwork, communications and responsibility—a perfect way to continue to challenge students.”

Wurzbacher cited the ship’s mission statement and expounded enthusiastically on its implications. “SSV Oliver Hazard Perry is a non-profit maritime campus, offering experience based, core-learning opportunities to a diverse student population aboard a magnificent three-masted, square rigged tall ship,” she said.  “As members of the crew, students can develop morally, socially and academically as they work together as a team. The strong community that develops among shipmates requires them to put others before themselves and communicate effectively to safely accomplish tasks together and move this giant vessel under the power of the wind.  Applying concepts learned in the classroom to life aboard a ship is an effective way to encourage problem solving and reinforce topics such as learning vectors and trigonometry in currents and navigation; understanding the mechanical advantage when hauling a line through a block and tackle; anticipating weather changes; sampling plankton; recording ocean salinity; studying maritime history…the topics are endless.”

SSV Oliver Hazard Perry is the first full-rigged ship to be built in the U.S. in over 100 years.  In the spring, summer and fall months, the ship generally will sail as far north as Nova Scotia (and/or to the Great Lakes) and as far south as South Carolina, while in the winter it will be based in Florida and the Bahamas (or the Caribbean).  It has capacity for up to 36 students on overnight trips and up to 85 for day trips, with 13 professional crew aboard and handicap-accessible berths available. Scheduling options range from day sails to overnight, week-long and three-week voyages to full semesters at sea.

Salve Regina University has produced a four-part video series called “Charting a Course,” which summarizes Dr. Kathy Vespia’s own OHPRI-inspired tall ship experience and the University’s plan to integrate SSV Oliver Hazard Perry’s education-at-sea opportunities into future education programs.

To follow the ship’s construction progress in photos, go to Narragansett Bay Shipping.com

For more information on OHPRI’s education-at-sea programs or to request further information on the Plank Owner and Shipbuilding Syndicate challenge grants, please go to www.OHPRI.org or feel free to contact Perry Lewis at 401.841.0080 or lewis@ohpri.org,  OHPRI, 29 Touro Street, Washington Square, Newport, R.I. 02840.  Follow OHPRI on Facebook

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Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI) is on a favored tack as it sails into fall with Richard Bailey (Wellfleet, Mass.) as its newly appointed captain. Bailey, who has been involved with the organization since its inception in 2008, will take the helm of Rhode Island’s official sailing education vessel, the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, once it is commissioned in July 20 13 as a 196-foot long and 13 ½ story high tall ship.

“This will be the biggest and most sophisticated school ship built in America since the passing of The Sailing School Vessels Act in 1985, and it is the first full-rigged sailing ship to be built in this country in the last 110 years,” said Bailey, who is no novice to the seafaring life, commanding over six tall ships since 1972, including the HMS Rose when it sailed as the largest active wooden tall ship in the world.

“My father was lost at sea on his small commercial fishing vessel six weeks before I was born. At the time, he and my mother had lived in a very old Cape Cod house decorated with paintings of commercial sail vessels. Though I never lived in this house, growing up we visited it often enough for me to become fascinated with these vessels.

“As a kid, I think there was an unspoken family effort to discourage nautical activities and it wasn’t until I was 18 that I finally stepped aboard a sailboat.”

Bailey grew up in central Rhode Island and became fixated on the HMS Rose – a replica of an 18th century Royal Navy frigate that cruised the American coast during the Revolutionary War – after reading about the tall ship in the newspaper. In 1972, at the age of 21, Bailey traveled to Newport, Rhode Island and joined day sails with the tall ship, which served as a dockside attraction throughout most of the 1970s. During this time, Bailey was eager to learn and also sailed aboard other vessels while spending his remaining hours reading books on traditional ship operation and maintenance.

In 1980, Bailey left Newport to participate in boat deliveries around the world. Four years later, while driving from Rhode Island to New York, Bailey noticed a billboard on I-95 announcing that the HMS Rose had moved to Black Rock Harbor in Connecticut.  Bailey took a detour to visit the ship, and the new owner offered him a job onboard as Captain.

“He said he knew who I was and he had great plans to rebuild the ship, which was, by this time, in very poor condition due to both neglect and poor choices of material in her original construction,” said Bailey. “I was a little skeptical at first, but by summer I was back aboard Rose and, over a six year period, we rebuilt the ship and operated it as a Coast Guard-inspected Sailing School Vessel until 2001 when it was sold to Hollywood for the making of the 2003 movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.”

Following his time on the HMS Rose, Bailey went on to command other tall ships, including the schooners Spirit of Massachusetts, Westward and Harvey Gamage and the 177-foot tall ship Gazela Primeiro, all of which incorporated education-at-sea programs, similar to what the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry will offer when it sails.

“For centuries now, tall ships have proven themselves to be timeless tools for adventure education. Today, nearly every maritime nation operates a sail training ship,” said Bailey. “The SSV Oliver Hazard Perry is singular in this one respect: it’s not a naval training ship. Instead it will offer education to non-military students of all ages. This is an opportunity for people to experience the authentic adventure of old time ‘working sail.’ Centuries ago tall ships were the ultimate vehicle of adventure and discovery, equivalent to space shuttles today.

“For me, the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry builds on my life experience in ships and sail training. This project has sparked my energy and enthusiasm, and I feel that I could happily sail this tall ship for decades to come.”

Before the New Year, Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI), the non-profit organization behind Rhode Island’s official sailing education vessel SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, hopes to have two new challenge grants matched, which will generate nearly $1.2 million in new contributions. Given by an anonymous donor, these challenges are meant to encourage contributions from $1,000 to $500,000 to help conclude construction of the tall ship for a July 2013 commissioning.

According to OHPRI Chairman Bart Dunbar, these two new challenge grants, called the Plank Owner Challenge and the Shipbuilding Syndicate Challenge, give further evidence that people are very committed to this project and eager to see it through to successful completion. “We are excited that this opportunity comes at such a critical time in our shipbuilding schedule,” said Dunbar, adding that upon commissioning, the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry will sail as a 196-foot long, 13 ½ story tall ship offering experience-based education programs onboard.  “As I speak, the new stern, Great Cabin and bow are about to be constructed, sails are being made, and the education programs and partnerships with schools are forging ahead.”

Dunbar stressed the need for timeliness in getting the word out about the matching grants and encourages people to react before the December 31, 2012 deadline.  “It’s a quick turnaround, so we are asking for help to build the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry today,” said Dunbar.

The Plank Owner Challenge
For four years, OHPRI has been offering Plank Owner recognition for donors who pledge between $1,000 and $20,000 over two years.  With over 225 people, businesses and foundations now donating as Plank Owners, OHPRI is encouraging both existing and new supporters to participate in the Plank Owner program before December 31^st to double the amount of their donations.

The Shipbuilding Syndicate Challenge
For all new donations and two-year pledges between $25,000 and $500,000, the anonymous donor will commit a 50 percent match up to $250,000. Once fulfilled, this challenge will produce $750,000 toward the project. For contributions toward this challenge, there are distinct naming opportunities onboard the ship.

To request more information on the Plank Owner and Shipbuilding Syndicate challenge grants, please contact Perry Lewis at 401.841.0080 or lewis@ohpri.org. Pledge and contribution forms can be found on www.OHPRI.org and mailed to OHPRI, 29 Touro Street, Washington Square, Newport, R.I., 02840. OHPRI is also encouraging involvement in the building of Rhode Island’s official sailing education vessel through its Oliver Hazard Perry Community Volunteer Program. Follow OHPRI on Facebook

The Greene School’s math teacher Adam Cherko in the rigging onboard Gazela (photo credit Matt Hodge)

The non-profit organization Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI) helped six Rhode Island educators become students again this summer during a five-day education-at-sea voyage from Philadelphia, Penn., to Newport, R.I., aboard the 177-foot tall ship Gazela. The learning experience in the floating classroom served as a prelude to the educational programs that will be offered on Rhode Island’s official sailing education vessel, the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, when it is commissioned in 2013 as a 196-foot long, 13 ½ story tall ship. The teachers onboard represented Salve Regina University (Newport), Paul Cuffee School (Providence), Chariho Regional School District (Southern Rhode Island), The Greene School (West Greenwich) and Toll Gate High School (Warwick).

“We wanted to provide an opportunity for these teachers, professors and administrators to experience the powerful classroom experience created on the deck of a ship,” said OHPRI’s Education Director Jessica Wurzbacher (Jamestown, R.I.), who over the past ten years has logged over 40,000 nautical miles teaching high school and college-level programs onboard schooners. “The experience is hard to explain; you need to be there and do it, and that’s exactly what they did: standing watch under the stars at 3 a.m., climbing the rigging to furl the sails and helping to keep the ship and crew safe and secure. Their new passion is now being channeled to their schools and to their students as we continue to develop our programs.”

Wurzbacher added that the educators were assigned homework after the trip had wrapped up:  to come up with lesson plans that partnered experience-based education with their specific subject of learning.

“We are moving from receiving information from OHPRI to now saying, ‘how can we make shape to it?’ said Dr. Kathy Vespia (East Greenwich, R.I.), assistant professor and chair of the Education Program at Salve Regina University. “We are now in the proposal development phase and working with Jessica to add meat to the bones.” Vespia added that Salve University is exploring ways for students, in undergraduate and continuing education programs, to participate in classes aboard the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry to receive credit.

“For example, our Salve students who are going to become teachers through our pre-teacher training program need to be prepared to provide unique experiences and motivate their students to be team members,” said Vespia.  “Onboard a tall ship, personal needs get put aside, so if you’re thirsty and someone says ‘all hands on deck,’ you hold off your thirst and get things done.  It doesn’t connect until you really put your hands on it.”

The 177-foot tall ship Gazela sails by Senesco Marine in North Kingstown, R.I., where the hull of the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry (pictured in the background) is currently undergoing construction (photo credit Onne van der Wal)

And hands-on experience is exactly what was received by each of the adult educators aboard Gazela, including Matt Hodge (Warwick, RI), who teaches history at Toll Gate High School. “I see a lot of connections I can make,” said Hodge. “I’ve been talking to my students about the history of Narragansett Bay and the history of the maritime industry. Sailing is what led to much of the interaction of the world; from navigation and naval warfare to why civilizations are situated where they are. Those are the things that I like to explore.”

Hodge added that after such incredible results from his experience, he also sees opportunities for professional development programs for adults aboard the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, a vision also shared by Associate Principal and Special Educator at Paul Cuffee School Michelle Bush (Jamestown, R.I.).

“Students are often faced with things they don’t know anything about, which can be very intimidating,” said Bush. “As a teacher and an administrator, I know what I’m doing when I’m telling other people what to do. It’s good to step back and be the one that doesn’t have a clue and has to figure it out.”

Bush added that she sees her school using this education platform for a variety of different subjects. “There was a lot of problem solving and math involved onboard. For example, the angles we have to measure, how far off certain boats are when we’re on watch or on lookout, and even the degrees you are turning when you’re at the helm.”

The Greene School’s math teacher Adam Cherko (North Kingstown, R.I.) developed a new outlook on education-at-sea programs and the friendships that can be forged when working together as a team in close quarters. “In any situation, you always come in with a particular expectation or a certain mindset, and even if you’re open to things, you still have preconceived notions,” said Cherko, adding that, right off the bat, Gazela’s Captain Richard Bailey (who will eventually command the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry) cited the rule of priorities aboard: ship first, shipmates second, self last.

“At first, I wasn’t sure what it would be like,” said Cherko, “working alongside other teachers and crew day-in and day-out, but by relying on somebody else to make sure that a rope doesn’t slip or your hand doesn’t get caught, you develop such a relationship and a love for each other, which I didn’t expect in five days. I think it’s incredible!”

To view a video documentary of the five-day education-at-sea voyage through the eyes of Salve Regina University’s Dr. Kathy Vespia, visit http://vimeo.com/channels/374841

For more information about OHPRI or to contribute to its construction as a Plank Owner, visit www.OHPRI.org or contact Vice Chair Perry Lewis at OHPRI headquarters, Buliod-Perry House, 29 Touro Street, Washington Square, Newport, R.I., 401.841.0080.

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The non-profit organization Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI) is hosting its first public education program aboard the 177-foot tall ship Gazela. Six Rhode Island teachers and professors are currently sailing on a five-day education-at-sea voyage to Newport from the ship’s homeport of Philadelphia, Penn., and they will arrive this Thursday, July 5 just prior to the kick-off of the Ocean State Tall Ships Festival in Newport (July 6-9).  The purpose of the trip is to replicate the educational platform that Rhode Island’s official sailing education vessel, the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry, will provide when it is commissioned a year from now as a 196-foot long, 13 ½ story tall ship. The schools represented onboard are Salve Regina University (Newport), Paul Cuffee School (Providence), two from Chariho Regional School District (Southern Rhode Island), The Greene School (West Greenwich) and Toll Gate High School (Warwick).

“We are building ambassadors for our program by showing Rhode Island educators what OHPRI is doing, why we are doing it, and how they can be a part of it and lead it throughout the state,” said OHPRI’s Vice Chairman Perry Lewis (Middletown, R.I.), adding that the Gazela’s crew will be taught the ropes, literally, by Captain Richard Bailey (Wellfleet, Mass.), who commanded the HMS Rose when it sailed as the largest active wooden tall ship in the world and also will serve as captain of the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry.

“We hope to open their eyes to what the experience truly is,” said Bailey before the start of the trip, noting that there is an indescribable transformation from within that typically comes with time spent at sea.   “They will work alongside the crew, just as students will, standing watch, handling the sails, even steering the ship.  It can be arduous at times, but there are also glorious moments when they will see the most beautiful fish or birds or sunsets.”

On Thursday morning, before Gazela berths at Bowen’s Wharf on the Newport waterfront, Captain Bailey and his crew will sail the ship to North Kingstown so the educators can view the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry as it undergoes construction at Senesco Marine.  OHPRI’s Educational Director Jessica Wurzbacher (Jamestown, R.I.) will have joined the ship off Newport for the sail up Narragansett Bay’s West Passage and will facilitate discussions on the future of the ship and the organization’s mission to support and enhance academic achievement in STEAM Courses: for science, mathematics, technology, engineering and the arts along with sail training, leadership development and career pathway exploration.

“The best thing about bringing these teachers onboard for an actual voyage is that none of them has ever been on a sailing expedition like this, and they will be able to get first-hand experience,” said Wurzbacher, who has been teaching in the field of Marine Biology and Oceanography for the past ten years, six of which were with Sea|Mester where she was Program Manager and Chief Scientist, teaching high school and college level programs while sailing over 40,000 nautical miles on the program’s two schooners (the 88-foot Ocean Star and the 110-foot Argo).  “These teachers are considering a spectrum of subject matters onboard, and after the voyage they will create a lesson plan based on what they would do if they brought their students onboard a tall ship for a week.”

For more information about OHPRI or to contribute to its construction as a Plank Owner, visit www.OHPRI.org or contact Vice Chair Perry Lewis at OHPRI headquarters, Buliod-Perry House, 29 Touro Street, Washington Square, Newport, R.I., 401.841.0080.

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Grants, Recent Fundraising Event and Boat Donation Contribute $1 Million to the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry Project

NEWPORT, R.I. (June 14, 2012)  — Bart Dunbar, Chairman of Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI), announced today that OHPRI has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Alletta Morris McBean Charitable Foundation in support of the construction of the 196-foot long, 13 ½ story tall ship SSV Oliver Hazard Perry. This significant grant builds upon $300,000 in previous funding from the foundation, making it the largest donation to the $7.4 million project to construct and operate Rhode Island’s official sailing school vessel.

“The Alletta Morris McBean Charitable Foundation has shown its faith in this bold educational, cultural and economic development project, and we are honored by the foundation’s trust in our plans and our progress,” said Dunbar.

The Alletta Morris McBean Charitable Foundation grant also triggered a $250,000 matching grant from The Stratus Foundation, which had issued a challenge in 2011 to any individual or organization willing to give the project a $500,000 grant.  The matching grant increases the Stratus Foundation’s investment in the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry project to $500,000.

“I am thrilled that OHPRI has earned support from the Trustees of the Alletta Morris McBean Charitable Foundation based on the merits of its mission, the management of the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry project, and the wide-spread community support for this exciting effort to get Rhode Island children to sea to learn many new lessons from the ocean,” said Regis de Ramel, a trustee for The Stratus Foundation who is also an OHPRI board member and early major donor to the project.

According to Dunbar, OHPRI hosted its third annual fundraising event two weeks ago at Castle Hill, netting over $57,000, and last week the organization received the donation of the 64’ ocean cruising ketch Ocean Pearl, built for J. Seward Johnson, through its successful boat donation program managed by Block Island Maritime Funding.  “This has been a $1 million month for the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry!” said Dunbar.

OHPRI has now raised over $5.4 million and is focused on raising the final $2 million while the ship is actively under construction at Senesco Marine at Quonset Point, North Kingstown. Oliver Hazard Perry remains on schedule for a commissioning in 2013, after which she will commence her mission of supporting and enhancing academic achievement in STEAM courses for science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics; sail training, leadership development; and career pathway exploration.

Education-at-Sea Tall Ship to Sail in 2013

Image Credit Ezra Smith

On May 10, Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee signed legislation designating the soon-to-be-commissioned 196’ three-masted, square-rigged tall ship SSV Oliver Hazard Perry the state’s official “Sailing Education Vessel.” It was a large step for the smallest state in the Union, which calls itself the “Ocean State” and possesses a rich maritime history and an economy closely tied to the marine trades.

“The SSV Oliver Hazard Perry,” said Governor Chafee, “will not only be a goodwill ambassador for our state while under sail but also a platform for experience-based education that supports and promotes tall ship training, marine trade workforce development and marine conservation and environmental stewardship.”

The non-profit organization Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI) has raised $5 million of the $7.5 million needed to complete the ship, which is currently berthed at Senesco Marine in North Kingstown, R.I., where major steel work is underway.

The SSV Oliver Hazard Perry’s steel hull, over which a 13.5 story high rig will eventually tower, was purchased by OHPRI in 2008 from a group in Amherstburg, Ontario that had planned to build a dock-side attraction. The hull arrived in Newport, R.I. a few months later, after being towed 892 miles from its former home.

Named after the Rhode Island native and American naval war hero who helped defeat the British in the Battle of Lake Erie, the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry will not sit idly at the dock; instead she will offer year-round experiential education-at-sea programs in New England and Canada during the summer and the Caribbean in the winter. She will be a U.S. documented sailing school vessel, inspected and certified by the US Coast Guard.

“The project has inspired generous support from philanthropic foundations, corporations and individuals, and it has garnered all-important programmatic support from the marine industry, from schools and universities, from Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist, and now – officially – from our government,” said OHPRI Vice Chair Perry Lewis. “We are delighted that the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry has been designated Rhode Island’s Sailing Education Vessel, and we look forward to partnering with schools across the state to deliver a hands-on interactive maritime learning experience.”

The legislation (2012-S 2698, 2012-H 7870aa) was sponsored by Sen. Louis P. DiPalma (D-Dist. 12, Middletown, Little Compton, Newport, Tiverton) and Rep. Peter Martin (D-Dist. 75, Newport), with final passage in the House and the Senate on May 9 and 10, respectively.

With an ocean-oriented approach, the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry’s education programming will support and enhance academic achievement in STEAM courses for science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics; leadership development; and career pathway exploration. The tall ship will be purpose-built for education and equipped to serve students from middle school through college and beyond. SSV Oliver Hazard Perry’s plans include classroom and library spaces below decks and a science laboratory space on the main deck. Students will have access to state-of-the-art technology for navigation, communications and ship systems.

For more information about OHPRI, visit www.OHPRI.org or contact Vice Chair Perry Lewis at OHPRI headquarters, Buliod-Perry House, 29 Touro Street, Washington Square, Newport, R.I., 401.841.0080.

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