LAMP Boatworks chief boatbuilder Maury Keiser (right) and St. Augustine resident Roy Jaeger pose in front of the Galveztown’s erect frames in Malaga, Spain.
From the Houston Chronicle:
GALVESTON – A visit from a replica of an 18th-century brig built from oak trees felled by Hurricane Ike is being delayed more than a year because of a complete redesign based on newly discovered documents.
Construction of the Galveztown in the Nereo Shipyard on the Spanish coast was halted because the architect found more details about the original design of the ship sailed by the Spanish governor of colonial Louisiana, Bernardo de Galvez, who mapped Galveston Bay and became the namesake of the island.
A keel designed for a 68-foot on-deck length had already been laid last year when naval architect Francisco Fernandez announced that he had learned that the original on-deck length was 56 feet, a full 12-feet shorter than originally thought.
Fernandez, reached by phone in Madrid, said he discovered the original dimensions by piecing together information from documents in the United States, Spain and Great Britain.
One of our more exciting international partnerships is that with the Astilleros Nereo, a shipyard and maritime museum in Malaga, Spain. The shipyard is building a full-size replica of the Revolutionary War ship Galveztown, which played a critical role in the battle that switched Florida from British to Spanish control at the end of the Revolution. LAMP archaeologists provided archaeological data to inform the Malaga shipwrights as they designed the vessel, and our volunteers at LAMP Boatworks are building a yawl, or period ship’s boat, to accompany the Galveztown on her goodwill American tour which is scheduled to begin with the trans-Atlantic voyage to St. Augustine.
More from the Houston Chronicle:
“The end result is going to be a very accurate replica of an 18th century brig,” said Sam Turner, director of archeology at the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum in St. Augustine, Fla. “This project is really about saving and keeping alive something that is intangible, and that’s the skill sets needed to build these vessels.”
The Nereo Shipyard, Astilleros Nereo in Spanish, conceived of the Galveztown project as a way to honor Galvez, born in Malaga province, and bring attention to Spain’s role in the achievement of American independence. Astilleros Nereo officials sought advice from the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum and a partnership was born. Craftsmen at the Florida museum are building the ship’s boats based on a 1760s design, Turner said. The Galveztown would have probably carried the two 14-foot craft for hauling cargo, he said.
After Hurricane Ike struck Sept. 13, 2008, killing nearly half the trees in Galveston, Turner arrived and picked out nearly 400 tons of prime live oak that was shipped to the Nereo Shipyard near Malaga, Spain. Live oak is prized by builders of wooden ships because of its stoutness and resistance to weather, he said.