The Tall Ship Gazela will leave from her home port of Penn's Landing at Market Street en route to Norfolk, VA to participate in the Harborfest Waterfront Festival.

Contact: Melissa Black
215-439-2781

(Philadelphia PA...June 9, 2010 8:00AM)

The tall ship Gazela is a 100+ year old square rigged ship and Philadelphia's tall ship ambassador. However, her sailing appearances in ports outside of Philadelphia have been somewhat limited for the past few years due to frustrating and ongoing problems with her aged rudder.

Gazela's rudder problems began in 2006 when her trip to the Rhode Island Wooden Boat festival with a full crew of local volunteers was cancelled the day before she was supposed to leave. The Captain had noticed that her steering felt a bit off and when divers were sent in to check, they discovered that the rudder had moved out of place.

Despite disappointment and ruined vacation plans Gazela's dedicated crew jumped right into completing a repair that would take the ship through the next two years. However, last summer it was recommended by a marine surveyor that the rudder be entirely replaced - and another sailing season and long list of port visits had to be cancelled. The replacement of the rudder would be an enormous undertaking, considering the wooden rudder is over 16 feet long and weighs 4700lbs.

In July of 2009, a crane was used to lift the old rudder out of the water. Hours of labor resulted in a replacement crafted by volunteer crew member and local craftsman Marcus Brandt. Solid bronze pintles and gudgeons (extremely heavy duty hinges) weighing about 50 lbs each had to be custom built and shipped from Mystic Valley Foundry in Connecticut. Once these pieces were attached, the entire rudder was clad in copper to help preserve it in the tough marine environment. This was done with volunteer help of a local coppersmith. After working on the project all Winter, along with all of the regular maintenance that comes with keeping an antique sailing vessel alive, the new rudder was put into the water. Then Patrick Flynn, the Guild's Superintendent of Ships, had the arduous task of fine tuning the rudder and steering gear to get the perfect fit before he and volunteer divers attached the rudder for good.

After a year's worth of work, the tall ship Gazela will finally set sail with her new rudder installed at approx 8:00 AM tomorrow, June 9th.

Although Gazela is sailing with a full crew, there may be room for press to join her for her return trip from Norfolk. She is expected to depart Norfolk on June 14th, and dock in Philadelphia on June 16th.

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Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild
301 S. Columbus Blvd., 2nd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19106-4328
tel: 215-238-0280
fax: 215-238-0281
www.gazela.org
To preserve, sail, and share our historic vessels, Gazela and Jupiter.
The guild is a 501(c)3 charitable non-profit corporation