support also comes from

The state's official tall ship heads off for repairs at a Texas City shipyard in a couple of weeks and the people who plan to fix the historic vessel say new money from FEMA will help pay for that work.

The Elissa was built back in 1877 and is a rare, three-masted tall ship that has been docked in Galveston since the late 1970's. It was one of the few tall ships still sailing until damage to its iron hull was discovered after Hurricane Ike. It's been unable to sail since but is still open to visitors. 

Dwayne Jones is the executive director of the Galveston Historical Foundation.  He says small holes in the hull made it unsafe in open water. 

"They weren't always large. They created nickel or smaller sized holes that went all the way through the hull. It's a very unusual thing. It's a combination it appears of micro-organisms working with stray electrical currents."

He says the ship will head to dry dock September 10th and experts will try to fix her.

"We're actually bringing in some highly technical riveters and various other people, there are only a few left in the world who work on this, who can do some restoration work on her who can put her back to the way she was."

FEMA says it will contribute $1.4 to the cost of the repairs.

Jones says that funding will pay for part of the repairs, which could take up to three months.

Share This
Tweet

Share on Tumblr