Thursday afternoon a little ship will arrive in Oriental. Her name is "Periauger" (pronounced pear-e-au-ger), and she was recently launched at the Beaufort Maritime Museum. You can see the boat on display at the Town Dock Thursday afternoon (estimated 4pm arrival) and throughout the day Friday.
The Periauger afloat after her June launch in Beaufort (photo courtesy Perquimans County Restoration Association) |
The boat was built at the North Carolina Maritime Museum of Beaufort as a collaborative effort between the museum, the Perquimans County Restoration Association and the East Carolina University's Program of Maritime Studies. Construction began November 2003, and she was launched June 19. They state it is the only boat of it's kind in the world.
The roots of the Periauger date back to colonial times. This would have been a common craft used by settlers in the mid 1700's to travel the North Carolina waterways. It is 30 ft overall, with 7 ft beam and was designed to carry sacks of corn, bricks, barrels of rum or even to be fitted out for military duty. (Benedict Arnold reports having one in his Revolutionary War fleet)
They have been described as the equivalent of the "waterway pick-up truck" of that era.
Periauger under sail (photo courtesy Perquimans County Restoration Association) |
The Periauger is traveling north to its final home port at Hertford, NC (northeast of Edenton) where they plan to arrive September 11. On the way she will visit
Oriental, New Bern, Washington, Bath, Belhaven, New Bern and Manteo.
