Lightship Overfalls headed to N.J. for repairs

The Lightship Overfalls will soon head to a shipyard in New Jersey for routine maintenance work.

The Lewes icon will be away from its berth at Canalfront Park for about six weeks, said Overfalls member David Bernheisel, as it is towed 40 miles by Wilmington Tug to the Dorchester Shipyard northwest of Cape May.

Before the ship can be on its way, the section of the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal directly in front of the ship must be dredged. The dredging window is from October to the end of December. Bernheisel said the Overfalls has already obtained a dredging permit from the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control but is still waiting for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Once at the shipyard, the ship will be pulled out of the water and work will begin on the hull. Bernheisel said there are 40 blocks of zinc bolted to the bottom of the ship that are designed to protect the steel from electrolysis. A recent underwater inspection of the hull revealed the zinc blocks were in need of replacement.

In addition, he said, the bottom will be cleaned and receive several new coats of paint.

Work is expected to take up to six weeks, but depending on the schedule at the shipyard, he said, the ship could be back in three.

The Lightship Overfalls is one of only 17 remaining lightships of the 179 built from 1820 to 1952. In 1973, the Coast Guard donated the ship to the Lewes Historical Society to serve as a floating museum in Lewes. The historical society brought the ship to its existing location on the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal and painted on a new station name, Overfalls, in honor of the lightship station closest to Lewes. The Overfalls station is in the mouth of Delaware Bay, where lightships had served as a mid-channel marker from 1898 to 1960 when the station was discontinued.

The Overfalls is open for tours seasonally from Memorial Day through the end of the season in October. For more information, go to www.overfalls.org.