Bringing in the Boats

It's a busy day down at the Newport Shipyard.

As of about noon Thursday, crew members had hauled 31 boats off the water. They've got nine more to go, and don't plan to stop until Friday afternoon, according to Shipyard Manager Steve Figueiredo.

"We're full-up hauling," Figueiredo said. "We've got 5 1/2 acres of storage, and we'll be hauling up until about 2 p.m. tomorrow. Then we'll wait it out."

Figueiredo said crew started the task on Monday, and have been busy non-stop since. The shipyard has had to turn down many customer calls over the past couple of days.

"We've got to get everybody tied down," he said. "If this storm shifts, we have to be ready."

Meanwhile over at a nearby dock, Middletown's Mike Patterson was busy untying Newporter Guy Heckman's 12-metre USA 61 to take away from Newport and up to Barrington to ride out the storm.

"It's nice and tight up there, protected," Patterson said as he pulled away from the dock. "It's land-locked. I've got two 12-meters I'm taking to Barrington. I can keep them tighter together, so it's better that way."