HUZZAH! CW Morgan launched.

The Whaleboats dance and parade

   

Six whaleboats were present for the launch. Front row l to r: The Apprenticeshop, Great Lakes Boat Building School, and a boat from the Mystic collection, presumably a Willits Ansel build. Back row l to r: Rocking the Boat, Independence Seaport Museum and Independence Seaport Museum.

photo courtesy Wen Byar

Speaking of the Independence Seaport, here are volunteers John Schwarzenbach and Wen Byar, along with CEO John Brady.

Here's the crew of the Great Lakes boat ready to shove off.

Geoff McKonly, formerly of Rocking the Boat, was lead builder for their whaleboat. Here he's sending his crew off for the whaleboat parade.

In the foreground, the Apprenticeshop boat joins the two whaleboats from the ISM.

Rocking the Boat and Great Lakes dancing.

RTB and ISM have a dance.

The Mystic boat led the other five in a 'parade' to the 'Morgan' and back.

Brady et al en route.

The hardy crew of the Apprenticeshop boat. She was sailed and rowed from Rockland ME to Mystic.

Just prior to the ceremonies I had a sail in the catboat 'Breck Marshall'. Here we see the 'Morgan' and 'Sabino' from the water.

 

Stage set for the beginning of the proceedings. How massive she is.

Seated just behind the Morgan are the VIP's, and yes, it was hot!

Ric Burns gave the the keynote address, and as I'd expected, it was eloquent and spot on.

To his left is Steve White, President of Mystic Seaport. To the extreme right is Sarah Bullard, a descendant of CW Morgan.

Senator Richard Blumenthal read the U.S, Senate Resolution he co-crafted commemorating the launch.

Sarah Bullard 'christens' the launch with a bottle filled with waters collected from the seas the 'Morgan' sailed.

As the 'Morgan' is slowly lowered into the water, a fireship behind the 'Sabino' let go her spouts.

A great crowd on the water

 

And finally, she is in.

Huzzah! and Boom

The red white and blue

The 'Morgan' floats,

though not quite to her lines. She still has to be rigged and the added weight of spars and masts will bring here down to where she should be.

On Monday morning the 'Morgan' was towed a little further out into the Mystic River.

photo courtesy John Brady

All photos Thomas Armstrong unless otherwise noted

The morning was inauspicious. Raining. But by the time we had breakfasted, things were looking up, no rain and clearing skies, as they say, the 'Morgan' is a lucky boat. I was lucky as well, running into Dan McFadden communications director at Mystic as I entered the Seaport. He directed me to the dock alongside the 'LA Dunton' where the whaleboats were asssembling for a parade to the 'Morgan' and back. I rushed over to find all six of the project boats and a Mystic whaleboat rowing around the river prior to assembling for the parade. Evelyn Ansel was calling the shots and announced the beginning of the parade. I moved over to Australia beach to catch them going by. Later, my companions and I took a short cruise on the catboat 'Breck Marshall' to get a closer look at CW and the watercraft invading the Mystic River for the celebration. Magic.

By the time the ceremonies began it was sunny and a bit hot. The affable Steve White, President of Mystic Seaport, opened the proceedings. Speeches ensued, by dignitaries, all quite good, actually, then a prayer, and then we came to the Keynote address by the superb filmmaker Ric Burns. Ric is a bit of an historian on American whaling and his documentary 'Into the Deep' for PBS is must see for anyone remotely interested in American whaling, or our history in general. His remarks were cogent and perceptive and a coda to the day.

Sarah Bullard christened the 'Morgan'. She is a descendent of Charles W Morgan. The bottle she used to strike the bow was filled water from the North and South Atlantic, the Pacific and Indian Oceans as well as water from New Bedford and Mystic, her original and current homeports with a wee drop of rum added for good luck.

The 38th Voyage:

Beginning in late May of 2014, the 'Morgan' will embark on another voyage. It will be her 38th. She'll first sail south to New London for sail training and seagoing preparations. Upon leaving New London she'll turn upcoast and visit Newport, Vineyard Haven, New Bedford, Provincetown and Boston. The 'Morgan' will then return to Mystic. 

According to Dan McFadden at Mystic Seaport, her voyage and subsequent tenure as a exhibit at Mystic revolves around four major themes: The American Sailor as Icon, The influence of different cultures connecting at sea, Whaling as an example of American enterprise and America's changing relationship to the natural world. Dan states "The last is the most significant: whales were hunted almost to extinction. Today America celebrates the whale and works for it's recovery. Where once the 'Charles W Morgan's cargo was oil and bone, today her cargo is knowledge."

 It's my fervent hope that that's true. This massive work of preservation and restoration, involving more than five years and millions of dollars, and including the work done at the various institutions building the whaleboats, is a monument to history, and quite valuable as an artifact. But to fulfill her potential, the 'Morgan' must also become a potent symbol for another kind of preservation, that of not only whales and other cetaceans but for all worldwide fishing stocks and sea life, as well as our seas themselves, all of which are in danger.

Some stats:   

The 'Morgan' is 113' long and 27' wide

She displaces 300 tons

She is rigged as a bark

280 frame futtocks were replaced

She has 70 new ceiling planks

168 new hull planks

22 States have contributed materials or expertise to the restoration.

As one speaker during the Launch ceremony quipped, It's all been said but not everyone has had a chance to say it...

I would like to thank all those involved in this tremendous project, the staff at Mystic, the shipwrights and volunteers who've brought this ship back to life, all the folks involved in the whaleboat project. Especially, Steve White for his tenacious commitment to see the project through in financially difficult times,  three generations of the Ansel family for their commitment to preserving maritime knowledge and skills, Dan McFadden for his help and generosity and to John Brady for inviting me to be a part of the project. It has been and continues to be a great honor.

posted by Thomas Armstrong on Whaleboats for the CW Morgan

22nd annual WoodenBoat Festival at Mystic Seaport .3

Around the Seaport

The 28' sandbagger 'Annie' was built by D. O. Richmond about a half mile downriver from the Seaport in 1880 and came to Mystic in 1931 as the first boat in a collection that now numbers over 500 craft. Much more of her story here.

'Aida' is a 33' keel/centerboard yawl built in 1926 by the Herreschoff Mfg. Co., designed by N. G. Herreschoff.
 

Recently restored by Doug Hylan in Brooklin, ME. More about 'Aida' here.

'Aida' is the most recent addition to the Seaport's fleet. There's a beautiful book about 'Aida' written by Maynard Bray available in the Seaport's bookstore.

The 'CW Morgan' in the water, on her cradle, "taking up" ie swelling her planks to a tight fit before her launch this Sunday, July 21, 2013.

A view to give a taste of the immensity of this ship.

Continuing the theme of immensity, here are some of the spars waiting in the wings for rigging the ship. She'll be rigged after the launch.

By way of supreme contrast, here's the microcruiser Scamp, a joint project of The Small Craft Advisor and noted NZ boat designer John Welsford.

? Found art
 

Higher ups aboard the 'Joseph Conrad'

Jon Wilson, the creator of WoodenBoat Magazine. We had a short chat and Jon informed me that while he's still at WoodenBoat almost daily, he is also deeply involved as director of a non-profit called JUST Alternatives which mediates victim/offender dialogue. There is an in depth article about this man with a foot in two worlds from Yankee Magazine, well worth your time.

Ben Fuller, "Living National Treasure" ( he'll no doubt hate that). Ben's an avid small boat advocate and member of the TSCA. Ben is the Curator at Penobscot Marine Museum (look into their extensive photo archives) and a former Curator at Mystic. He's also the owner of 'Ran Tan', more of which later. Here he's chatting with John Harris of CLC.

Coasting Schoooner 'Austraila' was built in 1862 on Long Island. She served as a blockade runner based in the Bahamas during the Cival War, and consequentially spent over 60 years in the Chesapeake hauling goods.

Later she was acquired by the DuPont family as their yacht, and was donated to Mystic in 1951. In 1961 she was hauled for refit but the damage at that time was too great, she was retired to a shed on campus as an educational exhibit. Read more..,

'Breck Marshall' is a reproduction Cape Cod catboat c.1900, built at  Mystic in 1987 and  in use today as an excursion boat for museum visitors. More...

The John Gardner Small Craft Workshop is held most years at Mystic as part of the WoodenBoat Festival. It is situated on Australia beach, adjacent to the 'Australia's shed and directly in front of the John Gardner Small Craft workshop, still in use, building small craft in the Gardner tradition. John was a visionary historian and teacher. He is credited with saving many American small craft from obscurity and as a key figure in the wooden boat revival. He served as Associate Curator of Small Craft at Mystic Seaport from 1969 to 1995. The workshop is held as a collaboration between Mystic Seaport, WoodenBoat Magazine and The Traditional Small Craft Association.

Good night, Mystic Seaport
 

A quick sail aboard 'Ran Tan'

'Ran Tan' is a modified wherry, drawn by Antonio Dias. imagined and owned by Ben Fuller.
 

Ben brought 'Ran Tan' down for the John Gardner Small Craft Workshop, which operates a livery under the auspices of the TSCA. Here you can try any of the offered boats, no charge.

Ran Tan is Irish slang for a sort of walkabout, according to Tony.

Tony is a friend and invited myself and brother John for a sail.
 

John's duty was to watch for other craft, especially where the sail blocked Tony's view. I, being considerably heftier, was assigned to be moving ballast. The boat is very light (200lbs.), and lively, so I was moving around quite a bit trying to keep her on the flat.

Antoino at the helm.
 

Sailing past the 'Morgan'

Tony and John back at the dock after a fun sail. I do not have lot's of experience in small craft and it was enlightening. Antonio Dias is a truly multifaceted man, artist, talented designer and writer, take a look at his website. Thanks, Tony. You can read an earlier post on this blog about Tony and his boat designs here.


Text and photos copyright Thomas Armstrong, first posted on 70.8%

21st WoodenBoat Show @ Mystic Seaport_1: Planking the CW Morgan

 A plank exits the steam box after about 3 hrs, cook time.

Picked up by the fork lift, the planks limberness is evident.

It's brought into the shed to be fitted.

 The new plank is lifted into place by many crew members. The popularity of this demo is apparent here, I could barely squeeze in enough to get a photo.

 These are all new planks save the very first visible

.

Drilling for the silicon bronze spikes...

and hammering it home.

The new plank in place.

The crew.

Leviathan

View of the large shed where much preliminary work is done.

Same again, you can see this is where the spars are being worked on or fabricated.

all the photos above copyright Thomas Armstrong

Morgan launch. A friend sent me a link to a page of early photos of the Morgan.

View aboard.

The two photos above courtesy PTLDME via John Brinton, thanks John.

This years WoodenBoat Show at Mystic Seaport was, as always, a great experience. One of the features of the show I enjoy most are the demonstrations, and this year they hit a home run. On both Friday and Saturday the CW Morgan crew demonstrated steam bending and planking for the big whaleship's restoration. A wow. The Morgan is being planked in a mix of white oak and longleaf yellow pine. These planks are 36' long, 14" wide and 3" thick and weigh in at an average of 500lbs. though there must be a bit of difference in the two species. I was unable to determine which I was photographing, but my money is on the pine. The plank is steamed for about 3 hrs. to make it pliable enough to conform to the shape of the hull.

The old adage is 'many hands make light work'. In the case of planking the Morgan, I would suggest that though there were indeed many hands involved, this is still not 'light' work. Once the new plank is in places it is clamped and wedged to allow the crew, a mix of volunteers and staff, to secure the plank with wooden trunnels and 7"silicon bronze spikes, robustly hammered into place as seen above.

This demonstration was highly instructive, revealing the immense effort being poured into the restoration of this massive icon. It was also wildly popular with the show attendees, as you can see in my photo taken from the stairway which goes up to her deck. I had to push in just to get a narrow shot of the plank going into place. Once things calmed a bit I was given a hardhat and allowed to get a little closer to the action. This work is ongoing, with the hull being re-planked from the garboard planks up. The lower, garboard planks are deemed worthy to stay in place but will receive copper plating. The projected relaunch date is about a year from now, with a voyage to New Bedford planned for 2014. 

Thanks to Mystic Seaport and WoodenBoat Magazine for continuing excellence, and a special thanks to John Brinton for his link.

Originally posted by Thomas Armstrong on 70.8%