The Charles W. Morgan: The Main Topmast: Part 2

For the second part of my day at Mystic Seaport, we were able to see the crew pull the Charles W. Morgan out into the river and turn her 180 degrees towards the shipyard. Quentin Snediker, director of the restoration, offered us the chance to ride in one of the small boats in the river for the operation, so my friend and fellow Dalvero Academy member, Jennifer Kiamzon, and I jumped at the chance and hopped in. Other Academy members were onboard the Morgan itself or perched on top of some nearby scaffolding.

Seeing the enormous ship from the water was such an exhilarating experience! The tiny boats like the one we were in rotated around the Morgan like a school of little fish around a giant whale. The little one in the drawing above had a powerful motor, and hooked itself onto her bow and began pulling the Morgan into the river.

We drifted peacefully away from the whaleship as the other boats pushed and pulled her massive heft into the river. Suddenly we heard Quentin shout the name of our boat over the walkie-talkie and the driver gunned the engine and headed for the Morgan's hull.

Before we knew it Jen and I were flailing back as Paul, aboard our boat, leapt over us and braced himself against the hull of the Morgan as our boat rammed into her side.

We peered up at the towering masts as Quentin surveyed the boats over the side of the Morgan and shouted orders to push and rotate her into place.

 

We moved away, and then rushed in several times for Paul to leap forward and press against the boat.

As the Morgan finished her rotation, the boats dispersed and we headed back to dock.

She now faces in towards the shipyard with her monumental prow jutting out over the dock.

For a couple of landlubbers it was an amazing experience! Peering up at her towering masts from the water made me imagine what it must have been like for the sailors in the whaleboats on the hunt, seeing much this same view as they prepared for a grueling, cruel chase in the open ocean. One behemoth looming above them, and another diving beneath.

The Charles W. Morgan: Main Topmast: Part 1

This weekend I had the opportunity to go back to Mystic Seaport and see them adding a taller part to the middle mast, known as the main topmast, to the Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaleship in the world. All three lower masts were in when we arrived, and they were preparing to attach the extension with an enormous crane.

The crew began prepping the rig.

 

Quentin Snediker (front left) oversaw the production as the crew worked and the crane loomed overhead.

A tall spindly ladder was hooked onto the crane and swung around onto the Morgan so that Alex, one of the key crew-members for this installation, could climb up to the very top of the lower mast to perform the installation.

 

 

This is not a job for those afraid of heights.

 

A block of concrete bricks was hauled onto the ship as ballast to help stop the Morgan from listing.

Alex climbed to the top of the mast and secured the necessary ropes before they brought the top portion of the mast to install.

The crew on the ground hooked the mast onto the crane.

The crane swung the topmast, as big as a tree, over our heads and above the Morgan.

Perched atop the mast, Alex and Matt guided the topmast into its locking position and began securing the two together.

The top of the mast now has two "spreaders" which look like outstretched arms. 

With each new addition, the Morgan becomes more and more stately and grand. After she was lowered into the water at the launch in July, the ship felt a little short and squat, with less of the immense impact she had out of the water. But as she grows taller and taller with each new piece, you get closer to seeing how impressive she will be with her full rigging and sails.

Stay tuned for Part 2 where I get to ride in a small boat in the river as the crew actually moves the enormous whaleship!

The Launch of the Charles W. Morgan

“Human beings have always celebrated resurrection, restoration, renewal and return.

The only thing greater than the miracle of life itself can sometimes seem to be

the miracle of something brought back to life…"

 Ric Burns, Mystic Seaport, July 21, 2013

This July 21st, the 172nd anniversary of the Charles W. Morgan’s first voyage, the last wooden whaleship in the world was lowered back into the Mystic River after 5 years of painstaking restoration.

I have been documenting the restoration of the Morgan with Dalvero Academy since 2009, so it was a very exciting day for us to be able to witness and document her return to the water. Our show, Restoring a Past, Charting a Future, will still be on view at Mystic Seaport through this September.

We arrived the day before to see her out on dry land one last time, this time perched at the edge of the pier on her stilts.

The Morgan boasted a fresh new paint job since our last visit, with numbers on her bow that we knew would soon be submerged in the river. 

 

Most of the ship we had drawn and explored for 4 years would soon be gone, and I couldn’t help feeling a bit of melancholy along with the excitement.

 

The next morning, we arrived early to see the set-up, only to be greeted by giant storm clouds and intermittent downpours. We huddled inside sheds, under overhangs, and under the tents watching as the ship’s crew prepared for the day ahead.

The crew toasted her rebirth with a swig of rum, and then passed the bottle to us, like part of the team.

 

Finally the clouds parted, and crowds began to fill every corner of the shipyard. 

Quentin Snediker, the head of the shipyard and our guide through the restoration process, attended to the preparations with stoic calm.

More and more spectators filtered in, buzzing with anticipation.

State troopers surrounded the center platform as curious kayakers began to flock around the river to watch the ceremony.

The speeches began with the president of Mystic Seaport, Stephen C. White, as he proclaimed the magnitude and the significance of the Morgan’s next journey.

Camera crews swirled as the dignitaries gave their speeches, with the keynote from documentary filmmaker, Ric Burns.

The honor of the christening of the ship was given to Sarah Bullard, the great-great-great granddaughter of Charles W. Morgan himself.

Bullard’s granddaughter, little Polly Morgan and her family waved to her from the crowd. She will be the next generation to inherit the Morgan and her legacy.

The snowy haired duo, Quentin Snediker and Sarah Bullard, stood beneath crowning bow of the ship, like proud parents sending their daughter off into the world.

The ship would be christened with water from each of the seas the Morgan sailed, and a drop of rum for luck.

With a crash, Bullard inaugurated the Morgan's descent into the water, and a cheer erupted from the shipyard and the river.

We all watched as she began to disappear into the river, and I noticed Quentin looking on. Only he and the shipwrights could know the thousands of hours and hands that went into carefully shaping each timber and plank of wood that now disappeared beneath the water, gently cradling the ship and keeping her afloat. At the end of her slow descent, the numbers on her bow vanished, one by one into the water. As the '9' broke the surface, the call went out "She is afloat!" and again the crowd burst into raucous applause.

As she went beneath the water, I imagined all the hands and souls that left their mark and went down with her. I watched her there, half submerged, hoping that the generations to come will know how far her depths reach below that water.