In the May issue of SpinSheet, Al Schreitmueller took us on a tour of the Charles W. Morgan, the last remaining wooden whaling ship that is currently undergoing restoration in Mystic, Connecticut. Originally built in 1841, the Morgan is set to be relaunched later in July.
Nearly one-third of the Morgan's whaleboats, or the 'pods' that whalers would use for hunting the whales, were built in Chesapeake waters. The project is not simply one of renovation, though. The entire boat was laser seamed, the build documents were scanned for historical purposes, and in an incredibly lucky find, a "cache of pristine antique oak, hand-hewn specifically for use in ships of the great tall-ship era," was found underneath the Charlestown Navy Yard just outside Boston. Yesterday the shutter plank was fitted, called the "shutter" plank because the 20-foot long piece of pine "shuts in" and completes the hull. Fitting the shutter plank is generally celebrated in the shipbuilding process, so all the members of the renovation crew signed the plank.
A fun video by Ed Dzitko provides a closer look at the Morgan's history, the scope of the reconstruction, and its current status.
