Charles W Morgan Restoration; A Volunteer's Perspective-1

[Morgan Volunteer]

This past weekend was the 21^st annual Wooden Boat Show at Mystic Seaport.

We had a booth selling trunnels.



For $5.00 you could sign your name on a trunnel that will be used on the Morgan.



The short barrel on the ground has the ends of trunnels already installed on the Morgan. Everyone who signed their name could take one home.

I was only able to be there on Friday and we sold 165 trunnels before I left at 4:30.

This was a family affair. This couple’s son, standing to the left, is one of the people restoring the Morgan. He is also the man who makes most of the trunnels.



Across from us was an old style trunnel turning machine. When you turn the handle, the trunnel rotates and the weighted cutter falls as it cuts. For this they were using pine. The old cutter wasn’t sharp enough or durable enough for cutting black locust. Plus it’s hard enough to crank that thing using pine.



Another happy customer.



And well…..

[Morgan Volunteer]

The highlight of the day was a group of volunteering visitors who got to install a plank on Morgan’s hull. Hard hats in place, the lead shipwright on the Morgan Project explained the procedure.





Out of the steam box.



Onto the hull.

[Morgan Volunteer]

The rest were able to watch.



Driving the plank so it butts up on the other end.



Drilling holes for the bronze spikes. This is the father and son team again.



Later on, one of the shipwrights came over to where we were selling the trunnels and grabbed a few. It was time install the first named trunnel.

Sorry, I wasn’t there for that.

http://www.mysticseaport.org/index.c...7DA377D6C238EE

[Morgan Volunteer]

I took a break and walked the grounds.




Sales, displays, and demonstrations were great.

[Bob Perkins]

Thanks for the great updates.
I signed my Trunnel Saturday. Great show.

[Morgan Volunteer]

In talking to the owner of this display I found that he pays a royalty to Mystic Seaport for every one of this model he sells.



They come in all sizes.



Tomorrow it's back to Scrapin', Paintin', and pounding salt.

[Morgan Volunteer]

The Wooden Boat Show was a great success for those of us on the Scraping' & Paintin' Crew. We sold trunnels to visitors for $5.00 each so they could sign their names on them. Later the shipwrights will install them into Morgan's hull.

Over the three days we sold 660 trunnels for a total of $3,300! All the money will go directly into the Morgan's restoration.

Visitors could write anything they wanted. Most just wrote there own names but others paid tribute to others by adding their names. One man added the name of an ancestor who had been one of the Morgan's captains.

[Morgan Volunteer]

We have a lot of spars to scrape and paint. The yard has cleared the shed next to the sawmill for us.





We have been working on this one for about two weeks and compared to the first few it’s going fast.



Behind us, another knee is shaping up.



This is the layout.

All the notes and lines mean something, just not to me. Although my guess is that it will go on the starboard side in the number 5 position.

[Morgan Volunteer]

On the way to lunch I passed Roann with her new paint job.



On the way back the guys were taking her out.



Casting off the lines.



Captain says, “Let’s go.”





It turns out, the other side still needs paint so they were just turning her around.

[Morgan Volunteer]

We each had a different idea to solve a problem, how to get the salt into the hull more efficiently.

My partner came up with this.



It is a box with a wooden block inside attached to the wooden dowel.

Load it up,




Push the dowel.



Well it worked, almost.

It would work on the salt pellets normally used in water softeners, but would not work on the coarse, yet very much finer, rock salt. (Something like Kosher or Sea Salt.) The finer salt jammed it up.

My idea was to use a garden auger. (The kind that gardeners will use to dig small holes for planting bulbs.) I mounted it in a PVC pipe with appropriate other parts and a cordless drill.

Mine worked well too, but only on the finer salt. The large pellets would jam it up.



The only flaw with mine was two people are needed to run it. It worked so fast that the other guy couldn’t keep up. I brought it home for a redesign with a larger hopper.

While mixing more salt we talked with a visitor. I don’t remember what we said but he replied, “I read your thread all the time.”

Next thing you know, we have him trying out as a volunteer.

Here he is pouring salt.



Then I showed him the stern.

[Morgan Volunteer]

From there we walked to the Plastic Palace, our winter quarters, when he said “Where’s the big engine?”

That’s where I left him, in the good hands of the engine crew.

That’s him with his face hidden.




Other things going on.

It seemed a bit light on visitors this day. Perhaps the 4^th of July happening last week slowed things up this week. However there were several groups.

Usually a group of kids will wear something so they stand out.

Missing a kid?

Look for a blue hat.



Or a red shirt.



Elsewhere, Roann is getting new paint on her starboard side.





Next week I will be there on Wednesday. (My normal day is Tuesday) The seaport puts on a “Celebration of Volunteers” every year as a thank you from the seaport for all our work. My commuting partner and I are bringing our wives.

Aside from the awards, the music and drink, every year the buffet is wonderful. Really good food AND NO ZITI! Don’t get me wrong, I like ziti, but mixing it with fried chicken, roast pork, and you know the drill….

This caterer has really great food.

So, if you're at Mystic, look for the crew scrapin' paint or poundin' salt. All of us we happy to talk.

[Morgan Volunteer]

Last night was the Annual Celebration of Volunteers dinner.

Good friends, good food, speeches and awards.

The weather map showed severe storms near by so a few couldn’t make it. It was still quite a crowd.






Mystic Seaport’s president, Steve White, introduces Rhoda Hopkins Root, Volunteer coordinator.



Rhoda passed the microphone to others as various awards were presented.

One recognition was for Scott Noseworthy. While Scott is an employee and not a volunteer, he is one of those special people who goes way and above the job to make the seaport a special place. One area he takes care of is the marine engine department at the seaport. His volunteers are the people who rebuild and maintain all the engines in the collection. At the end of August he will run the Marine Engine Show which is the largest show of its kind in the country.



The highlight of the presentations is always the Volunteer of the Year Award. The staff presented him with a picture representing just some of the jobs he has performed at the seaport. (Including changing light bulbs.)



While it was not a beautiful warm evening, it never did storm as predicted. (We could still hear the thunder)

[Morgan Volunteer]

Other pictures as we lft last night.

[Sailor]

More info needed on this Herrshoff beauty. She is a Herrshoff right?

[Morgan Volunteer]

To answer Sailor's question above; yes that is a Herreshoff Auxiliary ketch


Read about ARAMINTA here, and rent it for the day too.



http://www.mysticseaport.org/index.c...EB1BB26DF11298

[Morgan Volunteer]

One of our Scrapin' & Paintin' crew took some pictures on Sunday of the wooden boat show.

Here are a few more from the show.

The detail work here is very interesting. Later, long strings were attached and it could be played, sort of. It appears to be a work in progress.











I wasn't able to get around much the Friday when I was there and the boat on top came in on Sunday.

[Redeye]

I love this thread it is one of my favourites. I regularly check in and view the updates. Thanks for doing all this hard work.

On another note, this is quite possibly one of the most beautiful work boats I have ever seen.

does anyone know more about her?

I'll start a thread in design to avoid a thread hi-jack.

[Sailor]

Armaminta has to be one of LFHs most pretty designs.

[Morgan Volunteer]

Plan A for putting salt into Morgan’s hull worked so well I decided to try for an improvement with plan B by adding a larger hopper.



It worked only marginally but I could see where a modification would work much better. Plan B needs a longer feed tube so the auger does not have to push the salt up hill. As you can see above, the feed tube is pointing up.

So I will try plan C tomorrow with extensions to the feed tube and handles to hold onto it.

Two planks went in the day before and the guys are adding the trunnels.





Temporary caulking had been installed to help keep the wood from drying out. Now the real caulking is starting.




Out in the yard they are checking stock for another bottom plank.



Over in the saw mill another frame, that crew call a tail feather, is taking shape. This is one of the frames that sit vertically in the stern.

[Morgan Volunteer]

This man is a teacher from Pittsburg and he and his family come to Mystic every summer so he can work.



Inside, my scrapin’ & paintin’ partner is brewing up a mix of turpentine, borate powder, and other wonderful things. It goes on hot and two coats will help protect the spar.



This is the same spar we cleaned up in the DuPont barn last week. This mix smells so it got put out side.



Over in the engine shop the Packard now has an instrument panel.



It also sports a new set of pipes.



Since there are so many guys working on the one engine my commuting partner got his own engine to work on.

The plate says it’s a Hubbard. Beyond that I have nothing more about it.

[Morgan Volunteer]

After lunch he pulled the head.



The water jacket has a bit of a problem, but they have all the pieces so a little welding should make it right.



I stopped by to see his new project and he said, “Notice anything different?”

It took me a few seconds, but…

As Gomer Pyle used to say, “Surprise, surprise, surprise!”

While we were at lunch, a brand new, old stock, carburetor showed up.



It came from Holland in this box.




With the manual.

[Morgan Volunteer]

The venturis are more like barn doors than the butterflies we commonly think of. They are round and they roll open.

Closed



Half open



WOT (Wide Open Throttle)



I didn't see any jets but I will look for them.

[Morgan Volunteer]

If there is one thing that Mystic does right, there is no reason for young children to be bored.

Between the candle making shop, arts and crafts building, toy boat building exhibit, and horse car rides every child can be entertained all day long. There is also the All Hands on Deck Discovery Barn where kids can try their hands on nautical things such as tying knots and hoisting loads with block and tackle.






Even the Moms will get involved.

Then there is the Children’s Museum. This is another hands on area where children can play like early American house keepers.



Here are a couple of visitors washing the laundry and hanging it out to dry.



“Sweetheart, they call that wooden thing a clothespin. Your great-grandmother used them when she did laundry.”






Clothespin? How many of you know what a church key is? Older people will know.

[Morgan Volunteer]

Across from the Children’s Museum is the seasonal performance stage. It is a grassy area with benches where Seaport interpreters put on skits aimed a young crowd.







They always get the kids involved.



So, bring the kids and if you’re lucky enough to have an older person coming along as a sitter, you can go see the “Good Stuff.”

I look at the “Good Stuff” every time I’m there so I don’t even see it any more.

Thanks to a comment by Redeye in a post above I decided to take another look.


This is Nellie.








The Thomas Oyster Company building above came from New Haven. My father-in-law’s grandfather was an oysterman going back into the late 1800’s. His oyster company was located next door.

I know very little about oyster farming (And it is farming) so the story I tell here is as close as I can remember it.

Chan Wedmore had been an oysterman all his life. Over the years he had several boats including one named for his wife, Catherine Wedmore. The Catherine Wedmore is still run as an oyster boat here on Long Island sound.

http://www.citypointnewhavenconnecti...2-e34f74e86b52

But this story goes back much further that that. The boat in this story probably looked a lot like Nellie.

Part of oyster farming is planting seed shells during the time that oysters spawn. Oystermen take empty shells out to seed beds where they can grow to commercially viable size.

On one trip Chan and his crew sailed from New Haven out to seed beds off Rhode Island. I don’t know how it works in Rhode Island but in Connecticut an oysterman will lease plots of the sea floor from the state to raise oysters. After long day of sailing and spreading the shells over the beds they finally headed for home. As they were passing off the coast of Rhode Island with their oyster boat, they passed a small fleet of sailboats and gave it no more thought.

When they got home, there was a telephone message. A yacht club in Rhode Island had called and asked that the next time they were in the area, “Please stop by and pick up your trophy!”

The crews sailing in the race were so taken by having an old and I’m sure very smelly oyster boat pass them by they voted to award the trophy to them.

Now that’s a class act!

[Morgan Volunteer]

This weekend was the annual Classic and Antique Rendezvous at Mystic Seaport.

Not all the fun was on the docks.

As I said in the previous post, there are a lot of things to keep kids happy at Mystic.



This was the Museum’s 37th annual show. This year the show featured a collection of mint condition Huckins motor yachts.

http://www.huckinsyacht.com/

I have a warm spot in my heart for Huckins yachts.

My uncle had a Huckins when I was 17. It was my first experience in boating. He had it in Barnegat Light in New Jersey. We would go fishing for tuna with him. It was my first time fishing in salt water too.



I took these pictures in about 1960.



So when the seaport announced that Huckins was the featured boat, I had to make the trip out to see them.



Most Huckins boats have a distinctive look.

I ran into the “Mr Huckins” who runs the company now. His grandfather started it 84 years ago.



In speaking with them they suggested I call and they will most likely be able to help me find my uncle’s 57 year old boat.

At 12:30 the crowd gathered for the parade.



The weather was iffy, but the rain held off.

[Morgan Volunteer]

Not all classics and antiques are large yachts.

[Morgan Volunteer]

There were other boats in between.

[Morgan Volunteer]

Sabino led the way.





The fleet was held up by the bridge. It is opening now.








The fire boat was showing off in front of Sabino.

[Morgan Volunteer]

Today starts the annual reading of Moby Dick.

http://www.mysticseaport.org/index.c...9E04FA17BE18E8

Time is of the essence here.

I haven’t tried it myself yet but when I’m done, I will.

Well, I tried the address below, I gave up.Then I found this.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/moby-dick-marathon1




The emcee said that Mr. Melville was a bit under the weather so he asked that someone take his place. At 193 years of age Mr. Melville is slowing down just a bit. He promised to be back next year.

The crowd gathers as the emcee greets visitors and explains how the Moby Dick reading marathon will be run. It started today at 12:30 and will continue for 24 hours or until the reading is finished.



Then she introduced Mr Melville’s stand in.



He started, “My name is Ishmael.”



In the audience was Mystic Seaport’s president, Steve White, reading along with his own copy.



Later the reading continued on the Morgan.

[Morgan Volunteer]

As the marathon continues, over in the shipyard, next to the saw mill, an artist is creating a white whale out of cardboard, wire, and papier-mâché. He too plans to spend 24 hours working on this masterpiece.



Later he had help from two seaport visitors.





I am hoping to be there tomorrow for the finale of the marathon and to see the finished whale.

A white whale!

[Morgan Volunteer]

The Moby Dick Marathon went on all night. Because I like to finish what I start I decided to drive back for the final chapter the next day. It's a two hour round trip.

When I arrived the readers were still going strong.





Not everyone held on all night.



Down below the white whale was almost done.

With a little help from another visitor, Moby was looking good.



The finish is unpainted. The top coat is a blend of two tones of uncolored paper.



Perhaps next year Moby's blow hole will work.

[Morgan Volunteer]

It would seem that the Morgan Project is running at WOT. (Wide open throttle) Sometimes there are two planks per day going on. Keeping up with the trunnel installation is a challenge. Planks and trunnels are going in on both sides and both ends.










It all starts when a template is made and then the search for a piece of wood that will do the job.

Long enough?



Try another pile.

Wide enough?



Ok, mill it to size.

Oil the machine first.

[Morgan Volunteer]

Then run it through.



Carry it into the other end of the barn where the magic continues.



Set it on horses.



When shaped it goes into the steamer for three hours. (One hour per inch of thickness.)







This one went onto the starboard stern.

[Morgan Volunteer]

I made an extra trip to the seaport this week because the engine crew was expecting a new baby.

She came in very late but quite big.

20,000 pounds!



The engine is a 4 cylinder Atlas diesel used on a fishing boat on the west coast.

It took both forklifts to get it off the truck. You can see the forks of the other truck under the engine stand.

They raised it up and let the truck pull forward.



Interesting valve train on this one.



Proud Papa? Well sort of. He is in charge of the engine collection at Mystic Seaport.

This engine was running until just a few years ago, so aside from some small issues she should be running soon. (We hope.)



Come and see it at the Engine Show. The Packard should be running too.

http://www.mysticseaport.org/index.c...8BEDDAB342FD5F

[Morgan Volunteer]

All the major hardware is ready for the Packard engine.

The oil system is what is known as a dry sump. That means the oil pan is used to collect the oil but since it is held in a tank on the outside of the engine, the sump (oil pan) is relatively dry. The reservoir holds 30 gallons. The guys fabricated one out of a 30 gallon oil barrel. (No picture yet)

The fuel tank will be the same one used on the Hall Scott engine from last year.

One or two 8D batteries should crank it over. (8D, the big ones used on 18 wheelers)

The Packard is sitting on the brand new display stand and the black air box in also new. The screen should keep small children from being sucked in. (I hope)



What is left to do, is hook all this stuff up and start it.

Another spot I haven’t been into recently is in the rigging loft where the volunteers are making all the parts for Morgan’s rigging.

So far they have built more than 100 pulleys.

He is using the drill to screw in a bronze threaded rod. There are 8 in all. (I think) The hole is drilled and then the rod self taps as it’s screwed in. They give the wooden parts greater strength.



Filing off the extra length of the bronze screws.



Down in the engine shop the rods are ground and pointed before installation.

[Morgan Volunteer]

The Atlas engine is on display in the machine shop along side of the Packard and a couple of others. It dwarfs the Packard.



There is a placard in front of the Atlas that tells the numbers.

10” bore, 13” stroke.
135 horse power at 325 RPM
4 Cyl and 18,010 pounds.

5" radius squared = 25.
25 x 3.14 = 78.5”
78.5 x 13” stroke = 1020.5 cubic inches
1020.5 x 4 cylinders = 4082 cubic inches!

Did I do that right? That’s a lot of cubic inches.

New engine, new questions.

What’s that do?



The valve gear is something else!




A couple of gauges on the engine.






Meanwhile the Packard is close to running. I could hear it turning over and ran to see. They were just pressurizing the oil system to make sure oil is going where it belongs.



Well, almost.

The dark circle on the floor is the result of a leak. At $6.75 a quart, leaks can be expensive.

[Morgan Volunteer]

Time for vacation.

Where to go?

I know, how ‘bout mystic?

We arrive on Wednesday and leave for other ports on Monday.

I should be at the end of the woodshed where I was last year.

Stop by and say hello. That's me with the baby blue hull.




I want to help out with the engine show on Saturday and Sunday.

http://www.mysticseaport.org/index.c...8BEDDAB342FD5F

If you come, you can do this too.


http://www.offcenterharbor.com/mystic/

[Morgan Volunteer]

Vacation is over.

Mystic is a very beautiful place to visit and going by boat is really special.






We arrived a day early because the weather was not supposed to be good the following day.




The bridge opens once every hour so we tied up for a bit. My bow bunny (my wife) secured us.



Once past the bridge, Mystic is very near.

[Morgan Volunteer]

The next day the weather acted up as promised.

From ok to not so good.








Work on the Packard continued and on Wednesday it ran for the first time in more than 60 years.





I think it was running a little rich.



I have a video but it will have to wait until Monday.

[Gerarddm]

This thread continues to be greatly informative, thanks again!

[Morgan Volunteer]

Now that I am back to “work” I have time to go through the pictures and all that happened while on vacation.

On Wednesday before the engine show I did my usual chores of “pounding salt.” (Pouring salt between the frames on the Morgan.)





Along side was a shipwright making a template for the next plank.



Using a hot glue gun he is placing points on the line indicating the new plank’s dimensions.



Martha Stewart would be proud.

Up near the bow the plank gets narrow.



Back in the DuPont barn the plank is sized.

[Morgan Volunteer]

Thursday started out badly. The toilet would not flush, there was no water, and the lights came on only very dimly. Even when I am tied to the dock with shore power, all those things still run off the battery. When the charger failed the 8-ds (Big batteries) will only last so long.

Ugh!

West had a charger in stock but of course it was not the same so everything had to be remounted and rewired. Not a big deal except for the location.

Ugh!

Well $400 and four hours later we were back in business.

You know the old acronym? B.O.A.T – Break Out Another Thousand!

Oh yes, and I paid the dockage. As a seaport member there are discounts, so that helped.



So after my chores I helped with the engine show setup for the rest of the day. Later we took a ride on the seaport’s launch. It runs between the north end of the seaport campus to the docks near the visitor center. It’s a free ride and if the crowds are light you can ride all day.



It is an electric launch and almost totally silent.

The view from the river.

[Morgan Volunteer]

I spent most of Friday polishing one of the display engines but was so dirty I never took a picture of it.

http://library.mysticseaport.org/msc...sion=1985%2E33

Saturday it rained. Not all day, but enough to keep everything wet.







Rain may slow you down but…The show must go on.



The Packard was started several times and always drew a crowd.






Be sure to turn up your speakers. If it doesn’t hurt, they are not up enough.

[Morgan Volunteer]

I got to start the Packard once. You press the starter and wait for 40lbs of oil pressure. Then you hit the ignition, both of them. Meanwhile you hold onto the throttle because if you don’t the vacuum will open it up wide and that will be the end of the Packard.

There is a rev-limiter but it wasn’t ready for the show.

I also started the Wichmann, the seaport’s 2 cylinder semi diesel (Semi diesel requires a glow plug to run.)



http://library.mysticseaport.org/msc...sion=1992%2E65

This one is cool. It belches smoke and the ground shakes.

This was earlier.



These engines always draw a crowd.



Other engines.



Note the address.

[Morgan Volunteer]

On Sunday the sun came out.

1875 Broadway Machine Works, 8 Cylinder. Experimental rotary engine. Horse power is unknown.








Last year’s star was the Hall Scott experimental PT Boat engine. Because there is little money available for engine restorations the team did not get into the crank case. During the run ups last year it sounded like a thrust bearing was on the way out so until later, it is just a static display.



While the engine show was going on, the Morgan still drew a good crowd.

My job for the weekend was to sell trunnels to visitors who would sign them and then donate them back to the seaport to be used in Morgan’s restoration.

Here is a pair of my happy customers. They had also been to Toy Boats and built a couple of magnificent vessels. The darker and shorter trunnel is a souvenir. It is the “head of the nail.” When installed this is the part left over and discarded.



Lastly, I mentioned above that if you were able to make the engine show to look me up.

Well, this couple (on the right) did. They drove three hours to come to the show and since they needed to be back to work the next day, they drove home again.



It was great talking with them.

[Morgan Volunteer]

This weekend Mystic Seaport held a performance of HMS Pinafore, a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta from 1878.

My sister is a real fan so she flew from Boulder, Colorado for the performance. She wore an outfit somewhat reminiscent of the Victorian age of sail.

My sister is neat!

My wife and sister. (Sister on the right.)



There were about 100 people in the audience. The performance was held both Friday and Saturday evenings.



The audience and the stage on the dock of the Joseph Conrad.



The conductor.



The singing starts.

[Morgan Volunteer]

The high born captain.



Dick Deadeye.




The high born captain’s daughter,



Who loves this low born sailor.

[Morgan Volunteer]

The First Lord of the Admiralty who loves the captain's daughter.






Buttercup confesses that as a young girl, she switched babies so the captain is really low born and the sailor is high born.

The next time we see the cast the captain is a crewman and the sailor is the captain.



Now the captain can marry Buttercup and the sailor can marry the captain's daughter... or something like that.

The bow at the end.



At the end the entire cast sang the Star Spangled Banner followed with God Save the King.

A candle lit walk back to the entrance.



If you would like to see the story line check it out here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.M.S._Pinafore

This event was a lot of fun!

[nedL]

I made it to the engine show, had a real good time. That Packard engine is impressive when started! I spoke to the two who were running it for a couple of minutes & told them that I had been following its overhaul on your thread here. They told me that you were areound but I didn't seem to be able to find you. -- Thanks for keeping us updated! I think people around the Seaport are starting to realize they are in the 'spotlight' here. - They seem to be aware of this when I mention it.

[Morgan Volunteer]

We had a short day yesterday. My commuting partner got a call the moment we arrived that he was needed at home that afternoon.

This was my project for the day.



It is the lower mizzen mast from the Morgan.



As horse are set on the other end, a shipwright was used as ballast.



Then we went to work applying the paint stripper.



And that was it for the day.

There was one bit of good news. There are seventeen brand new spars on order for the Morgan. They are being fabricated somewhere in the North West and will be here in the fall.

And we don’t have to scrape them!