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

[knottyBuoyz]

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

Just a few more pics of the Morgan as we saw it in the fall of '09.





I was amazed at Mystic Seaport. That place certainly is a national treasure. Bravo Zulu to the Mystic Seaport volunteers. I can hardly wait to go back.

[Morgan Volunteer]

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

The rigging and deck are readied for the lift.









Hooked up and ready to go.



At this point, there was small problem. The riggers and crane operator asked me to not take pictures as the lift went on. I was asked if I am superstitious. I said not more that most people. It turns out that all involved said the same thing.

When cameras come out, that's when the trouble begins. This is a dangerous time as people are on top and below and anything could go wrong.

So I took a few as the yard got off the ground and then I went to lunch.

You'll have to imagine the rest.

[Morgan Volunteer]

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

The Conrad was built in Denmark for use as a training ship. Made entirely of iron, the upkeep presents a unique set of challenges.

During this past winter her masts were in the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard building for work. Some rivets and parts were replaced. The masts were checked for thickness using an ultrasonic tester. The paint is in good shape so only the parts that had been worked on needed a touch up.





The whole ship is riveted.

[Morgan Volunteer]

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

Upstairs in the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard building is the rigging loft. While all of Mystic Seaport is amazing, as a volunteer I can go into work areas that are not available to visitors. The rigging loft is one of those places.

Here, the rigging from the Conrad is being wrapped in a variety of materials to preserve the wire rope. Hemp, cotton, linen, pine tar and others are used.




The wire is wrapped with a heavy cord following the twist of the cable.




Now for the first coat of pine tar.



The next application is a cotton wrap applied so the fabric will always shed water. Like shingles on the roof, the upper layer overlays the lower layer. In this case they were working from both ends toward the middle. This cable runs up and over part of the mast and down again so the overlap is reversed on each end
.



Then the wrap is tied together with a marline hitch, or a series of half hitches.




The last covering is hemp cord which is wrapped tightly around on top of the cotton. For now you'll have to imagine what that looks like as I don't have a picture of the finished product. Oh well. Every step is covered in pine tar so the wire should be well protected for many years before it needs to be done again.

This cable was installed on the fore mast and can be seen below. The ratlines have not been installed yet so the ladder is needed.

[Morgan Volunteer]

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



Work on the Morgan is moving along.

Frames have been replaced on both port and starboard sides.

This is starboard looking aft.



This is port looking forward.

[Eric D]

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

Neat stuff, thanks for the "side trips" too. Keep them coming!!!

[Hwyl]

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

Is this the same Joseph Conrad that featured in the book I read as a child, "Stormalong"? By Allan Villiers, 1937. A great read.

YES

[Morgan Volunteer]

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

As a museum artifact the Morgan is being completely documented down to the last piece of debris found in the bilge. This volunteer is on spring break and is sifting through pail after pail of what looks like mulch. Mostly it is small pieces of wood that have fallen off the old frames. She has also found ash and coal fragments. She has not found anything really exciting but several years ago during restoration on the bow and stern, a whales tooth and a clay pipe were found.

It's a long day shaking the screen and sifting "Mulch" all by herself.








This is a pile of bags of the stuff she has sorted.




Tomorrow she goes back to school.

Documentation is the rule. There was no one around when I took this so I could not ask any questions. It appears to be a printout of the frames.



And lastly, here is a tag on a removed futtock. It would appear to be pretty solid for a 169 year old timber. Notice the bent nail holding the corner of the tag.



Documentation is the rule even when the old parts are removed.

[nedL]

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

Thanks for the update on Morgan, and for the pictures of the worming, parceling, and serving of Conrad's rigging (though no pics of the serving.).

[Morgan Volunteer]

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

I am only there on Wednesdays and they were not serving that day.

[Morgan Volunteer]

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

I am usually pleasantly surprised when I walk in on Wednesday morning, my day to volunteer. Today was no exception.

A whale boat was being painted for the upcoming season, and the Sabino was moved forward to make room for Brilliant.






You can take a ride on Sabino.

http://www.mysticseaport.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewpage&page_id=9FDC5DBB-B0D0-D05E-1AFF4F8D9D7F35B4







You can do much more on Brilliant.

http://www.mysticseaport.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=FF10EA76-B0D0-D05E-1A1360424E13F653









Wanna volunteer?

I know for some of you the commute would be a killer, but I have been in contact with someone who comes up from Tennessee for a week every year.

http://www.mysticseaport.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=8C088EA5-B474-BF13-889CB6B481D3A21A



You can make a donation too.

Yeah, I know, but here is the address anyway.

https://secure2.convio.net/mystic/site/Donation2?df_id=1180&1180.donation=form1




http://www.mysticseaport.org/

[Morgan Volunteer]

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

Last fall a visitor arrived at Mystic and has spent the winter here. With a crew of two, she started this voyage in Malta. Last summer she came north up the east coast. The owner and his son have lived aboard this winter.

Amazon was built in 1885 and was originally powered by steam. She started with a six foot diameter propeller. Now a diesel pushes her along and "only" has a four foot prop.





There does appear to be a wheel inside as well for those not too perfect days. Since this is a private yacht I have not been asked aboard.



The ice never gets too bad in Mystic, or so they tell me. I took this picture back in January.






Yesterday I noticed that her dinghy looked like she was about to go under until I could see she was still attached to the davits. After a long and cold winter drying out, it appears to be time to swell up all those dry wooden parts that are holding hands so loosely right now.





I spoke with the owner's son yesterday and he told me she will be leaving in June.

[nedL]

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

Great pictures, things are really hopping aroung there! Thanks for the update. - I am always amazed at Brilliant and the fact that you can't find a seam even when you look up close. Just a beautiful schooner!

[Morgan Volunteer]

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

Warm weather is helping a lot. Here, a futtock and template are fastened together so an accurate duplicate of the original futtock can me made.



In this picture a futtock is being planed to length and shape to match the original.





It is amazing the lengths the shipyard and shipwrights are going to duplicate the original parts as accurately as possible.

[nedL]

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

Thanks for the continued updates! ---- OK, so I have to ask, .... what do they use all the Dreissigacker oars for? (Is there a crew that rows ot of the seaport these days?)