STONINGTON CT - At about 2 p.m. Sunday, on the 172nd anniversary of its launching, the Charles W. Morgan will get to be a ship again.
From November 2008 until late last month, the wooden whaler had sat on land, supported by metal braces and wrapped in plastic like some yacht in a South County boatyard. Over those months, shipwrights, carpenters and blacksmiths took it apart and put it back together again.
On June 26, the ship got to dip its proverbial toe in the Mystic River, lowered a few feet into the water, but still locked in an underwater cradle held up by an array of winches. During that soak, the new planks in its hull have been absorbing the salty water, so that they will swell together and create a waterproof seal.
On Sunday afternoon, when the winches let the cradle fall to the bottom of the river and the Morgan floats free, it will be a major turning point in the Mystic Seaport Foundation’s $7-million restoration of the world’s last remaining wooden whaler.
No comments:
Post a Comment