Mystic Seaport Begins Exterior Work on the Morgan

Mystic Seaport installs the first of the new hull planks on the whale ship Charles W. Morgan Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012.

Published: February 21, 2012

Mystic Seaport President Steve White hammers the first bronze spike as shipwrights and other workers at the seaport's H.B. DuPont Preservation Shipyard work install the first of the new hull planks on the whale ship Charles W. Morgan Tuesday, February 21, 2012. Five bronze spikes plus a series of "trunnels" or tree nails, will hold the 36-foot long, 14-inch wide and 4-inch thick longleaf yellow pine plank in place. The plank was milled in the shipyard and steamed for 3-hours to soften it before being installed. Shipwrights expect to install a new plank every few days for some time before stepping-up the process until the hull is fully sheathed. The $7 million project is on schedule to re-launch her on July 21, 2013, the 172nd anniversary of her first trip down the ways in 1841. Mystic Seaport will return the Morgan to sea for a ceremonial 38th Voyage to historic ports on the East Coast in the late spring and summer of 2014.

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Sean D. Elliot/The Day

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