Laser scan of the Morgan's lower hold. Laser scans taken both inside and out ofthe hull can record millions ofdata points and can document even the tiniest details. With the scan of each step of the restoration, the museum is creating a digital archive ofthe ship's physical structure.
an irreplaceable historic icon-rhe lasr ofirs kind- ro sea was not necessarily new, bur, given rhe o urcome of rhe current restoratio n, suddenly changed from an abstract idea to a real poss ibility. The concept is horly debated among historic ship preservarionisrs. Whi le som e view rhe resto rarion ofaship as incomplete without operating it in some capacity in the way it was originally intended, orhers consider the risk of losing such a vessel or seriously damaging it too great and believe char chose who would do so to be acting irresponsibly or even recklessly. Nonetheless, once the idea had been presented to the current leadership, the museum's board of rrusrees autho ri zed a feas ibility study of rhe qu esti o n, all based on the fundamental principles chat no physical aspect of rhe ship could be altered and that her safety be the highest
priority. In September of 2009 , the board unanimously vo ted to approve rhe feasibility group's recommendatio n char, when the restoration is complete, the ship make a ceremonial "38rh voyage" back home to New Bedford (for a visit) and rh en on to rhe whaling gro unds on Srellwagen Bank in Massachusens Bay (now a Natio nal Marine Sancmary) to pay tribute, nor only to the rhousands of whalers from history, bur to the whales themselves in chi s new era of preservation and undersranding. The wo rk goes on and the goals are clear. Restore chis impo rtant historic ship fully and, in doing so, let her embark on a new and different voyage. A voyage char will rell rhe story, rhewhole complicated story of chis poorly understood chap ter in American history, as nothing ocher than the authentic, real thing can. H er cargo today is history
Looking aft on the starboard side. New and original 184 1 fattocks side by side.
in all its mu lti-faceted complex laye rs-rhe good, and rhe inspiring, but also the bad and the parts we need to remember so as to nor repeat chem. The 38rh voyage will also serve to bring attentio n to important contem po rary iss ues chat a ship on the sea and her particular history can explore and the crirical quesrion of the human impacr on the warers char surround us. Ir will be quire a rrip. ,!, Notes: 1
Charles W Morgan collecrion ar Mys ric Seaport 2 Cerrificare of Meas urements: New Bedford Custom House 3EdouardA. Stackpol e, The Sea Hunters, ] .B. Lippincott Co. 1953; p.95 4 Charles W Mo rgan coll ection Matthew Stackpole, a former executive director of the Martha's Vineyard Museum and an overseer at the USS Constitution Museum, is a member of the Charles W. Morgan Restoration team at Mystic Seaport.
C harles W. Morgan is in the third year of a multi-y ear restoration project that will be complete when the ship sets sail on her 38th voyage. A s of mid-January, the shipwrights were finished fairing new fattocks and installing the new 17-foot-long section ofthe keelson. New copper keel bolts are being installed in addition to existing fasteners to strengthen the joining ofthe keel, keelson, and floo r timbers. Installation ofthe ceiling will be the next major phase ofthe project. The searchfor materials continues. Suitable timberfor a few more knees needs to be located. More long leafpine is scheduled for delivery next fall. The width of the Morgan's long leafyellow pine plan/es 20
SEA HISTORY 134, SPRING 20 11