Month: May 2014

BOSTON —  On May 14, the USS Constitution Museum in Boston and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (NMSF) unveiled a set of paintings commemorating the historic 38th Voyage of the whaleship Charles W. Morgan and its journey to the whaling grounds in Stellwagen Bank.

Created by Thomas W. Freeman, NMSF artist-in-residence, one painting depicts mother and calf humpback whales and other elements relating to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary’s efforts to protect whales. The second Freeman work is the official 2014 painting for the Morgan’s unprecedented voyage next month to historic ports on the New England coast.

The Morgan, a National Historic Landmark built in 1841, is the oldest American commercial ship still afloat. Over an 80-year whaling career, the ship sailed on 37 voyages to the remote corners of the globe. The Morgan’s voyage to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary represents the vessel’s full-circle transformation from being a hunter of whales to one bearing a message about their conservation.

“Taking the Charles W. Morgan onto Stellwagen Bank where she can sail amongst the whales will be the highlight of the 38th Voyage,” said Steve White, president of Mystic Seaport. “The mission of the ship is to help us understand why our forebears hunted whales, what that industry did for this country, and why ultimately we have chosen to cease that activity in lieu of preservation. The juxtaposition of the old and the new in the sanctuary will bring that message into focus for all of us.”

“The USS Constitution Museum is excited to welcome the Charles W. Morgan to Boston’s Charlestown Navy Yard this summer,” said Anne Grimes Rand, president of the USS Constitution Museum. “After she passes through Stellwagen Bank, the Morgan will berth in the Boston National Historical Park adjacent to ‘Old Ironsides.’ Seeing the world’s oldest whaling vessel adjacent to the U.S. Navy’s oldest frigate will be an inspiring sight.”

“Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary offers some of the best whale watching in the world,” said Jason Patlis, president and CEO of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. “Tom’s paintings represent not only this special place and the iconic whales that depend on it for survival, but also a larger message of national whale conservation. NMSF is proud to be a part of the Morgan’s exciting voyage this summer.”

Freeman is a nationally and internationally recognized artist whose paintings hang in many galleries around the nation as well as in the White House. He is best known for his portrayals of heroic American maritime events and subjects.

Freeman said his goal in creating the paintings is to raise awareness about the various human and natural threats facing humpback and other whales and highlight the innovative research the sanctuary conducts in order to better understand how whales use the water column relative to human activities. Despite their impressive size, humpbacks and other whales face considerable threat from vessel strikes, underwater noise and marine debris – particularly lost or abandoned fishing lines and nets.

“Whales are some of the most magnificent creatures on earth and they have been around for millions of years,” Freeman said. “As stewards of the planet, we have an obligation to protect these majestic creatures so that current and future generations learn to understand and appreciate the need to keep the ocean productive and healthy.”

Both paintings will be displayed at the NMSF Ocean Awards Gala in DC on June 10. After the gala, the Stellwagen Bank painting will be moved to the Pilgrim Monument & Provincetown Museum and the Charles W. Morgan painting will be brought to Mystic Seaport.

MYSTIC — Mystic Seaport opened the traveling exhibition that accompanies the historic whaleship Charles W. Morgan on her 38th Voyage for the first time in New London on Saturday. The public could experience the exhibition and board the ship, which just completed a five-year restoration and was moved to New London last week.

The Morgan is berthed at City Pier near the New London town center as she completes her fitting out for the voyage.

Visitors to the pier were able to learn about the Morgan, whales, and whaling and their importance to American history in the 22,000 square-foot exhibition. There is a video on the history and significance of the 173-year-old vessel plus a series of panels that explain the role the American whaling industry had in this country’s history; how the Morgan and whaleships were an early connector of different cultures; and how America’s perception of the natural world has changed since the Morgan’s whaling career. Hands-on activities include knot-tying, handling samples of wood used in the restoration, and searching the ship’s crew lists for familiar names or hometown connections.

A focal point is Spouter, a 46-foot-long, life-sized inflatable model of a sperm whale. Visitors can participate in a “What Bubbles Up?” activity by writing down their whale-related memory, question, or sketch and attaching it to a humpback whale sculpture.

People could watch Mystic Seaport interpreters demonstrate a number of 19th-century maritime skills, including those of a cooper, shipsmith, ropemaker, and whaleboat rower. There were live performances including sea chanteys, the interactive “Tale of a Whaler” play, and a condensed rendition of Moby-Dick – “Moby-Dick in Minutes.” Visitors even had the opportunity to try their hand at rowing a whaleboat under the instruction of a skilled boatsteerer.

Voyage partner, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, was present with an exhibit booth to explain how the National Marine Sanctuaries interpret America’s maritime past, promote ocean conservation, and engage in cutting-edge research. People could learn how whales feed and what they feed on, and watch videos that feature information on the National Marine Sanctuary System, whales, whale research, and whaling heritage. Kids were able to create their own whale hat. In July, the Morgan will sail to the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off Provincetown, Mass., as part of her voyage. Stellwagen Bank is a popular feeding ground for whales in the summer months.

Of course, the high point of the experience is boarding the newly-restored Morgan. With the new crew in place to show people around, visitors can explore the deck and go down below to see what it was like to sail on a whaleship in the age of American whaling.

The ship and dockside exhibition will be open on May 24, 25, 31, and June 1 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. each day. There is a suggested admission of $5 per person for those ages 6 years and older. Children ages 5 years and younger are admitted for free, as are current Mystic Seaport members with their membership card

In addition to the Mystic Seaport exhibit, New London Landmarks, the Custom House Maritime Museum, the New London County Historical Society, and Flock Theatre have created a schedule of events to celebrate New London’s whaling heritage. Events include walking tours, exhibit and house tours, a parade, a “chowda fest,” and several Flock Theatre performances of the one-act play “Ile,” by Eugene O’Neill. For more information, please visit www.newlondonlandmarks.org/events.html

The Morgan will be in New London until June 14, when she departs for Newport, the next destination on a voyage across Southern New England that will include stops in Vineyard Haven, New Bedford, the Cape Cod Canal, Provincetown, and Boston.

VERGENNES — On Thursday morning at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM) in Vergennes, Vermont, a crowd gathered to celebrate the launch of the final whaleboat–whaleboat #10–for the Charles W. Morgan‘s 38th Voyage.

The boat was slid into the water and the audience heard from the student boat builders who related what the experience of constructing a traditional wooden boat and rowing as a team has meant in their lives.

“This project built much more than a whaleboat,” LCMM Executive Director Erick Tichonuk pointed out. “Working together, you have built community, confidence, skills, healthy lifestyles, respect for the environment, and a deeper understanding of history.”

The new whaleboat will remain at the museum for a few weeks, and in June, it will travel to join up with the Morgan in the ship’s former homeport of New Bedford, Mass.

After the launch, Mystic Seaport’s Morgan historian Matthew Stackpole gave a presentation using words and pictures – and a single plank from the world’s last wooden whaling ship – to transport the audience through time and space. Stackpole began with the ship’s beginning at her launch in 1841 in New Bedford, continued through her 80-year whaling career across the globe in pursuit of whale oil and bone (baleen) to provide the fuel for light, lubricants, and American fortunes. He concluded with the ship’s years in Mystic and her recent restoration and immanent 38th Voyage to ports across Southern New England.

Stackpole shared a perspective from Pulitzer-prize winning historian David McCullough:

“The story of the American Whaling industry, which the Charles W. Morgan so powerfully represents, is a rousing chapter in our nation’s history. I think to have no sense of the story of your country is like having no sense of the history of your life. It’s a form of amnesia and can be as detrimental to a country as it is to an individual. . . the important work Mystic Seaport is doing on the Morgan’s restoration will ensure we remember this vivid chapter of our country’s history.”

The 38th Voyage of the Charles W. Morgan began at Mystic Seaport on May 17, 2014. Throughout this historic journey, we will share entries on our website based on some of the logs and journals from the Morgan’s past whaling voyages.

We will sample a number of different years to give a taste of the long history of the ship’s travels from 1841 into the 20th century. Spelling, syntax and the whaleman’s jargon will be retained, and occasionally a link will be added to the image of the original logbook to give further insight into the world of the American whaleman. The life of the whaleman could be extremely frenetic during the hunt, physically taxing during the cutting in and trying out, and downright boring as the ship traveled thousands of miles in search of their prey. The entries will hopefully express a little of each.

Illustrations appearing in the blog are not, for the most part, from the Morgan’s logs, but from other logbooks and rare books in the collection of the G.W. Blunt White Library at Mystic Seaport, and will be annotated as to their source.

The following is from the first page of the first logbook of the Charles W. Morgan in 1841, and the sentiment appearing there bodes well for the future of the lucky ship built in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

The entry reads, “Journal of a Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, in the Ship Chas W. Morgan, Thomas Norton Master. Sept 6th 1841. May kind Neptune protect us with pleasant gales; and may we be successful in catching Sperm Whales.”

During the Charles W. Morgan‘s farewell ceremony on May 17, 2014, Mystic Seaport President Steve White read aloud his letter of instruction that he presented to Captain Kip Files, the 22nd captain of the 1841 whaleship. The letter, which was based on the content of orders given to Captain Franklin F. Smith of the ship Flora of New London on June 22, 1830, stated:

Captain Kip Files,

The whaleship Charles W. Morgan under your command, being now ready for sea, our advice and instructions to you are to embrace the first favorable opportunity to proceed to sea on a voyage along the coast of southern New England from Mystic, Connecticut to Boston, Massachusetts.

This is a voyage to celebrate and reconnect Americans with our shared maritime heritage. Your cargo is history and knowledge, and your mission is to collect it and the share it with all who will listen.  Further, this Voyage will highlight our close relationship with the oceans, the whales, and all else who dwell within.

From Mystic you should proceed to New London, Connecticut; thence to Newport, Rhode Island; Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard; New Bedford, Massachusetts; Provincetown and the National Marine Sanctuary at Stellwagen Bank; thence to Boston, Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy by passing through the Cape Cod Canal on the occurrence of its centennial.

We have prepared the ship well and given you a good crew and all that we think will be useful to you, and entrust her well-being to your long experience at sea and prudent seamanship. We look forward to a memorable and successful voyage and your safe return to Mystic Seaport in August of 2014.

Respectfully Yours,

Stephen C. White
President, Mystic Seaport

NEW LONDON — After an overnight of storms and rain in the Mystic area, the weather cleared just after dawn on Saturday, May 17, and presented a spectacular day and ideal conditions to move the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan down the Mystic River and on to New London, Conn. on the first phase of the ship’s historic 38th Voyage.

A brief ceremony was held at 8:45 a.m.in the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard, the ship’s home for the last five years of a comprehensive restoration. Several hundred visitors gathered to listen to comments from Rep. Joe Courtney and a moving blessing by Capt. Van Dickens, the Command Chaplain at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Mystic Seaport President Steve White then read and presented Capt. Kip Files, the 22nd captain of the Morgan, with his Letter of Instruction that formally entrusted the well-being of the ship to his care.

Lines were cast off at 9:11 a.m. and with the help of the tugs Sirius and Thuban — one in front pulling and the other pushing from the stern — the Morgan slowly made her way off the pier and into the Mystic River Channel in a procession that included the Museum’s fishing vessel Roann, the steamboat Sabino, the launch Necessity, and five whaleboats rowed by Mystic Seaport staff and volunteers. Timing was very important as the ship needed to make the 10:05 opening of the railroad swing bridge and high tide at the mouth of the river near Noank.

Cheers erupted from crowds lining the shoreline throughout the down river trip and the procession was accompanied by many spectator boats, many of which followed all the way to New London.

A high point of the journey was the Morgan’s passage through the Mystic highway bridge in the heart of downtown. The ship had never been below the bridge since her arrival on November 8, 1941, and the moment drew loud applause and cheers from hundreds of onlookers as Capt. Files and the crew carefully threaded the ship and tugs through the constricted channel beneath the bridge.

Once clear of the river, Sirius dropped back in standby and Thuban towed the Morgan to New London at a relatively swift 8 knots. Upon arrival in New London, the Morgan tied up at a berth at City Pier at 12:48 p.m.

When asked, “What did we learn today?” Capt. Files said that they learned that the ship tows easily and faster than they anticipated.

“Now we have to get her ready to go sailing!” he added.

On board the Morgan for the trip was a combination of project supporters, restoration volunteers, members of the news media, and some Museum and Shipyard staff members.

A special passenger was Hermine Dudda, who is one of the few remaining witnesses to the ship’s arrival to Mystic in 1941. Dudda was 10-years-old at the time and walked down to the river with her twin sister Ernie to see the ship pass by.

“I remember I wasn’t so impressed with the Morgan then because she was in such shabby condition,” she recalls. “But to see this ship 72 years later and be on board today is an honor and privilege, and I feel like I am living a part of history.”

“This is the culmination of so much planning and execution on the part of so many people in the Mystic Seaport community, it is hard to describe the emotion this seemingly simple act of taking the ship down the river generates,” said Museum President Steve White. “It is a proud moment for everyone: We achieved what we set out to do.”

The arrival in New London starts a very busy week for the crew and select Shipyard staff as the need to finish ballasting the ship, bend on the sails, and pass a U.S. Coast Guard incline test to prove the ship’s stability under sail. During that time the ship will be closed to visitors, but she will open on four weekend days for the public to board the ship and to experience the traveling dockside exhibition that will accompany the ship to other ports on the voyage. Those days are May 24-25, 31 and June 1, and the hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m.