(credit: Mystic Seaport)
In the summer of 2014, the recently restored 'Charles W. Morgan,' America's last remaining wooden whaling ship, returned to the seas for the first time in nearly a century. The Charles Morgan is the oldest American commercial vessel still afloat, a designated National Historic Landmark (1966). The only ship older in this country is the USS Constitution, which remains the oldest commissioned warship in the world (Would You Like to Learn More? click here and click here). 'Old Ironsides' is now permanently berthed in Boston (Charlestown), a neighbor of my friends Bob and Linda who run "All Hands Sailing" charter aboard their beautiful forty-foot Tartan 4000, the 'Argon' (Would You Like to Learn More? click here). Bob designed the 'Captains Blog' app for Android (for download, click here), for which I created the "Ruf Seas" blog (http://svpiao.blogspot.com) to help beta-test.
The Morgan spent ten days in New Bedford, its longest port of call
(credit: Mystic Seaport)
The "38th Voyage of the Morgan" was sort of a big event in New England, especially for coastal communities with a whaling heritage (Would You Like to Learn More? click here). This was particularly the case in nearby New Bedford, which had been the Morgan's homeport during its eighty-year career as a whaler, 1841-1921.
City of New Bedford, 1876
(credit: O.H. Bailey & Co.; http://maps.bpl.org/id/10177)
(credit: O.H. Bailey & Co.; http://maps.bpl.org/id/10177)
It is facile to say that this city of about 100,000 has seen better days. During the halcyon days of commercial whaling, New Bedford was the wealthiest city in America. After the end of whaling, a strong textile industry continued to support the city's diverse population. But by the late twentieth century, deindustrialization had precipitated a protracted period of decline, leading to high rates of unemployment and crime. It's a tough town nowadays, coping with a gang problem. The parochial school my step-children formerly attended in New Bedford sometimes would go into lock-down after reports of gunfire on the streets outside. Nevertheless, the city is on a comeback.
New Bedford sits near the mouth of the Acushnet River, said to derive from a Wampanoag word, cushnea, meaning 'peaceful resting place near water.' Across on the eastern bank are the shipyards and docks of Fairhaven, my wife's hometown (and also the title of a 2012 award-winning Indie film; Would You Like to Learn More? click here). Some locals boast proudly that the first naval engagement of the War of Independence took place off "Fai'ven," on 14 May 1775 (Would You Like to Learn More? click here).
(credit: Hantsheroes/Collective Commons)
A Hurricane Protection Barrier, built in the late 1960s, stretches across the mouth of the Acushnet. Said to be the largest structure of its kind in the world, it has helped to make the inner harbor one of the most important storm sanctuaries on the south coast of New England (Would You Like to Learn More? click here and here). New Bedford today remains one of the largest commercial fishing ports in the United States, although regulations aimed at conserving over-depleted fisheries have severely curtailed fleet operations. It is still a busy harbor, its waterfront crowded with ocean-going fishing trawlers and scallopers.
New Bedford Harbor, with Fairhaven across the river
The Hurricane Protection Barrier, built in the 1960s, is visible in upper right
(credit: New Bedford Whaling Museum)
Back in the mid-nineteenth century, at the height of Yankee whaling, New Bedford was the dominant center of that very profitable industry -- 'the city that lit the world.' Whale oil was a crucial machine lubricant of the industrial revolution. A particular type of oil from sperm whales, spermaceti, was a highly desired and highly expensive lamp oil, as it burned with less smoke, less odor, and a brighter flame.
Back in the mid-nineteenth century, at the height of Yankee whaling, New Bedford was the dominant center of that very profitable industry -- 'the city that lit the world.' Whale oil was a crucial machine lubricant of the industrial revolution. A particular type of oil from sperm whales, spermaceti, was a highly desired and highly expensive lamp oil, as it burned with less smoke, less odor, and a brighter flame.
(credit: http://www.hiltpewter.com/item.php?id=982&cid=8)
Massachusetts Colony, circa 1775
(credit: http://www.sonofthesouth.net/revolutionary-war/colonies/massachusetts.htm)
Formally incorporated as the Town of New Bedford in 1787, its early population was predominantly Anglo Protestant, and Quakers dominated its growing whaling industry (Would You Like to Learn More? click here). By the late 1850s, New Bedford was the nation's whaling capital, homeport for more than 300 whaleships and over 10,000 sailors, more ten-percent of the entire American whaling fleet. Hundreds of vessels were built in local shipyards, many of which sailed to all oceans of the world. Not all who went to sea on whaleships returned, and not all those who did return basked in affluent glory.
New Bedford Waterfront, 1870
Barrels of whale oil on docks
Barrels of whale oil on docks
(credit: New Bedford Whaling Museum)
The largest whaling firm in the country, Joseph & William Ricketson Wing Company of New Bedford, eventually held controlling interest in a fleet of twenty-six whaleships, and served as managing agent for the Charles W. Morgan from 1863-1913. While the firm profited from sale of whale oil and whale bone, their principal interest was in the much more lucrative business of outfitting sailors for whaling voyages -- profiting from the men employed on their ships.
(credit: Public Domain; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._%26_W._R._Wing_Company)
The company reputedly advanced sailors loans (against future wages) for boarding, clothing, and supplies, but charged high rates of interest. Should a multi-year cruise prove only marginally successful, crew might find that their wages or share of the cargo value barely covered the debts they had incurred to the ship during their years at sea. Such was the case with the Charles W. Morgan in 1886, following a very trying fifty-nine month voyage (Would You Like to Learn More? click here).
(credit: http://www.whalingcity.net/picture_1897_j_and_wr_wing_and_co.html)
An important source for news on vessels and returns
(credit: http://www.tenpound.com/193/51.html)
At times, the number of seamen living in the port nearly equaled the number of local residents. Some prominent citizens grew concerned that whalemen tended to patronize establishments that were "detrimental to the dignity and good order of our community." To address the matter, the New Bedford Port Society for the Moral Improvement of Seamen was established in 1830 (Would You Like to Learn More? click here). The Port Society (of which my wife is an officer of the Lady's Branch) opened a non-denominational Seamen's Bethel in 1832, and an adjacent Mariner's Home in 1851, which also offered services to indigent mariners (Would You Like to Learn More? click here).
(credit: John Robson; National Park Service)
(credit: http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/ma6.htm)
The year 1857 marked a turning point for New Bedford whaling. That year the fleet reached its peak of 326 ships. But the Panic of 1857 and the introduction of the kerosene lamp rattled the price of whale oil, although outfitting ships and crews remained quite profitable (Would You Like to Learn More? click here). In the years that followed, petroleum would be discovered in Pennsylvania and the Civil War would engulf the country, drawing both capital and labor away from whaling.
William Bradford and Alber Van Beest, circa 1855
(credit: New Bedford Whaling Museum)
In the mid- to late-nineteenth century, many Portuguese and Portuguese-speaking immigrants settled on the south coast of Massachusetts, especially from the Azores, Madeira, and Cape Verde (from whence my wife's maternal ancestors arrived several generations ago). For centuries, these islands had been important stopping points for ships at sea, whether cruising the Atlantic, heading for the Pacific 'round the Horn, or making for the Indian Ocean by way of the Cape of Good Hope. Repairs and supplies, including both fresh water and victuals as well as new crew hands, were readily found in these ports of call. Many men from the Azores and Cape Verde joined Yankee whalers, including the Charles Morgan, and eventually resettled in port cities of southern New England such as New Bedford.
Whalers commonly stopped at the Azores and Cape Verde islands
Captain Jack Aubrey, HMS Surprise, frequented Madeira
Captain Jack Aubrey, HMS Surprise, frequented Madeira
(credit: https://buy.garmin.com)
In 1841, amidst the great whaling boom, the 'Charles W. Morgan' was built in New Bedford. Its namesake, the whaling mogul who financed its construction, was a successful businessman from Philadelphia who had married a local woman, Sarah Rodman, and had become a partner in the Rotch and Rodman shipping firm.
Home of Samuel Rodman, and his son-in-law, Charles Morgan, County Street, New Bedford. The house is said to have had a "magnificent view straight down William Street to the Achusnet River, the harbor, and over into Fairhaven"
(credit: http://www.whalingcity.net/picture_1800s_charles_w_morgan_home.html)
Morgan later became an independent merchant whaling agent, with landholdings in five states and investments in cotton and papers mills, iron works, coal, and insurance. Born to a Welch father and Quaker mother, Morgan's diaries bespeak a deeply religious man who cared for and contributed to the welfare of his community (Would You Like to Learn More? click here) and here). He also built a sizable fleet of whaling ships.
(credit: http://www.whalingcity.net/picture_1800s_charles_w_morgan_home.html)
Morgan later became an independent merchant whaling agent, with landholdings in five states and investments in cotton and papers mills, iron works, coal, and insurance. Born to a Welch father and Quaker mother, Morgan's diaries bespeak a deeply religious man who cared for and contributed to the welfare of his community (Would You Like to Learn More? click here) and here). He also built a sizable fleet of whaling ships.
Charles Waln Morgan, 1796-1861
(credit: Mystic Seaport)
Work on the Morgan was undertaken by Hillman Brothers Shipyard in New Bedford. That year some seventy-five whaleships put to sea from the bustling port. Aboard one, the 'Achusnet,' was a twenty-two-year-old Herman Melville, embarking on a life-altering eighteen-month voyage as a crewman on a whaleship.
(credit: Spinner Publications; http://www.newbedfordguide.com/charles-w-morgan-whaling-ship/2014/02/19)
Melville later made New Bedford the homeport of the ill-fated whaler, 'Pequod,' in his 1851 classic, Moby Dick. As some have remarked, his novel carries a narrative structure evocative of the rhythms of life aboard a whaleship: long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of intense and sometimes terrifying action. Since 1995, the Zeiterion theatre in New Bedford sponsors each January a twenty-five hour "read-a-thon" of Moby Dick (Would You Like to Learn More? click here).
Ahab and Moby Dick at the Marion Halloween Parade 2013
Chopstick harpoons stuck in my side, a duct-tape squid atop my head, Ahab's leg my mouth, and a doll of his corpse (minus leg) entangled in line on my flank.
Several people did not understand the costume, and asked whether I was with the Tea Party and making some kind of political statement.
Several people did not understand the costume, and asked whether I was with the Tea Party and making some kind of political statement.
Over her eighty year career of service, the Charles W. Morgan made thirty-seven voyages, the longest five years in duration. After retirement in 1921, efforts to raise funds to preserve the Morgan in her homeport fell short of goals, and the vessel was acquired by a private interest, "Whaling Enshrined, Inc." The corporation preserved the ship as a public exhibit at the Round Hill estate in Dartmouth, owned by the organization's President and Treasurer, Colonel Edward ('Ned') Howland Robinson Green.
The Charles W. Morgan at Round Hill
(credit: SouthCoastToday.com)
Green's interest in the ship was highly personal. His maternal grandfather, Edward Mott Robinson, had been one of the earlier owners of the vessel during its whaling heydays. Robinson's Quaker wife, Abby Howland, had been from the wealthiest family in New Bedford, owners of a large whaling fleet who also had commercial interests in the China trade. Their daughter, Henrietta (Green's mother), was by many accounts an extraordinary woman. After the death of her father (and later an aunt), some of her male relatives attempted to block her inheritance, asserting that women were incapable of managing money. Henrietta was plaintiff in Robinson v Mandell (1868), which debuted the use of forensic mathematics. She ultimately prevailed and came into a personal fortune worth the equivalent of nearly $80 million in today's terms. A savvy Wall Street investor and successful business tycoon reputed to be the richest woman in America, Hetty Robinson Green also garnered a reputation for miserliness of legendary proportions (Would You Like to Learn More? click here, here, and here).
Henrietta 'Hetty' Howland Robinson Green, 1834-1916
"The Witch of Wall Street"
(credit: National Women's History Museum)
Hetty's son, Colonel Green, inherited half that fortune upon her death in 1916. He became a successful businessman himself, with an interest in technology and a penchant for numismatics and philately (Would You Like to Learn More? click here, here, and here). He built the Round Hill estate in South Dartmouth with his inheritance, which he also used to cover costs associated with the preservation of the Charles W. Morgan.
(credit: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/tag/colonel-edward-howland-robinson-ned-green/)
But Green's death in 1936 soon led to the financial insolvency of "Whaling Enshrined, Inc." The records of the corporation -- as well as those of many commercial firms -- were preserved by the New Bedford Whaling Museum (Would You Like to Learn More? click here). The Charles W. Morgan itself was eventually acquired by the Mystic Seaport Museum, where it remains a major public attraction today.
The Charles W. Morgan at the Mystic Seaport Museum
(credit: Mystic Seaport)
Restoration efforts on the Morgan began in 1968, when she was rerigged as a barque (bark), the sailing configuration carried during much of her career. A barque rig, such as the USCG's 'Eagle,' typically has three masts: the foremast and mainmast are square-rigged, with their yardarms perpendicular across the ship's beam, while the mizzen (aft) mast is fore-and-aft rigged with its spar running parallel to the keel.
Charles W. Morgan rigged as a barque
Note the difference in the mizzen mast, compared with photo above from Round Hill
(credit: Mystic Seaport)
Many whaleships carried a fore-and-aft rigged mizzen mast, which enabled to vessel to sail at points closer to the wind than would be the case for a square-rigged or "fully-rigged ship" proper. Commercial ships that sailed predominantly with the trade winds often carried square-rigs. But the added maneuverability of a fore-and-aft rigged sail offered a considerable advantages to those who hunted and fished the seas. For much the same reason, schooner rigs were very popular among New England fishermen.
(credit: http://wanttaja.com/navlinks/rigs.GIF)
In 2008, the Morgan was hauled out and $7 million in major restoration work was performed on the hull to make her seaworthy again. Relaunched in 2013, her rigging was then refitted and preparations undertaken for her historic "Thirty-Eighth Voyage" to major ports of New England.
Charles W. Morgan hauled out in 2008
(credit: Mystic Seaport)
Whatever one's opinions on hunting whales, historical traditions associated with whaling and seafaring heritage are strong in the area. The city's Whaling Museum is a noteworthy public venue, offering not only excellent exhibits on artifacts and artwork associated with New England whaling but also programming on a wide-range of topics (Would You Like to Learn More? click here).
New Bedford Whaling Museum
(credit: https://www.mvmag.net/index.php/2013/04/25/travel-bedford-mass/)
When I first moved to the area, I bought annual family membership pass to the museum at a silent auction sponsored by the parochial school of my step-children. To my surprise, I won with a very low bid (Hetty Robinson Green would have approved). But my wife explained that everyone here has seen the Whaling Museum so many times; local school children tour the museum every year. "I hope you didn't pay a lot," she murmured.
.jpg)
.jpg)
A shared heritage surrounding the whaling days of yesteryear finds expression in several whaleboat rowing clubs in New Bedford, which use either American- or Azorean-designed boats. A few years ago we joined 'Whaling City Rowing,' which operates out of Pope's Island Marina in the middle of New Bedford harbor (Would You Like to Learn More? click here).
New Bedford Harbor
(credit: http://maineimaging.smugmug.com)
The club owns three modern fiberglass replica of Yankee Beetle whaleboats: the 'Skylark,' the 'Flying Fish,' and the 'Herman Melville.' Each boat is twenty-eight feet in length with a six-foot beam, weighing about 1000 pounds empty. They are not fitted with a retractable centerboard characteristic of genuine whaleboats, and they do not carry sails, much less harpoons. These boats were ordered in 1999 from Edey and Duff Boats in Mattapoissett (which closed in 2010) at the cost of roughly $15,000 each (for video of Edey and Duff whaleboats, click here).
Featuring a pointed bow and stern, Yankee whaleboats were designed and built for speed, stability, and buoyancy in "riding seas." There are five rowing oars (two port, three starboard), of varying length to account for the more narrow beam fore and aft. Rowing oars in the bow and stern (Seats 1 and 5 respectively) are sixteen feet long, those for Seats 2 and 4 are a foot longer, and the midship oar (Seat 3) is eighteen feet. A long steering oar, twenty-eight feet in length, is positioned at the stern.
Commemorative Third Edition, Mystic Seaport Museum
2010 (orig. 1948)
2010 (orig. 1948)
A vivid first-hand account of life aboard the Charles W. Morgan during a whaling cruise is found in Whale Hunt, by Nelson Cole Haley. I share a birthday with Captain Haley, a native of New Bedford who was involved in the sandalwood trade with China. In 1849, as a young man of seventeen, Haley signed with then-owner Edward Mott ('Black Hawk') Robinson -- Hetty's father -- for a four-year voyage under Captain Sampson as a harpooner (a position of some import). Whaleships such as the Morgan, he wrote, typically carried three or four whaleboats on davits, with a couple of spare boats stowed upside-down on deck. Whaleboats were lowered to race out and give chase once whales were sighted.
Early 19th Century Whaler
(credit: Brittanica.com)
Charles W. Morgan Deck Plan and Bulwarks
(credit: http://shipwiki.wikispaces.com/Charles+W.+Morgan)
Charles W. Morgan Inboard Perspective
(credit: http://mvgazette.com/multimedia/tour-charles-w-morgan)
(credit: http://mvgazette.com/multimedia/tour-charles-w-morgan)
Each whaleboat was under command of a Mate, who steered from the stern. The "Boatsteerer" actually sat in the bow pulling an oar during the chase, for he was also the Harpooner. After harpooning a whale, he would move to the stern and take over as boat-steerer, while the Mate moved forward to the bow to kill the whale with a lance.
Early 19th Century Whaleboat
(credit: Brittanica.com)(credit: http://maineimaging.smugmug.com)
The club owns three modern fiberglass replica of Yankee Beetle whaleboats: the 'Skylark,' the 'Flying Fish,' and the 'Herman Melville.' Each boat is twenty-eight feet in length with a six-foot beam, weighing about 1000 pounds empty. They are not fitted with a retractable centerboard characteristic of genuine whaleboats, and they do not carry sails, much less harpoons. These boats were ordered in 1999 from Edey and Duff Boats in Mattapoissett (which closed in 2010) at the cost of roughly $15,000 each (for video of Edey and Duff whaleboats, click here).
A Yankee Whaleboat
Note the long steering oar in stern
(credit: New Bedford Whaling Museum)
(credit: New Bedford Whaling Museum)
A Whaling City Rowing boat at Mattapoisett Harbor Days.
Note the white bands painted on the oar handles to indicate their position
(credit: Eric Fox; http://sippican.villagesoup.com/p/whaleboat-rowing-tours-at-harbor-days/128645)
A boat-steerer commands the boat from a standing position in the stern. The forward rower near the bow (Seat 1) is expected to handle docking and lines. "Power" rowers sit amidships, while the aft rower (Seat 5) is the "Stroke," often the most experienced rower who sets the pace (as designated by the boat-steerer) to which all other rowers conform. There is a learning curve in mastering the techniques involved in efficient operation of these two-handed oars. Some people are there just to pull a handle and to socialize, and their boats may sometimes resemble a "drunken spider," with oars flailing up and down in awkward disorder. Others are more attentive to form and synchronization, and their boats may glide across the water with all oars dipping seamlessly in "one splash." Our organization rows whaleboats year-round, even if it means working one's way around or through winter ice in the harbor. I find whaleboat rowing rather cathartic. It also can be good exercise, especially if one participates in periodic competitions.
Not Photoshopped
A genuine photo I took from a whaleboat after racing outside New Bedford Harbor near Butler Flats Light
In early March, we raced in the annual "Snow Row" in Hull (MA), sponsored by the local Lifesaving Museum (Would You Like to Learn More? click here). A short video clip of the start of that race is available on YouTube (click here). Our team avoid the chaos of a crowded "Le Mans" beach start by launching in Hull Gut, a channel that lies off Windmill Point. This meant we had to travel a bit farther, and against a strong current at first, but it also helped us avoid collisions such as those in the video. Our whaleboat appears in the background of the frame at 1:03, having just emerged from the narrow straight behind the point on the right, coming up astern of the big spectator boat. We placed second in our division, losing to a crew from the nearby Coast Guard station. But I guess that's the way you want it to be, no?
At the 2014 Snow Row
We are not really as big as it appears -- we are wearing coats and team shirts over inflatable PFDs, although we had to remove those covering garments before race start.
In late April, we traveled to Mystic to get some practice at handling the Charles W. Morgan's "Beetle boats." These whaleboats have a more authentic design and construction than the fiberglass boats owned by Whaling City Rowing. James Beetle of New Bedford built over a thousand of boats between 1834-54, including those that shipped out on the Morgan at her launch. In 1924, his son Charles was asked by Col. Ned Green to built a Beetle Boat for the restoration work on the Morgan by "Whaling Enshrined." Charles's brother, John, designed the 12-foot gaff-rigged Beetle Cat sailboat, which is still produced in Wareham. The Beetle Cat Boat Shop built the replica Beetle whaleboats carried by the Morgan on her 38th Voyage, as well as a Beetle whaleboat for the New Bedford Whaling Museum (Would You Like to Learn More? click here). They continue to fill orders for the 28-foot, 6'5" beam, 1200-pound Beetle Whaleboat (for more, click here).
The oars on the Morgan's Beetle boats are wood, and consequently are much more elastic than the fiberglass oars in our modern Yankee replicas. They also have a much more narrow blade, and lack buttons or collars to help secure them in proper position in the oarlocks. While this may offer advantages when rowing in active seas, the techniques of control are a bit different. They bend more; they can feel a bit wobbly when you first pull on them. But one can learn to adjust them quickly and effectively in response to conditions. However, they do not stop the boat or "hold water" anything like our wide-blade fiberglass oars.
Boatsteerer Training in Beetle Whaleboat at Mystic Seaport
In June, we were invited to race in the annual Boston Portuguese Festival's Azorean Whaleboat Regatta on the Charles River in Cambridge. Azorean whaleboats are of a different design: they are longer (39'), sleeker, carry an additional (sixth oar), and feature a short rudder instead of a steering oar. They are fast boats, but they are much more difficult to turn; a Yankee whaleboat can turn much more tightly than an Azorean boat. In a straight sprint, Azorean boats have a distinct advantage over American designs. The annual regatta of the New Bedford Azorean Maritime Heritage Society, for example, always features a straight course approximately one-half mile in length (Would You Like to Learn More? click here). But if you add a couple of turns to a race, then all bets are off (or, rather, are on).
An Azorean Whaleboat
The return of the Morgan to New Bedford was a pretty big deal. Among the festivities were a set of whaleboat skills challenges and whaleboat racing. The earliest recorded whaleboat race in New Bedford harbor took place in 1857, during commemorations for Independence Day. Our race on the July 4th weekend of the Morgan's visit followed the same course.
A team from WCR races passed the Charles W. Morgan
The winners, a team from Mystic Seaport Museum, finished the 2.75-mile course loop around Palmer's Island with a time of 20:54 -- more than four minutes faster than the winning boat in 1857! They were awarded a replica of the silver pitcher bestowed upon the victors of that original race.
The return of the Morgan to New Bedford was a pretty big deal. Among the festivities were a set of whaleboat skills challenges and whaleboat racing. The earliest recorded whaleboat race in New Bedford harbor took place in 1857, during commemorations for Independence Day. Our race on the July 4th weekend of the Morgan's visit followed the same course.
The winners, a team from Mystic Seaport Museum, finished the 2.75-mile course loop around Palmer's Island with a time of 20:54 -- more than four minutes faster than the winning boat in 1857! They were awarded a replica of the silver pitcher bestowed upon the victors of that original race.
My wife's team won the "Friendly Locals" skills competition with the best one-handed wave to the spectators and judges. Each member of their crew received a hand-crafted stuffed whale, labeled with the event, date, team name, and her assigned seat number in the boat.
Charles W. Morgan at State Pier, New Bedford
Forward Hatchway on the Morgan, deck worn by thousands of passing feet
Morgan's "Blubber Room"
(a large open -- but low-ceilinged -- space between the deck and the hold,
where strips of blubber were cut and stored in casks for melting at the tryworks)
Morgan's Tryworks in action
(credit: http://shipwiki.wikispaces.com/Charles+W.+Morgan)
Some of the Morgan's Crew
(credit: New Bedford Whaling Museum)
(a large open -- but low-ceilinged -- space between the deck and the hold,
where strips of blubber were cut and stored in casks for melting at the tryworks)
(credit: http://shipwiki.wikispaces.com/Charles+W.+Morgan)
(credit: New Bedford Whaling Museum)
Running Rigging
Up to the Foretop
Early in the morning of July 8th, the day the Charles W. Morgan departed New Bedford, we rowed a whaleboat alongside her one last time. Her crew were busy making final preparations. High tide had come around 4:30 a.m., bringing a three-foot rise in water level. The captain wanted to sail (or be towed out, actually) with the ebb and be well clear of the harbor before low tide at 10 o'clock that morning.
Working the Main
A few of her hands waved to us farewell and shouted their thanks for our support during her port of call. By the time we completed our rowing circuit of the harbor and returned to the dock on Pope's Island, the Morgan was being towed out through the Hurricane Barrier, having left State Pier a half-hour ahead of scheduled departure. I hurried to my car and rushed back home, hoping to take my little sailboat out to see the Morgan underway in Buzzards Bay as she headed toward the Cape Cod Canal.
Charles W. Morgan under sail
(credit: Mystic Seaport)
(credit: Mystic Seaport)
If you are interested in reading about my little adventure going out to see the Morgan under sail, please check out 'Greeting the Morgan' posted to my sailing blog, 'Ruf Seas,' at http://svpiao.blogspot.com
For the shipwiki devoted to the Charles W. Morgan, click here.
For a SAIL magazine article on the Morgan's 38th Voyage, click here.
For a SAIL magazine article on the Morgan's 38th Voyage, click here.
[full disclosure: I am a contributing supporter of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (Would You Like to Learn More? click here)]
