Scoot

Then using a file to remove material to form the rabbet along the fore, bottom and aft of the center keel.

Step TWO was to install the Keel, Stem and Sternpost.

Before adding the keel, stem and sternpost, the rabbet lines were scribed into the center keel using a marking gage.

Hi Mr. John.  Are you building the Morgan?  If so, where do I find it?

Hi Frank. Thanks.  I finally buckled down. Had to make sure if I anted up, I could play the whole hand.

It can be quite a commitment as you know.  I will be doing some weathering so will need your consulting services at some point.

Happy New Year Guys!

Scoot

Step ONE from the instruction manual was to glue the Center Keel Assembly.

I finished Model Shipways “NEW BEDFORD WHALEBOAT” four years ago and soon after began on the “CHARLES W. MORGAN”.  Eager to begin another build, I laid the keel and added the bulkheads. Other interests arose and the “MORGAN” had to wait on the workshop 

shelf for nearly four years. You can see her in the background while I work on other projects in June of this year.

This is the start of my build of the “Charles W. Morgan”.

From what I have learned, the “Morgan” was the longest in service and most profitable of any Whaleship.  A “greasy ship”. Built at the Hillman Brothers Shipyard,(brothers Jethro and Zacharia) on the Acushnet River in New Bedford Massachusetts in 1841.

She was built at a cost of $52,000.00 and was registered at 351 tons. She ended her whaling days in 1921. She has gone through at least a couple of restorations, the latest finishing this year at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut and celebrating her “38th Voyage” with a trip from Mystic Seaport to New England destinations, including, Newport,  Martha’s Vineyard,  New Bedford,  Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay,  Provincetown,  Stellwagen Bank(to play with the whales),  Boston, and back again to Mystic.

Part of the fun and experience of building a model is the research. A ship model build can take several years, as I am sure most of the builders on this site know, and the amount of time and research is not taken lightly and is quite a commitment.  My wife and I have become members of Mystic Seaport since becoming interested in building this model four years ago, and have visited her (the Morgan) during the restoration a number times. My wife and I purchased “trunnels” with our names on them as a donation during her restoration, and hopefully were used during the planking. The books I have read as part of learning about whaling follow: Moby Dick by Herman Melville,  The Whaleboat by Willets D. Ansel,  Sperm Whaling from New Bedford by Elton W. Hall,  Whaleships and Whaling by Albert Cook Church,  The Yankee Whaler by Clifford W. Ashley,  also Ashley’s Book of Knots.  The” Charles W. Morgan”, The Last Wooden Whaleship by Edouard A. Stackpole, The Charles W. Morgan by John F. Leavitt and The American Whaleman by Elmo P. Hohman.  Have visited several museums in the area. Those being: The New Bedford Whaling Museum in New Bedford,  The Nantucket Whaling Museum on Nantucket, The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem and of course Mystic Seaport, all in Massachusetts. Rich grounds for learning about whaling. I think I am ready.         

Sorry for the longwinded introduction. Feels like reading a chapter of Melville.

Let the fun begin.

Scoot

Merry Christmas Frank.

I think it is as warm back here as it is out there this year.

Enjoy the holidays.

Scoot

Middle age.

Gotta love it Frank.

Scoot

Looks like organized chaos Frank.  Looking good.

Furled sails look fantastic. 

Scoot

Been following your build for at least two years. Have never posted.

After watching a build for so long, you get a sense of who the builder is and events that happen in there lives

Great build, great patience, wonderful skills.  Has been a pleasure to watch the growth of the model.

Congrats on her finish.

Scoot

Can't argue with experience. They sound like good practical solutions worth sharing.

Thanks.

Scoot

Looking good Frank.  Glad your well.

I will need your advice on weathering when I start my Morgan.

Scoot

Looks very nice Frank. Love the deck house.

Hope all is well.

Scoot

Getting back into it Mario? Bet you are glad to have your time being freed up.

All work and no play......

Scoot

Looks good Frank. Doesn't look like too much work to fair it.

One less thing.

Scoot

Great model to build. Lots of detail in a great scale. Have also done this model.

Was neat to see a whaleboat from the C.W.Morgan cavorting among the whales off of Stellwagen last month.

Enjoy.

Scoot

Regarding the stern view. Nice butt....I mean buttocks......no,..no, I mean, um futtocks....Um......Nice lines.

Couple more pics as the Morgan is escorted through the east end of the Cape Cod Canal Wednesday morning.

If you can zoom in on the photos, you see how she is rigged at the present.

Should be boarding her in a couple of weeks, so will have plenty of pics.

Scoot

A view of the Morgan a few hours ago. She is headed east through the Cape Cod canal Wednesday Morning.

Where ya been Jer? Good to see your build back up and running.

Scoot

How could you live with yourself without adding that channel Ed?

It's all about the details. Nice!

Scoot

Gees Frank. Did you come up for air?

Nice job on "Supply". I've been watching.

I'm going to guess you enjoyed rigging so much,

you couldn't wait to start again. Hows every thing in sunny CA.?

Scoot

Looks good so far Bruce. I'll be keeping an eye on your build. Should be starting

mine in the fall.

Scoot

Do you enjoy what you're doing Ed? It looks like you enjoy what you're doing.

Nice skills, nice patience, nice stuff.

Scoot

Checkin in Frank. Hope you're warmer than me up here in the nawtheast. Been a long winter.

Hope all is well.

Scoot