Mystic Seaport Museum workers in Connecticut spent Tuesday clearing snow from a 113-foot historic whaling ship, using only rubber and plastic shovels so the decks of the Charles W. Morgan and other wooden boats would not be damaged. The work began after the Northeast saw a record-breaking snowstorm, and it extended beyond the vessels to the museum’s riverfront property, officials said.
Shannon McKenzie, the vice president of watercraft operations and preservation, said the teams had to work carefully not only because clearing snow from the museum’s wooden surfaces is delicate, but because the job requires lifting the cleared material up and over the ship’s rails. She said the added difficulty comes from getting snow off in a way that does not harm the historic decks, including areas that rise several feet above the main level.
McKenzie said the museum limited workers to rubber and plastic shovels because anything metal, including tools such as snowblowers or metal shovels, could damage the decks of the ships in the collection. Scott Gifford, the shipyard director, said the crews were trying to reduce wear and tear on the vessels’ historically accurate natural materials, including pitch caulking in the Morgan’s deck seams. He said that pitch is made from pine tar, linseed oils and other materials, and that metal tools could pull it out.
Gifford said that clearing the snow was only the first step in the preservation-focused cleanup. After workers dug off the bulk of the snow, crews scattered pure rock salt on the decks to remove any remaining snow and ice, he said, adding that fresh water from melting snow is not good for the wood.
McKenzie described the approach as one that treats the wood in a way that favors the maritime museum’s preservation goals. She said wooden boats “definitely prefer to have salt water instead of fresh water,” adding that fresh water effectively leaves the wood worse off by accelerating rot. She said crews put salt on the decks so fresh water melting from the storm can mix with salt and avoid contributing to rot.
She added that the salt-and-wash method essentially duplicates how wooden ships were preserved in earlier eras, when ships were regularly washed down with salt water. Gifford said “This wasn’t our idea,” explaining that it came from established practices in the wooden-boat world long before the museum adopted them.
The Mystic Seaport, which officials described as the nation’s largest maritime museum, has three large ships, including the Charles W. Morgan, the last remaining wooden whaling ship from the 19th-century American merchant fleet. The museum also has about a dozen mid-sized ships that need to be cleared of snow during storms, and cleanup from this latest weather event began in earnest on Tuesday across the 37-acre riverfront property.
Along with shoveling the museum’s ship decks, workers cleared the seaport village area with cobblestone, slate and gravel walkways that require hand shoveling. McKenzie said crews started at 7 a.m. with about a dozen people working on the boats and finished by lunchtime, before joining additional workers to clear the larger grounds.
During the storm, workers monitored the ships for risks to their stability, McKenzie said, particularly the possibility that snow piling unevenly could compromise a vessel’s balance. The museum planned to be open to staff and with limited exhibits for visitors on Wednesday, and officials said the Morgan would be ready for visitors over the weekend, though they said timing could depend on the latest forecast and whether more snow is expected.