After almost a year of construction, apprentice boatbuilders at the Apprenticeshop, a school for traditional boatbuilding and seamanship in Rockland, Maine, successfully completed, launched, and delivered a replica of a 29-foot Leonard-designed whaleboat for installation aboard the whaling ship Charles W. Morgan at the Mystic Seaport Museum.
Built in 1841, the 113-foot Morgan, America’s oldest merchant ship and the museum’s flagship, will sail again in the spring of 2014 with the Leonard boat and four other replica boats aboard.
The Apprenticeshop builders appropriately elected to deliver their finished whaleboat to Connecticut by water. Thay made a nearly 350 nm coastal passage under oar, sail, and the occasional tow when needed. After 13 days, the crew of seven arrived at Mystic Seaport to cheers and a cannon salute.
