With rubber shovels and grit, Mystic Seaport workers dig out historic whaling ship after snowstorm

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Clearing 2 feet of snow from a driveway is backbreaking enough. Clearing it from a 113-foot-long historic whaling ship docked in the river is something else entirely.

Shipyard workers at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut were limited to rubber and plastic shovels as they carefully dug out Tuesday from the record-breaking snowstorm that hit the Northeast. Anything metal, such as a snowblower or metal shovel, would damage the decks of the Charles W. Morgan and other wooden boats in the maritime museum’s collection.

“You’ve got to be cautious as you go,” said Shannon McKenzie, vice president of watercraft operations and preservation. "The added difficulty is, you’ve got to get it up and over all of the rails of the boat, which for the Morgan, it’s 4 feet, 3 feet in places. So it’s an onerous effort.”

Scott Gifford, shipyard director at the museum, said the crews are trying to mitigate wear and tear on the boats' historically accurate natural materials. This includes caulking in the Morgan's deck seams that's made of pitch — a combination of pine tar, linseed oils and other “old-timey potions" — that prevents leaks. It could get pulled out by a metal shovel.

Clearing the snow is only the first step. Pure rock salt has to be scattered on the decks afterward to remove any remaining snow and ice. Fresh water from melting snow isn't good for the wood.

“The wooden boats definitely prefer to have salt water instead of fresh water. It sort of pickles them a little bit and it’s much better for the wood,” McKenzie said. “So we put salt on the decks so any fresh water that’s melting from the snow gets the salt into it and doesn’t contribute to rot on the boats.”

Gifford said the process essentially duplicates how wooden ships were preserved generations ago, when ships were regularly washed down with salt water.

“This wasn’t our idea,” he said. “This was out in the wooden boat world long before us.”

The Mystic Seaport, the nation's largest maritime museum, has three large ships, including the Morgan, the last remaining wooden whaling ship from the 19th century American merchant fleet. There are also about a dozen mid-sized ships at the museum that need to be cleared of snow in every storm.

Cleanup of the boats and the entire 37-acre riverfront property from this latest storm, including parking lots, began in earnest on Tuesday. The maritime museum includes a historic seaport village with cobblestone, slate and gravel walkways that have to be shoveled by hand. It's a process that's been repeated multiple times this winter.

“It’s trying our patience a little bit,” McKenzie said with a laugh.

She said an enthusiastic team of about a dozen people started clearing the boats at 7 a.m. and were done by lunchtime. They then joined about seven other workers to help finish clearing the sprawling grounds.

“There’s like piles and piles and piles of snow, but it’s really beautiful. And it was a lovely day outside," she said. "It wasn’t too cold. It was great. We had a great time.”

During the storm, workers had to keep a close eye on the boats. McKenzie said there's always a risk the snow could compromise their stability, especially if it piles up on one side.

The museum is expected to be open to staff and with limited exhibits for visitors on Wednesday. The Morgan will be ready for visitors over the weekend. But that could depend on the latest forecast, which includes more snow.