Workers at the Mystic Seaport H.B. DuPont Preservation Shipyard install a new hull plank Friday on the port side of the Charles W. Morgan, a 19th century whaling ship, as part of a five-year restoration project. The plank was heated in a giant steam cabinet to make it pliable to be fitted to the curve of the hull for the installation. The Morgan, the last remaining wooden whaling ship remaining and the oldest American commercial vessel still in existence, as well as a National Historic Landmark, is slated to be relaunched on July 21 and embark on its 38th voyage, a tour of historic New England ports, in the spring of 2014.

Evelyn Ansel, an apprentice shipwright at the Mystic Seaport H.B. DuPont Preservation Shipyard, uses a caulking mallet, caulking irons and oakum Friday to caulk the forward port bulwark planking of the Charles W. Morgan, a 19th century whaling ship, as part of the five-year restoration project. The Morgan, the last remaining wooden whaling ship remaining and the oldest American commercial vessel still in existence, as well as a National Historic Landmark, is slated to be relaunched on July 21 and embark on its 38th voyage, a tour of historic New England ports in the spring of 2014.