The clear skies, fair winds from the north and west and calm Atlantic Ocean with a slight southeast swell set the ship and its crew off to a safe start today as it begins a two-month journey to historic New England ports following completion of a five-year restoration at Mystic Seaport.

Just past 1 p.m. it was nearing Point Judith on its way to its first stop in Newport, R.I. The ship is expected to arrive around dinnertime.

“You can just feel that she is happy and she wants to go and wants to sail again,” said Aaron Gralnik, a professional deckhand on the Morgan.

At 6:30 a.m. Morgan enthusiasts waved goodbye to the world’s last surviving wooden whaling ship at City at the New London’s City Pier, a day later than initially planned. Rough conditions on Saturday postponed the trip to today.

During its 38th voyage, the Morgan will also visit Martha’s Vineyard, New Bedford, Provincetown, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Boston and the Cape Cod Canal.

“This is amazing — something that none of us at the museum had anticipated in our careers,” said Glenn Gordinier, the Robert G. Albion historian at Mystic Seaport. “So to see it come to fruition is just amazing.”

Gordinier was captivated when the Morgan rose for the first time in more than 90 years to the swell of the Atlantic Ocean. He spent time admiring how the shadows on the floors and walls of the “blubber room” rocked back and forth as the Morgan swayed in the sea. He said he had been below deck dozens of times while working at Mystic Seaport but that this was an entirely different experience.

Two crew members debated the way the rigging should be set up next to Gordinier and he said he loved listening in because they were the same discussions that were had more than a century ago.

“There is always an element of uncertainty, but she is in the best hands,” he said. “So no real worry, but we all know the ocean is a big space.”

Captain Richard “Kip” Files of Rockland, Maine, is the “good hands” several folks aboard were talking about.

“We don’t anticipate any issues because we have such confidence in the captain,” said Quentin Snediker, the director of the Mystic Seaport shipyard and the man who was in charge of the restoration.

Files said he was taking the Morgan a “little gentle” because the wind was stronger than he anticipated. The vessel made six knots for a little while in mid-morning and by 10:45 a.m. the ship was back down to three and a half to four knots, he said.

“Nobody is in it for the terror,” Files said. “That’s not the point of sailing. You have to be able to take it in.”

If the vessel were to sail faster, he would have to send the crew back up the rigging and then if the wind sped up, he would have to send them up again, he added.

“It’s not like a modern vessel where you push a button or pull a chain,” he said.

The 15 professional sailing crew members along with Mystic Seaport crew members were hard at work throughout the day hoisting sails and striking sails.

“You’re beasts! You’re beasts! You’re beasts!” cheered Cassie Sleeper who is a senior deckhand and the medical deckhand.

She was encouraging Mystic Seaport sailing deck hands to put all their strength into belaying lines on a pin on the rail of the ship.

They know how to handle the lines, haul lines and have knowledge of the commands but there are technical words they have to become more familiar with such as “tacking” or turning the ship and “furling” or wrapping up a sail.

“It’s trial by fire,” she said. “Most of the tall ship industry is learning by doing.”

Also aboard the vessel were about nine “38th Voyagers” who were selected to sail aboard the Morgan and come from various professions and disciplines. During each leg of the 38th voyage different professionals will be aboard in order to inspire their work such as improving maritime education, producing garments worn by American men during the 18th and 19th centuries and examining how the public’s perception of whales. Helen Poulos who is a postdoctoral fellow at Wesleyan University’s college of environment said she is interviewing guests on the Morgan and plans to write a scholarly journal article about how people’s view of whales have changed after the International Whaling Commission put the international moratorium of whaling in place in 1986. Tyler Putman a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at the University of Delaware, said the trip helps him learn why sailors wore the clothes they did. In the late 1700s a fashionable middle-class man in New London would have worn a “long coat” and pants that were similar to knickers, he said. But the sailors wore short jackets and regular trousers so their clothing would not get stuck in the equipment, Putman said.

“I think I watched Peter Pan one too many times,” said Matthew Ecklund, an artist and head educator for Call of the Sea, a nonprofit that teaches youth about sailing and marine mammals.

He said he prefers to be at sea to “practice art as life.” Even coiling a line is art, he said.

“Participating on this trip is like a dream come true.”

Follow the voyage on Twitter today at #38th voyage.