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The kid-glove treatment. Cradling one of the ship’s V-shaped frames, Jay Rosloff (right) and Sam Turner gingerly place the wood into a freshwater conservation tank. Every item retrieved from the shipwreck was immediately placed in fresh water to hinder the disintegration that would occur if the wood were allowed to dry; to prevent friction, pieces of timber were placed in individual trays. For at least two years, the wood will be impregnated by heated polyethylene glycol, a waxlike substance that will penetrate the cellular cavities of the deteriorated wood. After the wood recovers its sturdiness, the ship will be reconstructed to its original shape.