Current Position: Anchored off Cementon.

The ninth and final day of the 2007 Schenectady-Nijkerk Voyage of Discovery.

0700 Hours

As anchor watch ends to reveal a beautiful day, we are just a few hours away from our ultimate destination of Athens, NY.

With a minimum of prodding, our bright-eyed crew members crawl from their sleeping bags to greet their final day on board the Half Moon.

As soon as the crew is up and about, they turn their attention toward packing up and rummaging their gear, getting organized for their imminent departure.

0745 Hours

Our anchor teams snap into action as we weigh anchor one last time. Once the orlop team has the anchor rode prepared, our weather deck team walks the capstan to pull up the anchor.

Our webmaster got to have a little fun this morning by climbing down the hull to hook the anchor, so thanks to Captain Reynolds and Doreen for some of these photos.

0800 Hours

Once the anchor's up and we're on our way, the orlop team finishes up by reshackling the anchor chain, readying it for its next use.

0830 Hours

Meanwhile, down in the galley, Anna and Mrs. Barton have been preparing breakfast: egg-and-sausage "Moon McMuffins." Now, while we motor northward, they cook up the final batch and run it all up to the hungry crew abovedecks.

Our crew is in good cheer this morning, and they've grown comfortable in their roles. Here, Becky and Nicole keep themselves amused while manning the helm.

0930 Hours

We are now passing under Rip Van Winkle Bridge, which looks to be undergoing some construction. We have friends in the area, and Athens is just around the bend, so Mr. Prime and Mr. Eftimiades prepare a swivel gun to fire a series of salutes.

0945 Hours

Nicole is one of the first to assume firing position.

Mouse over to give fire!

As it's turned out, the crew from our first leg will keep their record for the most swimming, at for now. But where this crew has lacked for water time, today they get to make up for it with fire. Giving fire, to be specific.

We have a lot of salutes to fire off as we approach Athens and particularly our hosts at Peckham Materials, so every crew member who wants to try firing a cannon gets their shot, so to speak.

1015 Hours

With Anna at the helm, we've entered Athens Channel and are in the final approach toward our regular mooring at Peckham Materials...

...where friends of the ship Larry Fingar, Kipp van Aken, and Bob Hansen are waiting (while firing salutes of their own) to help us out.

Mouse over to hurl the monkeyfist.

1030 Hours

With an ebb current flowing against us, mooring alongside the barge requires some patience and finesse, but it all works out in the end.

Since we have the luxury of line handlers on shore, Mr. Prime flings a monkey fist (a light line ending in a large, weighty knot) to Bob Hansen, who then uses it to haul over our heavy mooring lines.

1100 Hours

We have now reached our final destination at Peckham Materials in Athens.

1130 Hours

The crew just has a few matters left to take of before the voyage is complete. First, the entire crew cooperates to rummage the waiting gear in the orlop deck, transferring it to the weather deck.

Once the gear has completely buried the weather deck, the crew transfers it to the barge, where it can be easily moved to the waiting vans.

1230 Hours

Our crew also gets to enjoy one last meal on board: a mighty repast of hot dogs, tacos, hard boiled egs, beans, chicken, and your pick of sandwiches, and more.

Or, as it's also known in some quarters, "leftovers."

1315 Hours

Having completed their first Voyage of Discovery, our new sailors have proven themselves full and able members of the Half Moon crew. In a quick ceremony, we award all of our new crew their exclusive orange shirts -- and as opposed to photo ops, they get to keep them this time!

You can mouse over the portraits on the Crew Pages to see our new crew members receiving their shirts.

With the shirt ceremony completed, Captain Reynolds congratulates the crew and then, just for good measure, gives them a few more minor tasks to see to before they can leave. Not too much to do, however -- these people have places to go and things to do.

1330 Hours

And with that, the 2007 Schenectady-Nijkerk Voyage of Discovery came to a successful conclusion. The students hustled back to their hosts and families, with the senior crew following hot on their heels.

1900 Hours

Epilogue: With all crew safety returned ashore, the Schenectad/Nijkerk Council held a farewell dinner for the Dutch youth at the Turf Tavern, in Scotia, NY. For some of us just stepping back on shore, we had just enough time to spruce ourselves up before rejoining civilization!

With all of our student crew members and theirs families or hosts present, as well as Captain Reynolds and representatives of the Half Moon senior crew in attendance, the evening was a raucously good time, culminating in a conga line that coiled around the room.

The next day, our young Dutch crew would travel down to New York City, and from there, return home. We thank them for joining our crew, and we already suspect we'll be seeing some of them again.

As for the Half Moon, with the ship once again in Athens we are returning to our ongoing rebuild project. Work will continue throughout the month of August, so if you're interested in volunteering, don't hesitate to contact us.