0700 hours

Current Position: Docked at King Marine, Verplanck, NY.
Latitude: 41˚ 15.2'
Longitude: 073˚ 58.0'

Day Seven and the final day of the first leg of our Fall 2008 Voyage of Discovery. But where one crew's voyage ends, another begins; click here to jump directly to Day One of the second leg of the voyage.

As daylight spreads over the scene, the Half Moon is already docked at our host, King Marine. The weather is cool, cloudy, and comfortable.

0830 hours

For the student crew, the end of the voyage is mere hours away. Their presentations have already been delivered, so today is devoted to preparing for their departure and a celebration of what they've already accomplished.

0900 hours

The Half Moon will remain docked here for most of the day while we switch crews and reprovision our supplies.

Corey Cumming, a local, longtime friend of the ship, comes down to pick up Mr. Gorter for a shopping run. When she arrives, the crew serenades her with "Happy Birthday." Yes, another one! And we ran out of cake after the first two!

0945 hours

Champion critter wrangler Mr. Woodworth has returned from an errand on the dock with a dead blue crab for the students to examine.

Unlike our snippy specimens from Haverstraw Bay (who were, for the record, returned to shore there no worse for wear), this late crustacean is far more amenable to close scrutiny.

The students' reactions are plain: So horrifying...

...yet so irresistable!

The crab eventually makes its rounds through the entire crew, who study it with the dispassionate scientific rigor one would expect of our serious young sailors.

1030 hours

In the end, Captain Reynolds leads a dissection of the crab for interested parties. The orlop deck has, for the moment, become a surgical theater.

Meanwhile, however, other crew members are free to follow their own priorities this morning.

After doing each other's hair, Tee-Ahna leads one last dance drill lesson for her friends and crewmates.

1130 hours

A bus from Rensselaer will soon arrive to deliver our next crew and return our current students to their families. With its estimated arrival time closing in, the students stow their gear and transfer it all to the weather deck.

1200 hours

With the orlop deck rummaged, the students then clean it thoroughly for the benefit of the incoming sailors.

Meanwhile, watch duties remain in effect right to the very end. In the galley, Alex and Mike help Mr. Gorter and Ms. Smith as they tidy the galley and plan for more provisioning.

1215 hours

To mark the successfuly conclusion of this Voyage of Discovery, Captain Reynolds convenes the crew around the capstan to present them with their exclusive crew shirts. Only individuals who have ably served on board the Half Moon are allowed to wear "the orange."

How they wear the orange, however, is a matter of personal taste.

You can visit the Crew page and mouse over each student's portrait to see them receive their own shirt.

1230 hours

After the shirt ceremony, we still have a few free moments before the bus arrives. Captain Reynolds pulls out his laptop for one last mail call.

We particularly appreciate the seemingly never-ending flood of loving relatives who have written in to Jared over the course of the voyage, if only to watch him squirm with happy embarassement.

However, it was the letter to Chris that really grabbed our attention; seldom have we received a missive of such imploring honesty and rueful passion. With all due apologies to its author, you can jump down to the Mail Bag at the end of this log to read it for yourselves.

Mouse over to pose for the camera.

In the name of full disclosure, however, we must confess to all of the loved ones who wrote in to us that throughout the mail call, your kind words were locked in a tooth-and-nail struggle for the students' attention with one of the Half Moon's most popular neighbors here at King Marine:

Bimini the Parrot.

1245 hours

With all of their gear transferred to the dock, the students enjoy one last meal before heading home: some of Mr. Gorter's stacked sandwiches.

1300 hours

The Rensselaer bus has arrived! The students haul their gear back onto shore. On the way, we help one of our neighbors stack his crab traps.

1315 hours

As our new students unload their gear and familiarizes themselves with their new surroundings, our old salts load their their bags and roll out, all according to plan.

...with one exception. About five minutes after the bus leaves, we discover that Mr. Woodworth did not make it on board (although his bags and wallet did).

For a moment, it looks like Mr. Woodworth may be unexpectedly Shanghaied into remaining on the ship for another week. Fortunately for him, however, the bus crew quickly notices his absence and returns to fetch him.

With Mr. Woodworth's belated departure, the first leg of our Fall 2008 Voyage of Discovery has officially come to an end.

Thanks and congratulations to all of our able sailors! We look forward to seeing our departing students in Albany on the 19th -- and if they wish, for years to come.

For the senior crew, however, the day is just beginning...

1330 hours

The bus has delivered our new crew of students from Rensselaer, Schenectady, and Taconic Hills.

As the bus departs, Captain Reynolds greets our new crew members and welcomes them to the Half Moon.

We still have a few hours before reprovisioning is complete, so there's no rush, but without delay we move the students and their gear on board, transferring it down to the orlop deck.

The afternoon is growing a touch muggy, so we opt to start off with a quick deck wash to tidy the weather deck and generally cool things down.

1415 hours

The new students settle right in and start making themselves at home. Dr. Jacobs gives Nicole and Jamie the job of clearing the Task Matrix for the new voyage -- a clean slate, if you will.

Meanwhile, the teachers and remaining students gather on the orlop deck, which will serve as their living quarters for the next week. They casually introduce themselves to each other.

1430 hours

As we prepare for departure, we start training our new crew members in the basics of shipcraft and river science -- the skills they will need to acheive their goals during this voyage.

We begin with harness training and hang tests. The ability to safely climb into the rig is vital not just to work aloft, but to perform several experiments we will shortly introduce.

While Mr. Schuijer supervises Elora and Nicole on the port side rigging, Ms. Smith leads Alexis aloft to starboard.

Mouse over to sling that psychrometer!

1515 hours

Dr. Jacobs introduces the students to the Deck Log and the instruments needed to collect its necessary data. A Voyage of Discovery veteran, Dr. Jacobs cracks up as soon as she sees the camera train on her -- she knows that in some nebulous, virtual realm, she'll be stuck twirling a sling psychrometer forever!

1545 hours

We also teach the students how to use a Van Dorn sampler to collect water samples from beneath the surface. We take a few readings now at the dock, just for practice.

The Van Dorn sampler appears complicated, but is actually deceptively simple to use. This is fortunate, since it can serve as a vital tool in many of our usual student presentation projects.

While some students learn river science, other groups are being tought the basics of shipcraft. The student crew has been divided into two watches -- Port and Starboard -- and Mr. Prime guides them through the steps of each watch position.

Here, he shows Grayson, Tyler W., Alexis, and Nicole how to use the whipstaff, the Half Moon's steering mechanism.

By the time our dockside activities wind down, most of the students have already been fully briefed on all of the Deck Log instruments.

1600 hours

Mr. Gorter has returned from his main shopping excursion. With our provisions on board, the Half Moon is now clear for departure.

1615 hours

While the senior crew discusses departure times and destinations, the students continue their shipcraft training.

Here, Cheyenne, Devin, and John practice belaying and coiling lines at the starboard pin rail.

1730 hours

Captain Reynolds calls all hands on deck. Finally, it's time to go! Docking line positions are assigned, all hands report to duty, and the captain revs up the engine.

1800 hours

Tyler W. stands at position on the orlop stairs. For this operation, he is acting as communicator, and is responsible for quickly relaying messages between Captain Reynolds on the Quarter deck and the crew assigned to work Line One down below.

Line One is positioned under the stairs, at a fore end of the orlop deck. When given the command, Ms. Smith oversees as Grayson and Nicole haul in and coil Line One as soon as it is freed from the dock.

Momentarily, all four docking lines have been retracted into the ship, and the Half Moon is underday. Our Voyage of Discovery has officially begun.

John reports to duty as our first lookout. It's his responsibility to keep a sharp eye out for obstacles and markings, such as other river traffic and navigation buoys. "I'm a bit nervous about it," he confesses, but he serves admirably.

1900 hours

As dinner is served, we have traveled around the bend into Haverstraw Bay. As the Sun sinks below the high western horizon and clouds obscure the sky, night seems to fall quickly and early.

1915 hours

The students are already pitching in to work as a unified crew. Ryan steps in to the helm hutch to steer the ship while the assigned helmsman steps below to grab a bite of Mr. Gorter's pasta dinner.

As night falls, students continue collecting data for the Deck Log. Jamie and Cheyenne use a GPS unit to mark our coordinates while labeling a surface water sample, which will then be tested for salinity levels.

Although the Sun has nearly set, we still have a short distance to travel and the winds are turning in our favor. We decide to set sail, and students are assigned to mast teams. The fore mast team assembles to await their commands.

1930 hours

Meanwhile, down below, Derrick sees to less glamorous but even more important tasks. For his hour on galley duty, he cleans the dishes after dinner.

We set the fore top sail to grab a puff of wind. It's just enough to keep us moving as we shut off the engine.

To add some speed, Mr. Schuijer and Mr. Prime put their main mast team to work.

We set the main top sail as well, allowing us to quietly glide along under wind power under cover of night.

Mouse over to wrangle the rode.

2115 hours

All too soon, our first sailing experience comes to an end.

We've reached our destination in Haverstraw Bay, near the site of the last leg's data collection layover. When Captain Reynolds gives the command to "Let fall!" the anchor is released into the depths. As the anchor pulls the anchor rode (line) out the hawsehole behind it, Ms. Smith is stationed at the Sampson bar, at the ready to belay the rapidly slithering line. It's a delicate operation, but she's well practiced at it now.

2130 hours

Captain Reynolds summons the crew to the weather deck for our first anchor watch briefing. He directs the students' attention to the stationary lights on the distant shore, and explains how to use them to track our own position on the water. This is one of the two primary responsibilities of anchor watch: monitoring the safety of the ship and crew by ensuring that wind or current does not drag the ship and its anchor out of position.

2200 hours

The second vital responsibility is to monitor the anchor light. This light hangs from the fore mast whenever we are at anchor, alerting passing vessels to our presence and informing them that we are not in a position to evade them. Thus, the anchor light must not be allowed to go out.

Serving in teams of two, the students will each spend an hour tonight -- and any night we remain at anchor -- on anchor watch.

Tonight, as expected, the night passes quietly, bringing an end to our new crew's first day on board the Half Moon.

Next Time: The Day the Engine Stood Still!

Here's the letter to Chris which so caught our fancy:

Dear Chris--

We never really understood what drove you to sea.  Did we treat you badly at home?  Was it the quality of the cooking?  Perhaps the messiness of the house?  Or the number of chores?  Or your brother's chewing problems?  Or perhaps the police were too hotly in pursuit after they discovered your counterfeiting operation?

Whatever the reason, know that your loving family longs for your return.  Know that we spend countless hours wringing our hands, repeating "Woe is us!" and looking at the far horizon to see if the flag of the Half Moon would appear.  Know that we have done everything to prepare the home hoping that someday maybe you could forgive us our many faults and offenses.  The house is cleaned, a new cook has been retained, the whips have been put away, the police paid off (in counterfeit bills), and your brother no longer chews but only gulps... like a reptile.

We implore you, we beg you to return.  Mummy wants you, Mikey wants you, Doggie wants you, Father has taken to drinking large amounts of water...  The piano sits sobbing in the corner.

Turn north.  Come back.  We will wait.  Open arms and paws are ready to receive you.  An open keyboard awaits your fingers.

Love--

Mom, Dad (blub, blub), Michael (gulp), Doggie (woof!), and Piano (Plink, plonk)

On this date in 1609:

The thirteenth, faire weather, the wind Northerly. At seven of the clocke in the morning, as the floud came we weighed, and turned foure miles into the River. The tide being done we anchored. Then there came foure Canoes aboord: but we suffered none of them to come into our ship. They brought great store of very good Oysters aboord, which we bought for trifles. In the night I set the variation on the Compasse, and found it to be 13. degrees. In the after-noone we weighed, and turned in with the floud, two leages and a halfe further, and anchored all night, and had five fathoms soft Ozie ground, and had an high point of Land, which shewed to us, bearing North by East five leagues off us.

-- Robert Juet's Journal.