1200 Hours

Current Position: Moored at Peckham Materials in Athens, NY.

By midday today, the crew for the shakedown voyage to New London, CT has started to gather at Athens, NY. Some crew members have yet to arrive, but others have been working (and in some cases living) on the site for some time now as the Half Moon undergoes maintainance.

Several decayed planks have been removed and new replacements fashioned. Volunteer Dave # fits the last planks into place.

We also have special guests in attendance to see us off, including crew member Randi dell'Acqua's daughter, who is getting to see the ship for the first time.

Below decks, Mr. Hansen and regular volunteer and crew member Kipp van Aken inspect improvements that have been made to the ship's fuel system.

They then move down to the engine room to complete their overview.

1400 Hours

Larry Fingar, manager of the Peckham Materials fleet maintenance facility, has been a great help to us over the past few years, donating parts and labor in our engine room. During a lull in the action, we present him with a special commemorative plaque as a gesture of thanks.

1415 Hours

With mechanical issues now taken care of, we turn our attention to putting the finishing touches on the rigging.

Mouse over to hoist the mizzen yard.

With Mr. Schuijer's guidance, we hoist up the mizzen yard. If we decide to set the lateen sail later, this will save us time and effort.

1500 Hours

Once the mizzen is set, our new arrivals undergo harness training.

1600 Hours

A few last tasks are a bit hard to reach. We've repainted the transom (the rear wall of the ship), and we removed our half moon emblem to do so. Now it's time to restore the Half Moon's namesake symbol to its rightful place.

Mr. Schuijer lowers himself down on a bosun's chair to fasten the moon's parts.

At the far end of the ship, Mr. Schuijer's assistant Ms. Read dangles under the beak on a bosun's chair of her own, rigging our new outrigger and securely lashing it in place. Mr. Hansen lends a hand from the beak.

1930 Hours

As the afternoon wears on, keeping the lower-altitute crew members content can become a major job all by itself. Ms. dell'Acqua oversees Nora, Tyler, and Nick as they go fishing with makeshift rods. (No bites, I'm afraid.)

The weather has been touch-and-go all afternoon as several cold fronts pass overhead. Several dark storm clouds roll past the river, but on the ship we only get a few drops of rain. Once the last of the storms blows through, we're treated to this rainbow.

1945 Hours

Our final maintainance tasks are complete and the entire crew has assembled on board. Captain Reynolds gathers everyone around the capstan for a standard safety briefing and to explain our itinerary for the next few days.

2015 Hours

With that, we're ready to go. Helm and line assignments go out while an official duty roster is being prepared. With new crew member Heather Smith observing, Mr. Weiss hauls in mooring line three and the ship quickly slides away from Peckham Materials. We expect to next return here one month from now, and some crew members will remain on board for that entire time.

2030 Hours

And at last we're under way! The crew clusters at the rail to watch the view as we motor south out of Athens Channel. We continue downriver as the sun sets.

2200 Hours

We have reached Kingston, our destination for the night. We set anchor out of the channel and quickly settle in for the night. We have a long day of travel ahead of us tomorrow.