0700 hours

Starting Position: Anchored off Montrose Island at Haverstraw Bay, NY.
Latitude: 41˚ 13.5' N
Longitude: 073˚ 56.6' W

Day Two of the second leg of our 2009 Fall Voyage of Discovery.

We'll post the full log later, but until then here's a preview of our day.

A wet night continued into a rainy morning as our new crew rose to greet their first full day on board the Half Moon. Fortunately, we could see clear skies by the end of the day. Captain Reynolds started our day with a reading from Robert Juet's journal, noting the landmarks still visible around us.

After a short jaunt south yesterday evening to set anchor in Haverstraw Bay, we once again turn upriver. Over the course of a long day of travel, we replicate two days' worth of Hudson's progress, traveling through both the Hudson Highlands and the Lange Rack (Long Reach).

While the ship was underway, the crew began their orientation progress, receiving their first introductory tips on sail handling, collecting data for the Deck Log, and working their way up the ranks in the Crew Rating Log.

Shortly after dark, we reached Kingston and set anchor in the river. After a cloudy start, the skies were now crystal clear, so many of the students opted to sleep on deck. Over the course of the night, however, temperatures dipped into the 40s F, so some of these daring young sailors may have opted to retreat to the relative warmth of the orlop deck by dawn.

Tomorrow we will continue north to Athens Channel, where the Half Moon will stop for a 24-hour layover to collect data for the students' presentation projects.

Robert Juet's Journal

The Halve Maen continues upriver. Assuming the ship weighed anchor somewhere between Hudson/Athens and Coxsackie, and if Juet's travel estimation of six leagues (roughly 18 miles) is accurate, then the ship is likely somewhere near New Baltimore or Castleton when it repeatedly runs aground on shallow shoals. After hauling themselves free twice in one day, the crew sets anchor for the night.

On September 17th, 1609:

The seuenteenth, faire Sun-shining weather, and very hot. In the morning as soone as the Sun was vp, we set sayle, and ran vp sixe leagues higher, and found shoalds in the middle of the channell, and small Ilands, but seuen fathoms water on both sides. Toward night we borrowed so neere the shoare, that we grounded; so we layed out our small anchor, and heaued off againe. Then we borrowed on the banke in the channell, and came aground againe; while the floud ran we heaued off againe, and anchored all night.

-- Robert Juet's Journal.