Saturday, November 12 2005

0800 hours: The bright side of our engine problem is that we get to sleep in. As day breaks over the channel, the crew crawls from their bunks to greet a chilly morning.

0845 hours: The Half Moon relies on donated docking space, and it's our policy to leave our donors' sites in better condition than we find them. Since we're waiting for the replacement part to arrive, we have plenty of time to tidy up.

Captain Reynolds has noticed that some of the mooring lines holding the barges could use some attention, so he recruits a few crew members to shore them up.

0915 hours: Breakfast -- including home-made coffee cake -- is served on the orlop deck.

The crew takes their food up to the weather deck for a casual start to the day.

1045 hours: With plenty of time to fill, our regular crew go ahead and start teaching our new arrivals the principles of line handling. Here, Kara Colley shows Connor how to belay a line on the fore deck's pin rail.

Nearby, Steve Barratt, Edmund Fitzgerald, and Stephen van der Merew practice coiling lines.

Stu Gralink handles the lessons down on the weather deck. Here he leads Jamison, Elyse Kunz, and Cynthia Kunz through the basics.

Elsewhere, the replacement engine part has arrived, and the captain and a few select crew members are busy putting it in place.

1130 hours: The job of keeping 29 people fed is never-ending. Here, Sylvia Lawler prepares lunch.

Meanwhile, a few more chores need to be done to prepare the ship for departure. Here, Dan Dawson pumps up the inflatable tender while Guy Falkenheimer, Tim Whiting, Sky Colley, and Aaron offer moral support.

While Dan pumps up the Zodiac, some of our crew still need to take their harness tests. Here, Kara Colley shows a few late arrivals how to clip in.

For those who've finished their harness training, Stu Gralnik continues teaching new arrivals "the ropes."

1200 hours: We still have plenty of time before the ship will be ready to leave, so we decide to start training our new crew the basics of sail handling. On the main mast, Dan Dawson heads up the main mast shrouds with Aaron and Jamison to unfurl the sails.

Meanwhile, Kara Colley does the same with Nick and Connor on the fore mast.

1220 hours: On the foredeck, Sky Colley teaches knots to some of our new crew.

1300 hours: With the sails unfurled, the crew splits into teams to practice working the fore and main sails.

1345 hours: Lunch is served on the weather deck. Fortunarely, the chilling temperatures of last night have risen to more comfortable levels.

1415 hours: As repairs and testing continue on the engine, some of the new crew climb aloft to take in the view. Here, Dan Dawson joins Heather Henderson and Randi Dell'Acquer in the main top while the tricolor flag of the Netherlands flutters above them.

1530 hours: Part of the purpose of this voyage is to test out our newly refurbished engine. Because the engine has not yet been tested, the crew needs to stay on constant alert just in case the engine fails for any reason. In such an emergency, two teams of crew members (working in shifts) need to be ready to set the anchor at a moment's notice. Here, the anchor teams meet on the anchor rode to work through the procedure.

1545 hours: At long last, the engine problem seems to have been solved and we're just about ready to leave. Captain Reynolds gathers the entire crew around the capstan for one final safety meeting.

1600 hours: As we depart Athens Channel, Steve Barratt fires the stern chaser as a salute to our hosts at Peckham Materials.

(Not visible in this photo is the cluster of new crew members eager to see the cannon go off -- as they say, boys and their toys.)

With all technical delays behind us, we motor out of the channel, heading south. While Captain Reynolds checks on other matters, Guy Falkenheimer, an acting mate, takes command of the quarter deck.

1630 hours: With temperatures already dropping again, Sylvia Lawler and her helpers start preparing dinner.

Although our initial plan was to reach Verplanck today, the delay has caused us to rethink that schedule. Although we could still reach King Marine tonight, it would require motoring until the wee hours of the morning. Instead, we stop at Roundout Creek, at Kingston, arriving at 2200 hours.

In Roundout Creek, we moor the ship to a tugboat at the North River Tugboat Museum, owned by Captain Steve Trueman. Like Larry Fingar and the good folks at Peckham Materials, Captain Trueman has been a frequent host and is a valued friend to the Half Moon.

We all bunk down, knowing that our stay here will be short -- we plan to leave in just six hours.

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