Monday October 17, 2005 |
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Morning Position |
Midday Position |
Evening Position Off Cementon 42˚ 08.6' latitude 073˚ 53.9' longitude |
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0800 hours: Students arrive. |
1400 hours: Raising the main mast. 1500 hours: Set sail! 1800 hours: Drop anchor. |
1830 hours: Dinner. 2000 hours: Journals. 2100 hours: Lights out. |
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When Henry Hudson and the crew of the original Half Moon first came to the region that would one day be the capital of New York, they only stayed for four days. We've spent four weeks in Albany since the first leg of our 2005 Fall Voyage of Discovery, and have spent that time offering historical tours of the ship to schools and the general public. But now the time has come for us to leave... |
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0800 hours: It is a cool, crisp, and overcast October morning as our new student crew arrives at the Albany Pumping Station, where the Half Moon and its volunteer crew awaits to transport them down the river. Eagle-eyed viewers who have also followed the first leg of this Voyage of Discovery may note that the ship's appearance has changed slightly since our arrival last month. Mr. Dawson has reapplied our red diamonds, at last restoring the ship to its full glory after its colors were dulled for its participation in The New World. |
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Captain Reynolds greets our new new arrivals and leads them down to the gangway, where they gather their gear for the time being. There is still much to be done before we can leave, both on land and on board. This is the end of our season in Albany, so our adult crew focuses on dismantling the gangway and storing the equipment we use while on display, such as the fences visible to the right. Meanwhile, the student crew moves on board to prepare the ship itself. While some students are sent to help in the galley, the rest focus their work on the orlop deck. |
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Mr. Dawson directs one group of students in replenishing the ship's water supplies. Hudson's crew would have had to load casks of "small beer" by hand, but fortunately we can just run a hose in through the nearest gun port. To the left, Alex S. and Nick help Mr. Dawson refill our drinking water bottles. Although the bottles hide it from sight in this picture, they're doing this just above a hatch cover which leads down to the lower deck...
...where Mr. Colley and Alex W. are fitting a length of pipe that allows us to funnel water through the hatch and directly into the galley's massive water tank, located in the hold. Filling this tank can take several hours, depending on available water pressure. Fortunately, however, here at the Albany Pumping Station water is in no short supply and we top off the tanks quickly. |
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Meanwhile, the rest of the students break out the mops and brooms and clean the orlop deck. They'll need it clean, too, since this deck will be the student crew's home for the next week. In the photos above, you might notice just how cramped the orlop deck is, with a mere four feet of headroom in most areas. Candice (above right) has to stoop over just to stand up! In fact, the orlop was even more crowded back when Hudson's crew slept in it in 1609, since we've lowered the floor in one area for the convenience of our visitors. |
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0930: Now that it is in order, we relay the crew's gear from shore down to the orlop deck, where it can be sorted out later. Captain Reynolds next gathers the entire crew around the capstan for an introductory briefing. He explains our rules and safety procedures (concerning both behavior and sanitation), but he foresees no problems with our new crew mates. |
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1000: Captain Reynolds shifts his briefing from safety procedures to basic skills the student crew will be using regularly while on board, such as belaying and coiling the running rigging. All of our new crew members spend some time practicing their line handling. |
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1200: We must be on our way. As Amro takes the helm, we cast off our lines, pull away from the Albany Pumping Station and turn south, not to return until next spring.
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If you've read our log of the first leg of this voyage, you may recall that left the dock at King Marine under sail power. Unfortunately, we don't have that opportunity here, because we need to lower our top masts to clear Dunn Memorial Bridge. In fact, with all the rain we've had in the Capital Region this past week, the Hudson River's waters have, at times, been so high that we wouldn't have been able to clear Dunn Memorial even with our masts lowered. Will we make it under today? As you can see, the answer is "yes," with a few feet to spare. |
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As soon as we're underway, Mr. Morel sees to pulling in all of our fenders, which hang over the side while we're at port. A ship's fender works just like a car's fender, protecting the vehicle from dents and scrapes. In our case, these inflatable fenders prevent the river's natural wave motion from grinding the Half Moon against its moorings. |
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Shortly after we pass under Dunn Memorial Bridge, lunch is served on the weather deck. Everyone has a selection of sandwiches to choose from. The students grab their food, then spread out to sit back and relax for a few minutes after a busy morning.
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1300: Now that the Dunn Memorial Bridge is to our backs, there's no reason to keep those top masts lowered -- we'll need them to set the sails. Our boatswain (pronounced "bosun," a ship's officer in charge of the rigging), Mr. Morel, oversees the process of raising the top masts. Each top mast is about the size of a telephone pole, so he'll need a lot of help. He opts to start with the fore mast. Mr. Morel sends Mr. Colley and Mr. Dawson into the foretop to prepare the top mast and prevent it from catching on anything as it slides up into place.
Mr. Morel stays on deck, organizing the rest of the crew -- they'll have an important role. |
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The fore mast is rigged to the capstan, a central winch that allows us to utilize mechanical advantage in all our heavy lifting. As the students turn the capstan, the fore topmast quickly rises into place. Mr. Colley and Mr. Dawson secure it in place, then tighten the upper rigging. |
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Meanwhile, Mr. Morel recruits a few of the adult crew to raise the fore yard (the horizontal beam from which the fore course sail hangs) into place. That done, the foremast is now ready for use.
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The yards on the Half Moon are light enough that we don't need the capstan to maneuver them -- a few strong backs and the mechanical advantage provided by a few pulleys is all we require. |
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1400: As we continue down the river, Mrs. Franz pulls out our modern and historical river charts, laying them out on the weather deck's aft hatch to introduce the students to the concepts of charting position. However, Mr. Colley and Mr. Dawson soon call down from the main mast top -- they're ready when we are! Our navigators brush aside the charts for now to once again man the capstan. The main topmast is the single heaviest object we need to lift on this ship, so the task requires every bit of our crew's strength. You can see the crew leaning into the capstan bars to the right. However, their combined efforts raise the top mast into positition without a hitch. |
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1500: With the top masts now raised and secure, we waste no time in setting sail. We enjoy several hours of sailing under light winds as we continue south past Athens. Unfortunately, the winds do bring a chilling breeze with them. As the skies clear above us, they're also getting colder, so crew members often excuse themselves to go slip on an extra layer of clothing.
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1730: The sun is sinking quickly, and we are nearing our destination. To the left, Mr. Hansen guides us toward our anchorage, with David at the helm. (In the role of ship's mate, Mr. Hansen assumes control of the Quarter deck whenver the captain is occupied elsewhere.)
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1800: We set anchor just off Concreton, near Georgetown. As the sun sets, Captain Reynolds again assembles the crew on the weather deck and briefs them on their anchor watch duties. Throughout the night, our crew must rise for hour-long watches to keep an eye on our surroundings -- specifically, so that we can be altered if the Half Moon starts dragging its anchor or our anchor light goes out. Were we to drag our anchor, we could drift into the shipping lane or run aground. If our anchor light went out, other vessels passing us in the night wouldn't be able to see us. Either event would be disastrous; thus our caution. The good news for the members of anchor watch is that granola bars and themoses of hot chocolate await to help them through the chilly night. |
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1830: Dinner is served by starlight on the weather deck. We actually avoid using artificial lights on deck at night; the bright light from a flashlight actually makes it harder to see, since our eyes can't adjust to the darkness. (The flash from this photo raised some grumbles, too.) Tonight's meal is taco soup, and is quickly devoured.
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2000: Before we wrap up for the evening, the captain gathers everyone around on the orlop deck to read a few entries from the journal of Robert Juet; you can read these same entries here on our daily log. We discuss the situations that the crew of the original Half Moon encountered -- some of them entertaining, some alarming -- and discuss how they might parallel our progress here and now. After we read some of Juet's journal, the students retreat to their sleeping bags to update journals of their own.
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2100: It's been a long day, but a productive one. We have an ambitious travel schedule for this trip, and are currently planning on traveling as far south as Haverstraw Bay (just south of Peekskill) for our upcoming research layover. This means tomorrow will be a long day as well, so we unanimously opt for an early lights out.
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Day of Departure from Albany, 1609: The three and twentieth, faire weather. At twelve of the clocke wee weighed, and went downe two leagues to a shoald that had two channels, one on the one side, and another on the other, and had little wind, whereby the tide layed us upon it. So, there wee sate on ground the space of an houre til the floud came. Then we had a little gale of wind at the West. So wee got our ship into deepe water, and rode all night very well. -- Robert Juet's Journal. |
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