Daily Log, October 22

Saturday October 22, 2005

Morning Position
Haverstraw Bay
41˚ 13.9' latitude
073˚ 57.8' longitude

Midday Position
King Marine, Verplanck
41˚ 15.0' latitude
073˚ 57.6' longitude

Evening Position
King Marine, Verplanck
41˚ 15.0' latitude
073˚ 57.6' longitude
Quicklinks
Use these links to jump directly to an event.
0700 hours: Rise and shine.
0730 hours: Just rewards.
0800 hours: Celebration!
0845 hours: Breakfast.
0900 hours: Rummaging.
0930 hours: Posterity.
1000 hours: Weigh anchor.
1030 hours: Give fire!
1100 hours: Arrival.
1215 hours: Students depart.
1315 hours: Farewell!


0700 hours: As the crew rouses itself in Haverstraw Bay, the early light reveals a cold and gray autumn morning. The weather forecast warns us that these overcast skies are being pushed ahead of a storm blowing up the coast, but we expect to have completed our journey by the time the chilling rains arrive. In fact, our final destination is just around the bend, hidden by the point of land in the photo to the right.

The crew is abuzz with excitement as they commune on the orlop deck. Everyone is eager to see their homes and families again.

0730: Captain Reynolds gathers everyone on the orlop deck for the a congratulatory ceremony. One by one, the captain presents each of our student crewmembers with official crew shirts and certificates noting that they have fulfilled their duties as full members of the Half Moon's crew. Mrs. Brudos and Mr. Beiter also receive shirts, since they too have just completed their first Voyage of Discovery.

You can visit our crew pages and move your mouse over the portrait of our new crew members to see them receiving their shirts.

0800: After everyone receives their shirts and certificates, the students take some time to celebrate. It's become a common tradition for the students to sign each others' shirts, as you can see above.

0845: Despite the festivities, ship's duties still need to be performed. Here, Alex S. helps Mrs. Brudos prepare breakfast for everyone. This is the last full meal of this voyage.

0900: The crew is hard at work all over the ship, splitting into teams to get everything done. Some students focus on rummaging the orlop deck. Everyone packs up their gear and shifts it to a central pile; this gets their bags out of the way of the anchor rode. When we reach our destination, it will also make the task of unloading the ship much more efficient.

Other students give the ship a thorough cleaning once everyone's gear is out of the way. To the left, Zach vacuums the orlop deck, while to the right, Kris sweeps the weather deck after a deck wash.

0930: We're just about ready to leave, but first, we take the time to record our student crew for posterity. Everyone say, "Half Moon!"

1000: Back to work! The time has come to weigh anchor. In earlier logs, we've already shown how the crew works the capstan above; now we'll show the activity below decks.

First, the crew runs the anchor rode (the thick line holding the anchor, which Sam is holding here) back to the lower capstan.

The crew then wraps the anchor rode around the capstan three times before running back up to the bow of the ship. As the crew on the weather deck turns the capstan and winches up the anchor rode, crew members down below (such as Candice and Alex S., here working under Mr. Morel's supervision) monitor the coils, ensuring that the line doesn't snarl itself.

Once the anchor has been weighed and is safely secured on the fore channel, the below-decks crew fakes the anchor rode, which means they neatly lay it out on the deck so the anchor can be safely deployed again. To the right, Zach and Alex S. fake the anchor rode under Mrs. Colley's supervision.

1030: We are now underway, and have only a short distance to travel to reach our destination: King Marine, in Verplanck, New York. Kris takes the final shift at the whipstaff, guiding us to the dock.

Meanwhile, directly beneath Kris, Mr. Linehan and Mr. Dawson prepare to fire the stern chaser as a salute to our hosts at King Marine. (In this photo, you can also see the bottom half of the whipstaff and how it connects to the tiller.)

The cannon behind Mr. Dawson is called a "chaser" because, in 1609, rear-facing weapons like this would have been fired at vessels chasing the ship.

Mr. Linehan and Mr. Dawson fire the aft chaser cannon in a fiery spray of sparks and smoke.

Move your mouse over the image to the right to see Mr. Linehan and Mr. Dawson firing the stern chaser as we approach King Marine. Note that the fiery burst you'll see isn't a misfire; it's quite normal. It's a good example of why firing a cannon -- even when just firing "blanks" as a salute -- must be done with extreme caution. It might be obvious that you don't want to be directly in front of or behind or a cannon when it fires, but this photo shows that you don't want to be above it, either.

1100: Shortly after firing our salute, we arrive at King Marine and are soon securely docked.

1215: With that, the fall 2005 Voyage of Discovery comes to an end. Soon, a school bus arrives, and our students and teachers depart after a few rounds of fond farewells.

1315: As it happens, the Half Moon is itself making only a brief visit to King Marine. With this Voyage of Discovery complete, the ship will now be spending the next three weeks in Athens, New York, undergoing maintenance.

As the students disembark, a new crew of adult volunteers arrives to donate their time to sail the ship back north to Athens.

Within an hour of the students' departure, the Half Moon sets out with its new crew. (Although we didn't keep a log of this overnight trip, you can see the daily logs of our return trip from Athens to Verplanck here.)

As the Half Moon fades into the October rain and fog, we'd lack to thank you for following these logs. After all, without community support, these Voyages of Discovery would not be possible. The Half Moon will next set sail in the Spring of 2006; we hope to see you then.

 

Five Days after Departure, 1609:

The eight and twentieth, being faire weather, as soone as the day was light, wee weighed at halfe ebbe, and turned downe two leagues belowe water; for, the streame doth runne the last quarter ebbe: then we anchored till high water. At three of the clocke in the after-noone we weighed, and turned downe three leagues, until it was darke: then wee anchored.

-- Robert Juet's Journal.