Daily Log, September 16

Friday September 16, 2005

Morning Position
Roundout Creek (Kingston)
41˚ 41.2 minutes latitude
073˚ 56.7 minutes longitude

Midday Position
Athens Channel
42˚ 16.2 minutes latitude
073˚ 48.0 minutes longitude
Evening Position
Athens Channel
42˚ 16.2 minutes latitude
073˚ 48.0 minutes longitude

 

0600 hours: Rise and shine! Our crew readies for another day. Our plan today is to venture north to Athens Channel, where we will weigh anchor and lay over for a full day so the student crew can focus on data gathering for their academic projects.

0700: Waffles for breakfast.

Shannon at the helm.Meaghan stands lookout on the fore deck.

1000: We've now weighed anchor and are heading north. While Shannon takes the helm and Meaghan stands lookout, some of our adult crew are busy below decks on a special project.

Mr. Morel and Mr. Colley prepare an anchor on the port fore channel.

While we are at Athens Channel, our students will be taking regular data readings, including taking soundings to measure water depth. Set to one anchor, a ship in a river will change position with the ebb and flood current. In our case, this will shift the ship's position by as much as 300 feet. As the bottom contours change, water depth will change. This will affect our soundings' readings.

Activity on the fore deck as Mr. Morel and Mr. Colley prepare the secondary anchor.

As our students are measuring the change in height of tide, the varying bottom contours will corrupt their data.

For that reason, we've decided to set two anchors from the bow, which will fix the bow of the ship in one position. We normally use our starboard anchor, so Mr. Morel and Mr. Colley spend some time this morning preparing our backup, port side anchor for use as well.

Mr. Terry uses the sling psychrometer.

Kyle smiles as he twirls a sling psychormeter over his head.

1030: The students are gearing up for their projects. The teachers bring out the scientific instruments, and the students spend the rest of the morning practicing with them so they'll be ready when data collection begins.

To the left, Mr. Terry practices using a sling psychrometer to make sure it works. (Move your mouse back and forth over the photo to see him in action.) Once Mr. Terry knows it's working, he hands it off to Kyle, right, to use for his project.

Ciara and Mrs. Lawler prepare lunch around a table laden with food.

1200: Lunch is served! Here you can see Ciara helping Mrs. Lawler prepare tuna sandwiches in the galley. You can also spot our snack baskets for the crew, as well as the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies Madena helped make this morning.

Mr. Dawson uses his foot to guide the port anchor toward the water line.Mr. Prime tails a tackle on the fore deck as Mrs. Fountain looks on.

 

1230: We've now entered Athens Channel and are preparing to set the anchor. We will be setting the port side anchor first. To the right, Mr. Dawson guides it down to the waterline, while Mr. Prime, left, oversees the tackles above.

Mr. Dawson leans out from the port fore channel, his outstretched arm parallel to the anchor rode.

The initial set of the anchor is not precisely where we want to be, so we determine to reset.

To the right, Mr. Dawson shows the direction of the anchor line for the officers on the Quarter deck as the rest of the crew scrambles to action.

The student crew heave on the port anchor rode down on the orlop deck.

The crew gathers down on the orlop deck to haul in the port anchor rode. With a dozen strong backs heaving on the line, we pull the anchor chain back in through the hawse hole and attach a secondary line we can wrap around the capstan.

Captain Reynolds, Mrs. Lawler, and seven students put their weight into the capstan bars.

Now the work shifts to the weather deck, where the crew works the capstan. Even Captain Reynolds and Mrs. Lawler join in!

In the end, the port anchor is back on the channel and ready for use again.

The Half Moon sits at double anchor in Athens Channel.

1330: We move a few hundred feet farther upriver and successfully set both anchors. The captain is very pleased by how how quickly and efficiently everyone managed with this complicated procedure.

We will be in Athens Channel until Sunday morning.

The northern end of Athens Channel.

Kayakers gather alongside the Half Moon.

1415: We have visitors! From Robert Juet's journal, written 396 years ago today:

This morning the people came aboord, and brought us eares of Indian Corne, and Pompions, and Tobacco: which wee bought for trifles.

A few things have changed between then and now. Instead of dugout canoes, our visitors this afternoon arrived in kayaks, and instead of trading for corn, pumpkins, and tobacco, all that passed between us was friendly conversation. A visitor did come onboard for a quick tour, however. (Note for employees of White Marine: Jim really was making a professional visit.)

These kayakers are participants in the Hudson Valley Ramble, an annual, weekend-long series of events to get people to the Hudson River. Coordinated by the Hudson River Valley Greenway, these events often coincide with our Voyages of Discovery, so a vast swarm of kayakers is not an uncommon sight for us. You can visit www.hudsonvalleyramble.com for more information (link takes you to a different website).

 

1430: The students begin their projects. For the next day and a half, they'll regularly collect data for their final presentations.

Adam and Mr. Terry work on a photovoltaic cell.Katie performs a tritration test.

Adam is focusing on solar energy. To the left, he and Mr. Terry set up a photovoltaic cell and a voltage reader that will tell him how much of charge the sunlight produces over the course of the day. How will an overcast sky like the one over us today affect his readings?

To the right, Katie performs a tritration test to measure dissolved oxygen levels. Will the water depth affect the oxygen levels?

Ericka measures the wind speed on the starboard channel.Madena and Mr. Terry measure wind speed on the port channel.

Ericka and Madena are working together to measure wind speed. While one measures the wind speed from the weatherdeck, the other climbs up to the main mast top (with adult supervision) to simultaneously measure the wind aloft. Will height affect wind speed?

Keith lowers a secchi disk into the water from the port channel.Richard and Mr. Terry take a sounding from the beak.Ciara collects water over the side with a canvas bucket.

Above left, Keith uses the secchi disk to study water clarity. Will it be affected by the tides?

Up in the beak , Richard uses the lead line to chart the water's depth over the course of the day. How will the tide affect the rest of his team's findings?

Above right, Ciara lowers a canvas bucket into the water to take a sampling of water from the river's surface. She is comparing air and surface water temperatures; will she find a connection?

Kathleen tosses a wood chip over the side.Kyle examines a barometer.

Above left, Kathleen tosses a tiny, biodegradable wooden "biscuit" into the water, helping Shannon with her project to measure currents. Kathleen's personal project is to study water temperature at different depths. Could the changing currents affect the water's temperature below the surface?

Above right, Kyle examines a barometer. He is studying air humidity; will it change over the course of the day?

A bald eagle perches at the top of a riverside tree.Half a dozen cormorants relax on a land marker.

Riki is studying the river habitat, so she spends her day studying and illustrating the avian wildlife we see around us, including this mature bald eagle to the left and these double-crested cormorants to the right.

Students and adults work together on various projects around the capstan.

When they aren't out collecting measurements, the students spend time compiling their data. Here, (clockwise), Mrs. Colley helps Shannon work out some mathematic equations needed to measure current speed for her project. Mr. Colley looks on as Kyle records his humidity data, and Riki works on an illustration.

The Matrix, a large chart. Activities students have completed are marked with blue tape.

The Matrix is mounted in front of the helm hutch. It marks which activities each student has completed during his or her time on the ship. This includes shipcraft, scientific measurements, and more.

As you can see, the students have been busy -- and we still have a few days left to go!

Meaghan and Ciara look excited as Mr. Dawson zips them around on the Zodiac.

1700: While the Half Moon sits at anchor in the channel, we can take the Zodiac (our inflatable tender boat) out for field expeditions. This is always a fun break for the students (and the adults like doing it too). Meaghan and Ciara are the first two students to venture out, accompanied by Mr. Dawson, Mr. Prime, and Mr. Mangrum. They explore a nearby creek, collecting samples from the surrounding wetlands, and climb up an embankment at the creek's end to look out over Lake Sleepy Hollow.

Dinner is served on the weather deck.

1800: The Zodiac crew returns just in time for dinner. It's too late to go out again with the Zodiac tonight, but the rest of the students will get their turn tomorrow.

The full moon rises over Athens Channel.

2000: As the sun sets, most students wrap up their research for the day and retreat to the orlop deck to update their journals before lights out. However, Meaghan's project is to measure the angle of the sun and moon over the horizon throughout our stay here in Athens Channel. As a ruddy full moon rises over the Hudson, she (aided by her crewmates on anchor watch) will continue taking readings through the night.

 

On this date in 1609:

The sixteenth, faire and very hot weather. In the morning our Boat went againe to fishing, but could catch but few, by reason their Canoes had beene there all night. This morning the people came aboord, and brought us eares of Indian Corne, and Pompions, and Tobacco: which wee bought for trifles. Wee rode still all day, and filled fresh water; at night wee weighed and went two leagues higher, and had shoald water: so wee anchored till day.

-- Robert Juet's Journal.