Daily Log, September 19

Monday September 19, 2005

Morning Position
Henry Hudson Park
42˚ 32.6 minutes latitude
073˚ 45.5 minutes longitude

Midday Position
Albany
42˚ 38.6' latitude
073˚ 44.9' longitude

Evening Position
Albany
42˚ 38.6' latitude
073˚ 44.9' longitude

Thick fogbanks obscure the opposite riverbank.

0700 hours: We rise on the final day of this Voyage of Discovery to greet a decidedly foggy morning. Thick banks of mist rise from the river's surface just south of us, obscuring the horizon. However, the weather is cool and otherwise clear and present, and the fog quickly burns off as the sun rises.

Some of the crew hangs out on the weatherdeck as the day begins.

0730: With their group presentations, the student crew members can finally feel fit to sit back and relax. From our current anchorage, it's just a short jaunt north to Albany, where our final destination awaits.

Ericka, Richard, and Katie prepare scrambled eggs in the galley.

However, there is still plenty of work to be done.

In the galley, Ericka, Richard, and Katie all join in to help Mrs. Lawler prepare scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast.

Kyle and Ciara sweep up the orlop deck.Riki adds more stowed gear to the growing pile in the center of the orlop deck.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew concentrates on stowing their gear and sweeping up the orlop deck. There's a lot of cleaning needed before we reach Albany!

Students cluster around the capstan, lining up for breakfast.

0800: We gather around the capstan for a hearty breakfast, the last meal we will have before our crew members reach their home port.

The crew gathers around the weather deck while Captain Reynolds preps them on what to expect.

0845: Once breakfast has been eagerly devoured and cleaned up, Captain Reynolds gathers all hands on deck to hold a quick, casual briefing on what the crew should expect once we arrive in Albany. We are due to arrive at 1200 hours, on the dot.

After the briefing, everyone who has not yet done so changes into their official Half Moon crew orange shirts.

Orange-clad students work the capstan.

0930: It is once again time to weigh anchor. Since we're only raising a single anchor this time, the task seems even easier than normal.

As soon as the anchor is secured on the fore channel, we head north.

Shannon stands lookout as Albany first comes into view.

1045: Shannon is standing lookout on the fore deck when Albany first comes into view, creeping around a distant bend in the river. She looks happy to see it.

The crew peers out as the Port of Albany slides by to our port side.

1100: Anticipation builds as we pass the Port of Albany. Crew members cluster along the port side rail, peering out for their first glimpse of our destination, the Albany Pumping Station.

We can now see the Dunn Memorial Bridge; our dock lies just beyond it.

Albany, we've come home...

Piles of the crew's bagged gear covers half the weather deck.

...and we've brought our laundry!

Our student crew members have already moved their gear to the weather deck so that once we arrive, we can unload the ship as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The students clusters along the port rail to watch Albany draw near.

1130: Our destination is now in sight. Even more of the crew clusters along the rail, eager to see their homes and families once more. (In fact, as we pass by the southern end of Rensselaer, Ericka points out that we can actually see her house.)

Orange-clad crew members climb the rigging to greet Albany.

As we pass under the Dunn Memorial Bridge, our orange-clad crew climbs the rigging to greet Albany. Seeing the Pumping Station's water display arcing through the air is particularly exciting.

Mr. Terry prepares to fire the swivel gun.

1145: As we close in on dock, Mr. Terry prepares to fire a salute to the gathered crowd with one of our swivel guns.

A large crowd gathers at the Albany Pumping Station to greet the Half Moon's arrival.The crowd flies a

1200: And what a crowd it is! A huge throng of well-wishers is here to greet our arrival. A group of the Half Moon's adult volunteers and former student crew members has also gathered dockside to help us set our mooring lines and disembark. Thanks to you all for your support.

The Signature Brass Quintet pauses between numbers.

We would particularly like to thank the Signature Brass Quintet for their musical accompaniment. The Quintet's members are Tom Tegiacchi, Rick Darling, Stephanie Przybylek, Richard Hunsberger, and our own Steve Weisse.

Union College music Professor Timothy Olsen provided musical arrangements for the group as well.

Three tiers of greeters meet our crew as they climb ashore.

Once our lines are set, our crew moves toward shore. As a note, we've arrived at low tide, so it's a long climb to reach dry land.

Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings is on hand to personally greet each student as he or she steps off the ship.

Local TV camera crews greet our student crew.Another angle of the students being interviewed for tonight's news.

The next group to greet our students is the local press. Our crew members take a few minutes to tell the camera crews about the experiences on board the Half Moon.

Bob van Vranken addresses the crowd.

That done, we promptly commence with the arrival ceremony.

As our crew gathers together, Bob van Vranken, a promient friend of the Half Moon, serves as master of ceremonies.

Mayor Jennings takes the podium.

He is soon joined at the podium by Mayor Jennings and representatives from the offices of Rensselaer mayor Mark Pratt, Schenectady mayor Brian Stratton, and Dan Hogan, commissioner of the NYS Office of General Services.

 

Captain Reynolds, at the podium, addresses the crew gathered behind him.

After our dignitaries have spoken, Captain Reynolds takes the podium to congratulate our young crew for their accomplishments.

Kyle shakes Captain Reynolds' hand as he receives his certificate of achievement.

To mark those very accomplishments, Captain Reynolds and our dignitaries call up each crew member in turn to present him or her with handshakes and a certificate of achievement.

Captain Reynolds greets the student crew of the return leg of the Fall 2005 Voyage of Discovery.

Now that our current crew members have completed their rite of passage, Captain Reynolds takes a moment to introduce and greet the dozen Capital Region students who will be joining our crew on the return leg of the Fall 2005 Voyage of Discovery, departing from Albany on October 17th.

We look forward to sailing with them in the near future.

18 new US citizens raise their hands and take the Pledge of Allegience for the first time.

1230: As a final, very special treat, we conclude the procedings with a naturalization ceremony for a group of eighteen children and teenagers who are today becoming United States citizens. Here, Duane Kennison of the Albany INS leads them through their first Pledge of Allegiance.

We wish to offer hearty congratulations to Jasmina, Majda, Mersiha ,and Nedim of Bosnia; Cindy and Luis of El Salvador; Amar, Amina, Armin, and Eldina of Germany; Odain of Jamaica; Oluwaseun of Nigeria; Micah and Cooper of South Korea; Denis of the Ukraine; Abdulrahman and Fadhel of the United Arab Emirates; and Diem of Vietnam.

Welcome home to one and all!

Our orange-clad crew gathers on the weather deck.

1300: With that, the welcoming ceremony comes to an end. As always, however, that doesn't mean the voyage is actually over for our crew.

Once the crowds have dispersed, we gather back on board the ship (joined by several of our adult volunteers) to have a bite of lunch. Then we'll spend the afternoon unloading the crew's gear and preparing the Half Moon for its stay in Albany.

Madena, Mrs. Fountain, and Kathleen gather around their birthday cake.

Over the course of the voyage, we've also discovered that we have a few more birthday girls hiding in our midst. Both Madena and Kathleen have birthdays tomorrow, September 20th.

At lunch, Mrs. Lawler presents Madena and Kathleen (as well as Mrs. Fountain, who we'd already uncovered) with a surprise birthday cake.

Happy birthday, ladies!

With this, the first leg of our Fall 2005 Voyage of Discovery comes to an end. The Half Moon will be docked in Albany for nearly a month, during which time we offer tours of the ship to area schools and to the public.

On October 17th, we will gather a new student crew and set sail once more. Join us then for our journey back down the Hudson River!

 

On this date in 1609:

The nineteenth, was faire and hot weather: at the floud being neere eleven of the clocke, wee weighed, and ran higher up two leagues above the Shoalds, and had no lesse water then five fathoms: wee anchored, and rode in eight fathomes. The people of the Countrie came flocking aboord, and brought us Grapes, and Pompions, which wee bought for trifles. And many brought us Bevers skinnes, and Otters skinnes, which wee bought for Beades, Knives, and Hatchets. So we rode there all night.

-- Robert Juet's Journal.