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Daily Log: Wednesday, May 7th

0700 hours

Current Position: Moored in Athens Channel, NY.
Latitude: 42˚ 16.26'
Longitude: 073˚ 48.09'

We once again rise to greet the calming sight of Athens Channel. This promises to be an eventful day; not only is this the final full day of our Voyage of Discovery, the students will also be giving their research presentations -- the event they've been feverishly working toward all week.

But for now it's just time for breakfast. As the meal wraps up, the students socialize on the weather deck. One can sense the crackle of anticipation in the air.

0915 hours

The presentations are scheduled to start at 1000 hours. Some students ask for last-minute advice on how to best present their information.

Eventually, all hands are called on deck. The big event is about to begin.

0945 hours

Captain Reynolds opts to ease the students' nerves by opening the morning's events with another mail call. No questions for the students to answer this time, but we do all have fun embarassing Keith with his family's affectionate e-mail.

1015 hours

Now the time has finally come. The crowd settles in for the big event.

Keith once again serves as the Rensselaer Middle School's videographer.

The student presentations are grouped into six two-person teams. Each pair delivers an oral report for about ten minutes, showing their findings. By holding Keith and Beniah's graphs up the sun, thus letting the rear graph shine through, we literally combine their data to show a correlation between the altitude of the sun and the solar energy it produces.

Once each team completes their oral reports, they take questions from Captain Reynolds...

...and the rest of the crew. For a more detailed description of the students' projects, visit the Presentations page.

Here are the student teams and their respective projects, in the order they were delivered:

Beniah & Keith: Solar Energy.
Kristie & Sienna: Comparative Temperatures.
Casey & Jesse: Current Patterns.
Muhammad & Thwe-Thwe: Salinity.
Jasmine & Mary: Mechanical Advantage.
Daniella & Jacob: Lines of Position.

 

1200 hours

After two hours of discussion, the presentations come to a close. Mr. Gorter immediately serves lunch, this time some crowd-pleasing comfort food: peanut butter & jelly sandwiches!

1315 hours

The students take the opportunity to relax and unwind while the senior crew turns their sights to the major tasks still to be completed today.

1330 hours

A pair of departures.

After arriving at Athens Channel ahead of schedule on Day Four, the Half Moon is now set to leave and continue upriver toward our final destination.

But first, Mr. Chalker bids us farewell. His work here done, he must now return to his loved ones.

Immediately after Mr. Chalker disembarks, we cast off our docklines and motor north.

1400 hours

As we leave, we salute our hosts Peckham Materials with a blast from our air horn. It's a good thing the crew got advance warning!

Mrs. Mahigian, Thwe-Thwe, and Mr. Schuijer lend a hand to haul in our protective fenders. We'll be putting them right back in a few hours, but leaving them in place would make the Half Moon look unkempt.

Sienna coils a docking line around her feet.
Mouse over for another view.

Sienna coils docking Line Three on the deck. Like the fenders, these dock lines need to be temporarily stored out of the way until we reach tonight's destination.

It's tiring work -- and to judge from the picture, possibly dizzying as well!

1515 hours

As we motor northward along the scenic upper Hudson River, the students relax at their favorite hangout, the fore deck. Most students are now busily crafting marlinspike bracelets for themselves.

1600 hours

We can't sit back and relax all day, however. Before we can pass under the Dunn Memorial Bridge tomorrow, we need to lower the Half Moon's top masts. Mr. Schuijer and Mark Morel oversee these preparations as we approach the I-90 bridge, a sure marker that we're closing in on Albany.

1615 hours

First we'll tackle the fore mast. To lower the fore top mast, Mark Morel runs a special support line from the bottom of the top mast, up through the lower masthead, back down through the fore deck to the foc's'le, and from there to the capstan.

With all of that in place, our crew will lower the top mast just as if we were raising the anchor.

Mr. Morel calls all hands on deck to assist. As we pass New Baltimore, the capstan team slowly allows the fore top mast to slide down the lower mast and out of harm's way.

Mark Morel and his team soon have the fore top mast lowered and secure. We still have to lower the main top mast, but it can wait for now.

1630 hours

Just as we finish with the fore mast, we spot the hazy shape of Corning Tower on the horizon, peeking up over the trees. Albany ho! We have our first sighting of home.

Many of our eager crew members line up at the port rail to catch a glimpse of home.

1700 hours

As the afternoon winds on, Daniella seeks out Henk Morel for help with tightening her marlinspike bracelet.

Below decks, the rest of the students simply kick back and relax. They all know they'll soon be reunited with their families.

As we round the final bend, southern Albany comes into view. We once again deploy our fenders and prepare our dock lines.

1730 hours

It's Mary at the whipstaff, steering the ship as we come in to port. Since the senior crew will take over the piloting duties tomorrow (to free up the student crew members), she can officially claim to have at the helm for the final leg of the journey.

We sidle in to our destination for the day: the Port of Albany, a shipping hub which is usually home to tugboats and massive cargo vessels.

1745 hours

Mark Morel and Mr. Schuijer step onto the dock to receive our lines.

With a final heave, we make off our lines and are securely docked.

1815 hours

Once again the time has come for a crew member to disembark. Having overseen the students' scientific research and Zodiac explorations, we bid Dr. Jacobs farewell as she returns home.

1830 hours

With their presentations finally behind them, the students are bubbling with excitement.

With all the voyage coming to a close, many students take the opportunity to tackle whatever challenges they've not yet overcome on board. Daniella decides to climb to the main top, is accompanied by Jasmine and Mr. Schuijer. With no furling or sail handling to be done, they can simply enjoy the view (including the sights of downtown Albany and Rensselaer, which can only be seen from this lofty position).

1900 hours

Dinner is served! For our final dinner of the voyage, Mr. Gorter serves three different varieties of lasagna and an exquisite chicken curry soup.

As the students take their meals up to "Candy Island," we're joined by another Half Moon crew member: Frank Rodrigues, who has come to help us set up our cannons for tomorrow's festivities.

Mrs. Mahigian is agog as Casey helps prepare and serve pancakes with orange sauce.
Mouse over to serve dessert.

1930 hours

Down in the galley, Mrs. Mahigian asks chef's assistant Casey what she's preparing and is flabbergasted by the extravagent reply: for tonight's dessert, we'll be having American pancakes, topped with a sweet orange sauce (including slices of fresh oranges), which Casey is busily mixing up.

After dessert, many students decide to ollowing Daniella's lead and climb the rigging one more time.

2000 hours

Soon, it seems like half the crew is up in the main top, taking in the views of Albany and Rensselaer.

2030 hours

As the sun sets, some students hang out on deck, simply chatting and enjoying the cool air for their final night on board.

2045 hours

Down in the galley, Muhammad, Thwe-Thwe, Keith, and Casey have discovered the Dutch crew's cache of Dutch magazines and newspapers. At their request, we dig out the Dutch/English dictionary and language lesson books and sit around the table, learning new phrases. Inspired by this international atmosphere, Thwe-Thwe teaches us some Burmese words, and Muhammad and Keith share their knowledge of Spanish.

2100 hours

The students use up the last pictures in some of their cameras. Just after this snapshot is taken, Mark Morel leads the crew in lowering the main topmast, just as we lowered the fore topmast earlier. The process goes quickly and remarkably smoothly.

2200 hours

Lights out, and no anchor watch is called for tonight. The final full day of our Voyage of Discovery has come to an end.

 
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