2009 Fall Voyage of Discovery banner


In 1609
, Captain Henry Hudson led a mixed Dutch and English crew on board the VOC Halve Maen into a broad, uncharted river, seeking a northerly passage across the New World. Hudson's exploration of this lush wilderness would lead directly to the foundation of the New Netherland Colony and later New York State, forever shaping the future of the river that now bears his name.

In 1989, the Replica Ship Half Moon was built in Albany, NY to bring this chapter of the nation's history back to life.

In 1999, the Replica Ship Half Moon commemorated the original Halve Maen's Voyage of Discovery with the first of many annual recreations of this historic event. The crew of students from the New York Capital Region and Terscheilling, the Netherlands, studied the environmental sciences all around them while experiencing nautical life first-hand.

In 2009, we once again follow in Hudson's wake. As we mark the 400th anniversary of the Halve Maen's exploratory, maiden voyage, the 20th anniversary of the launching of the Replica Ship Half Moon, and the 10th anniversary of our first educational Voyage of Discovery, we are proud to boast a particularly vibrant crew, including a mix of Dutch and American students, a range of past Dutch senior crew who've returned just for this occasion, and even two alumni from the first Voyages of Discovery in 1999!

The Daily Log is our way of letting you know each day's events.

Stop by the Crew pages to meet our student sailors and the rest of the crew of the Half Moon.

The Learning Page is where we post information about our scientific, nautical, and historical studies.

The first leg of this Voyage of Discovery also coincided with New York City's NY400 Week event and its inaugural Harbor Day; click the link to visit the event's official web site for schedules and more details.

Latest Update (9/22): The preview logs for Days Four (Sept. 19th), Five (Sept. 20th), and Six (Sept. 21st)are now available. See you at the Corning Preserve at 1200 hours!

While waiting for our next update, check out the short Rocketboom video (external link) on the Half Moon below. This interview with Captain Reynolds was conducted while the ship was docked at Staten Island, NY, just before the start of this voyage.

Special Thanks to all of the supporters and contributors who have made this Voyage of Discovery possible:

Hendricks Family Foundation
Peckham Family Foundation
Peckham Industries
Foreign Ministry of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
City of Albany
State of New York
Robert E. & Laurie S. Liebert van Vranken
King Marine
All of our volunteer crew and supporters of the New Netherland Museum

For information about our ship, including our past Voyages of Discovery, please visit the rest of the Half Moon web site.

If you'd like to reach us on board, click here to e-mail the ship, or click here to contact the webmaster directly. Due to our relatively limited web access on the water, please keep messages brief, and ask first before sending large attached images. That said, if you snap a photo of us heading up the Hudson River, the ship's chronicler would love to see it and might even add it to the log!

Rocketboom Story on the Replica Ship Half Moon:

Voyage Homepage Daily Log Our Crew Learning Page Half Moon Homepage