William Reynolds: Ship's Captain

Captain William "Chip" Reynolds has been captain of the Half Moon and Director of the New Netherland Museum since 1998. Before coming to the Half Moon, he captained numerous seagoing vessels, both historical and industrial. His background also includes training and work in the environmental sciences. He currently lives with his family in Selkirk, NY, and is looking forward to seeing the new student crew meet the challenges this Voyage of Discovery places before them.

Kipp Van Aken

Kipp Van Aken is serving as the Half Moon's chief engineer. Mr. Van Aken has a background in history, anthropology, and business, is a graduate of Hope College, and holds an MBA. He is a veteran of the US Navy Submarine Force and is retired from Southern California Edison's San Onofre Nuclear Station. He is a direct descendant of three early Dutch families in New York and is an original shareholder of the ship.

Marco Burmester

Marco Burmester first joined the Half Moon in summer 2009 for a day-long visit — the first crew member ever to join the ship by way of jet-ski (and the assistance of many unknown helpers). Mr. Burmester is a banker from Germany who has been in New York City for the last five years. He very much takes advantage of New York's theaters and music scene, being a musician himself.

Menno de Leeuw

Educator Menno de Leeuw lives in Heereveen (Friesland) and usually crosses the shallow Wadder Sea on foot. He's looking forward to his second Voyage of Discovery and hopes that his students are having a wonderful time.

Bob Hansen

Ship's mate Bob Hansen started sailing on the Hudson on the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater; later, on two engineless sloops. Since the 1990s, he has served as a volunteer and mate on the schooners Spirit of Massachuesetts and Ernestina, as well as other vessels.

Having recently retired from a career as a self-styled "bureaucrat" with the New York State government, Mr. Hansen has now turned his attention to serving as second-in-command on board the Half Moon.

Ralf Hensel

Ralf Hensel is a cabinetmaker and Cultural Scientist M.A. He hails from Frisia, Germany, on the North Sea coast. He met the ship’s former boatswain, Janine Oosterloo, and so heard about the possibility to volunteer on the Half Moon. He had sailed before on the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Mediterranean, but never before on such a beautiful ship — so he took his chance! Ralf is joining us this fall for his second Voyage of Discovery.

Doug Lyke

Doug Lyke lives in Poughkeepsie and works at Dutchess County Community College as an A/V Technician. He first came on board last year during the River Week voyage. His wife asked him to search the Half Moon's website to see when tours were being held during its stay in Poughkeepsie a few weeks before River Week. While searching, he saw where to click to volunteer. The next thing he knew, he was climbing aboard the Half Moon in the middle of the night at Piermont!

John W. Mangrum

Originally hailing from the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA, John W. Mangrum holds one of the most anachronistic positions the crew of a 17th-century wooden sailing ship could imagine: the Half Moon's webmaster. Seldom seen in front of the camera, the self-titled "Ship's Chronicler" oversees the daily updates to this website during our voyages. A roleplaying game designer in a past life, Mr. Mangrum has been sailing on board the Half Moon since the summer of 2004. What started as a simple, impromptu dockside tour of the ship has since turned into a life of adventure.

Anita Waiboer

Hallo, mijn naam is Anita Waiboer. Ik kom uit Nederland. Back home, Anita Waiboer is a P.S. teacher. She arrived in Albany on August 9th to work on the Half Moon, and thinks the first weeks on this beautiful ship have been wonderful. She is looking forward to sailing with the students. It's a very unique experince and one of the best choices she's made in her life. Hope to see you soon on the Half Moon!