William Reynolds
Ship's Captain

Captain William 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.

Deb Conroy
Educator, Central Park International Magnet School

This is Deb Conroy’s second Voyage of Discovery on the Half Moon, and she is looking forward to trying some jobs she didn’t do last year. This is a great opportunity to explore history.

Larry Drew
Educator, Myers Middle School

Larry Drew teaches Family & Consumer Science at Myers Middle School. He lives in Delmar. He has three sons, and he loves hiking, fishing, camping, cooking, and eating. He's looking forward to a second great Voyage of Discovery.

Ron Groenestein

Since April this year Ron Groenestein has been living on board the Half Moon, serving as ship's bosun. His work concentrates around the ship's rigging (everything that makes the ship sail). He hopes that this experience will boost his (young) career as a rigger of historic ships. Fair winds to you all!

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 Massachusetts 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.

Doug Lyke

Doug Lyke lives in Poughkeepsie and works at Dutchess County Community College as an A/V Technician. He first came on board in 2009 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!

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. Having first sailed with the Half Moon early in the summer of 2004, Mr. Mangrum is reaching the end of his tenth year on board.

Henk Morel

Henk Morel has been a sailing instructor and has organized sailing camps all of his life, usually working with small open boats. His interests include classic sailing, restoration of old ships, and old-fashioned nautical skills. Besides this, he was worked for the Dutch government in location managing and also as a teacher in several practical technologies. The father of Mark Morel, Henk Morel has returned for his fifth Voyage of Discovery. He is pleased as ever to do so. He hopes to once again have a good time with the youths, to help overall, and to demonstrate some ropeworks and sailmaking.

Mark Morel

Mark Morel hails from the Netherlands, where he lives on a houseboat in Amstelveen, near Amsterdam. He works as an instructor at a sailing school, where they teach sailing to students of all ages. Mr. Morel initially sailed on the Half Moon in 2004 and has returned for five of the following years, often in the position of ship’s bosun. He considers this an expression of how much he likes being here and working with a student crew.

Grant Prime
Educator, Taconic Hills Middle School

Grant Prime teaches 5th grade at Taconic Hills Middle School. Mr. Prime has been involved with historical re-enactments for more than thirty years, and has been bringing his enthusiasm to the Half Moon each summer since 1998. He has completed his Master's in Elementary Education, and was a contributor to the New Netherland Museum's 4th- and 7th-grade curriculum materials.

Jason Shorthouse

Jason Shorthouse served as a Half Moon crew member in 1998 and 1999 before returning for the 2012 Fresh River Voyage of Discovery. He lives in Atlanta, and is excited to be back on board, having now remembered 20% of all the training he'd forgotten.

Daniëlle Stevens

Daniëlle Stevens is returning to the Half Moon after having spent spend two months sailing on board in 2011. In the Netherlands, she learned to sail on a “Valk,” near Leiden, but lately she’s had some experience on bigger ships and larger waters like the Ijseelmeer and the Waddenzee. She is a social worker in the Netherlands, working with homeless youth.

Jan de Vries

Jan de Vries is 66 years old and recently retired as a schoolteacher. He worked with developmentally disabled children the ages of 17-18. He likes traveling, cycling, and skating in the wintertime. He is a friend of Henk Morel, who organized Mr. de Vries’ presence on the voyage. This is his third voyage as the Half Moon’s cook, and he wants to do the utmost to make everyone satisfied.