For three days I left the 21st century for an immersion into the world of Henry Hudson. I crewed aboard the replica of the Half Moon between Athens and Verplanck in preparation for a 2012 Fall Voyage of Discovery. Crew members ranged in age from 15 to nearly 80 and included professional sailors as well as novices.

Like all crew I participated in lookouts on the foredeck, galley duty, manning the helm and conducting safety watches below deck. I also learned to climb the rigging (see right), sleep on the wooden orlop (the lowest deck on the ship) and got used to anchor watches at 2 am and life without showers!

The Replica Ship Half Moon is a full-scale operating model of the Dutch vessel Hudson sailed in 1609. Operated by the New Netherland Museum, the Half Moon is a traveling classroom conducting programs about the the vast colony that stretched from Delaware Bay through the Hudson Valley and on to the Connecticut River.

The Half Moon conducts many programs for teachers, students, and the general public. Most ambitious are its fall Voyages of Discovery when middle school students spend a week living aboard and operating the ship as Henry Hudson’s crew did while completing academic projects that examine the world around them.

Teachers can track the ship’s progress and access “Daily Log” and “Learning” pages featuring captioned pictures showing life aboard ship and what students are working on. The tracking feature can be used in classrooms to discuss navigation and to see if the ship will pass nearby. During Voyages of Discovery, the crew also runs a live stream from the ship.

The Half Moon returns to Albany this Tuesday, Sept. 18, with an arrival ceremony scheduled for noon at the south end of the Corning Preserve on the waterfront. The ship will then be open for tours Sept. 22, 23, 29, and 30, from 10 am to 4 pm. Schools tours will run weekdays Sept. 21-Oct. 4, but last time we checked, all spaces were reserved.

To get email updates from the Half Moon visit their website and click "Receive our Email Updates" under the picture on the left hand side or send a request to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

THV's online library includes several activites and lessons related to the Half Moon that don't require a visit! For instance: Found Poetry, Sea Quadrant as a Measuring Device, and Dutch Exploration: An Introduction, for grades 4-8 and Tools of Exploration, Exploring the Hudson River in 1609, and Life on the Half Moon for grades 3-5.

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