Students welcomed back from week on Half Moon

PHOTOGRAPHER: Barry Sloan

Mark Morel, right, a volunteer on the Half Moon from the Netherlands, climbs down from the foremast with Christopher Bangert-Drowns of Harriet Myers Middle School in Albany as the ship docks Friday afternoon at the Corning Preserve in Albany.

The Half Moon, a replica of Henry Hudson’s sailing ship and a floating classroom, arrived at noon Friday at the Corning Preserve with student sailors completing a weeklong sail up the Hudson River.

The middle school students returned to a roaring crowd that included Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton, who welcomed them back from a “week at sea.”

Nicole Buchalski, 13, a student at Central Park Middle School in Schenectady, said she’ll never forget the trip and the lessons she learned about camaraderie and teamwork.

“My favorite part was being up in the rigging. I’m afraid of heights. It proved I can do things I didn’t think I could do,” said Buchalski. She said her fellow sailors helped her get over her fear.

Two dozen middle school students from the Capital Region boarded the Half Moon at Verplanck. They lived aboard the ship, slept in wooden bunks, just as Hudson’s original crew did, and learned how to operate the sailing ship. They went without showers and spent nights under the starry skies.

They conducted science experiments and documented the salinity of the Hudson River, the depth and distance traveled and kept detailed logs. They were taught how to splice rope, use a quadrant, steer the ship and keep watch.

Several students said the most exciting part of the journey was climbing the rigs to set the sails.

“It was really fun. My favorite part was being on the lookout on the front of the ship,” said Tyler Wilson, a student at Central Park Middle School. “It gave you responsibility. You were the captain’s eyes.”

Most students are more used to surfing the Internet than living aboard a ship, said William T. “Chip” Reynolds, captain of the ship.

The student crew came from Harriet Myers in Albany, Rensselaer Middle School, Central Park Middle School and Taconic.

On Friday, all the students who sailed came back together. “As much as we look at academics and ship operations, just having students pick up the fundamentals of responsibility and maturity is a big leap for all of them. It happens at an important age,” Reynolds said. “They get a tremendous sense of teamwork. If they are wearing an orange shirt they can say they made it through the program.”

The student crew all wear orange Half Moon T-shirts and are given certificates upon completion.

Reynolds said when you are on the ship it can seem isolating and it’s a thrilling moment to arrive and see everyone waiting on shore. “From the earliest days of sails, when you return after being away for a week you can really feel the pangs of separation. The joys of getting back to family and friends is a special experience for the sailor. You can see it in their eyes,” said Reynolds

He said many of the students get homesick the first day, but by the end, they have made new friends and some want to stay on board.

Colin Terry, a seventh-grade teacher at Central Park Middle School, said students apply to go on the weeklong trip. “It’s important for the students to experience what these people went through so many years ago, not knowing where they are going and to experience the same living conditions.”

Terrel Strickland of Schenectady waited eagerly at the Corning Preserve for the ship’s arrival just before noon Friday and when it came to the docks, he saw his son, Devin Vartuli, up in the crow’s nest.

“It was a little frightening. I knew it was him right away. I’m very proud of him,” said Strickland.

Vartuli, 13, a student at Central Park, said he learned how difficult it is to run a ship.

The trip called “2008 Voyage of Discovery” is geared for students in middle school and parallels the route the explorer Henry Hudson traveled in the original Half Moon, which was the first European ship to fully explore what eventually became known as the Hudson River. The trip ended at the site of modern Albany on Sept. 19. 1609.

The ship at the Corning Preserve will be open for tours through Oct. 5. On weekdays, it is only available for pre-scheduled tour groups. Weekends and Columbus Day it is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.