February, 1998 issue

Last winter, we did a massive downrig, taking the yards, topmasts, sails, running rigging, and most of the standard rigging off the ship. The wooden spars were all scraped down by hand, removing years of darkened wood and linseed oil residue. That was a long process, accomplished by hundreds of hours of volunteer labor. Then we sanded the spars down to smooth, bright wood, and used a couple of coats of wood preservative on them before applying varnish. The lower masts were treated in the same way in the spring. The result: beautiful, fresh-looking masts and yards. Compare photographs from the year before and the difference is amazing. The vessel began to look years younger, and, most importantly, the treatment will last for several years, allowing us to continue work in other parts of the ship.

Over the spring and summer, we did more work on the tops ("crows' nests"), removing one of them from the top of the mast by hand, repairing it on the dock, and then raising it, again by hand. Then it was off to Essex, Connecticut, where we were the centerpiece of the Connecticut River Museum's display. We rigged the shipÑa huge undertakingÑwhile anchored off Duck Island for two days, giving the locals a view that was straight out of the 1600's. Imagine waking up one morning to find a wooden ship taking refuge in your harbor, the crew looking like spiders putting up the topmasts, yards, bending on sails, and running lines from block to block and mast to mast!

During the summer, I lived on the ship in Essex, continuing renewal of blocks and rigging, more varnish work, and painting the highly decorated topsides.

The season wrapped up with a week's sail around Long Island Sound, a stay in Yonkers, and a shoot for a cable TV documentary on pirates. My assistant and I began the project of scraping down the sides of the ship to treat them just as we did the spars, bringing them down to clean wood and then using wood preservative and varnish to restore her original appearance. Unfortunately, the rainy autumnal weather slowed the process, and this remains as a winter/spring project for good weather days. We again removed the sails, running rigging, and some of the yards for winter storage in Verplanck. The ongoing winter project for "indoors" now is replacing all the wiring in the ship, taking out the old and running new cable with more standardization and also better planning for future needs.

The wiring work we complete in the winter will put the ship in much better shape for our spring and summer sailing schedule. Along with a number of short stops in various ports, we will spend a week on the Delaware Bay in May, filming a feature film for European television. The movie is a pirate film, and as the producers want historical authenticity, they selected the Half Moon to participate. Expect a lot of sail handling, and an interesting trip down the Atlantic Coast. From there we will sail on to the Chesapeake Bay for a couple of additional stops before heading home.

Remember, those who help with the work on the ship get first priority with her on our voyages.

In addition, many of the blocks and much of the rigging still need renewal, so with all this work, volunteers of all skill levels are continually needed and welcome! It's all work, but it is also lots of fun and an interesting learning experience. If you would like to help out, call 914-271-3462.