Mission HOORN
‘Hope lies in dreams, in imagination and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality’ Jonas Salk
welcome aboard Historic ships, such as the Batavia, the Seven Provinces, the Willem Barentsz, and the Willem Ruys, all symbolize the rich maritime past of The Netherlands. The Half Moon also ranks among this illustrious company. This ship represents the essence of the Dutch Republic in the first quarter of the seventeenth century: entrepreneurial spirit, business instinct and a determination to conquer the world. She is also forever linked to the special bond that exists between the Netherlands and the United States of America. The Half Moon is to return home to the city of Hoorn, in a joint mission set up by the city’s Westfries Museum and the New Netherland Museum in the U. S. The latter has been managing the Half Moon, a carefully constructed
replica of the original since 1989. The Spirit of the Half Moon™ is thus coming back to the waters from which it took off in 1609 in the form of the only operating seventeenthcentury VOC museum vessel. The purpose of this bid book is to stir enthusiasm and to challenge you to participate in this New Mission. Take part in this Spirit and help us realize our dream of returning and exploiting this iconic VOC vessel. Welcome aboard. Andrew A. Hendricks, MD Chairman of New Netherland Museum / Half Moon Ad Geerdink Director of the Westfries Museum
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brief summary Some ships have changed the course of history and the Half Moon is one of them. This small and highly agile VOC vessel owes her fame to the renowned voyage of discovery she made under the English captain and explorer Henry Hudson in 1609. The New Netherland Museum in the US has been operating a full scale authentic replica of the ship since 1989. The project was the initiative and dream of one man: Andrew Hendricks. As a descendant of Hendrick Willemsz who, in 1659, ventured the crossing from Barneveld, Holland, to the New World, he is committed to spotlighting the role of all Dutch settlers in American history. The New Netherland Museum has been propagating its message with fervor ever since. Today, 25 years later, it is time for a new adventure: a voyage to the Netherlands. After all, the significance of the Half Moon goes far beyond Henry Hudson’s journey. The ship actually represents all that made the Netherlands such a successful maritime nation in the first quarter of the seventeenth century: trade, entrepreneurship, the search for new horizons, encounters with other cultures, and adventure. This is the story that the Half Moon is going to spread to a broad public in her new home port, the former VOC city of Hoorn. A perfect match, given the city’s exceptionally scenic harbor and its rich maritime past. The New Netherland Museum is lending the Half Moon to the Westfries Museum for five years. The ship will be managed as a museum ship, goodwill ambassador, and training ship. To help finance the Half Moon’s adventurous new mission, two VOC Chambers are being revitalized: the Chamber of Hoorn and the Chamber of New Amsterdam. You can assist in realizing this mission by joining one of these exclusive Chambers as a founder or co-founder.
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The Half Moon at Newburgh Bay. Painting by Len Tantillo
‘The people of the Countrie came flocking aboord, and brought vs Grapes, and Pompions, which wee bought for trifles. And many brought vs Bevers skinnes, and Otters skinnes, which wee bought for Beades, Knives, and Hatchets. So we rode there all night.’ From the journal by Robert Juet, third mate on board the Half Moon, 1609.
iconic ship Some ships have changed the course of history and the Half Moon is famous for her 1609 expedition under the command of Henry Hudson. However, the Half Moon symbolizes much more. The ship represents all the merits that made Holland into such a successful and powerful nation in the first quarter of the seventeenth century.
New Netherlands
Hudson brought the ship about and crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Be it with a secret commission, or of his own accord, he set out to explore the east coast of America in search of a northeastern passage straight through North America. He thought he had succeeded when, on September 12, 1609, he discovered the broad estuary of the river that would later be named the Hudson River. Having sailed up river for about one hundred and fifty miles with the river gradually getting narrower and shallower, Hudson realized that this could not be the passage to the Great Ocean he had hoped to find. In early October 1609, he sailed back without having accomplished
The English explorer Henry Hudson, an expert on arctic waters, was hired by the VOC Chamber of Amsterdam in 1609 for an expedition that brought him eternal fame. He was commissioned to find the much desired northeast passage to the rich resources of Asia. He sailed on a voyage ‘around the North’ as captain of the Half Moon, an eighty-ton merchant vessel, with a DutchEnglish crew of seventeen on April 4, 1609. The journey ultimately took Hudson and his crew in a northwesterly direction, rather than northeasterly for once they reached the ice at the North Cape,
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Adventure book This is not the complete history of the Half Moon. Henry Hudson was not the first captain in command. Until recently, the ship was thought to have been built in 1608 specifically for Hudson’s expedition by order of the VOC Chamber of Amsterdam. However, historical research by Eduard van Breen of the New Netherland Museum now proves that the ship was probably launched around 1606. Records of the Half Moon were found in freight contracts dating from 1606, indicating that the ship was used for trade with Portugal as well as for the so-called mother of all trade, that is, the commodity trade such as wood and grain with the countries around the Baltic Sea. Maarten Pietersz from Schellinkhout, a well-known seafarers´ village near Hoorn, was skipper of the Half Moon in 1609. His name is found on the sales contract that transferred the ownership of the Half Moon to the VOC Chamber of Amsterdam. After Hudson’s journey, the Half Moon sailed under the VOC flag in Asian waters for another seven years. In May 1611, she set sail under Captain Melis Andriesz Melisz with the merchant ships Banda and Bantam that would take them around Africa then, via Madagascar and Mauritius, to Java. In the Far East, the ship became involved in scenes that read like an adventure book. The Half Moon entered the world of famous historic characters such as Willem IJsbrandsz Bontekoe and Jan Pietersz Coen, both from the city of Hoorn. In 1618, the Half Moon became a pawn in the battle for supremacy in the Indian Archipelago and was set on fire in an encounter with English ships off the coast of Jacatra, Java. This marks the end of the history of a ship that can, without exaggeration, be regarded as one that represents all the merits that made Holland into such a great and successful nation in the first quarter of the seventeenth century. The attraction of the Half Moon is manifold; she participated in the all-important commodity trade in the discovery of new trade routes, and in the rise of the VOC as a merchant superpower.
his mission, not to Holland, but to Dartmouth in England where he disembarked and from where he reported to his principals. Although he had not found the desired passage, his journey had not been entirely fruitless, as his report points out. He recognized the fur trade prospects with the Indian tribes he and his crew had encountered in the river area. Indeed, the first Dutch traders arrived on the scene a mere year later, in 1610. They had a particular interest in beaver hides, the basic material for felt from which the hats so typical of the Dutch Golden Age were made. This fur trade sparked off the establishment of the colony of New Netherland, with New Amsterdam (New York City of today) as its main settlement. Despite the early transfer of the colony to the English in 1664, this Dutch episode has had a lasting influence on the nature of the city and state of New York. The early beginnings with the Half Moon are still well remembered.
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The Half Moon is a type of sailing vessel called a yacht, a small and agile ship often used by the VOC as a reconnaissance ship because it could maneuver well in almost all waters. The Half Moon is referred to as a “pinas” in the 1609 sales contract, whereas in VOC records she is referred to as a yacht. The term ‘yacht’ came into use in the sixteenth century when specific types of vessels were used to pursue pirates right up onto beaches. The name jacht perfectly captures the duality of meaning in Dutch of the hunt (jacht) and to be fast (jagen). Ships referred to as yachts at the beginning of the seventeenth century all had a flat transom. Irrespective of size, be it 80 or 250 tons, yachts always had three masts, the foremast, the mainmast and the mizzenmast, as well as a bowsprit. They were square rigged and renowned for their speed and maneuverability.
They were multifunctional. The VOC sailed them in the Far East for local trade, but also used them to sail convoy with much bigger merchant ships. They were, furthermore, used to reconnoiter sailing ahead to explore the route, sound the depths of waters and find suitable ports. They were also fast courier ships. Well-known yachts are the Duyfken, which carried the Dutch adventurers who were the first Europeans to explore Australia in 1606, and the Hoorn, famous from the voyage of discovery made by Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire in 1615-1616.
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‘If you build it, they will come’.. From the movie Field of Dreams (1989) by director Phil Alden starring Kevin Kostner
After many years of research, the keel of museum ship the Half Moon was laid in 1989. This project is the initiative and the dream of one man: Andrew Hendricks, a descendant of Hendrick Willemsz who, in 1659, ventured the crossing from Barneveld, Holland, to the New World. He is dedicated to using the ship to spotlight the role not just of his ancestors but of all Dutch settlers and those that came to New Netherland. The New Netherland Museum/Half Moon, an organization which manages the ship, has been propagating its message with fervor ever since its construction commenced. After 25 years, it is time to add a new challenge to its history. Without any outside funding, Andrew Hendricks, a successful physician, entrepreneur and philanthropist, started the realization of his longcherished dream in 1987: the building of a replica of the iconic VOC yacht the Half Moon. He sought out the assistance of naval architect Nicholas S. Benton, an experienced builder of museum ships, to design and build the ship. The building process started only after extensive research that included seventeenth century documents (drawings were not made at the time), studies of the earlier Half Moon replica from 1909 (illustration page 9), and consultations with Dutch experts in the field. The team’s aim was to construct a true replica of the original yacht using authentic materials. Some concessions had to be made for reasons of safety and durability. For example, the hull below the waterline is treated with epoxy resin, and modern conveniences, such as the galley and the engine room, are installed out of sight on the lower deck. Later on, new findings would call for various alterations in the original design. This is why, in 1998, the Half Moon would be fitted out with an entirely new beak designed by expert Gerald de Weerdt. Thanks to a regular and systematic
Andrew A. Hendricks, MD, Founder of the New Netherland Museum/ Museum Ship Half Moon
maintenance schedule, the ship is still in tip-top working condition today. In 1989, the Half Moon was finally ready for her maiden voyage under the flag of the New Netherland Museum/Half Moon. Since then, millions of Americans have watched the ship sail by in all her glory. Hundreds of thousands of people have been on board. The ship has been heralding the Dutch contribution to American history and the Dutch encounter with native Americans, from the Great Lakes to Nova Scotia in Canada and from Albany far up the Hudson River to Washington down in Chesapeake Bay. For years the New Netherland Museum has been focusing on its educational mission with Captain Chip Reynolds in a prominent role. Numerous American and Dutch students have experienced a unique ‘Voyage of Discovery’. Having been on this mission for 25 years, the New Netherland Museum now thinks it is time for a new challenge for the ship. After all, Hudson’s journey was just one chapter of the Half Moon’s colorful history. The next episode is a transatlantic mission, back to the country where the Spirit of the Half Moon™ originated.
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Half Moon in the port of New York, 1909
The New Netherland Museum is not the first to boast a replica of the Half Moon. To honor the occasion of the tri- centenary of Hudson’s journey, the Dutch government presented New York City with a full-scale seaworthy replica of the yacht in 1909. This ship was built at the naval dockyards under the supervision of naval architect C. L. Loder
and mechanical engineer E. J. Benthem and was then transported on board HMS Soestdijk to New York, where she was the glorious centerpiece in the naval pageant on October 1, 1909. After many years of service, the ship was eventually lost in a fire in 1934. The journey of today’s museum ship the Half Moon to the Netherlands will complete the historical circle.
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Artist impression of the Half Moon in the port of Hoorn, and (below) moored on the Oostereiland quay.
The Half Moon will be given a permanent mooring place on the Oostereiland, the spot where the Westfrisian admiralty’s shipyard was. Today this island is a bustling cultural and nautical heritage center where as many as 60, 000 passengers disembark from river cruise vessels on an annual basis.
The ship will be moored on the south side of the island, close to the Nautical Heritage Center which provides facilities for museum visitors. In a cooperative approach will create a new attraction where the complete story of Hoorn and the sea can be told and experienced.
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‘Your house becomes your home as soon as you share it with others.’ Ed van den Bergen
Hoorn will be the Half Moon’s new home port for five years. It is hard to think of a location more suitable than this city. The magnificent historic harbor and the town’s rich maritime history underscore that the Half Moon and Hoorn are made for each other. The ship will be an enormous asset for the city as a tourist attraction and will boost the further development of the Oostereiland as a thriving cultural and nautical heritage center.
Hoorn is a charming port on the former Pieterz from Schellinkhout was captain of the Zuiderzee, today known as the Markermeer. Half Moon. It was widely known that the best It is much appreciated for its attractive historic captains were born and bred in Westfriesland. center where the grandeur of the Golden Age In 1609 the Half Moon was deployed for the is omnipresent. Among yachting enthusiasts, discovery of a new trade route to Asia. Only six the entrance to the historic harbor is years later, a similar expedition departed considered one of the most scenic under the command of Captain The Oostereiland in the Netherlands. This Willem Schouten from Hoorn. hospitable city will be the In January 1616, he and Jacob new home port of the Half Lemaire discovered the Moon for at least five ocean route past the years. Hoorn warmly most southern point welcomes the Half of the South American Moon. This VOC yacht continent which, has the potential to since then, has been act as eye-catcher, known as Cape Horn. landmark and sailing When the VOC, goodwill ambassador the Dutch East for the VOC city of Hoorn. India Company, was The Half Moon and Hoorn founded in 1602, one of are closely related to each the six Chambers in which other, historically speaking. Hoorn this illustrious trading company was a maritime power in the first quarter of was organized was based in Hoorn. the seventeenth century at the same time that Famous historical figures, such as Jan Pietersz the Half Moon was operative. The yacht took Coen and Willem IJsbrandtsz Bontekoe, part in the Baltic Sea trade, the nation’s core came from Hoorn and they played iconic commodity trade that was of prime importance roles in the rise of this commercial empire, to Hoorn. This is the period during which Maarten as did the Half Moon in the inter-Asian trade.
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‘Save it to share it’
‘Connecting people’
The Westfries Museum’s mission
The Half Moon’s mission in Hoorn
The Half Moon will be lent to the Westfries Museum by the New Netherland Museum for five years. The Westfries Museum is a museum of the Golden Age; it tells the story of the significance this exciting episode of history had, and still has, for the city of Hoorn and the region of Westfriesland. This prize-winning museum is known for its refreshing, innovative presentation of the past.
The Westfries Museum in Hoorn is a museum with a unique character. Housed in the former Staten-College (Regional Council), a splendid nationally-listed building dating from 1632, the museum gives the narrative of the Golden Age in Westfriesland. Wandering through the 27 rooms of the stylish museum, you imagine yourself in the seventeenth century for just a little while. The story is told both traditionally, in perfect symbiosis with the architectural backdrop and superb collection of objects, and in an ultra-modern manner. This state-of-theart lifelike experience comprises ‘The Golden Age VR’, a virtual tour through the Hoorn of 1650 using Oculus Rift Virtual Reality glasses. The Westfries Museum is one of the first to use these optical devices; it is at the center of local and regional society and is continually searching for ways to provide the community with
added value on the basis of its own mission. The Half Moon is a case in point. The museum is planning to use the ship to let visitors actually experience the rich maritime history of Hoorn and its surroundings. This ‘living history’ will be an addition to the many different ways the museum uses to try and make the past ‘live’ for a broad public. By managing the Half Moon, the museum is also hoping to enhance Hoorn’s appeal to tourists and stimulate the local economy. The task of the Half Moon will primarily be to connect the present to the past, old to young, education to everyday practice and volunteers, visitors and organizations who all want to make the exploitation of the ship a success. The Half Moon will be given on loan to the Westfries Museum for five years, with the possibility of a subsequent extension.
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The Westfries Museum
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View of Hoorn, by Hendrick Vroom, 1622, detail, (in the collection of the Westfries Museum)
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‘A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.’ William Shed
In Hoorn, the Half Moon will have three different functions which will supplement and enhance one another, that is, the functions of a museum ship, goodwill ambassador and training ship.
The Half Moon as a museum ship Where better than on a ship like the Half Moon can the story of early seventeenth-century Dutch shipping and shipbuilding be told? The story of trade, navigation and life on board ship; of voyages of discovery and the meeting of cultures. On the Half Moon you feel the ship live, you can touch everything. You hear the wood creaking and the wind in the rigging. You smell a living ship and learn respect for the way in which our ancestors succeeded with ships like this in the seventeenth century. First and foremost, the Half Moon is a museum ship that can be visited by individual visitors and groups, the education sector being a very important target group in this respect. A story which is told in person and on the spot is always the best way to educated and indeed the human factor is pivotal in the presentation of the ship. This is why guides will be trained and re-enactors used. The tour of the ship will be enhanced by a museological presentation at the nautical heritage centre (Foundation for Nautical Heritage), using the Westfries Museum’s expertise in the field of virtual reality.
The Half Moon as an operating ambassador The Half Moon is the only operating seventeenth-century VOC museum ship in the Netherlands. Sailing on her is, of course, the ultimate way to ‘experience’ the ship but because of her limited capacity, only twelve passengers can sail on her at any one give time. The Half Moon will, however, certainly be used as a sailing ship. Making an appearance on the water as an operating vessel at maritime events, she will fulfill an important ambassador’s function for Hoorn and for herself. The Half Moon as a training ship The Half Moon is an ideal training ship. Young people can follow courses in long or short-haul sailing at the Enkhuizer Zeevaartschool in Enkhuizen, a city near Hoorn. Approximately 10% of the students who study at this sailing school come from other countries. The Half Moon can be used for training purposes, particularly outside the tourist season. We will therefore be able to accomplish two purposes simultaneously because, while students practice and build up experience, the ship will be assured of a crew.
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‘When you want to build a ship, do not begin by gathering wood, cutting boards, and distributing work, but rather awaken within men the desire for the vast and endless sea.’ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Half Moon is coming to the Netherlands with a clear mission: to promote the rich maritime history of the VOC city of Hoorn in the first quarter of the seventeenth century and to underscore the Dutch contribution to American and world history, as symbolized by this splendid VOC yacht. Two VOC chambers will be founded in Hoorn and New Amsterdam to enable the Half Moon to realize its new mission. You may join these exclusive chambers as a founder or a co-founder.
VOC Chambers in Hoorn and New Amsterdam
VOC Chamber
There is no ship in the world that can propagate the story of the tremendous dynamics so typical of the early seventeenth-century Netherlands as well as the Half Moon. Whether it be the commodity trade where the Netherlands was Europe’s emporium, the voyages of discovery, the search for new trade routes for luxury goods or the establishment of the hegemony of the VOC in Asia, the Half Moon has contributed to it all. The Half Moon, the only seventeenth-century VOC museum ship that is able to sail, is going to tell this story in Hoorn, in such a way as to appeal to a very broad public.
The only remaining group portrait of the members of the management board of the VOC can be seen in the Westfries Museum. This portrait shows the seven board members of the VOC chamber of Hoorn, one of the six chambers in which the VOC was organized. The Gentlemen VII, as they were known, ooze affluence but also, and especially, self-confidence. After all, they were part of executive board of the most powerful commercial venture of the seventeenth century . The world lay at their feet - literally and figuratively. The Westfries Museum and the New Netherland Museum are injecting new life into the olden day VOC chambers to make the Half Moon’s new mission possible. They have set up chambers in Hoorn and New Amsterdam. Both chambers are waiting for these seven governors, enterprising people or companies who want the Half Moon’s mission to succeed and, just like the VOC board members of old, are also prepared to participate financially to help make it happen. We invite you to join in one of two ways:
Help the Westfries Museum and the New Netherland Museum to realize this mission by joining the VOC chamber of Hoorn or New Amsterdam.
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The Board Members of the Hoorn VOC chamber (detail from a painting by Johan de Baen, in the collection of the Westfries Museum)
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Become a FOUNDING MEMBER of the Half Moon’s mission to Hoorn.
museums, and events in Hoorn, including visiting the Half Moon and Westfries Museum.
The Westfries Museum and the New Netherland Museum are looking for seven founders for each of the two chambers. These people or organizations must be willing to contribute at least € 25,000 to the mission, either in a one-time pledge or in five annual installments of at least € 5,000.
• Your name, or the name of your company, will be prominently displayed along with the other founders on the brass ‘muster roll’ placed by the ship and your logo will be shown on all communications . • Your name, or the name of your company will be engraved on a brick, that will become a permanent part of the city of Hoorn’s walkways . • You will receive a permanent keepsake in the form of an attractive, engraved committee glass with an illustration of the Half Moon and your name on it, as was the tradition in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when a new ship was launched.
As token of our appreciation: • You will be immortalized in a contemporary ‘governors’ portrait’ with your fellow Founders. This portrait will be on display in the city of Hoorn. You will receive a personal copy as well. • You will receive an annual invitation to a festive ‘founders’ meeting which will be combined with a sailing trip on the Half Moon. You will also be invited to attend all the prestigious activities, such as large sail events, in which the Half Moon participates.
• You will receive a permanent keepsake in the form of an attractive, engraved committee glass with an illustration of the Half Moon and your name on it, as was the tradition in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when a new ship was launched.
• You will receive a passport identifying you as a founding member, giving you free and immediate access to various historic buildings,
You may wish to note that the New Netherland Museum is a not-for-profit foundation with a 501(c)(3) designation from the IRS and that the foundation Friends of the New Netherland Museum has charitable 501(c)(3) status. Please consult your financial advisor for the associated tax benefits.
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Glas met gravering van een nieuw gebouwd schip. 18de eeuw.
A glass with an engraving of a newly-built ship. Eighteenth century.
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