This weekend, River Day kicks off! Vessels of all kinds will cruise up the Hudson River, in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage. Of course, the replica of Hudson’s famous ship the Half Moon will take part in the flotilla. But there is another Dutch historical ship participating, with an equally fascinating story.
In 1614, one of the Dutch pioneers’ trading ships burned down. Its captain, Adriaen Block, was offered passage back to the Netherlands on another ship. But Block and his crew decided to stay put, and built themselves a new boat. With their new, smaller ship called ‘The Onrust’ (‘the restless’) they were able to explore the Hudson River and its surrounding coastal areas. Captain Block’s maps of the rivers between Manhattan and Cape Cod became a leading source and remained in use for the next hundred years.
Schenectady County Historian Don Rittner fell in love with the story of The Onrust when he first heard of it. Four years ago he decided to recreate the first ship ever built on the shore of Manhattan. In total, the ship’s costs mounted up to 3 million dollars, much of it in donations of century-old white oaks.
The building of the historical ship was a huge challenge. The worst moment came when Rittner and his crew ran out of wood, just four trees short of completing the ship. But they were in luck. ‘That day, I got a call about some white oaks that had been cut down by accident’, Rittner told the Schenectady Gazette. ‘The town of Colonie decided to donate the trees. That was all the wood we needed.’
Now, as the ship has just been completed, it will take part in the River Day flotilla on the Hudson celebrating Henry Hudson's voyage. For Rittner, this is the apotheosis of his efforts: ‘I’m going to feel like Captain Block!’
The Schenectady historian is not as much identifying with the famous English explorer as he is with Hudson’s Dutch successor. ‘We want to experience what Adrian Block experienced – obviously, it’s the modern times, but the experience will be the same because we’ve never done this.’ And as most parts of the ship were built just as the Dutch would have 400 years ago, the Onrust’s journey will bare many resemblances to Block’s in 1614.
Next year, the Onrust will become a floating museum to teach children about the influence of the Dutch on New York. Rittner: ‘Our ideas of tolerance, the right to petition the government, these are all Dutch. The contributions are immense.’
Starting the morning of June 6th, the Onrust together with other Heritage Flagships as Clearwater, and Woody Guthrie, the Mystic Whaler and the Half Moon will re-trace Henry Hudson's historic path to Albany over the course of seven days. All boaters and landlubbers welcome to join the River Day journey! Click here for the complete River Day program.
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