Half Moon designer Nicholas S. Benton died on his 36th birthday in 1989 after falling 75 feet to his death while dismantling a mast on a different tall ship. The Half Moon 's planned permanent home with a museum and interpretive center at Liberty State Park near the Statue of Liberty in Jersey City, N.J., fell through. The project's catalyst and primary investor, Dr. Andrew Hendricks, a dermatologist in Lumberton, N.C., who formed New Netherland Museum Inc., was left with a homeless period tall ship. He had planned to bring the ship up to Albany in mid-September this year, but Mayor Jennings told them to hold off until next summer's Riverfest. Half Moon crew members Courtney Andersen and Jason Shorthouse, both in their late-20s, who lived aboard the ship this summer while it was docked at the Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston, are feeling as scorned as zebra mussels.
Wooden ships demand a lot of upkeep.
This one is reaching the point of no return. The crew members pointed out rotten planking, damaged decking and other areas that need immediate repair. The problem is cash. That could be offset by ticket sales if the ship was properly promoted to tourists. The ship is in constant need of maintenance and it's costly.