This just in: The Hudson River Maritime Museum has received word that the 2009 replica ship El Galeon Andalucia will be docking at the Museum and will be open to the public for deck tours Saturday, August 5th through Tuesday, August 8th. Deck tours will be available for adults ($10), children aged 5-11 ($5), and free for children under the age of 5. She is also available to stage special dinner events or corporate presentations which can be coordinated through the Hudson River Maritime Museum. Details coming soon!

The Galeon Andalucia is a replica ship built in 2009 modeled after the type of vessel used by the Spanish Crown for maritime expeditions during the 16th through the 18th centuries. Galleons were intended to discover and then establish trade routes between Spain, America and the Philippines islands. These merchant vessels were armed with tonnages ranging from 500 to 1,200 and lengths ranging from 130 to 200 feet. Considered innovative for their time, they were designed to cross the largest oceans as efficiently as possible.

Researchers required three years to compile all the necessary information about galleons' shapes, details, and measures so that a replica could be built. The historical research done in maritime archives in Spain was followed by structural design, which took six months. Construction of the vessel lasted over seventeen months and employed 150 people until her launching in Punta Umbria (Huelva, Spain) in November of 2009. The replica was designed and built by Ignacio Fernandez Vial, a navel engineer and historian, commissioned by the ship's owner, Nao Victoria Foundation.

During construction the hull and decks were built up in layers of fiberglass and after that the whole structure was lined with wood. This completely original and innovative technique was the first time this method was applied to any ship heavier than 500 tons meant for sailing.

Since her launching, a crew of fifteen to thirty-five people have manned her across the seas and oceans of the world. She has navigated the Pacific and Indian Oceans, crossed the Atlantic, and traveled the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the South and East China Seas, the Aegean Sea and the Caribbean.

Some facts about the El Galeon Andalucia:

• Fifty-ton Spanish galleon
  
• 164 feet length, overall
  
• 33 foot main beam
  
• 10.5 foot draft
  
• Four masts hold six sails measuring almost 11,000 square feet
  
• Average speed - 7 knots
  
• Crew size - 15-35 people
  

On Saturday, June 24th, the Hudson River Maritime Museum hosted our first Hudson River National Boat Building Challenge on Hudson River Day! Eleven adult teams and one youth team competed to build a wooden row-boat in under four hours. Community support for the event was great, with over fifteen sponsors.

Boats were judged on speed of competition, quality of build, and a timed relay rowing race on the Rondout Creek. Our esteemed judges included Jim Kricker, Director of the Riverport Wooden Boat School here at the Hudson River Maritime Museum, Wayne Bartow, Director of the Hudson River Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society, and Andrew Willner, Senior Instructor of the Riverport Wooden Boat School.

Team Caduceus, comprising of Jeff Arliss and HRMM's Jack Weeks, took third place! Arliss practices medicine in Kingston and lives in New Paltz. Weeks, who lives in Eddyville, is a longtime board member of the Hudson River Maritime Museum, and a timber framer with some boatbuilding experience.

Coming in at second place was the Rifton Rascals - Eric Flavin amd Brandon Craig! Flavin is a longtime New Paltz resident and known for being able to build "anything at anytime". When he's not building something, he enjoys hiking in New Hampshire with his daughter. Brandon Craig is the future son-in-law of Eric and is hoping to stay in good favor with his future father-in-law by not injuring him in this challenge. No injuries were had and the team had fun!

Our first place team, Carolina Flare, hails from North Carolina. Comprised of Bobby Staab and Josh Fulp, the team was first to finish their boat. Sporting an ever-present mustache and the same "Challenge" shorts worn during every competition, Bobby Staab notes the one time he stayed awake more than three hours, he pressure washed and stained a deck; painted the house; cut the grass; and changed the spark plugs in all his neighbors' cars! Josh Fulp is a General Contractor who got his first skill saw when he was twenty-four months old. Boatbuilding lore has it that Fulp keeps extra fasteners and a few tools tucked in his beard!

Congratulations to all our teams! Building a wooden boat in under four hours is a gigantic accomplishment and a lot of hard work.

Below is a photo gallery of the day's event.