About
the Onrust Lore
of the Onrust Onrust
Page The R/V Onrust is owned by the State University of New York and operated by the Marine Sciences Research Center (MSRC) located on the Stony Brook campus. The Onrust is used by MSRC students and faculty as well as outside charterers. Completed in 1974, the Onrust was built especially for MSRC by Rhode Island Marine Service. She is a steel hulled modified offshore lobster boat design. Originally a 55 footer, in February of 1990 a 5 foot section was added to her stern, greatly increasing her work deck area and her fuel capacity.
With the Onrust’s home port in Port Jefferson, Long Island the majority of her work is done in Long Island Sound, New York Harbor, the Hudson River, and in the Atlantic from the south shore of Long Island to the continental shelf edge (approximately 100 miles offshore). However, other projects have taken her as far north as Boston, MA, and as far south as Cape May, NJ. Her low freeboard, large lifting capacity, large work deck and laboratory, and state of the art electronics make her one of the finest and best equipped vessel engaged in coastal oceanographic research.
The historical significance of the name Onrust dates back to 1614. The dutch trader and explorer, Captain Adrian block, and his crew were stranded on lower Manhattan Island when their vessel, the Tiger, burned. During the winter of 1613-14 these men constructed what is believed to be the first decked vessel built by Europeans in North America. They named their 44 foot vessel Onrust; dutch for "restless".
The Onrust was launched into Upper New York Bay in April 1614. Later that month she set sail to meet her first challenge, the treacherous passage through Helle-gat (Hell Gate) in the East River. She sailed on to become what many believe to be the first European built vessel to sail in Long Island Sound (‘T Groot Baai). She explored the harbors of Long Island and Connecticut discovering the Housatonic and Thames Rivers, and even sailing up the Connecticut (‘T Versch) River past the site of Hartford. The Onrust continued on to Narragansett and Buzzards Bays, and Cape Cod. On the voyage, Captain Block immortalized his name by designating a small island, Block Island. On the basis of this voyage, the Dutch laid claim to the territory of New Netherlands, a territory that included Long Island and Connecticut.
The last historical account of the Onrust describes her 1616 expedition down the coast of New Jersey to explore the New River (Delaware River) under the command of Captain Cornelius Hendrickson.