2024 has been such an incredible year to look back on in many ways✨🥰
We are celebrating with these highlights (in no particular order). Read the summaries and click on the links to dive in further!
A MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE STORY LIKE NO OTHER
A very unlikely but interesting connection of a message in a bottle found in the bahamas, and a miniboat that landed in North Carolina happened earlier this year… and the story was shared in Carteret News-Times 2024 Beachcomber Magazine. Check it out: From Mini Sailboats to Messages in a Bottle.
INTERNATIONAL SITE-VISIT: IRELAND
A special internship with the University of New England brought us to Ireland in March. While there we got to meet up with a few miniboat crews and strengthen our connections to each other, as shared in our blog post Miniboat Magic in Ireland. You can also hear all about the trip in our podcast: PART ONE and PART TWO.
NEW RESOURCE: ONE OCEAN TRACKING MAP
We made a new global map for tracking miniboats at sea. This version has the Atlantic and Pacific basins in full view, to emphasize our ONE OCEAN. The maps are now included in new build kits, and will soon be available to others. Contact us if you’d like to reserve or order a copy.
NEW TERM COINED: MINIBOAT MAGIC
Mrs. Swanson coined a new term: MINIBOAT MAGIC, which is the extraordinary connections and inspiring stories sparked by student-built miniboats and the communities they unite worldwide. Share your miniboat magic story and we’ll send you a special sticker!
34th COUNTRY REACHED: MUUU IN BARBUDA
After a month at sea, the miniboat MUUU, which was launched by another wind-powered vessel from Timbercoast, made landfall in Barbuda. This is the 34th country reached by Educational Passages’ miniboats. Learn more about the project behind this milestone here.
TMS TECH TEAM PRESENTED AT OCEAN SCIENCES
Seven students from the TMS Sea Challenger’s Tech Team attended the Ocean Sciences Meeting in New Orleans in February. They presented a poster about their experience during a special poster session, and had many people captivated by their work. Learn more about their project here.
NEW RECORD FOR FARTHEST NORTH
When the Crimson Current made landfall at 69 34′ N in Senja, Norway on September 22, it became the farthest north miniboat ever. This broke the previous record which was the Galway Sailor in 2021 (which also landed in Norway but at 67 58′ N). Check out the map to see for yourself.
MINIBOATS FOR SCIENCE!
We participated in the NSF OOI Community Workshop: Pioneer MAB Array. Our poster was titled “Skimming the Surface of Possibilities: Synergies between the Miniboat Program and OOI” which highlighted our collaborations and future opportunities to work together. Explore the poster here.
PODCAST CONTINUES: SEASON 3
We kicked off season 3 of our podcast, as well as a new initiative to post video podcasts for those interested in a visual presentation of stories. Our episodes this year highlighted perspectives from students (Forward Facing, Forward Thinking), teachers (Team is the Dream), and participants around the world (More than a Miniboat Part 1 and Part 2). Check out the audio here, and our Youtube Video Playlist here.
SOMETHING SPECIAL ARRIVED IN FRANCE
After exactly one year at sea, and 3 months after the last confirmed location report was received from the GPS, the Matyas Family watched the miniboat Special come in with the tide on a beach in Plouescat, France. The boat was originally built by a school in Boston, MA with the USS Constitution Museum over the winter of 2022. Explore this special story here.
LAUNCH VIDEO PLAYED 1.5 MILLION TIMES
When Captain Greg of the F/V Fishin’ Frenzy relaunched the Davidson Day School’s Stormy Normy off the coast of North Carolina in September, we had no idea the video would be watched over 1.5 MILLION times! Check out the popular video here.
TOTAL DEPLOYMENTS: 25
We facilitated 25 deployments from 20 miniboats (some were relaunched) during 2024: Grizzly Bear; Crimson Cyclone; Crimson Tide; Crimson Current; MUUU; Tidestrider; Raven KASTER; Gilliland; Stormy Normy; DMS Anita; Warrior; 907 SEAS; Lancer; Mar a Delta; Yaquina Neversink; Lightning Mcmahon; Vitamin Sea; Millennium Raider; Inspiration. Explore them all on this map.
OUR IMPACT
We engaged over 5,276 students during the 2023-2024 school year through 50 classrooms around the world. Please consider donating to help us engage more students in 2025. Donate here.
WORLD OCEAN DAY LAUNCH
We celebrated World Ocean Day at sea with Rhode Island Teacher at Sea educators and crew of the URI GSO’s R/V Endeavor. The same day we also set DMS Anita to sea along with 3 Makerbuoy drifters, to see how wind and currents move. Explore our pilot project here to see where they all went.
MIT SEA GRANT FUNDED DMS ANITA
After inspiration at last year’s Ocean Race stopover, the Dudley Middle School applied for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sea Grant STREAM program – which became their miniboat, the DMS Anita. Read more about the STREAM grant here, and the project here.
ONE OF 1ST USA BLUE SCHOOLS
Morristown Beard School in New Jersey became one of the very first USA Blue Schools for their project which collaborated with the Barryroe National School in Ireland around their miniboat project. Learn more about the NMEA hosted initiative here.
1st LAUNCH OF 2024 IS STILL AT SEA
The Grizzly Bear, built by Barnes Elementary in Washington and the Columbia River Maritime Museum, was the very first miniboat deployment of 2024 on January 9. After a quick but successful maiden voyage, it was relaunched on April 6. By December 29, the GPS had clocked 16,647 km traveled so far! Explore the track, story, and latest report here.
LANCER WAS RELAUNCHED ON 4th VOYAGE SINCE 2016
After spending another school year with at Waterford High School in Connecticut, the Lancer was relaunched on a 4th voyage during the NES LTER cruise on September 8. It ended up in North Carolina where we welcomed aboard the Waters Edge Village School. Lancer has a long history, having been first launched back in 2016. Explore the full story here.
5th ANNUAL RECYCLE REGATTA A SUCCESS
We hosted the 5th Annual Recycle Regatta with our partners NESS and NAMEPA, and congratulated all participants and our winners: Jack & Beau, Blake & Scott, Delilah & Lillian, Yanxi & Colesha, Margot, Mr. Nason’s 4th Grade Class, Jose & Joaquin, Kai N. View the winning vessels here and sign up for notifications about the 2025 competition here.
11 COUNTRIES CONNECTED
During the year we connected over 50 classrooms in ELEVEN countries through our work: USA, Ireland, France, Portugal, Canada, Spain, Nicaragua, Barbuda, Norway, UK, and the Marshall Islands. One example is with the Raven KASTER, which was sent from Canada, landed in Ireland after its first voyage, and then in Portugal this July after its long awaited second voyage. Explore all the stories here.
WELCOME TO THE EP CREW, DARYN CLEVESY
In October, EP welcomed aboard Daryn Clevesy as Program Coordinator, who will be working part time to support our program and mission. Daryn’s background is in environmental education and conservation, most recently while at the Seacoast Science Center in New Hampshire. You may have noticed an up-tick in our communications effort lately, which has been all thanks to Daryn! Reach out and say hello to her on Facebook or Instagram.
WE GATHERED IN ALASKA FOR SEAOTECH PROJECT
The STUDENT ENGINEERS ADVANCING OCEAN TECHNOLOGY (SEAoTech) project is a collaborative to bring new hands-on STEAM programs to communities in Alaska. With support from BOEM, the project started in 2019 but 2024 was the first educator workshop and training. We launched a drifter, built OpenCTDs, and chose the Boys and Girls Club of Ketchikan to build the next miniboat for the project. To learn more and follow along, click here.
INSPIRATION RELAUNCHED
Voyage #2 for the Inspiration began on December 12 from the Canary Islands. After crossing the Atlantic and washing ashore in the U.K. in 2022 after 245 days, the Central Falls and University of Rhode Island GSO boat was repaired by the Mudeford Sea Scouts and students in Lymington, England. It was shipped south thanks to the Ebb and Flow rowing team, which set out the day before on their own race across the Atlantic for the World’s Toughest Row. Explore the story and track here.
MINI-BOAT FOR BIG-ROCK COMING IN 2025
We are excited to announce that we were awarded a small grant on Giving Tuesday by the Big Rock Foundation to bring the miniboat program to Carteret County, North Carolina. This was inspired by a couple amazing connections, starting with the “catch” of the AIMS INFINITY during the 2023 Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament by the crew of Shifting Gears. Watch that video here, and explore the Big Rock Foundation Charities here.