Lightning Mcmahon

The LIGHTNING MCMAHON miniboat was built by students at the Brien Mcmahon Marine Science Academy in Norwalk, CT.

For more information about the program, check out article from The Hour in July 2024: Chalk Talk: Norwalk schools’ expanding marine science program exposes students to the ocean by Roz McCarthy.

Check out pictures of the process on the crew’s Instagram page:

On October 8, 2024, the crew of the M/V BERMUDA ISLANDER launched the miniboat alongside its sistership, the VITAMIN SEA. Thanks to Greg Henry for transporting the boats from CT to NJ to board the ship!

Both boats also have sensor packages which are collecting information about the ocean as the boats sail. They also have cameras on deck. Here are the first pictures we took on the morning of October 9:

SENSOR DATA

The reports from the main GPS are showing on the map at the top of this page here (which updates once per day with location reports every 6-12 hours). Here below is where you can see the data reporting from the second GPS which is connected to the sensor package. In addition to reporting location with a secondary GPS tracker, this system is also collecting air temperature, water temperature, and orientation. It also has a camera on deck. Note that some points show the boat’s transit to the launch site and are not of the miniboat at sea, and only the last 7 days of data are shown here. Please contact us for more information and access to the data if you are interested in exploring further.