Letter from the Director | Half a world away: Sacred Heart Star of the Sea lands in Australia | Jackalope lands in its 3rd Country | Updates from the CRMM Miniboat Program | Monmouth Academy research vessel sails from ME to MA | Adventures around the Atlantic | Sailing towards a bright future
Letter from the Director
This month we are celebrating how miniboats are connecting people all around the world with five new stories of exploration and connection! In these challenging times, we hope that these stories and experiences can be a connecting force and source of hope. Just in the last couple of months, we’ve reached two new countries and a new continent, connected groups halfway across the world, collected new data, and even floated down the Columbia River and Gulf of Maine. We also worked with our friends at New England Science and Sailing to co-host a Virtual Recycle Regatta. This at home competition encouraged participants to build their very own mini-miniboat with reusable materials. Congratulations to all the winners!
Are you interested in starting or continuing your miniboat adventure this fall but not sure how? Then please join us for the very first Virtual Miniboat Open House on August 11 at 6pm GMT where we will share stories and talk about the process from ordering, to building, to tracking. We only have 6 more kits available for this year, but there are still lots of ways to participate! Click here to register and for more information, or contact me to schedule a one-on-one meeting.
I also want to take a moment to thank you all who help to make this program possible so it can continue for the next generation.
Sincerely,
Cassie Stymiest
Executive Director
Half a world away: Sacred Heart Star of the Sea lands in Australia
In March of 2019, the Sacred Heart Star of the Sea was launched off a research cruise near the Marion Rise, off South Africa. After 463 days at sea, it landed in Western Australia! The boat was built by students in Kingston, Massachusetts and assembled by the Teacher at Sea from Wyoming. This little boat is connecting people literally halfway around the world.
Read more: Star of the Sea
Jackalope lands in its 3rd country
From January to May, the Jackalope sailed for 114 days on its second voyage, and was recovered on Hiu Island which is part of the Torres Islands of Vanuatu. This connects three countries so far: the US (Wyoming), Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. While it traveled almost 6,000 km in that time, the distance from start to finish was only 1,200 km!
Read more: Jackalope
Updates from the CRMM Miniboat Program
One of the goals of the CRMM Minibiboat Program is to have two miniboats sail across the Pacific in opposite directions, and it appears that the Kizuna Gou and Philbert are attempting to turn this dream into a reality!
Also at sea, the Okuki Go Go that was launched back in 2018 crossed the International Date Line on May 27, and we heard from the Kaeru Go Go briefly in June.
While schools were shut down due to COVID-19, the CRMM was still engaging its students with the Mighty Miniboat Float and is now published in a new Japanese textbook. The Liberty is now back sailing after the 14-day float along the Columbia River in June, and a 6-day sail off the coast of Oregon in February. The last of the 2019-2020 fleet, Goonies, is aboard the Coast Guard Steadfast and will be launched in the coming weeks.
Read more: CRMM Miniboat Program | KIZUNA GOU | Philbert | GO! GO! 大久喜号 (GO! GO! Okuki Go) | かえる GO GO!! (KAERU GO GO!!) | Liberty | Goonies
Monmouth Academy research vessel sails from ME to MA
After two years of hard work by the students at Monmouth Academy, their sensor-equipped mini research vessel named DespaSEAto was launched into the Gulf of Maine thanks to fisherman Tyler Bo. It sailed for just over 3 days and 160 nm before it landed in Salem Sound, Massachusetts. A local high school teacher from Landmark School happened to be sitting on the beach and watched it sail right in! Both classes will get to meet each other virtually in the fall and analyze the data together.
Read more: DespaSEAto
Adventures around the Atlantic
Also in the Atlantic, the Titanic (pink) continues to sail south of the Azores after skirting past Europe, and the Crimson Fantasea (purple) has been sailing for 865 days now! The Rye Riptides (green) from New Hampshire will soon be joining the fleet as students finished preparing the boat by sending their drawings to their teacher via email. Educational Passages’s staff then epoxied the images to the boat and a launch is being planned.
Read more: Titanic | Crimson FantaSEA | Rye Riptides
Sailing towards a bright future
We might not be able to travel far these days, but a 5-foot long GPS-tracked miniboat, designed and launched by students, sure can. The Miniboat Program, created by Educational Passages, offers an extraordinary way for students of all ages to learn crucial STEAM skills, discover future careers, and build international connections that will last a lifetime.
Educational Passages introduces participants to sailing, engages students in collaborative learning through international cultural experiences, and increases understanding of the value of water on our planet as a shared resource through ocean literacy. With your financial support we can keep our mission of engagement, education and career development alive for generations to come. Help students sail towards a bright future by donating today!
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