GO GO 金浜丸II (GO GO Kanehama Maru II)

Kanehama Elementary School (Hachinohe, Japan) and Richmond Elementary School (OR, USA) & Columbia River Maritime Museum

Updates:

1st Voyage - Quiet after 120 days at sea

  • September 2018 - Receiving the boat kit

    We are 4th graders at Richmond Elementary School in Portland, Oregon.

    RICHMOND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

    Richmond Elementary School is located in Portland, Oregon and is a Japanese Immersion School. The entire 4th grade is participating in CRMM’s Miniboat Program during the 2018-2019 School Year.

    The Japanese Immersion Program began in 1989 with two kindergarten classes at Richmond Elementary School. Now, a complete K-12 language immersion program with students starting at Richmond for kindergarten and stay-ing through 5th grade. At Richmond Elementary, students spend half their day learning in Japanese and the other half in English. Teachers provide lessons in literacy, math, science, and social studies in both languages.

    STUDENT TEAMS

    The CRMM Miniboat Program is student driven with all the work and decisions being made independently by the students in their self assigned team.

    • INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS/RECOVERY TEAM
    • HULL TEAM
    • KEEL TEAM
    • DECK TEAM
    • SAIL TEAM
    • CARGO/FIGUREHEAD TEAM
    • PHOTO/VIDEO TEAM

    Starting in September, each fourth grade class at Richmond Elementary School received a boat kit and started planning the construction and launching of Hull #013 of the Columbia River Maritime Museum’s Fleet.

  • November 2018 - Preparations

    Once in Japan Nate Sandel, Education Director at the Columbia River Maritime Museum meet with the mayor of Hachinohe and then got to works with the students from Kanehama Elementary School, all eight of them! The students loaded the cargo, sealed the hatch, painted the sail and the boats name on the transom.

    After eights weeks of planning and construction the Blue Team at Richmond Elementary School finished their Miniboat and were ready to send it to Japan with the Education Director of the Columbia River Maritime Museum for launching.

    Cargo Figurehead Team
    Sail Team’s Sketch
    Deck Team

     

     

     

     

     

    Photo/Video Team
    Keel Team’s Epoxy Work
    Hull Team’s Paint Scheme

     

     

     

     

     

  • November 15, 2018 - Launch day

    Location– 30km off the coast of Hachinohe, Japan

    Early in the morning students from Okuki Elementary School carried the boats to the fishing port and loaded all three Miniboats onto the launch boat.

    After an amazing dance the International Relations Team from the City of Hachinohe, representatives from the Hachinohe School Board, and Nate Sandel from the Columbia River Maritime Museum all headed out to sea to launch the Miniboats.

  • March 15, 2019 - Quiet at sea

    After 120 days at sea the Kanehama II stopped sending us its location. We have a good feeling that she is still sailing and hope one day she is recovered.


Columbia River Maritime Museum’s Miniboat Program celebrates 10 years! Over this first decade, the program has provided a global, multidisciplinary STEAM learning experience for 4th through 7th grade classes. Students work in teams to design, assemble, launch, and track GPS-equipped boats. Each classroom learns about maritime history and culture of the Pacific Northwest and across the Pacific Ocean. In 2027, we will also plan to launch our 50th miniboat!

The program is in partnership with Educational Passages and has been supported by numerous organizations and private donors, including Consular Office of Japan in Portland, Pacific Power, NWSTEM Hub, West Marine BlueFuture Fund®, Northwest Oregon Works, and U.S. Coast Guard.