Hope

1st Voyage

• November 2022: Ship Design Challenge at the Museum

  The class visited the Museum for a field trip to kick off the project. Students did our ‘Ship Design Challenge’ program and learned the parts of a ship by touring USS Constitution and building their own sailboats out of household materials, then racing them in our water tank.

  

  And fun fact! The Donald McKay school is named for a famous tall-ship builder who had his shipyard right in east Boston. His most famous clipper was The Flying Cloud, which set the speed record for sailing from New York to San Francisco in 1854.

• February - March 2022: Boats are Prepared

  Over six weeks, students assembled and decorated the boats in their classroom alongside educators from the Museum. They filled and attached the keel, sanded and painted, and designed the deck and sails. Throughout, they had mini-lessons on the connections to USS Constitution.

  

  Filling The Keel

  

  Attaching the Keel

  

  Painting the Boats

  

  Sail Design

  

• March 17, 2022: Naming the Boats

  Each student submitted a name for the boats and the class voted. Hope easily won, but Special was in a tie with the name Billie Eilish. In a tie-breaker vote, Special prevailed.

  

• March 22, 2022: Ceremonial Launch

  US Navy tradition dictates a ceremony when a new ship is christened and launched. We did our own version at the dock by USS Constitution. Each student shared a wish they had for our boats, and then we did an apple cider champagne toast and a loud and spirited “Huzzah!” as the boats were dropped into Boston Harbor. The commander of Constitution stopped by and gave us special captain’s coins to put in our boats for good luck.

  

• March 24, 2022: Holds Sealed

  Museum staff sealed the holds that were filled with items from the Museum, the USS Constitution, and the McKay School.

  

• March 25, 2022: Boats are Shipped to Florida

  The first part of the boats’ journey was over land, not at sea. They were packed in crates and shipped to Key West, FL. There, they were brought on board the tall ship Corwith Cramer to be launched by the Sea Education Association (SEA) as they sail from Key West FL to Wood’s Hole, MA.

  

• April 11, 2022 - Launched off Florida

  The Sea Education Association SEA Class C-303, Marine Biodiversity & Conservation, took miniboats Hope and Special aboard the SSV Corwith Cramer and launched them into the Gulf Stream on April 11. Here’s the report from Sarah Kingston, Chief Scientist:

  “We launched them (amidst student song!) at 15:00. Here are a couple shots, the coordinates, and will make sure I remember to send along the two videos when we return. General Locale – Gulf Stream, just north of FL straights and NE of Miami. 15:02. 27 47.612 N, 79 44.641 W”

   

  

• April 20, 2022 - Landed on beach in Florida and recovered

  Dorine Nadeau was walking on the beach when she saw a strange object floating in the water. At first she didn’t know what it was, but as it got closer she was intrigued. She ventured into the surf and recovered the HOPE miniboat, but lost her shoes in the process! Here is a picture of Dorine with the boat she pulled out of the surf.

  

  She immediately called the number on the deck and then her son, Pierrot who lived nearby. Pierrot came and helped bring the boat to her house for safe keeping, while contacts and plans were made for next steps.

  

  Its sistership, the SPECIAL, also had a short trip off the coast of Florida. Plans are in the works to reunite the two boats again and have them relaunched further into the Gulf Stream this time.