Stormy Normy

Davidson Day School (North Carolina)

Updates:

1st Voyage

Students at Davidson Day School have been working on their boat project. So far they have:

  • Received the kit
  • STEM students practice latitude and longitude
  • Named our boat
  • Filled the keel and attached it to the hull
  • Analyzed the sensors and started to put together our sensor pack

Next they plan to:

  • Complete install of sensor pack and painting of the hull
  • Add a figurehead
  • Install of sail 
  • Launch in Lake Davidson

Here are some pictures of progress so far!

April 2024 Update

After some challenges this summer with moisture, the Davidson Day boat had some hoops to get through to get out to sea! This adjusted the initial plans to launch in Lake Davidson. The moisture caused the bracket that was holding their GPS to pop off. The students had to build a different style of mount for their GPS unit. They also painted the hull. 

Prior to sealing, the students tested the sensors and GPS, which due to the time that had passed had gone through some challenges. Luckily it all worked out! The kids also wrote letters about their community and collected photos to put inside the hull. The students sealed the hull after successful tests, raised the sail, and signed Stormy Normy. The boat was delivered to Cape Fear Community College on April 21, 2024, where the Marine Technology Department is going to take Stormy and officially launch!

 

April 21, 2024

The boat was delivered to Cape Fear Community College on April 21, 20224, where the Marine Technology Department is going to take Stormy and officially launch it! It will be launched with a miniboat that students at CFCC built: Gilliland.

April 26, 2024

R/V Cape Hatteras Cruise Report: Released both drifters this morning in the Gulf Stream. Hard to say if they will stay in the stream long with the hard NE wind. Drifters were released at 1020 at: 31 43.627N 079 00.987W. More photos and videos of the event when the ship gets closer to the beach.

 

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April 29, 2024 Update

The Stormy Normy made its way to a tidal area (St Helena Sound) after 2.6 days at sea and traveling 187 km. The Gilliland however, stayed at sea a little longer and headed north of Charleston, but was still offshore about 20-30 km on the 29th. To find out what happened next with Gilliland, click here.

April 30, 2024

On the morning of April 30, the Stormy Normy was still reporting in the same spot, so the tide did not move her. It was in an area that we were not sure people had access to, so we had to do some research. Then, in the afternoon, we got a phone call from Doug, who is a crabber that said he found the miniboat! Michelle (Davidson’s miniboat captain) called him back and Doug graciously offered to store the boat while next steps were determined.

Stay tuned for next steps!

Ocean Science Data

This miniboat also has sensors installed to collect more information about the ocean (only the last 7 days of data will show here):