Tapping the Seas

1st Voyage

• About us

  Gilford Elementary School is a K-4 school located in Gilford, NH.  We have 311 learners ages 5 through 10. Our school is approximately 55 miles from the ocean in Portsmouth, NH. Our primary language is English. Our entire school is involved with the miniboat project. We discuss the project in technology and library classes.

  What our school hopes to accomplish through this project is learning about other cultures around the world, wind, ocean currents and making predictions.

  

• Update: Boat building begins

  Our adult mentor, Lance Bodie helped us paint the hull, attach the keel and install the mast. Ms. Glover did a great job filling the keel and having it ready to install by our boat builder, Lance Bodie.

  We’ve had a fantastic week decorating our mini boat with a maple leaf representing each of our 20 classrooms.  

  

  We also built our own boats and measured ourselves to see if we were bigger than the mini boat.

  

  We also wrote stories pertaining to what makes our school special.

  

• Update: The naming of our boat

  During last Friday’s showcase, our learners were brimming with enthusiasm as we unveiled the perfect name for our mini boat. We’re proud to introduce “Tapping the Seas” as the chosen name. This name encapsulates our dedication to exploring the remarkable world of the oceans, while also making connections to our maple sugaring project.

  

• Update: Items for the cargo hold

  Our learners will be given the opportunity to select and place items in the boat’s cargo hatch. These items will not only infuse a personal touch but will also spark conversations and connections with anyone who finds our mini boat at the end of its journey. We included: a stuffed Panda, how to make maple syrup book written by second graders, a book, bracelets, a journal with stories about our decisions, tiny door, Harley and maple syrup (of course).

  

• November 10: Shakedown Cruise in Lake Winnisquam

  The Mini Boat Project is rapidly approaching its culmination, and we are excited to announce that our goal is to launch “Tapping the Seas” into the open waters soon.

  On November 10, we had our shakedown cruise thanks to the help from Winnisquam Marine. We met Kinsgley and her family at the dock in Belmont. We installed the GPS tracker in the cargo hold and taped up the seal before setting out on the boat. Our mini boat did fantastic. It withstood waves and floated in the open water. It was a cold boat ride, but it was worth it.

    

  

  Stay tuned for updates on the launch date.

• November 2023 - Launched by Little Bay Lobster Co

  On November 22, 2023 the Tapping of the Seas was delivered to the docks of the Little Bay Lobster Co in Newington, New Hampshire (who also launched a few other miniboats this year for us – the Wildcat Wave, Clipper Ripper, and Topsfield Titan!).

  

  The crew of the F/V Rachel Leah headed out into the Gulf of Maine after the long weekend, and launched the Tapping of the Seas on November 29. We received the following note from Captain John:

  “We have deployed your miniboat today at 08:45 just east of Munson canyon. Position 40′ 36 02N 66′ 56 50W John F/V Rachel Leah”

  We will post and share pictures and videos when the crew returns back to port. In the meantime, fair winds and following seas to the 200th miniboat ever launched!

• February 2025 - Educational Passages visits Gilford Elementary

  Educational Passages staff, Cassie and Daryn, were able to travel to Gilford Elementary School to present to students as they continue to track their miniboat school-wide!

   

  View this post on Instagram

   

  A post shared by Educational Passages (@miniboats)

  After learning more about their boat’s location and discussing their predictions of where she may land, student’s built their own boats out of recycled materials.
  

• February 2026 - Update

  Tapping the Seas has been traveling for over 2 years in the Atlantic! Every red pin is a her reporting her location since being launched in the Gulf of Maine (Starred pin is current location as of 2/5/26):
  
  We have watched as she has ridden the waves East into the middle of the North Atlantic, Southwest and then North nearing Bermuda, and now East again.

  Stay tuned for more updates!

• May 2026 - Rescued off of Bermuda!

  We noticed Tapping the Seas getting closer and closer to Saint George’s Harbour in Bermuda (20 NM away)… so we reached out to M/B Coral Tempest‘s captain Paul Wright at Saltus Grammar School to see if he could help us recover her. With help from one of his students’ dad, Peter, they set off on May 24, 2026 to rescue the miniboat!

  Success:
  
  On May 26, 2026 the vessel was brought to Saltus Grammar School to be shared with Paul’s high school miniboat crew of M/B Coral Tempest. It was then presented to 4th grade students, as the students who built Tapping the Seas are in elementary school. The high school students were given the honor to open the cargo hold to reveal what memorabilia was packed inside.
  

  On May 29, 2026 EP Staff (Cassie and Daryn) visited Gilford Elementary School (NH, USA) for a special school-wide assembly. Lead Captains Danielle and Karol Beth revealed to students and teachers that after 907 days of tracking their miniboat, she had been successfully recovered in Bermuda! Safe to say students were very relieved and excited their miniboat made it to another country.
  
  On June 3, 2026 fourth grade classrooms eagerly connected over ZOOM! There were many questions asked from students in both countries about their now shared miniboat and what life is like in Bermuda versus New England.

  Stay tuned as we coordinate future connections between schools and necessary repairs for Voyage #2!

• PRESS RELEASE: New Hampshire Students' 900-Day Atlantic Voyage Ends with Bermuda Recovery

  PRESS RELEASE

  CONTACT: Cassie Stymiest, Educational Passages, 207-619-1259, cassie@educationalpassages.org

  New Hampshire Students’ 900-Day Atlantic Voyage Ends with Bermuda Recovery

  GILFORD, NH. Students at Gilford Elementary School (GES) in New Hampshire have been tracking their 1.5 m long uncrewed “miniboat” for 907 days. They named it Tapping the Seas, and have followed the journey around the Atlantic Ocean thanks to the GPS transmitter they installed onboard. The project focus recently shifted from learning about ocean currents to global connections when it was recovered near Bermuda on May 24. 

  For the students and teachers at GES, the recovery is the culmination of years of sustained engagement. “There hasn’t been a week that has gone by that they weren’t tracking it or asking about where it was,” said Mrs. KarolBeth Glover, one of the leaders of the project at GES.

  The entire school, which has over 300 learners from kindergarten through fourth grade, was involved in building, naming, and decorating the boat over 2.5 years ago. Students decorated the hull with maple leaf designs representing each of their 20 classrooms, a nod to the school’s maple sugaring project, which also inspired the boat’s name. The cargo hold was filled with student-written stories, a handmade maple syrup guide, bracelets, and other personal items intended for whoever found it.

  On November 29, 2023, the Tapping the Seas was launched into the Gulf of Maine, becoming the 200th miniboat ever launched by Educational Passages. The crew of the F/V Rachel Leah, part of the Little Bay Lobster Co. out of Newington, NH, made the launch possible. The miniboat traveled east into the North Atlantic and southwest toward Bermuda for over 15,169 nm and 907 days before it was recovered. 

  The recovery was made possible by another miniboat project based in Bermuda. Mr. Paul Wright at the Saltus school had worked with his students recently to build and launch their miniboat which they named Coral Tempest. When the boat drifted within 25 nm of Bermuda, Mr. Wright and his friend Mr. Peter Mahoney set out on the M/V Shanachie to recover it, which is now providing a global connection to all involved. 

  “This recovery is a perfect example of what our Miniboat Program is all about,” said Cassie Stymiest, Executive Director of Educational Passages. “Students have been watching, predicting, and caring about this boat for over two and a half years, and now they get to share all of that with a new community while working together to send it back out and continue the learning.”

  Plans are underway to connect GES students with the Saltus school community in Bermuda over a virtual connection this week.

  To follow the ongoing story of Tapping the Seas, visit educationalpassages.org/boats/tappingtheseas and follow other miniboats at sea at educationalpassages.org/events/atsea.

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