The Bessie

Tower Hill School (Wilmington, DE)

Updates:

1st Voyage

  • June 2018 - Plans for Tower Hill School

    At the Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Delaware under the tutelage of three teachers, students took part in a multi-level “Tower Term” short course at Tower Hill School.

    Summary of the Five Day mini course:

    Atlantic Sailing Boat
    We prepared an ocean-going sailboat, The Bessie, equipped with a GPS tracking device to study ocean and wind patterns and much more. This five foot mini-boat needs no outside assistance and will be launched a little bit off shore so it can travel to Europe. As it travels the Atlantic for the entire Centennial Year of the school, founded in 1919, students back here at school will have the opportunity all year to learn and improve many skills. We will be a part of something marvelous.

     

     

     

     

    Pond Yacht
    Students each made a sailing yacht from scratch to sail on a local waterway, a “pond yacht.” They crafted everything themselves from a selection of simple materials including a simple piece of board they crafted into a hydrodynamic hull. Their yachts not only impress from an esthetic standpoint, but are also be seaworthy and functional. We learned a lot about sailboats including the merits of a weighted keel (otherwise, the wind wins!)

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Nautical Knowledge
    The students learned about ancient navigation, notable lore, knots, and other topics related to boats, sailing, boat building, etc.

  • September 2018 - Final preparations

    Students are in the final stages of prepping the boat and all 700+ students will leave their thumbprints on the vessel.

  • October 2018 - Delivered to the R/V Hugh R Sharp

    Our centennial miniboat was delivered to the Gulf Stream by the able crew of the R/V Hugh R. Sharp, a scientific research vessel operated by the University of Delaware. We received an email with details on the morning of October 20:

    This is Christian, the Tech on R/V Hugh R. Sharp. We have successfully deployed your boat into the ocean. The boat was launched on 10/19/18 at 04:00. Our position was 37° 37.89′ N  x  73° 00.42′ W. The wind was blowing 6.3 knots with a direction of 309°. We were about 121 nm, East of Wachapreague Inlet. Attached to this email are photos of the boat and it’s deployment. 

    Special thanks from the crew and Dr. Boris Wawrik for the opportunity. We hope it makes it to the destination that you were looking for. It will be amazing to witness the boat landing in Europe!

    The miniboat was brought to the dock sealed and ready for sailing earlier in October.

  • March 22, 2019 - Quiet at sea

    After 154 days at sea we last heard from The Bessie on March 22, 2019.