Crimson Storm Sets Sail in the Atlantic

This week, the 6^th Grade sailboat, Crimson Storm, was taken aboard a cargo ship and was launched into the Gulf Stream as part of the “Educational Passages” program. The 5-foot, unmanned sailboat is equipped with a GPS that transmits to a satellite so students can track its journey on the web.

You may follow the boat’s adventure here:  https://educationalpassages.org/boats/crimson_storm/

In the boat’s hull, students placed a variety of items, from essays about life in New Jersey to a baseball, MBS pennant, and issues of Crimson magazine.

The first MBS boat — Crimson Tide – was launched in December of 2012 and was recovered by a fisherman in Guernsey, an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy. It was later re-launched and washed ashore in France. Other MBS boats have traveled to Spain, Florida, the Shetland Islands, and the Orkney Islands in Northern Scotland. 

The Educational Passages program was created by a sailor from Maine who wanted to educate youngsters about ocean winds and currents. MBS geography teacher Lisa Swanson says the project is exciting because it can also provide a backdrop to teach everything from physics to world languages. A significant aspect of the project hinges on the hope that students can connect with their peers across the globe when the boat reaches a foreign shore. When Crimson Tide was retrieved off the coast of Guernsey, for example, it set up exciting new learning opportunities as MBS students connected with students there via skype.