A Trip Across The Pond

Most 9 and 10-year olds make toy boats and sail them proudly down the creek behind their house or in the pond down the street. But a group of 4th graders at St. Andrew’s School of Math & Science sailed a boat across the pond … The Big Pond … the large, volatile, and often treacherous Atlantic Ocean.
It’s the second largest body of water in the world, only behind the Pacific Ocean. And with an average depth of 12,880 feet and a maximum depth of around 30,000 feet, the Atlantic Ocean has taken many a mighty ship to the bottom of her deep blue sea, including the Titanic, the Lusitania, and the Bismarck, just name a few. But nine months ago, Amy McMahon’s 4th grade class began an adventure with the Carolina Dreamer, which ended last week along the sandy shores of Wales in the United Kingdom, a journey of more than 4,000 miles. Her deck had been completely ripped off and her mast and sail long gone, but the Carolina Dreamer had made landfall on Borth Beach, a coastal village of about 1,523 people that lies on the Ceredigion Coast Path in the county of Ceredigion, Mid Wales.
As part of the Educational Passages project, the Carolina Dreamer debuted in February 2015 at the St. Andrew’s Science Night. She was displayed in the cafeteria for all 700 + students to learn about her and the amazing journey she was about to take.
“It is so multi-disciplinary — marine science, earth science, geography, history of old sailing routes, navigation, and map reading,” says Educational Passages founder Richard Baldwin, a former solo sailor who upon completing a sail around the world, began the program as a way to teach children about all the sciences of the world’s oceans. “Students get a lot of ‘ownership’ in that they help put the boat together and make the launching arrangements and work on getting their boat recovered, repaired, and re-launched.”
With the help from Kurt Oberle and Pete Ferrara of the High & Dry Boatworks on James Island, the Carolina Dreamer received a beautiful paint job and was ready for the open ocean. She officially got underway on May 17, 2015 when she was launched off the South Carolina coats from aboard TS State of Maine, a training ship of the Maine Maritime Academy. She sailed for less than a week before making landfall on Bermuda where she was rescued by Butch Agnew, a sailing buddy of Oberle, who set her back on her journey.
Equipped with a GPS, McMahon’s students tracked the Carolina Voyager every day along her journey, A few weeks back, West Of ran a story about how it seemed as though the Carolina Dreamer would be making landfall on the shores of Ireland. But she never did and at this point, her GPS was no longer pinging. The students feared that the mighty Atlantic may have claimed another ship.
The students and their teacher sent a S.O.S. to a number of European organizations in an attempt to located their ship. On Feb. 5, David Jenkins of Aberystwyth Marina in Wales responded he was very interested in hearing about the Carolina Dreamer, passing on the information to the local newspaper, The Cambrian News, and mentioned it to the local fisheries officer who monitors the coastline of Cardigan Bay.
Finally, on the afternoon of Feb. 10, Baldwin got an email that read as follows: “About a week ago, I was on the beach with my son and we saw a little boat come sailing in on the waves. We pulled it out and stored it safety. My daughters go to school in Borth and were really excited about the finding. I will take it to the school tomorrow morning and explain the story. Very exciting to have found and to give news to the children at your school. Many thanks, Helen Hinks.”
Back in West Ashley, the children in McMahon’s class were ecstatic that their little vessel had made it across the Atlantic. “The kids felt very worried and sad when the GPS stopped. When she pinged again and we received the email from Helen Hinks stating she had our boat, there was a resounding cheer, kids hugging one another and a huge sigh of relief,” said McMahon. “They felt she was a part of our learning community and family. They experience a sense of loss replaced by absolute exhilaration.”
According to McMahon, the biggest lesson learned was teamwork. “Building local and international relationships and exposure to all facets of navigating our great oceans,” she said. The boat is now at a  school in Borth, Wales. McMahon says they are working with another class to refurbish and relaunch again in July on the State of Maine, the same vessel that launched her in May from off the coast of South Carolina. “We will be pen paling with students and sharing information about our great state and country and visa versa while building lifelong friendships,” says McMahon.
“It’s wonderful in that every voyage is different. You never know what is going to happen when a small boat goes to sea,” says Baldwin, who is planning a miniboat Regatta this fall in the Atlantic and expects schools from at least six countries involved and is hoping to have a boat from the Charleston area participate. “We want to launch an entire fleet one day,” said an enthusiastic McMahon when asked if she planned on doing the lesson again with future classes.