Carolina Dreamer Headed for Ireland

For eight months, St. Andrew’s School of Math and Science students in Ms. Amy McMahon’s 4th grade class have been tracking their unmanned sailboat out in the Mid-Atlantic. The Carolina Dreamer has had quite a journey since she was launched 1,000 miles off Charleston in mid-May by the Maine Maritime Academy’s training vessel TS State of Maine.
It took her three days to arrive on a rocky beach in Bermuda. Thankfully, a fellow friend and sailor residing there rescued her. On Labor Day, she was then set adrift and the class has been charting her course ever since. Now it appears she may make landfall again.
Each morning Ms. McMahon’s class begins with students logging onto the Educational Passages website and tracking The Carolina Dreamer’s current latitude and longitude. In addition, they analyze wind and water currents as well as weather patterns to make predictions about her course.
Now, students are feverishly trying to alert Harbormasters near Ireland, England, and France about the possibility of her nearing their ports. If she’s lucky, she will be rescued prior to making landfall and launched again. If she does arrive at one of those destinations, perhaps she will be found and taken to a nearby elementary school where students can learn about her and discover what’s inside her time capsule. For now, students are on a mission to keep her afloat and navigating the high seas!
The Carolina Dreamer is part the Educational Passages program (www.educationalpassages.com). The Maine Maritime Academy and NOAA work with Richard Baldwin, founder and director of Educational Passages, to provide students with opportunities to learn about navigation, weather patterns, oceanography, geography, maritime operations, and careers associated with sailing and working our great oceans.
For The Carolina Dreamer’s latest position, go to the following link: http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/drifter/drift_ep_2015_1.html.