A miniature yacht has survived a truly epic 3000 mile journey across the wild Atlantic from America to Ireland.
The little unmanned craft is part of a secondary schools marine science experiment with the goal to see how objects would progress using the wind and currents. It was floated out on May 7th and was discovered this week by 8-year-old Méabh and her Dad Stiofán from Galway.
The three-foot boat which made the incredible journey was built by 17-year-old US marine science student Kaitlyn Dow.
On 6th September, as the boat neared the Irish coast, Kaitlyn sent an email to as many people as she could in Ireland alerting them of the progress of the experiment. She wrote “A fleet of miniature unmanned sailboats is preparing to invade the West Coast of Ireland. Not to worry, this is a friendly invasion. They are either just off the coastline or might have even made landfall by the time you receive this. We are hoping you or anyone else could recover our boat before it gets damaged in the surf. This is part of a hands-on learning program we are doing at Waterford High School. We sent one boat but are writing this to let you know of the possibility of more on the way. We are learning about oceanography, earth science, geography, navigation, and hope to have a meaningful international relations experience as well.
The boat was discovered by 8-year-old Méabh and her Dad Stiofán from Galway out walking down by the beach. Inside the boat they found it had been filled with gifts, donated by pupils of the Connecticut primary school, Quaker Hill Elementary, along with a memory stick containing essays from many of them.
The plan is now to make the vessel seaworthy again so that it can continue its voyage.