LITTLE BOAT, BIG HOPE
Davie school project went off course; Ireland again in its sights
A fifth grade class in Davie sent a little boat off to sea in 2012, hoping itwould land in Europe.
Instead, itwas found three years later in a Charleston, S.C., thrift store.
Nowthe SS Upper, a class project at Summit Questa Montessori School, is ready to once again set sail to Ireland. A Charleston captain plans to deploy the 56-inch fiberglass sailboat within a couple of days.
“Everyone’s gotten a chuckle out of it, saying, ‘That boat is still on itsway to Ireland?’ ” said Sharon Wilkin, an assistant to Summit Questa’s principal.
Aformer Summit Questa teacher ordered the boat in 2012 to help students learn about marine science. It arrived assembled from Educational
Passages, a Maine-based ocean education group. After the students painted and decorated it, the teacher sent it back to Educational Passages, which had it launched near the Bahamas in May 2012. The boat had a GPS tracking device, so students could followthe progress online.
The journey went astray after a storm sent the boat to a South Carolina beach. The GPS stopped reading the location, which happens if it gets tipped over and doesn’t face the sky, said Dick Baldwin, director of Educational Passages. Therewas little hope this boat would ever be found.
But about18 months ago, Baldwin got a call from Holly Blair, a South Carolina science teacher who was familiar with his work. She found the boat at a Goodwill thrift store in Charleston, and bought it for $5.
The two tried to find a local school thatwould take over the project butwere unsuccessful. So recently, Baldwin decided to supply a new GPS and sail and get the ship back on the water.
“These boats cost about $2,300, so we want to use them ,” he said. The National Marine Educators Association was also meeting in Charleston in June, “sowe thought itwould be fun to launch before the show.”
Baldwin asked Jay Stewart, a Charleston harbor captain, to deploy the boat, and an attempt was made Sunday about 50 miles offshore. But on Monday morning it landed on the highly populated Edisto Beach, about an hour south of Charleston.
After a futile search for it, Stewart found a Facebook post by the police chief in Edisto Beach saying the boat had been turned in.
Stewart picked up the boat and plans to deploy it about 100 miles east of Charleston, where currents are more favorable for getting to Europe.
Summit Questa has agreed to once again sponsor the boat on its latest journey.
“Itwas just kind of a fun project,” Principal Judy Dempsey said. “But it’s great to see something our students initiated have a life and history of its own.”