Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival 2024

Colin will share details of his most recent project - enabling kids to explore and experience the deep ocean using micro robotic boats. These vessels, only 4' in length are capable of crossing vast oceans. They are equipped with sensors and course is controlled by satellite. The kids spend six months getting the boats ready for sea, pack a compartment with gifts and souvenirs, and then launch it - destined to voyage to another classroom across the ocean. The boat is then tracked online, as the kids follow its multi-month voyage across the ocean across the ocean. When the boat gets near shore, local schools are contacted and the boat is retrieved. The recipient school then opens the boat to get the gifts and messages, and the schools connect creating a multi-cultural connection.

A modern version of the classic message in a bottle, this initiative is meant to create a sense of stewardship and understanding of one of the most remote regions on the planet. Very few kids get to explore the wild ocean, and this is an opportunity to do it vicariously.