In a modern take on a message in a bottle, a mini-boat that was launched by a group of middle schoolers in New Hampshire has been found 462 days later and more than 8,300 miles away in Norway.
The roughly 6-foot boat, named Rye Riptides, was built by students at Rye Junior High School through a non-profit program on ocean currents, weather and technology, called Educational Passage.
The boat was filled with artwork, photos and information about the project. It was also equipped with a tracking device, which allowed students to follow its location as it sailed across the ocean.
The boat took to the Atlantic Ocean on October 25, 2020 when it was launched into the Gulf Stream for a destination unknown.
"There's a magical thing, there's so much hope in it, you really just don't know what's going to happen. When you're sending it out, you have no idea where it's going to end up, how it's going to get there, if it ends up (anywhere) at all," Cassie Stymiest, the executive director of Educational Passages, told the Portsmouth Herald. "But these kids, they put their hopes and dreams and wishes into it and I tend to think sometimes that helps."
After 10 months at sea traveling in the Gulf Stream, the boat's GPS started reporting infrequently during hurricane season, Educational Passage wrote on a website dedicated to the Rye Riptides' journey.
"It sent a couple reports quite far apart – on August 18 and again on September 30. A bit storm was occurring in the area of the miniboat at the time, and some of us wondered if it got sent up to Iceland," the website said.
Then, exactly four months later on January 30, 2022 the GPS sent a signal from Norway. After spending 462 days at sea, the boat washed up on the shore of a small uninhabited island in Smola, near Dyrnes.
Officials with the project tried to locate anyone near the landing site who could help recover the Rye Riptides and deliver it to a school to connect students. The story was picked up in local media and on February 1, local sixth grader Karel Nuncic set out with his parents to recover the boat.
Shortly after arriving and exploring along the island's coast, Karel found the mini-boat covered in barnacles. The deck and cargo hold were the only remaining pieces of the boat, but the messages inside were preserved and completely dry.
After cleaning the boat, the Nuncics took it home and delivered it to Karel's school the next day, where his class eagerly opened the hatch.
"Our miniboat made it to the local school in Norway," Rye Junior High School wrote on Facebook. "Their 6th grade class opened the hatch to find our package of materials all dry inside! Amazing, considering the condition it was in!"
Students from both schools are now planning to connect virtually to discuss the project and things they've learned. A meetup is set for February 17.
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