(CNN) — A mini boat Built by fifth graders, it was launched into the sea on October 25, 2020 and entered the Gulf Stream on its maiden voyage. That voyage would take the 20-inch-long Rye Riptides more than 8,000 miles from home, to the coast of Norway after 462 days at sea.
The story of the boat began at Rye Junior High School, located about 50 miles east of Concord, through a nonprofit program to spread awareness about the ocean and the environment called Educational Passages.
The miniboat program sends kits to students to help them learn things like science, technology, engineering, art and math skills, as well as make connections, the executive director of the miniboat program told CNN on Tuesday. Educational PassagesCassie Stymiest.
Students build the GPS ship, fill it with items, decorate it, and ship it to its destination. “It’s the 21st century equivalent of a message in a bottle,” Stymiest said.
The ship, named Rye Riptides, traveled more than 8,000 miles and landed in Norway 462 days after setting sail in 2020.
The ship kit was originally purchased in 2018 by a now-retired teacher and each of her fifth grade classes have worked together to build it ever since, according to Stymiest.
When the pandemic prevented this year’s class from finishing the decorating process, Stymiest offered to help. Her students sent her decorations to her and she put the finishing touches on the boat, which they named Rye Riptides. On launch day, students watched the Riptides take off via Facebook Live.
In the months that followed, the classes watched Riptides rise and cross the Atlantic Ocean through the GPS tracker data.
It was last located on September 30, 2021, and Stymiest said they thought they had missed the ship when they didn’t see another notification for months.
But, on January 31, he realized that the location had changed. The Riptides had landed on the coast of Smøla, Norway.
Immediately, Mariann took to social media to contact the local community in order to retrieve the boat.
So on February 1, Mariann Nuncic responded that the ship was on an island near her home.
Karel Nuncic, left, brought the boat to his sixth-grade class to open it with his classmates.
That afternoon, when their son Karel came home from school, the Nuncics got into their boat and searched the shoreline to find what was left of the miniboat.
And they found it: the Riptides was covered in barnacles, it had lost its mast and its hull and keel were no longer attached, but its precious cargo was still safe.
The miniboat sailed more than 12,800 kilometers and had a special cargo inside, in the style of messages in a bottle of yesteryear.
Karel, who is also in sixth grade, brought the boat to his class. They opened it to reveal the objects insidewhich included leaves, US coins and even a face mask with the names of the students.
Rye Junior High students, now in sixth and seventh grades, were excited to learn of the recovery, Stymiest said.
The two classes are looking forward to meeting each other and will do so on Thursday via Zoom, Stymiest said.
Going from New Hampshire to Smøla might seem like a long trip for such a small ship, but Stymiest said it’s not the longest. That prize goes to a ship sent from Massachusetts that landed in Australia.