Season 4 of the Educational Passages Podcast continues with our "Imagine This" series — where the magic of miniboats comes alive through the voices and visions of those who make it all possible.

Each episode will paint a vivid picture of discovery, connection, and curiosity — not just tracking the voyages, but exploring the challenges and unexpected outcomes behind them.

Now press play, close your eyes, and imagine this:

What happens when a miniboat shows up in the exact place where another crew was waiting for a different boat? At a school in New Hampshire — fifty-five miles from the ocean and famous for its own maple syrup — 311 students paint maple leaves on a miniboat, name her Tapping the Seas, and send her out into the ocean. What follows is a two-and-a-half-year voyage of mysterious loops and a slow spiral toward Bermuda — where a school there has been waiting for their own miniboat to come home. This is a story about wind, currents, patience, and the strange way the ocean sometimes brings the right boat to the right place at exactly the right time.

Visit educationalpassages.org/boats/tappingtheseas/ for more information about the boat and project, as well as educationalpassages.org/boats/coraltempest/ for more about the other miniboat mentioned in this episode.

Support the show

Educational Passages is a non-profit organization that seeks to connect people around the world to the ocean and each other through unique global experiences.

Season 4 of the Educational Passages Podcast continues with our "Imagine This" series — where the magic of miniboats comes alive through the voices and visions of those who make it all possible.

Each episode will paint a vivid picture of discovery, connection, and curiosity — not just tracking the voyages, but exploring the challenges and unexpected outcomes behind them.

Now press play, close your eyes, and imagine this:

What happens when a person that finds a miniboat decides to help build one? Since 2021, Fishery Officer Brittany Jay has answered the call when student-built miniboats wash up along the rugged coast of Newfoundland and Labrador — first the BHS Roweboat from Rhode Island, and P.I.E. on the Tide from Maine. Each recovery sparked classroom connections that stretched across borders, and a new question began to take shape: what if students here could be the ones launching, instead of relaunching? This episode follows Brittany's journey from finder to builder, the partnership with Avoca Collegiate and the Qalipu First Nation in Badger, and the unforgettable day a small community gathered to unveil the Newfie Crew 709 — a boat, a dream, and a story now ready to set sail.

Visit educationalpassages.org/boats/newfiecrew709/ for more information about the boat and project, as well as educationalpassages.org/boats/bhsroweboat/ and educationalpassages.org/boats/pieonthetide/ for more about the other boats mentioned in this episode.

Support the show

Educational Passages is a non-profit organization that seeks to connect people around the world to the ocean and each other through unique global experiences.

Season 4 of the Educational Passages Podcast continues with our “Imagine This” series — where the stories behind our miniboats reveal something even deeper than ocean currents and GPS tracks.

Each episode invites you to step into a moment of possibility — to feel the anticipation, the uncertainty, and the extraordinary connections that unfold when students send something small into a very big ocean.

Now press play, close your eyes, and imagine this:

Ever heard of six degrees of separation? Well, this is a story with only one. In May 2026, three miniboats found themselves connected by a thread no one had ever planned for. To understand how, you have to rewind ten years, to a brand-new research vessel's very first cruise and a high school science project that nobody quite expected would still be sailing in 2026. Along the way: a buoy array, the Azores, an Albatross, and a decade-long coincidence we're still trying to wrap our heads around.

Support the show

Educational Passages is a non-profit organization that seeks to connect people around the world to the ocean and each other through unique global experiences.