Mini boat to sail again after 9,000-mile voyage

A miniature boat from the US that washed up on English shores is ready to set sail again.

The little vessel, called Inspiration, travelled about 9,000 miles (14,484 km) before arriving battered and bruised on Avon beach in Christchurch, Dorset, in November 2022.

It was sent by children from Rhode Island as part of a science experiment.

The boat has now been renovated by local Sea Scouts and pupils at a school in Lymington, Hampshire, and will be put back in the water by a team of Atlantic rowers.

Inspiration is part of a project entitled Educational Passages involving the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography.

It gives students across the US the opportunity to prepare, deploy, and track their own mini-boat while learning about ocean currents, weather and technology.

The little yacht, less than 3ft 3in (1m) in length, was designed and fitted with GPS by the pupils at Central Falls School District.

It travelled across the Atlantic Ocean in 245 days.

After it was found on the beach it was taken to Tiptoe Primary School.

Pupils there were then able to connect with the students who launched the boat.

William Lack has been part of the restoration team.

He said when it came to him "it had some holes in it" and "lots of scratches".

Now the Sea Scouts have carried out repairs, and Mr Lack said it was "ready to go to sea, ship-shape and Bristol fashion".

The boat has been filled with photographs and notes from pupils and the scouts.

It also includes instructions for the next person who finds it to follow.

"It could be a child in Brazil, it could be a child in Antigua that contacts us and says 'hey I've found your boat'," he said.

"It does encourage connections between children on both sides of the oceans."

The boat will be launched from the Canary Islands in December by the Ebb & Flow rowing team, who are set to row across the Atlantic.

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