Photo credit to Educational Passages

The team sanded the keel slot and removed all the painters tape from the top of the keel. Members made sure the keel was free of ballast by using sandpaper to sand off any grit. They read the directions on the epoxy containers and used the caulking gun with the mixer attachment to fill the keel slot with epoxy. They needed to work quickly because the working time of the epoxy was 42 minutes. Mrs. Kobel, Mrs. Eagleton and Ms Lynch made sure the keel was aligned properly and applied the red painters tape to hold everything in place as the epoxy hardened.

The team received 2 large envelopes through our interoffice mail system this week from the elementary schools. They spent their time yesterday working on three thank you notes for Mrs. Desto, Mrs. True and the art teacher at both schools, Mrs. Gravel. The team also unpackaged and began looking at all of the created sails. The energy and excitement from the 1st and 4th graders came through in their designs. Team discussions circled around trying to incorporate as many designs into our sail as possible. It's a busy time for the Sail team right now!

Media team continued to circulate amongst the teams, taking photos and recording videos. They were able to document the Sail team's work and get everyone's weekly report.

The Tech Team worked to identify and label (with masking tape) all wires and components of the sensor box using their Tech Team workbook. The air temperature and water temperature sensors were causing them some frustration, so they reached out to our contact at Educational Passages through email.

The Deck team was still finishing the deck design with pictures representing all of the team sports offered at DMS. Color choices had been made for most of the designs.

The Launch team continued their work on the UNOLS website. They looking for a few options of deployers for our Miniboat. Members also worked to complete the emails they were sending out to potential deployers.

The Cargo team members have not been to our Miniboat meetings in a few weeks. The decisions for what to include in our hull will be made by our entire crew from this point on. A discussion was had about including a shout out to the two companies responsible for building our sailboat the Puffin Boat Company (out of Hampden Maine) and the M & H Bartles Sailmakers (also located in Maine). Our crew will be ordering logo stickers from both companies to place inside the cargo hold.

Our group will be hosting an afterschool social (until the late bus) for the 5th and 6th graders. The purpose of the social is to fund a trip to Newport RI for our crew members. It will be an incredible connection to have them go sailing, collect trash from the Fort Adams beach and then participate in a classroom element in the 11th Hour Great Room Classroom, making predictions about where the the trash from the beach may have originated due to ocean currents. At the social, our crew members will be responsible for decorating, selling concessions, making a playlist of music and maybe running a few pirate themed party games.

BALLAST: Added weight inside the keel to improve the stability of the boat

CARGO: items transported by a boat

DECK: watertight covering of boat hull

DEPLOYER: people launching a miniboat

EPOXY: marine grade, ensures the boat can withstand the forces of the rough seas

HULL: the main body of a ship, including the bottom, sides and deck

KEEL: blade-like structure attached to bottom of a hull; stabilizes the boat