by mk

I remember watching this in elementary school during library hour.

I vacation each summer on Lake Superior. This summer I began to build a small wooden sailboat on a whim.

After some time, I decided to make it a paddle-to-the-sea sailboat. I drilled a hole in the boat, and inserted a note that included my email address. I don't have great photos, but here are some:

http://i.imgur.com/Adj41.png http://i.imgur.com/R15U9.png

I waited for a good off-shore breeze, and my three-year-old nephew let the sailboat go. Unfortunately, the breeze proved too much for the boat, and after getting a few hundred yards out, it overturned.

Next year I have plans to build another, more sophisticated sailboat.

A few years ago, some Tibetan monks came to the Detroit Institute of Arts to make a sand drawing. They spent a week slowly making an image out of colored sand on the floor. The then swept it up and dumped it in the Detroit River. I think there is an element of that to paddle-to-the-sea boats.

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEQO87AF0S0&NR=1

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiRGBvd7E3o&NR=1

Looking for this video, I was happy to find that an elementary school class in Muskegon MI makes PTTS canoes.

http://www.muskegon.k12.mi.us/schools/mclaughlin/Teachers/ms...