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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, JANuARy 25, 2020
BON VOYAGE
Miniboats set sail for Japan as part of cultural exchange
By HAILEY HOFFMAN
The Astorian
S
tudents from Warrenton Grade School, Columbia City Elementary
School and Wy’east Middle School passed off miniboats they built to
the Columbia River Bar Pilots and the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Stead-
fast for release at the Miniboat Summit at the Columbia River Maritime Museum
in Astoria on Tuesday morning. The GPS-equipped miniboats will be tracked by
the museum, which puts on the program, as they journey to Japan over the com-
ing months as part of a cultural exchange with the country. In late November,
three schools in Japan launched their own fleet of miniboats destined for the U.S.
Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
The Warrenton Grade School designed a Goonies-themed miniboat which featured a
3D-printed bust of ‘Sloth’ and a Goonies-style map on the hull of the boat.
Photos by Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
Warrenton Grade School students stand on the 17th Street Dock to watch their miniboat as it is handed off to the Columbia River Bar Pilots.
Students from Columbia City Elementary
tour the bridge of the Coast Guard cutter
Steadfast on Tuesday morning. The fifth
graders decided they wanted to launch
their miniboat near San Diego, so they
passed the ship off to the crew of the
Steadfast, which will pass by California.
Julia Triezenberg, left, and Nate Sandel from the Columbia River Maritime Museum help Chris Frezier attach lights to a miniboat in
Heidi Lent’s class at Warrenton Grade School on Jan 15. Triezenberg and Sandel visited the class regularly to help them build their boats
destined for Japan. Pacific Power also supported the program and donated solar panels to the students to help light their ships.
Warrenton Grade School’s miniboat is
lowered into the river off the Columbia
River Bar Pilots boat before it caught the
wind and jetted off. The pilots recaptured
the boat after its test ride in the water.
LEFT: Nate Sandel, the education director for the Columbia River Maritime Museum, addresses students, their families and the community during the Miniboat Summit. Sandel is
the creator of the program and traveled to Japan over Thanksgiving to deliver and launch miniboats with the help of local Japanese schools. RIGHT: The Goonies-themed miniboat is
loaded onto the Columbia River Bar Pilots boat.