With only a minor scare as it was leaving, the first sailboat ever to attempt a full circumnavigation of North and South America, set sail from Seattle for a 13-month, 25,000 nautical mile journey of exploration and discovery.
The four-man crew on the Around the Americas expedition is made of seasoned sailors who among them have circumnavigated the world twice, sailed from Alaska to Antarctica and were among the first to transit the fabled Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Arctic Ocean.
In addition to the adventure on the high seas, the crew will be joined by scientists and educators along the route who will conduct a range of experiments and collect data for NASA and other organizations in the longest-running floating science experiment ever conducted.
REALscience will follow the adventures of Ocean Watch and report on the science being conducted along the way. Each crew member is going to be responsible for one area of science for the full trip.
Listen here.
Photos: Captain Mark Schrader, photographer David Thoreson, first mate Dave Logan, writer Herb McCormick.
Photo: David Thoreson loads the Ocean Watch bumpers before setting sail.
