Barryroe’s mini boat has set sail with Star on board

CHILDREN from Barryroe National School are keeping a watchful eye on the progress of a mini boat they loaded and which is making its way across the Atlantic Ocean.

An Irish tricolour, a signed Barryroe GAA jersey, and the front page of The Southern Star are among the items which were packed into the Crimson Current-Réalt na Mara mini-boat that has set sail after it was dropped into the waters from the container ship Independent Horizon.  

The Crimson Current was the name of the mini boat sent by Morristown Beard School in Boston last year. It was dropped into the North Atlantic ocean in April 2022. It eventually came to land on the Irish coast at Barry’s Cove in West Cork. It was located by local fisherman Barry McCarthy and his daughter Kate. 

The Crimson Current-Réalt na Mara was kitted out for a return journey across the Atlantic. 

Horse shoes, tea bags, a hurley, sea shells, mementoes of the Courtmacsherry Lifeboat, a headband in the Cork colours, a St Bridget’s Cross and a letter were among the cargo for the return journey, along with The Southern Star. 

The sail was designed jointly by sixth class pupils in Barryroe and their American counterparts and the hull was signed by fifth and sixth classes from Barryroe.

The mini boat set sail after it was dropped into the waters from the container ship Independent Horizon.  

School principal Orla Whelton said the project had been a wonderful educational experience, especially given the school’s maritime location. ‘We have always been passionate about connecting our students with their environment, from the Courtmacsherry Lifeboat to local beach clean-ups.’

Last Saturday week, some of the pupils along with teacher Sinead Walsh and principal Orla, were on hand at the Port of Cork in Ringaskiddy where they met Captain Jacek Bebenek of Independent Horizon and handed over the mini-boat for its Atlantic journey.

The children are now virtually tracking the ocean progress of their little boat.