CFCC unmanned research boat close to crossing the Atlantic
By Hannah DelaCourt
WILMINGTON, NC (StarNews) — It’s been far more than a three-hour tour for a tiny Cape Fear Community College ship making a fateful trip across the Atlantic Ocean.
The 5-foot sailboat, launched as part of the CFCC’s Marine Technology program on June 16, has used a transmitter to track the ocean and prevailing wind currents for more than 6,000 nautical miles and is now nearing the coast of Ireland.
Jacqui Degan, a marine technology instructor who assisted with the launch, said the program has been deploying “drifters” to study the ocean for years, but in the past they were very rudimentary models and did not last long.
But last year she said she reached out to John Olsen, a boat manufacture service instructor at CFCC, to see if the program could build a boat with more longevity.
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