Rafaela and Catarina's Questions of Grade 6 - 8 December 2005
Stella Maris School

We finally arrived in Florida. We arrived in Jacksonville on Dec 6th from Savannah, Georgia. So, it will take us most of December to get to Miami in southern Florida. In January, we will hopefully be in the Bahamas. We will cross the Gulf Stream from Miami. You can think of the Gulf Stream like the East Australia Current, Dude (EAC) from the movie, Finding Nemo.

This year, we will hopefully celebrate the holidays
with new friends that we meet. Because we are not sure where we'll be, we will likely introduce ourselves to other boaters who are travelling and likely get together. We were originally going to spend Christmas with my mom and dad who spend the winter in Florida. But, my mom had an accident and broke her ankle, so they won't be coming to Florida until late January.

Well, we have no new projects planned at the moment while we travel through Florida. However, we would like to find out about the Dolphin Rescue program in the Bahamas and the Turtle Conservation network in Puerto Rico and throughout the Caribbean. We met a woman in Beaufort, North Carolina who has given us the names of research scientists to meet when we travel in those areas.

How long we stay in one place really all depends on 2
things - if there is an interesting story for us to
follow up and of course the weather. If the weather is nasty, then we generally stay put. But, when it is nice, we travel. As for the story ideas, we can stay in 1 place for up to 6 days (that is the longest we've stayed in 1 place) to cover a story, find resource people, do interviews and then post them on our website.

It seems like a long time we've been on Amanzi, to be honest. But it hasn't been. We left Toronto on September 25th so, on Christmas Day it will be 3 months. Not that long, really but imagine spending everyday in your bedroom 10 - 15 hours at a time.

This is a fun question. We had a marvelous time in South Carolina. Charleston was fun, but we didn't see much of the city because we spent time in internet cafes and the library. However, Amanzi was anchored in a pretty creek and it was beautiful in the evening and morning on the boat. We left Charleston and got to the small town of Beaufort ( pronounced Bew fort) and before we got there we met up with our good friends Joe and Peggy who we travelled with earlier. We went to a Christmas street party in Beaufort and that was alot of fun. We ate Gumbo soup, shrimp gravy on rice, and she-crab chowder that evening. Yummy! Then we headed off to Savannah, Georgia which is just on the border of South Carolina and Georgia. That was magical as well. Peggy and I took a trolley bus tour of downtown Savannah. It was the location for the movie, Forrest Gump. It was a wonderful visit and people are really friendly. Thank you for the well wishes. We are travelling next to St. Augustine and then near Cape Canaveral. That should be fun. Happy holidays to you both and to your fabulous class.

Sofia's Questions of Grade 6
Stella Maris School

Utsch's Marina is a Marina where we stayed. Utsch - the family's last name like yours is Ladeira. So, when we were staying at the Marina, we met Mr. Utsch. He is now about 75 years old. But he doesn't work at the Marina anymore. His sons now run the business.

Right now, we are in Beaufort, North Carolina. It is on the east coast of the United States. Because we have been going down inland channels, we have been motoring all the time and not sailing. We will be heading to South Carolina next and hopefully we will be able to sail a little more.

Look on a map of the east coast of the United States and find the a point of land called Cape Hatteras. This piece of land sticks our far into the Atlantic Ocean. Just south of there is Cape Lookout. Beaufort is very close to that point. Just south of here is Cape Fear, another point of land sticking out into the Atlantic. The one thing this coastal area has alot of are Lighthouses. There are also many shipwrecks along this coast. It is a very dangerous coastline and sadly many ships have sunk along this coast.

David works on his own and this project - the floating classroom project is something he has thought about for a long time. He wanted to give it a go. Plus it is a great opportunity for both of us to work together. Kim teaches at the Island School and this is a wonderful expedition she will share with the children she teaches and students like you and your class.

We didn't sail in Cape May Harbour but we stayed at the Marina in the Harbour for 7 days. We then motored through a canal into the Delaware Bay and headed north to the top of the Delaware Bay. Unfortunately, the trip was rough on the Delaware Bay and I got seasick. However, David was fine and sailed the boat. By the time we got to our destination that night, I was just fine.

Billybob and Buddy are still with us. They are both 6 years old. They are enjoying themselves immensely. Billy tours the boat several times a day - checking for fish and just making sure the boat is fine. They actually got their first taste of fresh fish a couple of days ago. As for Buddy, I'm not sure she realizes we've left Toronto. She stays down below in the cabin. When we turn the engine on to get ready to leave places, she jumps under the blankets in our bed and sleeps until the engine turns off at our destination that day. They both sleep alot during the day, but at night, they run around the boat fine.

Trai's Questions of Grade 6
Stella Maris School

We both had a dream 6 years ago to travel together and explore different cultures. At the time, we did not have a boat and Kim did not know how to sail. (But David knew how to sail.) Kim was a wildlife biologist and teacher and was interested in science and the environment. David was a photo-journalist and web- designer and he could see that together we could create a neat project.

Yes, we plan to return to Toronto as we have a home there. This is just a little break from what we do all the time. It's an adventure, but we will return home.

David works on his own and this project - the floating classroom project is something he has thought about for a long time. He wanted to give it a go. Plus it is a great opportunity for both of us to work together. Kim teaches at the Island School and this is a wonderful expedition she will share with the children she teaches and students like you and your class.

Spanish is spoken in Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. It would be very helpful to speak Spanish but at the moment we only know 1 or 2 phrases. But hopefully that will change. We would love to speak more Spanish and maybe by the end of the trip we'll be able to.

Thanks Trai for your email and well wishes.