Embarking on Friend-Ship Cruise : Youths Can Use Web to Track Sailor’s Progress Around World

In days gone by, children could put a message in a bottle, toss it into the ocean and wait for the day someone halfway around the world discovered the missive and got in touch. That’s still possible, but these days there are more high-tech means.

When Canadian Eric Blackburn stopped in Dana Point last month, he was on the first leg of an around-the-world journey, by himself, in his 30-foot sailboat.

That’s an awfully small boat in which to face a big ocean, but Blackburn said he’s prepared. Among his visitors at the Orange County docks were students from Dana Elementary and Dana Hills High. They and their counterparts elsewhere in the United States and Canada are a key reason why Blackburn’s trip is not simply another single-handed, around-the-world voyage.

Blackburn has collected pen pal letters and care packages from students who visited his boat. He plans to give the supplies to pupils in less-developed nations, including Mexico. Besides the two Dana Point schools, the Red Hill Lutheran School in Tustin has also helped the educational expedition.

The sailor is keeping in touch with those following his expedition via the Internet. A glance last week at his Web site showed a message from Ensenada the day after Christmas. Blackburn said he had delivered the first three boxes to an orphanage south of the Mexican city and found the children’s “smiles, hugs and happy faces touch the heart.”

The Dana Point students enjoyed their tour of the boat, named Chickadee. They duly pronounced it “cool,” and explored the galley and bathroom, or “head,” the sleeping quarters and equipment below decks. Trying on the survival suit was also popular.

A Dana Point teacher has decided to make the sailor’s trip a learning experience for her students as well. The children can follow the journey via the Internet, learning computers, geography, history and oceanography at the same time. It’s a valuable teaching tool and a good blend of new machines with an old means of transportation, one not that different from the time 160 years ago when Richard Henry Dana spent his two years before the mast.

Blackburn’s Web site is https://www.stargate.ca/kidscare/