What started as a junior-high class project turned into an expedition across the Atlantic, bridging the gap between two continents. A small unmanned sailboat, constructed and launched by students in New Hampshire, voyaged all the way to Norway, where it washed ashore and was found by a family over a year later. Their young son took it to school where he, alongside excited classmates and teachers, opened the cargo hatch. It contained a clutch of messages and trinkets placed there by the American kids—and the moment was aired on Norway’s national news. Through GPS tracking, a team in Massachusetts had followed the ship’s progress for part of its 462-day journey, though there were long periods when it went silent. The boat, Rye Riptides, had sailed a total distance of over 8,300 miles. The project was a collaboration between Rye Junior High and nonprofit Educational Passages, based in Maine. Aimed at developing a …