Errant research boat completes solo
journey across Lake Michigan
PORT WASHINGTON, WI — The autumn sun was out as Chelsea Volpano lugged her Bathycat, a
small orange catamaran filled with scientific instruments, down to the beach.
Volpano, 29, a geoscience doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, had remote
piloted the craft many times during her research into the way eroded coastal sand moves
around underneath Lake Michigan. But Monday, Oct. 30, was different. Volpano didn’t know it,
but the small Bathycat was about to embark on a big journey.
The 3-foot boat was running a grid in calm water off Lion’s Den Gorge, a long term Wisconsin
coastal monitoring near Port Washington when it stopped communicating with the controller.
And just like that, all Volpano could do was watch, crestfallen, as gusty winds pushed a still-
running $10,000 grant-funded boat into the big water and quickly out-of-sight
.
Volpano had brought an inflatable kayak in case something went awry, but her faculty advisor
warned her not to paddle after the escaping Bathycat alone in late October. “I just kind of
watched it float away,” Volpano said, ruefully. It was a difficult moment. “I questioned a lot of
my life choices.”
The story might have ended there, but Volpano wasn’t ready to give up on her Bathycat. She
pleaded for help on Facebook. Had anyone seen a little orange boat sailing alone? Perhaps it
came ashore on the beach somewhere.
People responded. Her post was shared thousands of times. News stations amplified the story.
Private pilots flew the coast in search of the little orange Bathycat. The U.S. Coast Guard even
attempted to model the boat’s drift.
Days turned to weeks with no sign of the Bathycat. Then, on Dec. 4, word came. The boat had
been found roughly 120 miles in the other direction. It washed ashore in northern Michigan
near Frankfort, where hunters found it on a stretch of private beach.
Apparently, the Bathycat had been in Michigan for a while. The man who found it gave the boat
to an electrical engineer to see whether the soggy electronics could be salvaged.
They told Volpano it was found about November 14. The Bathycat was returned through intermediaries. Read the rest of the story and view images at this MLive link:
https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2023/12/errant-student-research-boat-solo-sails-
across-lake-michigan.html
Ocean Voyager ties up next to sistership at Portland
The American Queen Voyages’ cruise ship Ocean Voyager tied up alongside Ocean Navigator at
Portland, ME, Dec. 17. It is not known if Voyager has gone into lay-up next to her sistership. AIS
shows her voyage originated in Jacksonville, FL.
Ocean Navigator has been laid up after a generator fire that broke out following an explosion
on board early Oct. 17. The ship was docked at a pier in Portland when the incident happened,
leaving the crew member with serious injuries and launching an investigation into the cause.
Earlier this year, American Queen announced they were pulling out of the Great Lakes after this
season to focus on river cruises and that the two vessels would be sold.
Paul Beesley
