Applied Physics Class Builds, Launches Solar Boat

At the launch. Photo Courtesy of Paul Evans

By Brigid Ehrmantraut

The Orcas Island High School Applied Physics class proudly displayed the culmination of their efforts at a morning assembly on Thursday, June 2nd. The class, taught by Brett McFarland, has been working to build their solar-powered umiak since the beginning of the 2010-11 school year.

The entire boat was made by hand without the use of any power tools.

While presenting the Applied Physics accomplishment to the High School, Mr. McFarland stated with glee:

“For the rest of the year, we’re going to paddle around in it.”

During the assembly, most students in the class gave a short three- to five-minute speech about specific aspects of the project they worked on and thought were particularly interesting. Topics ranged from oar making (each oar was hand crafted–starting from a block of wood), to lashing the ribs together, to constructing floor boards.

Among the many presenters, Lee Gibbons talked about sharpening all the hand tools each class, Rhys Thompson spoke on the process of wiring up the boat’s three batteries, and Juan Diaz-Alvarez informed the audience about oar making and the difficulties he overcame while  learning English as he worked on the project.

The Applied Physics class was assisted in their efforts by Marilyn Storey’s 5th graders, and numerous adult islanders who donated materials and time to the enterprise.

While tthe batteries are solar-powered in theory, one student stated that the class had calculated it would take thirteen hours on a perfectly sunny day to completely charge all three of the umiak’s batteries.

After the class spoke about constructing the boat, they showed a video of pictures and brief movie snippets to illustrate their hard work.

In the afternoon, the Applied Physics class demonstrated their creation actually floated!

Many other High School students went to watch the launching of the boat at 1:30 p.m. Unfortunately, a few teachers would not let their third period classes go observe and encourage fellow classmates. This lead to significant dissatisfaction in the student body and poor attendance in these classes.

(Thanks to Paul Evans for donating the above picture as this reporter was too engrossed in the morning presentation to remember to take any photos and she was unable to attend the launch.)