Experience a Sense of Wonder
Wonder is the Oceans & Lakes Campus of the Planet School. Since acquiring Wonder in June 2024, we have sailed her over 5,000 miles and have welcomed hundreds of people aboard from a few hours to enjoy the sunset to a few weeks to exprience voyaging.
We offer remote and in-person opportunities to come aboard Wonder.
Experience What We Teach At Sea
Solve a pirate scavenger hunt, build an ocean sensor array, and construct a sailor bag.
Every fall and spring we sail Wonder between the Great Lakes and the Caribbean. We do science and seamanship projects the whole way that anyone can participate in.
Welcome aboard.
Ways To Experience Wonder
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Sunset Sails & Charter Work
When we are not using Wonder for students programs, Wonder is operated as a business to support the Planet School’s tuition-free business model.
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Adventure Kits
We have created three different hands-on kits that capture the navigation, science, and craftsmanship nature of life at sea. These kits are for ages 12+ and make excellent gifts!
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Ocean Pi
Run your code at sea through interactive projects that can be completed remotely. Wonder’s Raspberry Pi-based science equipment allow for STEM projects that are truly unique.
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Learn To Sail
Starting in 2025, we will be offering in-person multi-day sailing instruction. These immersive courses will introduce the core concepts required to begin your sailing journey.
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Work-Away & Crew Work
We have limited opportunities throughout the year for motivated adventure seekers. We cover room, board, and teach you to sail in exchange for your work on Wonder.
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Planet School Students
As we build towards launching our full-time high school, we have limited opportunities for student interns. Student interns embed in Wonder as crew and participate in major projects.
Current Projects Aboard Wonder
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Animate a Creature
Use data from the ship’s sensors to animate a ocean creature that you design and capture a 10 second video of Wonder sailing. This project is inspired by Astro Pi’s “Mission Zero,” though our projects are open to residents of any country. This is a great project for beginners from primary school children to adults.
Requires Coding: Yes
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Solve A Pirate Puzzle
Solve navigation puzzles to unravel this treasure mystery using real navigation principles. You will learn about prevailing winds, currents, and voyage planning as you try to piece together the final voyage of the Bloody Pirate. Consult nautical charts, logbook entries, vintage weather maps, and use navigation tools to find a lost shipwreck.
Requires Coding: No
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Construct a Sailor Bag
Knots, stitching, splicing, and sail repair are essential skills for sail voyaging. You will practice all of these skills as you create a ditty bag just like those carried by the crew of Wonder. Our Ditty Bag Kit contains red tanbark sail cloth from one of Wonder’s old sails as well as pieces of rope from Wonder’s rigging.
Requires Coding: No
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Build An Ocean Sensor
Our water sensor array aboard Wonder includes five sensors to better understand the conditions of the water of the oceans, rivers, and lakes that we voyage upon. Using a Raspberry Pi computer and a LCD screen, you will learn to communicate with these sensors and then build them into a waterproof housing.
Requires Coding: Yes
About Wonder
Wonder is a custom 82 foot gaff-rigged schooner formerly known as Bloody Pirate and Heritage of Miami. She has a steel hull and is a very capable ocean-crossing vessel. She has spent the majority of her life in the Florida Keys in the service of the Boy Scouts’ Seabase Program.
Wonder will move between her new home in Detroit during the summer and the Gulf of Mexico in the winter. We are currently exploring options for where Wonder’s long term winter home will be.
Join Our Expedition
Become a member of our research and sailing crew as we undertake our seasonal voyages. You will stand watch, set sails, navigate, and help support our research and education projects. If you love adventure, are excited to learn, and looking to meet fellow conservationists, then this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you.
When we describe our voyaging curriculum to adults, we often hear “I wish I could have done that in school!” Now you can.
