The 2016  Atlantic Cup Race took place between May 23-June 11. Instead of competing in this year’s race as he did in 2012 and 2013, this year Dave Rearick headed up the Atlantic Cup Kids Program, helping kids, students, parents and teachers stay informed and excited about all that happened around the race and in the race “villages” (where kids and teachers came to visit the docks.) For a wrap-up on the whole experience, click here! This also served as  an expansion on the Bodacious Dream Expeditions learning “experience” agenda that Dave began with his Atlantic Cup races in 2012 and 2013 and continued throughout his solo circumnavigation of the globe. Dave’s hope is always to help inspire kids through sailing to embark upon their own journey to learn about the oceans, the environment and how they might live and promote a more sustainable lifestyle as they grow into young adults and the leaders of tomorrow. If you are interested in being part of such a “bodacious” dream, please contact us here. 

Bodacious Dream Expeditions are an ongoing series of voyages of discovery and learning that bring the wonders and excitement of traveling the world’s oceans directly to you so that you might enjoy, learn and play along with us. After completing a solo circumnavigation of the globe in 2014, Captain  Dave Rearick, has lectured about his adventure and about the need to educate ourselves and our children to the various environmental challenges and dangers that are facing our oceans … which in turn create challenges and dangers for our human species as well as all living creatures.

:: THE GLOBAL CIRCUMNAVIGATION! What was completed on June 14, 2014 was a long-dreamed of adventure of the sort that very few people have ever attempted; a single-handed sailing circumnavigation of the globe that Dave and Bodacious Dream began on October 2, 2013, when Dave departed from Newport, Rhode Island, on a voyage of adventure as well as one of learning and discovery.

Here’s how it went…

1) On December 3, 2013, Dave completed Leg 1, landing safely in Cape Town, South Africa, after completing the 8,000 miles voyage, and a stop-over in Bermuda. While in Cape Town, Dave visited and filed updates on excursions to visit African Penguins and the Cape of Good Hope. While in Cape Town, Earthwatch published a news story on Dave and the Expedition.

2) On December 21, 2013, Dave departed Cape Town on Leg 2 bound for Wellington, New Zealand. On February 8, 2014, after enduring weeks of stormy seas, Dave safely landed in Wellington, New Zealand – a journey of over 7,000 miles. While in Wellington (where Bodacious Dream was built in 2011) Dave undertook a special excursion to visit Fox Glacier. 

3) On March 26, 2014, Dave departed Wellington, NZ on Leg 3 which took him east to a waypoint in the Southern Pacific near 46°S Latitude and 147°W Longitude where he gybed Bodacious Dream north towards the Galapagos Islands.  On May 1, 2014, Dave safely landed in the Galapagos Islands … one of Earth’s great nature preserves.

4) On May 7, 2014, Dave departed the Galapagos Islands on Leg 4, bound for the Panama Canal. On May 17th, Dave and Bodacious Dream traversed the canal over the course of 12 hours. From there, he proceeded into the Western Caribbean Sea on a course that took him between Cuba and the Yucatan of Mexico before slipping into the Gulf Stream on his way to a stopover in West Plan Beach, FL where he landed on May 30, 2014. He departed West Palm Beach on June 7, 2014 sailing up the eastern seaboard of the U.S. on route back to Newport, RI, and arrived safely in Jamestown Harbor mid-day on June 14, 2014 – thus completing the 256-day complete circumnavigation of the globe!

:: FOLLOWING OUR ADVENTURE! The entire voyage was accompanied by regular updates, published on our Expedition Blog … all of which were also posted to Facebook and Twitter. Many of Dave’s videos were uploaded to our BDX YouTube Channel and also included in our updates… and people could SIGN UP as well for our Email Newsletter!

:: LEARNING AND DISCOVERY! Our goal all along the way was to share Dave’s experiences in as direct and accessible a way as possible. We encouraged people to jump with us deeper into the wonders and beauty of the natural world that Dave traversed by investigating and sharing with the younger people in their world our Explorer “Study” Guides! (Check out one… “Our Watery World” to get a feel for them.)

We also encouraged folks to check out our “Citizen Science” resources page. Included there you will see listed our up-to-date series of eleven “Science Notes“ written for us by our Earthwatch ocean scientist colleague, Tegan Mortimer, who brilliantly picked up on what Dave encountered on the water and wrapped it up for us in beautiful scientific perspectives. Let the learning begin!

:: WE’RE STILL HERE! As always, should you want to, you can drop us a line from our “Contact Us” page – ask questions, make comments, say hi – we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. And thank you as always for your interest and support.