A Voyage with Purpose

At the Knife River Marina on Lake Superior, Katya and Mark Gordon are giving a tour of Amicus II, their 40-foot sailboat, to a group of fifth graders on a field trip from nearby Two Harbors.

“We have only one door in the whole cabin,” Mark tells the youngsters from Minnehaha Elementary School. “What do you think that’s for?”

“The bathroom!” the students’ voices reverberate in unison.

Earlier on this May morning, the kids went through outdoor learning stations focused on climate change, microplastic pollution, and invasive species, guided by a crew of five college students who are sailing Lake Superior on a 22-day voyage.

The young students lowered a Secchi disk off a dock until it was no longer visible to measure water clarity. They easily spotted microplastics in Lake Superior water under a microscope. Then they became the lake’s native whitefish and trout vs. the invasive sea lamprey in a variant of “Sharks and Minnows.” Finally, the students gathered driftwood and rocks to build their own pretend “gas” and “solar” powered energy generation plants on the beach, comparing the sustainability of these imaginary systems.

Throughout May, Amicus II and its crew went ashore in the North Shore towns of Knife River, Silver Bay, Grand Marais, and Thunder Bay, Canada, engaging with elementary students at each stop. Since 2014, Sea Change has sailed over 5,000 miles on 18 expeditions with 99 crew members.

Mark and Katya, who both have backgrounds in wilderness programs, founded Sea Change after weathering Hurricane Sandy in North Carolina during a 2012 sailing trip. “That was really one of the first hurricanes that was directly talked about as a climate change–charged hurricane,” says Mark. The organization, funded mostly by private donations, has partnered with local science and conservation organizations. “We want to be sure we’re sharing good information and are up on the latest science,” he says.

This year’s participants—Marco Constantini, Erica Burcar, Cecilia Manno, Julia Janssen, and Luke Blackman—learned the mechanics of offshore sailing, living in close quarters on high seas, and interacting with large groups of eager schoolchildren. “We have a purpose and a drive,” explained Julia after a successful session with happy kids in Knife River: “Education is a way that we can all contribute to the future of Lake Superior.”

At the end of the morning’s field trip, the schoolchildren are offered a chance to take the “Clean, Cold, and Clear” pledge, in which they promise to protect Lake Superior’s marine resources. When the Gordons ask the students, newly schooled in the lake’s ecology and vulnerability, if they’ll accept the pledge, the answer is resounding: They shout “yes!” in excitement.