The second of two mini-boats launched into the Gulf stream off the US eastern seaboard this spring is safe and sound sitting in the yard of Gilbert and Joan Melbourne of Furby’s Harbour.

Gilbert Melbourne, who knows the coastline around Burgeo like the back of his hand, received a call from his son in Corner Brook yesterday morning after VOCM reported that the USS Constitution Museum in Boston was looking for a little help locating the Teal Turtle which had run aground at Flat Island just outside Burgeo over the weekend.

Gilbert and his buddy Ivan Parsons—who was home on vacation from Ontario—jumped into action. They took their boat, accompanied by their four-legged companion Harvey, and searched Flat Island but found no trace of the craft. After some communication with the Boston museum, which supplied the exact coordinates, they finally found the mini-boat on their second trip of the morning—hiding in the cracks of the rocks of a neighbouring island.

Gilbert says it’s his understanding that the colourful Teal Turtle, which is now sitting in his yard, will be used by the school in Burgeo for a virtual session with the Boston students who launched it back in May.

Melbourne says he’s happy to have played a part in retrieving the boat. “Anything for science,” he told VOCM News.