By Tom Interval
In November 1993, David Dunn, a reading instructor at Boise State University, had no idea that an article left anonymously on his desk would shape the next several years of his life.
The article, copied from a book titled Lost Pages from American History, told the tale of Joshua Slocum, a New England sea captain who, in his 34-foot sloop called the Spray, was the first person to sail around the world alone.
After reading the article, Dunn quickly drafted an educational model that he would later call Voyage of the Spray (VOS).
He designed VOS to educate through chautauquas—lessons that are conveyed through storytelling—an idea he got from the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Dunn’s re-creation of Slocum’s voyage, VOS’s first project, will act as a chautauqua, educating through telling the stories of the original 1895 expedition and the re-created journey.
“I designed the Voyage of the Spray in about 15 minutes,” said Dunn, who quit his job at Boise State the following May. For the next couple of years, he strategized ways to make the VOS concept a reality. “Small donations started to come in,” he said. “I needed to build a business foundation to give donors, sponsors and participants a sense of security.” So with the pro bono help of John K.P. “Nick” Stone III, a senior partner of the law firm of Hale and Dorr in Boston, Dunn formed a not-for-profit corporation, Voyage of the Spray Inc.
By July 1995, Dunn received enough funding to purchase the largest Spray replica ever built—Starbound, which he renamed Crystal Spray, after his mother Crystal Alberta Tester Dunn. The vessel, which has already been around the world twice, cost $132,500 and will be outfitted for the three-year voyage that will begin in April 2000.
To learn more about the educational opportunities the VOS program will provide, visit www.voyageofthespray.ua.edu. You can find Joshua Slocum’s book, Sailing Alone Around the World, at www.barnesandnoble.com. For information on Fisher Science Education, visit www.fisheredu.com.
