After a lengthy process overcoming technical issues, the “Let’s Go Sailing,” exhibit finally had its grand opening March 21 at the Great Lakes Children’s Museum in Traverse City, Michigan.
The permanent addition is designed to allow guests explore the fun and physics of sailing by experimenting with sail position and boat experience. The hands-on exhibit offers the opportunity to sail down-wind, up-wind, and across-wind on a model display. Wind is fixed from the North at a constant position, and there are hints provided to help participants figure out how to position the sails. The exhibit’s goal is to help guests learn more about sailing and encourage them to connect with the exhibit’s partners, the Traverse Area Community Sailing. The exhibit was created with help from Alpha 3D Professionals and Quantum Sail Design.
This is the third of four new exhibits introduced in the last nine months at the museum. The museum also features the “Row, Row, Row” exhibit, a Great Lakes Watershed display complete with mini-freighters and, coming this year, “Guardians of the Great Lakes,” which will feature the U.S. Coast Guard’s missions and challenges facing the Great Lakes.
