New Research Vessel Joins the Bowdoin Coastal Studies Fleet

With big expansions underway in Coastal Studies facilities and programming, Bowdoin has made a valuable acquisition: the R/V A.O.K., a 28-foot research vessel with a twin outboard hull.

Donated anonymously to the College, this new resource “has really increased our ability to get students to a variety of study sites, including offshore,” said David Carlon, director of the Coastal Studies Center and its newly renovated Marine Lab.

“We’ve set the boat up with a winch to deploy and retrieve sampling gear, and there’s a special rail on the back so we can run nets and dredges over the outboard motors,” Carlon said. “There’s also quite a bit of deck space on the boat – we can bring a class of eight to ten students aboard.”

Carlon, along with Coastal Studies staff Mark Murray and Marko Melendy, piloted the vessel from Yarmouth Boat Yard (in Yarmouth, Maine) to its new home at Orr’s Island.