Chernobyl crew weave a global web

Students all over the country have been following the progress of the Golden Apple crew as it circumnavigates the globe. Using posters that have by now arrived in all primary and second-level schools and the Sail Chernobyl website, teachers and students can track the progress of the Coveney crew on its 26,000 mile journey to raise awareness and funds for the Chernobyl Children's project.

The A1 size colour poster shows a map of the planned sailing route and a picture of the crew, Rory (24), Andrew and Tony (22) and Rebecca (20). Both the website and the poster have been developed in association with the National Centre for Technology in Education.

The real life drama of the Coveneys as they negotiate the obstacles is the backdrop to a journey that covers a wealth of information. The website contains a mixture of factual and fun information about the four voyagers and their voyage. As well as providing lessons in geography, history, anthropology and zoology, the website also allows schools to embrace internet technology in an entertaining way.

On the Crew Diary web-page, students can share the discoveries of the family as they learn about the new surroundings in which they find themselves. One entry from Rebecca in Sri Lanka tells of Buddhist temples, tea plantations and the plight of the Asian elephant. The next entry by Tony discusses the difficulties of finding fresh meat amid unhygienic conditions.

The website also contains a Photo Journal. Here you can see the family shaving their heads, playing with monkeys, gutting fish and going through the Panama Canal. Most of the photos were taken by Rory, the skipper and an enthusiastic amateur photographer.

Perhaps too enthusiastic, thought project manager Mimi Doran, as she joked about some of the rows they have had about some of the more ambitious black-and-white efforts he has taken for the website.

Doran has received many letters and emails from teachers and pupils around the country. The second, third and fourth classes of Lumcloon National School in Co Offaly, who raised £656 for the fund in a skipathon, wrote: "We would rather hear the Coveney's telling us about geography than our teacher, Mrs Doolan."

Mrs Doolan is not upset. "It's the best way of teaching geography I've ever come across," she says. "Students find it really exciting and interesting. As for learning about information technology, it's super.

"We sent an email to the crew and they sent us back a message directly from the boat."

Up to last March the diary contained details of trials of a foreseeable but nonetheless challenging nature - nautical obstacles and severe weather conditions. Then came the news of the death of the crew's father, Hugh Coveney, the former Fine Gael minister.

A diary entry by Rebecca describes how the crew heard of the dreadful news and, five weeks later, resumed their odyssey. "We received the tragic news by email while anchored off the Galapagos Islands, 800 miles west of Panama," she wrote. "We could not have been further from our homeland.

"The Sail Chernobyl Project was a dream for all of us, our father included. The thought of us sailing into Cork in June 1999, having travelled the world, would have been our Dad's proudest moment. After many hours of thinking and discussing our options we finally came to the conclusion that the trip must go on."

However, they were without Simon who up until then had skippered the boat. He stayed in Ireland to run the family farm and subsequently won the Dail seat in Cork left vacant by his father's death.

The idea for Sail Chernobyl was born when Rory visited the Ukraine as part of a humanitarian aid project. "What I saw changed my life," he said last year. "I came back determined to do something for the Chernobyl Children's Project."

He asked his brothers and sister to set aside their school plans for 20 months and head out to sea in the name of charity.

The family has received words of encouragement and donations from around the world both on the Messages of Support page of the website and in person wherever they go.

One of Rory's diary entries details one old woman, sailing the world on her own, whom they met in the San Blas Islands near Panama, who rowed nearly two miles to give them a donation having read about them in a magazine.

"To date we have raised over £300,000 and aim to reach £1m for the suffering children in Chernobyl," said Rory recently. "We are thrilled that schools have been helping us to raise that money. We love getting their messages, it keeps the spirits going when you're miles from home."

The crew are hoping to arrive in Crosshaven, Co Cork, in mid-May, 26,000 miles and 19 months since their departure. Many of the schools which shared their voyage on the internet are already planning to be there to greet them.